What do you need for yours? 

I got four of them laying in the shop floor right now and they all got different issues, 

so I’m thinking about using one as a doner to bring the others three back online, 

 

To be honest, I don't know.  I bought it a looooong time ago, and just set it down with the other blowers.  I haven't done any forging for at least 6 year now. Being a machinist, I figure I could make what I needed, but good used is the best.  I got a bad case, and with the run in I had with the county I just stopped.  I need to get everything set back up , and do something as it would probably do a lot for me mentally.  The last few years have been rough on my mind, and I have not pursued any of my creative hobbies.

Biggun,  wish there was some magic I could offer you.  Something in the shop/garage is waiting for you to create.

Twisted.  Think I might have a sister to your vise. No marking except the 35. I have no reason to believe the screw box is not original.

 

 

1 hour ago, lary said:

Twisted.  Think I might have a sister to your vise.

<insert Twisted Sister joke>

Lol, (We’re not gonna take it)down that road  this early in the morning are we JHCC? 

 Lary, it’s very possible, people mix an match post vise parts all the time, 

your mounting bracket looks like it came from a Peter Wright,

Looks like the screw box was shimmed; that would make me wonder about a "marriage of convenience".

I didn’t even notice that Thomas,

but definitely looks like it’s been mixed matched now,

might be a Columbian guy, named Peter O’Leary from Iron city, traveling to meet an Indian chief by fisher creek! 

I am all about the usability of the tool; so I had much rather have a marriage that works well than an all stock that works poorly.  I've mixed a few myself to get the best out of several abused vices.  Once I saw that Sears Roebuck used to sell replacement screws & screw boxes in their catalog  I realized that replacing that was a common thing way back when.

I tended to buy postvises that had a good screw and screwbox but were missing the mount and spring because I could get them cheaper and it's an easy fix to do----if you are a blacksmith!

That’s a good point Thomas, the split style mount can be made using a piece of flat bar, the triangle mount might take a little more to build but I kinda like those, they take up less space then the split style,

I come come across post vise bodies missing everything,

and I’ve wondered since there’s millions of them out there missing the screw an box

if it would be worth it to get a short run done of modern replacement screw an boxes, like what sears used to do,

you could have them made with a little longer threads that way you could just cut it to fit whatever vise your trying to put back in operation, 

 

Wouldn't a fast-travel acme threaded rod and flange nut work?. My first post vise was made from a large threaded rebar with a convex faced nut. (Surplus from a diving job repairing a dam) and a section of 2" plate for jaws. Various parts of a cut up truck frame for legs. It was monstrous, but it worked. I need to try to find that thing and take a picture of it. It was from at least 30 years ago, but it might still be in the bottom of my old scrap pile.

21 hours ago, TWISTEDWILLOW said:

Lol, (We’re not gonna take it)down that road  this early in the morning are we JHCC? 

 Lary, it’s very possible, people mix an match post vise parts all the time, 

your mounting bracket looks like it came from a Peter Wright,

Hmm, maybe being the straight man is something I could be good at.

 

18 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

Looks like the screw box was shimmed;

Mr. Powers Your exposing my greenhorn's when it comes to blacksmithing tools. I didn't give it a thought when I started the salvage process it could be a bunch of parts thrown together. It had a coating of oil,dirt & rust that was so even the fix had been done decades ago, after the 250 pound shop gorilla/apprentice  bounced up an down on the handle. Everything was seized, I had to stick it in a press to get the screw box out. Anyway, it's working much better now.

Machine work is expensive; you could probably buy another vise for the cost of having it sourced out to a commercial shop.  However there are a lot of DIY methods where folks who don't charge for their time have made their own replacements.  

(I have a large screw jack, house jack, whatever you call them, with a broken base I bought at the scrapyard just to have a starter kit if I needed to make one for a LARGE postvise, like an 8"+ one!  Scaffold leveling screws, old large bench vise screws, pretty much any sq thread screw with a nut intended to deal with some force can be used.)

Makes me wonder... anyone ever try to replace the screw with hydraulics? I'm thinking manual hydraulics like a jack or port-a-power.

About a month ago, I posted a video about a monster vise that opens and closes with a screw, but has a manual jack for that last bit of unnecessary crunch.

Hydraulics are slow, especially hand pumped, and many times you need speed with a vise.  There are hydraulic vises, but they are not used in a smithy.  Air would be faster, but not strong enough. I have a couple of ideas for screwless vises that I want to try out.

There was an air powered vise at the Studebaker Blacksmith shop when SOFA  met there, perhaps too fast!  It looked like a finger biter!

JHCC - Impressive video and an awesome vise. 

BGD - Yeah, what I was thinking probably wouldn't be very practical. You would need some kind of slip/catch for large adjustment to size with the ram only for the last part. If I didn't already have a good post vise and I had one with a busted box/screw I might try it.

PB, maybe a screw with an interrupted thread, coupled to a hydraulic jack for final tightening. 

And a good hydraulic system can be more expensive than having a screw made. Then you have leaks, etc... 

Got a bandsaw- it’s small and underpowered, but it was free! I imagine it’ll be very helpful for cutting handle material, but I’m dubious as to it’s steel cutting capabilities- even with a fresh bimetal blade and some coolant, I think it would inevitably bog down

That bandsaw is probably not much different than the porta-bands like DeWalt, Milwaukee, HF, etc.  Should work for smaller stuff like plate, 1/4" or 3/8" stock, round stuff, sheet metal...give it a chance.

Itll definately cut those oranges or grapefruit, and wood. No harm in having extra tools for jobs.

I used this bandsaw for a while before I was given it- i don’t know if it is just low power or if the motor is going out, but it definitely bogs down much easier than my friends dewalt portaband. I do have a new blade for it though, so I’ll try cutting some steel. Even if it doesn’t get steel it should work for non ferrous metal, wood… oranges. And the occasional grape fruit!

Keep in mind that cutting steel requires a MUCH lower blade speed than cutting wood, fruit, etc. 

Portaband is a seriously powerful gear reduction drive METAL cutting bandsaw designed to eat steel. 

Your new saw is a wood bandsaw and it takes a LOT  more than a different blade to make it a metal cutting bandsaw. You might get away with it on soft metals and feeding it REALLY SLOWLY but don't count on it.

Frosty The Lucky.