[TheForge] vise rehab

[schade at acegroup.cc]

Jeff,

The vises with the beveled legs do seem to be a little better made. I'm 
not sure that would make it english or not tho. As many leg vises as 
there are around the country there must have been quite a few shops 
making them. I have a couple of nice beveled ones in my 'collection' 
and some that were made very rough but perfectly functional.

The balls on the end of the handle were probably made in a die and 
could look very uniform. If I was making a vise today I would make the 
handle out of something like 1045 and leave it unhardened. But then 
again A36 would probably be just as good.

I agree with Dan Tull on the 7014 v. 7018. There was another thread 
recently where rod came up. Everyone seems to want to use 7018 even tho 
it runs best on a DC machine. I see little difference in the specs for 
7014 and it runs great on my AC machine. At least for most of the stuff 
that we are making.

Bob
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On May 5, 2005, at 5:50 AM, Barking Crow wrote:

> Today I was working on a 4 3/8" post vise, fixing it up thinking I'd 
> take it
> to Madison to sell.  It has heavy beveling on the vertical jaws and 
> some
> lines turned (?) into the cast bell making me think its an old English 
> vise.
> Also near the top of the moveable jaw in sort of fancy print it says 
> 47 with
> 1/2 immediately below the 47.  Don't know what that signifies.  But, 
> anyway
> the handle which is 9/16 round had a couple of bends in it so I laid it
> across the cold bender (two sections of 3" across the top rail with the
> bottoms welded together) and started whaling on it with a good sized 
> hammer.
> On about the 5 hit it broke clean with a very grainy surface, such 
> that my
> first thought was %#$**&@ it's cast, then that seemed stupid so I 
> thought it
> must be tool steel that had gotten hardened, but as far as I can tell 
> (and I
> ain't much at spark testing) it sparks mild steel which is what I'd 
> have
> thought they'd have made the handle of.
>
> So, What do ya'll think they'd have made the handle of, and what rod 
> do you
> suggest for welding it back together.  I could start with another 
> piece of
> rod and make a handle, but I'm mystified as to why it would have 
> broken.  I
> straighten similar pieces of steel all the time and have never seen one
> break.  A friend was over this evening and he agreed that the spark 
> test was
> mild steel.  Unless you've got a better idea I guess I'll use 6013 or 
> maybe
> 7018.  The swellings on the end of the handle are very uniform which 
> makes
> me think they were cast steel?  But I'm pretty ignorant of the whole
> situation.  What do you think?
>
> Jeff who's vise repair is going in reverse again.
>
>
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