Cana Rochbell
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brightspark
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a decent price to get it for. not many available nowdays at autojumbles and about 50 quid when they are. god knows how much on ebay
The_Yellow_Ardvark
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Price is good.
Unless there is a name on it.
It may me on the fix jaw body.
Or rear flat mounting plate.
Unless there is a name on it.
It may me on the fix jaw body.
Or rear flat mounting plate.
Screwdriver
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I think they are cast steel, then forged/wrought. For example the bracket that holds the bottom pivot has clearly been forge welded to the leg.
Why is it in bits? The screw box is dissembled but the moving jaw hasn't moved. Looks like the spring has failed or the pivot is seized.
It looks like a four inch and £40 is not unreasonable depending on how easy the repair will be and how well the jaws align. It is quite important that the jaws not only line up but also don't shift when pressure is then applied.
Also someone has cut off the end of the screw box and cut off the end of the mounting plate. My guess is to fit it up against a wall.
Why is it in bits? The screw box is dissembled but the moving jaw hasn't moved. Looks like the spring has failed or the pivot is seized.
It looks like a four inch and £40 is not unreasonable depending on how easy the repair will be and how well the jaws align. It is quite important that the jaws not only line up but also don't shift when pressure is then applied.
Also someone has cut off the end of the screw box and cut off the end of the mounting plate. My guess is to fit it up against a wall.
Cana Rochbell
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got it on ebay for £39 haha
Screwdriver
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Does the screw box actually fit into the fixed jaw?
Cana Rochbell
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Its possible it was taken apart for the screw to be cleaned perhaps but wasnt put back together properly. I'm a little amazed that the screw is so clean, which is why I think it was taken apart. I'll have a play with it when it gets here and let you guys know how it does.
£85 would not make me sell mine. Made from forged steel tho on mine the female threaded housing is cast iron
Cana Rochbell
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Nice! It just arrived now. I'm actually tempted to not scrub it at all. Its in crazy good condition. Opens n closes no trouble. Suuper smooth and the teeth can grip a piece of paper without it moving. Light wont show through this and i've not even tightened it too much.
Cana Rochbell
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44.5lbs roughly so about 21kg
Screwdriver
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Good news. Use it and abuse it....
Cana Rochbell
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Thanks! 
Will do! Kinda unfortunate, I was lookin forward to doing work on it but it arrived in perfect condition which I cant really complain about haha. I'll just scrub up that parkinsons model f size#7 instead I guess next its sunny. 
Really curious as to what make this blacksmith vise is, and if the decorative ball is missing from the screwbox or if thats just how it was
Will do! Kinda unfortunate, I was lookin forward to doing work on it but it arrived in perfect condition which I cant really complain about haha. I'll just scrub up that parkinsons model f size#7 instead I guess next its sunny. Really curious as to what make this blacksmith vise is, and if the decorative ball is missing from the screwbox or if thats just how it was
Screwdriver
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I wouldn't say "perfect", looks like it has spent some considerable time as a boat anchor! The end of the screw box is missing, presumably cut off and the base plate has also been cut off (should be a fourth mounting hole). My guess is that was to reduce mounting depth to fit it up against a wall. Also there's a protective flange missing from the rear of the fixed jaw. There should be two similar flanges like little ski jumps, one on each jaw, protecting the screw/screw box from badly aimed hammers.
On the plus side it is a mid size vice and not the dinky little entry level ones that look the same size when there's nothing in the picture to scale for reference. I'll see if I can find a link to the disaster I bought some time ago. Mine not only had missing ski jumps, one of the jaws had completely broken off!
If you're going to use it as God intended, you don't really want to paint it or even finish it. You'll be sticking red hot iron in it and attacking it with a hammer. So long as it opens and closes and the jaws don't shift too much at the moment of contact, jobs a good 'un.
Aha! Here you go. Should be of interest: https://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/restoring-a-post-leg-vice.77113/
On the plus side it is a mid size vice and not the dinky little entry level ones that look the same size when there's nothing in the picture to scale for reference. I'll see if I can find a link to the disaster I bought some time ago. Mine not only had missing ski jumps, one of the jaws had completely broken off!
If you're going to use it as God intended, you don't really want to paint it or even finish it. You'll be sticking red hot iron in it and attacking it with a hammer. So long as it opens and closes and the jaws don't shift too much at the moment of contact, jobs a good 'un.
Aha! Here you go. Should be of interest: https://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/restoring-a-post-leg-vice.77113/
Nuff said
Kent
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Jaws will be forged steel never wrought or cast. Likely peter Wright was the makers but they vary
Price paid is good likely a bargain in todays market which has become premium over the last year or two. Basically a surge in intrest.
Be worth a tidy bit more sent to the usa though, as are anvils etc unfortunately
Price paid is good likely a bargain in todays market which has become premium over the last year or two. Basically a surge in intrest.
Be worth a tidy bit more sent to the usa though, as are anvils etc unfortunately
Screwdriver
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Yes I think the jaws are nearly always forge welded to the finished body. My broken one looked like a forge weld had failed and it would make sense from a materials perspective to make them from a separate lump of stock and if so, might as well use a higher quality steel effectively as an insert. So many thousands of these were made and relatively few survived that to nominate Peter Wright is a bit of a shot in the dark tbh. You could investigate the history of his work and usually the shape of the screwbox is all that really separates the various manufacturers.
Oh and it's not a decorative ball that's been cut off, it's a finial, closing the box which keeps the dirt out and the grease in. Interestingly, the internal thread is typically a hardened steel spring which is brazed into place.
Cana Rochbell
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Thats what I thought too! Looked far too rough on the edge of that diamond mounting plate, Definitely think there was a 4th hole for mounting. Also noticed the ball missing too. I think when we take that one partially apart today will be scraping out the old grease n such and think of a solution like a cap or somthing to cover where the old ball was as a temporary solution until he gets his forge up an running again to make a new decoration for it. As I think the grease will get dirty otherwise due to it being exposed on that end.
I think someone took a bad swing of a hammer and knocked the ball off perhaps. They tidied up the edges good, its not sharp and they made it look like it was meant to be like that. I'll have him make a new decoration for it and pop that on. May as well personalise it as itll be with him forever. Even if its just a flat plate with a ring on it to hold a hammer or somthin else. That'd be a good use of the area at the end of the screwbox where the missing ball is.
Screwdriver
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Doesn't look like the screw projects even when closed so you could just glue a plate on there with some mastic. 
I don't think you want to be hanging hammers on it!
It is quite possible someone was using it in the condition you bought it and simply cut the finial off and the base mounting to fit up against a wall. I know right but the human capacity for stupidity is unbounded.
I don't think you want to be hanging hammers on it!It is quite possible someone was using it in the condition you bought it and simply cut the finial off and the base mounting to fit up against a wall. I know right but the human capacity for stupidity is unbounded.
Cana Rochbell
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