Post vise

Gliden07

Gliden07

Well-Known Member
I got a post vice at a garage sale cheap. There is a problem with it. The jaws don't meet when clamped. Wanted to know how I should fix, fill in with weld (hard face or a standard rod) or grind/ mill flat. Maybe a boat anchor?? LOL!!

PS The vice is complete no missing parts.
 

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Hard to tell from the picture. But, you may wish to make an insert to add to your post vise. Here is a picture of a cheap table vise with an insert that can be swapped out. Perhaps make something similar…

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I’ll echo what Dennis said. If there any way you can get it apart, and get the jaws in a mill, mill them flat and drill and tap two holes in each. A couple advantages there, one you don’t loose any jaw depth, could possibly add. Second you can swap our the jaw faces. I have several for mine, in aluminum steel, even a rubber faced aluminum set.
 
Ok I will look into it. Have to find jaws for it! I don't think it will be to hard to get apart its all there and working. The side to side misalignment shouldn't be to difficult to fix just the jaws.
 
Gliden07 said:
What kind of rod? Just regular or hard face??
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It's been a long time since I used hard facing rods for grader blade repair. As I recall, that type of rod has a higher manganese content and thus, is tougher.
Several considerations: 1) hard facing will be tougher to grind or machine, and may impact whatever you are holding. 2) typical rod (say 7018) / wire (ER70) will provide a bit softer face, 3) in either case having multiple sets of vice jaw softeners is really helpful for holding various materials (made of brass, copper, wood, plastic, rubber).
As Dennis suggested, if you want to add-on jaw faces, then you'll likely want to use a regular alloy rod/wire (not hard facing) so you can drill and tap the vice jaw.
I'd recommend having an experienced welder do the build-up. The vice's old base metal may be an issue. You may need to preheat the vice jaws before welding, they look fairly beefy. Also, running overlapping continuous beads can result in pitting and inclusions if not done properly.
Here are some hard facing rod examples from an Amazon search "hard facing welding rod"
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Being that this is a blacksmithing tool, I'm not sure the removable jaw would be a good deal. If ya do any real beating on it. It's wrought iron, so there ain't nothing hard about it or ever has been. I think I'd build the center out about a 1/4" max thickness and flatten from there. It will weld easier if you warm it up to 400F or 500F first. Whatever rod most closely approximates mild steel would be my choice.
 
Decided to think this out. I pulled out my RC files and tested it. Tested under 40-HRC (40 Hrc file was still taking some off just barely) looked up HRC on welding rods the 7018 looks like a good candidate? HRC is 37. Should get good penetration with it too? Any input from some welders or people in the know would be GREAT! THANKS!!
 
Gliden07 said:
Decided to think this out. I pulled out my RC files and tested it. Tested under 40-HRC (40 Hrc file was still taking some off just barely) looked up HRC on welding rods the 7018 looks like a good candidate? HRC is 37. Should get good penetration with it too? Any input from some welders or people in the know would be GREAT! THANKS!!
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You should be good with 7018, an easy rod to lay a bead. The vice jaws need to have all the rust and crud removed before welding, use either a flap disk sander or grinder. As tkroenlein said, you'll want to preheat the vice. Use an IR heat gun to check. I wouldn't think deep penetration is an issue. You'll just be laying stringers on the base metal and it will all be under compression when in use.
 
My 2 cents on vise jaw welding: if it's NOT cast iron and it's pretty clean metal, use ANY rod you want as a base. If you're going to checker the jaws, hardface them. If they're going to be smooth jaws, cap with a normal rod. I prefer softer vise jaws - i.e. not hardfaced. I think removable jaws are best avoided. They work loose and can actually lead to messing up the vise. You need a "shelf" for the jaws to sit on so impact isn't solely transfered through the screws and if the screws are loose bad things happen. Threads get pulled out, that "shelf" gets all bent out of shape or breaks off completely. No Bueno.

If you need removable jaws, I like the kind that hook onto the base vise jaws. That or the ones with magnets if you're talking plastic soft jaws.

If it was my vise, I'd build the jaws up starting with 6010 or 6011, then switch to either a 7018 or a hardface rod. Be careful shopping for wear face and hard face rods. Some of them do weird things. I accidentally welded up some chips in my anvil with some sort of carbide rod. Literally carbide. Took HOURS to grind the beads down. Think it was a Hobart product. My buddy works as a mill wright and had a bunch of them.
 
Oh, and a note on preheating... 400 degrees Fahrenheit is usually what I shoot for. Here's the "quick and dirty" "Old Timer" trick... actually two of them = take you oxy-acetylene torch, using just the acetylene, cover metal in soot. Proceed to preheat. Once the soot burns off, you're up to temp.

Heres a trick for 7018s = as soon as you extinguish the arc, jab the tip squarely into a pine board. It'll keep the tip from glazing over and make it easier to restart. Alternatively, keep either a file or a brick with a rough finish next to you to scratch the rod on.
 
52 Ford said:
Oh, and a note on preheating... 400 degrees Fahrenheit is usually what I shoot for. Here's the "quick and dirty" "Old Timer" trick... actually two of them = take you oxy-acetylene torch, using just the acetylene, cover metal in soot. Proceed to preheat. Once the soot burns off, you're up to temp.

Heres a trick for 7018s = as soon as you extinguish the arc, jab the tip squarely into a pine board. It'll keep the tip from glazing over and make it easier to restart. Alternatively, keep either a file or a brick with a rough finish next to you to scratch the rod on.
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Nifty tricks, thanks!
 
No problem. Hope it helps.

If you didn't know, you can get temperature indicating crayons, too. "Temp Sticks" or "TempilStiks". The latter being Markal's name for them. They melt at precise temperatures - one it melts, you know you're at that temp. They go up to about 2,000F.

They come in a bunch of different colors (they all taste the same, though - don't let the colors fool you).

Honestly, they don't even taste that great.
 
Oh, and as an ammendment to a previous comment I made... I said removable jaws are best avoided. I was referring specifically to a post vise, where the jaws are going to see a lot of impact (and temp fluctuations - that might be something to consider)
 
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