Restoring a 200-Year-Old Mystery Post Vise
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- Опубликовано: 28 мар 2021
- Today in the shop I am restoring an antique blacksmith post vise. I picked it up from a small shop in Pennsylvania, and the gentleman threw in a piece of Amish buggy spring to use to remake the push spring, which was missing. Through the process I found the the word "FISCHER" stamped into the hinge bracket. This just made the mystery that much more interesting, because the "Fisher" Anvil Company doesn't use the "h" in their company name.
I took the whole vise apart and cleaned, de-rusted, and wire wheeled each piece. The screw box needed some attention because the key came off that keeps the box from spinning when you turn the vise handle. We went up to visit Randy Slaysman at Slaysman's forge and had an awesome time talking shop and hanging out while he TIG welded the two new keys that I made onto the screw box. We headed back to the shop I and modified one washer to fit with the new keys, and made another to make space for the jaws properly. Once I got it all back together, I got the forge up and running and forged out the push back spring, with "ears" to hold the bottom in place. I drilled and filed a mortise to match the through tenon mounting plate and wedged it back in place.
The spring works perfectly, all parts are cleaned and oiled, and the vise is back and ready to be put to work for another 200 years.
Big thanks to Randy Slaysman for his help with the screw box. I was definitely out of my league with that part of the restoration and he was a huge help and a wealth of knowledge when it came to the wrought iron and how this vise would have been made. Go check out his Instagram page @slaysmanforge, and give him some love and encourage him to put some more videos up on his RUclips channel, / slaysmanforgecom
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Хобби
You got a vice to work with for the next 200 years😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊
where i work in Sheffield England we still use these kinds of vises every day for knife making
Cheers!
Thank you for showing us what it probably looked like back in the day instead of turning it into an odd-shaped mirror.
This gives me some real This Old House Vibes
Nice job. Looks great.
Man, that's a good looking vise! Always good to see new life breathed into a piece of history!
Thanks brother
I did one of these a few years back that was rusted to hell and back and seized up solid. I put the whole thing into an electrolytic tank and let it brew for about ten days, lifting it [and the sacrificial bar] out for wire brushing, by hand, every couple of days to remove loose material. It gave amazing results, removing only the rust and none of the metal, and even penetrated into rusted threads, freeing them off. once it came apart, I stripped down to component parts and but them back in the tank. It all looks black as night when it comes out, but wire brushing gives a great 'old metal' finish. Under all the crap was a vise in great working condition.
Son....may I suggest that you consider saving your back. There were quite a few moments in which you were more then 90 degrees bent at the waist. Take it from an old goat that gets a twinge in his sciatica whenever he considers picking up something from the floor.
Bring the work UP TO YOUR LEVEL. The extra time and effort will pay dividends in your old age.
Thanks Dad.
That thread in the vise is just beautiful. It's hard for me to imagine how the blacksmiths accomplished that 150 years ago
I agree. I was a bit shocked at how nice it is.
Anybody who can make a beautiful thing with a Harbor Freight angle grinder must be good.
Glad to see you know better than to hammer on a bolt with a hardened steel hammer unlike many other "restoration" channels. 👏👏
Thanks! The last thing I wanted to do was damage a piece of this vise. Some things just seem like common sense .
I just restored one of these that had been in a barn with no roof for the last 40 years. It was completely frozen up. It took me 2 months of soaking in diesel and then wire brushing then rust remover to get it apart so I could just get starting to restore it. Great job on your restoration. I plan on putting my restoration on my you tube channel shortly. Thanks for posting
Thanks for watching Mickey!
Very Cool restoration !!!!!!!!!!!
Ready for another 150 years.
Hope so!
That's amazing.
Very impresive.
Thanks Marko.
@@TheArtofCraftsmanship
You're welcome, because you bring so much warmth into your workshop that we all look at you with admiration. We also deal with the same things, where tools come first. Greetings from Serbia.
Beautiful work.
Nice job restoring a vintage vise. The only thing I have to say is that you should use OIL not grease on the screw thread. Grease will collect and hold any filing chips or forge scale and act as an abrasive and wear the threads.
Well done nice to see you kept it well used.
Another great work from the Workshop Master......Dusty!! I hope you enjoy that vise the same time that gear is living.... Nice work. I will remind you next Wednesday because I’ll go to my Archery Club.... it is sunny in Spain now and I have to practice after the pandemy, I have a little oxide in my arms. Greetings a lot from Spain, Dustin. Be safe and take care.
Thank you my friend! Happy shooting!
Lovely bit of old kit👍
It is, and I’m excited to put it back to work.
That is a beautiful piece of equipment.
very nice, wish i had one of these!
Great video! Keep up the good work!
Thanks Philip!
Excelente trabajo!
I want one to.That was a good video.
"PB Blaster" is a hundred times better than WD as a rust remover. It was invented around 1957 when I was a motorhead kid and I still use it to this day. Have removed many a broken exhaust manifold stud with it.
Dustin, Devon, I am absolutely Loving your Channel. Discovered you during the lockdowns here in Leeds, UK over the last year. Your podcsst is crushing it as well!! Currently converting my old chicken run into a green woodworking shop. Then will come the forge. Thanks for the great content. You guys are inspiring.
Thanks for comment and compliments brother! Glad you’re enjoying what we’ve got to offer.
Awesome restore. I like how you made the washer/spacer and spring yourself. Inspirational
Thanks
1863 was when that vice was finally patented as the "Solid Box" leg vice, but had been made with a key that was solid forged with the main thread/housing as 1 piece. The fact that yours has a key that's wielded on means that it's from the original design created about ~1820.
I just found one of these shoved away in the back corner of the granary at my wife's family farm. It's probably been forgotten there for 80 years or more. I had to look it up in a book to even know what it was as I have never seen this style of vise before. Super excited to mount it up and put it back to work.
Great video on a post vise restoration with a couple of wrinkles thrown in there. Looks good, I'm glad you're going to get some use out of that nice old piece.
Thanks Jeff!
What a beautiful vise. I have one very similar waiting to be restored, can't wait! Also, Slaysman seemed like a cool dude and what an awesome name. I bet he can make a sword that slaysmen... I'll let myself out
Good looking vice! I’m hoping to find one soon!
Thanks Justin! Good luck sir!
Just stared attempting to restore leg vise that looks exactly like yours, Mine has the spring but the nut on the pivot bolt that hold the bottoms of jaws is missing and bolt is stuck. There is also a small section of the bottom on the leg missing and slight bend at point of break.
Cool project. I have done similar restorations. I use a white vinegar and salt solution to remove the rust. Just soak it overnight. I’m sorry I don’t have the exact salt to vinegar ratio. I just add about three or four tablespoons of salt to 1 gallon of vinegar. Works pretty good. I don’t care the chemicals. Also liquid wrench or knocker loose is better than w d40. Great job thanks for sharing
Thanks for the suggestions.
Only thing missing is a mirror polish on all the surfaces and re-ordering a new spring from Fischer. (I am teasing beyond belief) I am envious of you with that vice! Good job and presentation.
If you learn anything further about the Fischer name on the vice, be sure to bring it up in future videos. Eric with Hand Tool Restoration channel seems to be a master at locating old patent drawings.
Haha thanks for watching! We will share any findings.
Mirror finish would be cool
I have one of these awaiting restoration. This is informative. I'm getting my engineering vices up to standard first, which will give me something to hold the "leg vice" (as they are known in the UK) in when its turn comes.
I wanted to clean off a railroad bracket I wanted to paint on.... I put it in a icecream Pail with vinegar. Took thevrustvoff right down to the metal. Best deruster I have ever used. Could even read the printing on it after which was totally covered in rust... Beautiful piece now.
my sister gave me one like yours and had no idea why the vise had a long leg extension now i think ive learned something new today from a workman's antique vise i could not figure why extra metal to vise metal or wood but now i understand why .
Do yourself a favor. Use boiled linseed oil all over. I used it on my leg vice anvils and hammers. Just restored mine ....still looking for a mounting plate. Great video.🛠
The old timers as a group sure took pride in their craftsmanship.
i use plain white distilled 5% vinegar for my Rust it works well just have to let set for days on really bad rusted parts plus help it out by cleaning here and there in the process of derusting parts.
Wow I donated one of those to the Park Ridge Historical society in N.J. Last year
Nice restoration, you may want to add some screw on jaws that would take the gap instead of the thick spacer. Steel, Aluminum and Copper versions could be added by tapping the fixed jaws.
it is a tool that was meant to be pounded on, and most likely has been for a hundred years or so, you can hit it harder and it will be fine. this will become your go to vise just because it will hold up to the abuse.
Didn’t look through all the comments. There was a fisher company in Sheffield uk. Made Metal tools of every kind. Would have been there peak back then.
Dang!!! Thanks so much. I’ll look them up.
OK, I did the same thing but no chemical rust remover. A bench grinder and angle grinder with wire wheels did a great job of getting it to bare metal THEN.......Heated every piece and used boiled linseed oil and HOLY MUFFIN STRUTS!!!!!! It's beautiful!. Why the chemical stripper at all? the wire wheels worked better...
great old vice.
I’ve got a huge old Columbia Vice I’ve been putting off setting up, might have to soon
Do it.
Just discovered your channel and subscribed, great work! What anvil is it you have? Thanks.
That is vintage. Mine is probably 1900 and needs a spring. Does spring steel survive after being heated red hot
Drink when he says "forge welded"!
Hi Dustin, have you tried soaking the parts in vinegar? If you soak rusted parts over night you can wipe the rust off.
Nice Job by the way!
Did you temper the spring? Or as is? Greetings from Holland, like your video's.
I left it as is. I read a few places that it didn’t need to be. It’s worked perfectly so far. Thanks.
Nice little vice , I'm looking for one but it's very hard to find one in reparable condition in Australia . :)
Good luck Douglas!
Hi! It's me, the one who won the Journey Knife. It's been 3 months already and I haven't got the journey knife yet... Are you still giving it?
Hey Vlad. I am still sending it to you, just need to finish prepping the handle scales so all you have to do is glue and screw the corby bolts and shape the handle. I’ll reach out to you later this week when I send it.
Did you re-harden the spring off camera?
No. Thanks for the question. This will be featured in the next 5 Questions video.
Penetrating oil and a little heat works wonders rather than WD40. Kroil is one of the best.
Thank Larry
There is no way I could hold the two halves of my post vice in one hand like you did this one after wire wheeling it outside. I have a 6" post vice though
I really enjoy this intro not like my intro its very creative and mine is all edited lol🤣🤣🤣 And be careful with those metal pieces you could really get hurt😵 But besides all that your channel is probably better than mine ngl. I only have 27 subs lol but dont feel bad im gud. And yas this is Lindy
Thanks Lindy. Keep up the work, and you’ll get there.
Check out this thread.. www.anvilfire.com/FAQs/blacksmith-vise.php It looks like the Fischer #3 or #4 Blacksmith's Post vise. Great work.
It gives in Germany a Karl Fischer GmbH that Malkes Schraubstöcke aber keine Ahnung wie alt die Firma ist
fisher price :)
Back before his switch over to the toy business.
4th comment
What would those old boys say about America today. Fear of God and Dads seem to sort most things out.
in my poor english i dont know that restoring = cleaning