HAHA, another Q
Found a sweet huge ass Vise for sale

However, one catch... the jaw is a little worn, I'm wondering if this can be repaired?

It's hard to tell from the pics, but it has an odd wear spot on the right side of the jaw...
I'm wondering if this could be built up with weld, using pre-heat, post heat and a nickel rod and than ground down...

Or grind the jaws so that they are somewhat "true again"

Or weld angle iron to the jaws on both sides?

Or by some vise jaw plates/grips and drill and tap the jaws and bolt them on after filling with weld and grinding so that the plates become the wear item on the vise...

;10547990']HAHA, another Q
Found a sweet huge ass Vise for sale

However, one catch... the jaw is a little worn, I'm wondering if this can be repaired?

It's hard to tell from the pics, but it has an odd wear spot on the right side of the jaw...
I'm wondering if this could be built up with weld, using pre-heat, post heat and a nickel rod and than ground down...

Or grind the jaws so that they are somewhat "true again"

Or weld angle iron to the jaws on both sides?

Or by some vise jaw plates/grips and drill and tap the jaws and bolt them on after filling with weld and grinding so that the plates become the wear item on the vise...

drill/tap/plates.
or take apart and have both faces machined,might be benificial to do the drill and tap,then you have some options you could build and attatch

Assuming it's cast, you could build it up with overlay using the process you described.

From the pictures it looks like the jaws are pretty worn.

I would go with build up and then install some new jaw plates if they are square enough to make this work .

I have a old monster vice like this and the jaws are worn smooth so while you can torque stuff down if it is rounded at all it does want to twist on you .

Just a thought.

I'm going to take a peak at this thing tonight, if I pick it up I'll take some better pics hopefully...
Apparently it is a Reed vise and from my research there are no detachable vise jaws for these units,

http://i580.photobucket.com/albums/ss242/djravizza/jaws.jpg

Pic stole from practical machinist, looks like I may have to fab something up

No need for nickel rod - it's a face repair. If it was a crack you'd need a nickel or cast rod, but for "buttering" a cast iron surface plain 'ol 7018 works fine. Since it's sitting on the surface it can expand and contract more freely and cracking isn't as much of a problem. Bury it in sand/cat litter or wrap in a welding blanket after welding so it cools as slowly as possible. Or if it's a really small defect - tig it. I use tig to fill drill holes in cast vises and platens all the time. blend with a grinder and finish with a 40 grit flap wheel. "Looks good" tolerance is fine - it's just a vise.

Preheating to ~400f is a must for some large repairs, but for a small buildup repair it's probably overkill. Grind clean and preheat to ~150f should work fine. A propane weed burner is the easiest way to do it, but a BBQ grill will work. General rule of thumb is anything over 3/4" thickness should have at least a 150f preheat - applies to hot rolled steel as well as cast iron/steel.

If you want some high manganese Stoody hardfacing rod I have some extra laying around, but it takes a lotta amps to run it! What equipment do you have to do this repair with?

Buy some cheap flat files and weld or braze them on to the face of the vice.
Nick Leone

we have a couple of those vises at work but there in a little better shape. the first thing that goes it the little foot under the moveable jaw.

wheres the crack?

New pics:


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v94/jpaddock/Misc%20Stuff/Reed106001.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v94/jpaddock/Misc%20Stuff/Reed106002.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v94/jpaddock/Misc%20Stuff/Reed106003.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v94/jpaddock/Misc%20Stuff/Reed106004.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v94/jpaddock/Misc%20Stuff/Reed106005.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v94/jpaddock/Misc%20Stuff/Reed106006.jpg

Brought it home tonight, got a better shot of the crack. Definitely looks fixable

Mill the ends flat,drill and tap a couple holes in each face then make some bolt on hard or soft jaws.