Saw vise blues

[Carlos Cabrera]

So I bought a Disston #2 saw vise on ebay and it cleaned up pretty nice after the citric acid bath. Soon as I tightened it up on my bench and sharpened half of my panel saw the lower section literally broke in half. Apparently it had a hidden crack and I guess I just got unlucky

Oh well you win some and loose some....

Carlos

[Matt Ranum]

If you have a tech school nearby with a machining class take it to them. Schools love to do live outside projects like that. Best part is it doesn't cost anything. Its cast iron, there are tricks to welding it and keeping it true, but thats what it would be there for. Good experience for them.

Just a thought.

[Carlos Cabrera]

The saw vise broke not the saw, here are some pictures of the saw vise, you can see the rust where the break occured. What a bummer...

Carlos

[Matt Ranum]

That looks like a pretty easy fix if you can find a welder near you. Ask around, I wouldn't think it would be to hard to find one.

[george wilson]

You could get the cast iron brazed about as strong as new. A bevel must be ground around the break,and filled in with brazing rod,then filed,or ground smooth. Well done,you won't be able to tell after you japan it.

[Carlos Cabrera]

Wish I knew someone who could weld it for me. If someone here can fix it for me here please let me know.

Carlos

[Ganthan Rhodes]

Bummer. My favorite model ... nice wide jaws. If someone can do a decent brazing job, that would be great.

Fortunately, the break is in a convenient place if you still want to mount the vise. Just ensure the base of the non-clamp piece is flat and screw, bolt, epoxy, etc. that piece of the base directly to a board or suitable work surface.





Cheers.

GR

[Eric Brown]

Many muffler shops are capable of brazing. Might try calling and see if they could/would.

Good luck.

Eric

[Matt Ranum]

If these guys would do it it would most likely be free, just contact the welding dept. They are in Dallas.

http://www.aticareertraining.edu/ind...ati&Itemid=148

Otherwise I did a search in your area and found these. Hope it helps.

http://maps.google.com/maps?sourceid...num=1&ct=image

[Carlos Cabrera]

Matt,

Thank you very much for doing that search for me !! I just went to one of the local welding shops and they quoted me $50.00 to weld it using Nickel, they said it was the only way to do it.

I dont really have the time to go to one of the welding schools so I think I will take the advice of Ganthan Rhodes and mount it on a solid block of wood using some screws and epoxy. I can then use a clamp to mount it to my bench. I will take some pictures once I have it all put together.

Thank you all very much for your suggestions and thoughts, this place is great !!

Carlos

[David Keller NC]

"Thank you very much for doing that search for me !! I just went to one of the local welding shops and they quoted me $50.00 to weld it using Nickel, they said it was the only way to do it. "

It's not the only way (brazing's often used to repair cast iron, though usually in non-load bearing applications), but it is the most secure. Based on what a pristine Disston 3-D vise sells for, it might be worth $50 if done well.

[Carlos Cabrera]

Let me clarify that I am pretty sure that I have a Disston No. 2 Saw Vise. Here are some pictures of Disston 3D saw vise owned by Chris Schwarz and the second picture is a Disston No. 2 like I have. Do you think it is still worth the 50 dollars to fix it ?

Thanks Again,
Carlos

[David Keller NC]

Carlos - I just don't know enough about Disston saw vises to give you a qualified opinion. You could check Pete Taran's site, or the Disstonian Institute site to figure out exactly what you've got.

In regards to whether it's worth $50 to fix it, I think that depends. A lot of old saw vice jaws are "sprung". In other words, the don't correctly close up throughout the length of the jaws, and the top of the jaw doesn't close first. If this is the case on yours, I'd hesitate to spend $50 to get it fixed. If, however, the jaws and closing action is good, and were it mine, I'd spend $50 on it, because it will be the last saw vise you'll ever need.

[george wilson]

The sprung jaws could be filed till they meet properly. Do you mind just forgetting about the screw on base,and just drilling a few holes in the base. Bolt the base to a piece of 3/4" plywood about 4"X8",and just clamping the plywood shoe to the benchtop? If the vise chatters when filing,make the base "shoe" thicker. Or,you could clamp the wooden "shoe" in a vise. Vaccum out your woodworking vise if you do that. Tiny filings can get into the vise jaws,and onto your projects. Then,when you stain them with water stain,you'll have black or blue dots that are very permanent. Don't ask how I know!!!

[Kevin Brenton]

The image on the left is the 3-D for sure as I have two of them complete with the filing jigs.It looks like the broken clamp part is the same for both model vices though.
If you can find some who does metal powder spray welding ,it is a better welding process to use that method rather than electric stick or brazing.
I repaired one of my saw vices using the Eutectic Castolin Jet torch and cast iron powder and it's as good as new .You can't even tell it's ever been welded.

I could do it for you but there is a slight distance problem . UPS?

Kev.