Emmert Turtleback: Gloat, Sob Story, and Question

[Joe Arcimboldo]

Been saving my money for an Emmert for awhile. The guy I share a shop with has a K-1 that I've been using more and more frequently. I didn't see one at the MWTCA meet here in Georgia a few weeks back so I contacted a guy about one of the Fleabay that hadn't sold. I know, I know, that can be a dangerous proposition, but don't get ahead of me here. So, we agreed on a price. $400 for the vise, $100 to ship. Not a great deal, but what I would consider a good deal. The seller's feedback was perfect and all the pieces and brackets were there.
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I'm not crazy about the silver paint, but hey, I'll have a turtleback of my very own. So within 3 or 4 days, the package arrived. I was very impressed with how well the seller had packed it. He really went to a lot of trouble to bubble wrap the individual pieces. The vise shipped in two different boxes. One with the rear jaw and tilt mechanism and the other with the front jaw and bar. After some rigamarole with UPS, I finally got both boxes in the same place at the same time and went to cutting and tearing like Christmas morning.

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After I figured out what was what I started putting it together. I had my friend's K-1 to reference so it wasn't that tough. As I was sliding the bar into its housing I noticed that the cast iron turtleback cover was cracked. We're not supposed to use profanity on this forum, right? Well, then, use your imagination. I'm thinking of a few right now.

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I continued putting it together, not knowing if something else was missing. I clamped a 2x10 to my bench and temporarily installed it on there so I could check the tilt and what-not. It seems to work fine. All the parts are there. But I have just one little problem. The advancing action of the screw seems really tight. It goes in and out just fine, but again, comparing it to my friend's K-1, which I can turn with one finger, this one doesn't advance as easily as I'd like. Any suggestions on this? I checked the threads and they seem fine. Also, if I take the screw out of the front jaw and screw it into the female threads in the rear jaw, it has plenty of room. Also, when I slide the bar down into the rear jaw, it moves just fine. Its only tight when the two are together. On the K-1, the bar has a little wiggle room. I've filed just a little bit off of the housing pictured here (I'm probably not calling that the right name).



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I've only filed a little--maybe 1/128ths if I'm reading my calipers right. Should I go a little more or is there something else I can do? Any ideas? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Oh, and as for the cracked turtleback...When I contacted the seller and said I thought it was UPS's fault since clearly his photos didn't show a crack before it was shipped, he said I coud pursue an insurance claim with them. Both packages were insured for $400 each. UPS might give me the money or pay to have it repaired, but you could never tell how long that would be since they tended to be stingy at paying out on insurance. In the meantime, he refunded me $200 for my trouble. While the dust hasn't completely cleared, as of right now, you could say I got a Emmert T-5 for $300. It might be tight and have a crack in it, but I'm thinking due for a little gloating.

After all, as Leonard Cohen said, "There's a crack in everything; that's how the light gets in."

[Van Huskey]

Sounds like a good deal. You may need to check your pics, they are not showing up.

[Brent Grooms]

I would be inclined to think that there is a burr or something on the threaded rod more so than on the square beam. I had to replace the center nut (the weak point on the turtle backs) and the replacement part has a different fit so my screw advancement has a few tight spots but it works as intended. Congratulations and dont sweat the cracked cover... just use it!

[Larry Fox]

Nice looking vise and congrats on a good deal. I agree about the crack - don't sweat it as it should not impact the operation. You will love the vise. I have a #2 installed on my bench right now and have a turtle-back waiting on a resto. It is amazing how versatile they are and I am constantly finding new uses for it.

[Will Winder]

Nice vice, those have always fascinated me. Even $500 seems like a good deal so $300 is a bargain.

The crack looks like it is in a fairly low stress area. If thats true I would be tempted to just drill a hole slightly past the end of the crack to prevent it from going any further. If you want to make it pretty again just grind a notch with a dremel tool where the crack is then fill the hole/notch with a 2-part epoxy. After it hardens grind the epoxy flush and put another coat of paint on.

You could also look up a local welder, just make sure they are experienced with cast iron. I recently brought a piece to a local welder and it came back with the 3 repairs I wanted and a new hairline crack coming off one of the repairs. Fortunately it was in a low stress area so I repaired it like I just described.

[Van Huskey]

I agree 500 was a good deal 300 even with the crack is a great deal. I also agree with you on the color, I would absolutely paint it, after whatever repair you decide on is finished.

[Joe Arcimboldo]

So what color should paint it?
Black is the old standby, but a little boring...
Over at the Iron Hand they've got some different color schemes, my favorite is probably the olive green down at the bottom of the page.
Course, if I wanted to go green and get a little creative, I thought about painting just the turtle-shell in the pattern of a turtle's back, and leaving the rest some plain color. That could be real cool or really stupid.

The most beautiful Emmert I've seen yet is over at MV Flaim's blog.
Check out this beauty.
I don't know if that one is bronze or what. But man...

[Van Huskey]

I like the old red color, but the blues and greens can be fine too unless they are garish (no John Deere green). I actually LIKE your turtle sheel idea if you have the artistic skill so it doesn't look cheesy. I like when people make a machine (tool) their own, it hurts the purists souls BUT it ain't their vise. I think a neat and unique paint job could make you smile every time you look at it. Anyway, that silver has to go, it makes it look like someone cast a replica in aluminum!

[Joe Arcimboldo]

I would be inclined to think that there is a burr or something on the threaded rod more so than on the square beam. I had to replace the center nut (the weak point on the turtle backs) and the replacement part has a different fit so my screw advancement has a few tight spots but it works as intended. Congratulations and dont sweat the cracked cover... just use it!

Brent,

Can you say more about how the center nut is the weak spot? Do the threads tend to wear quickly or does it pull out from where it should be? I've checked quite a few things (the straightness of the threaded rod and center beam, the threads themselves etc. and I'm beginning to wonder if the culprit isn't the center nut....

My old man said if just used it, it would get better with time, but I dunno. I'd like to figure it out if I could.
Of course, there's always the chance that if I replaced it, I'd have the same thing as when I started.
Sounds like that's what happened to you.