What is this Vise Attachment?

[Rich Riddle]

Here is a vise with a small pointed attachment. It's amazing it's lasted on the vise, but what is it?

Thanks for the help.

Vise1.jpgVIse2.JPGVise3.jpgVise4.jpg

[John Vernier]

It is a small hardie. The usual form fits into a square hole in the surface of a blacksmith's anvil, and is used to cut off pieces of metal by hammering the red-hot iron onto the hardie, scoring it so that it can be broken off. I have seen vises with this miniature version before, and I can't think why it would be useful, but then I have never had much use for the mini-anvils on the back of vises either.

I suppose it might be handy for cutting off small rod or shortening nails, like a mounted cold chisel.

[Edward Oleen]

I believe your vise is an antique machinists vise. It might be worth something. These were made and used at the start of the machine age, when black-smiths got slowly turned into machinists.

One summer many moons ago I took a 3week course in blacksmithing at a museum near my summer place. You'd be surprised at the accuracy those old smith's could achieve. They used to make replacement parts for Ford Model A's, etc. Sometimes just repaired a broken part, other times made a new one from scratch, such a a spring. The reason I know this is because the museum had the log books from several old blacksmith shops from the area. They also had a lot of the tools, as well as four forges.

Blacksmithing is HARD WORK, but it surely builds up your muscles...

[Jeff Erbele]

It is a small hardie. The usual form fits into a square hole in the surface of a blacksmith's anvil, and is used to cut off pieces of metal by hammering the red-hot iron onto the hardie, scoring it so that it can be broken off. I have seen vises with this miniature version before, and I can't think why it would be useful, but then I have never had much use for the mini-anvils on the back of vises either.

I suppose it might be handy for cutting off small rod or shortening nails, like a mounted cold chisel.

It is a hardie I agree. As I wrote that, ...er typed, ...ok, keyed or entered that, I noticed, auto-spell check flagged the word; but than a hardie in common usage and spell check are perhaps at least a generation apart, or more.

A vise with an anvil is not really an anvil and one would not want to use it as such or expect to perform like a real anvil. An old time Blacksmith first would probably laugh at it, then bust it with one good swing in his routine work. But he would not throw away the pieces. Even though he never heard of recycling, he would melt those down and make something useful that worked.

Anvils had hardie and pritcel holes for those purposes and accessories.

Anvil
Anvil Parts
Anvil Structure
Pritchel

Good blacksmith's anvils are made of either forged or cast steel; not cast iron. Vise's are made either iron or steel and the cheapest ones are made of the lower quality and type of cast iron, which means they are brittle.

Good anvils are built for working metal while pounding. Vises are built for clamping and holding work, while one works on a part, or a piece of stock. Any resemblance of an anvil as a built-in, add on feature, is secondary, for light work at best and perhaps its best feature is one of marketing, implying it is two shop tools for the price of one.

In general, if one is shopping for a vise, buy a good one. Ignore that crap on the back and if it is there, use it lightly. If you need an anvil, buy one suited for your heaviest tasks.

You know ....a heavy anvil could suffice as a vise too; just pick ther 300 pounder up and set it on your work piece and it is going nowhere as you saw, drill, ream, file, debur, weld, polish, buff, or work that piece, except no one markets an anvil as vise.

Off Topic Warning
The topic of a hardie & anvil is near and dear as I grew up with two uncles on our family homestead (established by my grandfather in 1898), farm and ranch. One Uncle was a wood carver, the other a serious antique collector as a mostly full-time passionate hobby, a mechanic, blacksmith and welder. He loved to tinker, restore and build. We had all the stuff in our modern shop (for the era and since)(**), with all the working period stuff too, a forge, trip hammer, and anvil, a diesel driven DC welder and AC powered AC welder. Growing up, life was an education; one few ever have or such opportunity or exposure. Both uncles were bachelors; one worked in wood, the other in iron, machines and machinery; the older the better.

** Modern Shop for the era. Few farms had a shop; some had a tool shed. I don't know when the shop was built (1920's - 1940's) but it was a two stall; 30 x 40 with a concrete floor and an a service pit for any work on the under side of vehicles and tractors. In 1979 a 40 x 60 with floor hoist and tire machine was built next to it. Both are still in use.

All of it influenced me in some way. I started in the Army as a Welder and worked as one in civilian life in a Blacksmith Shop which was also a Welding and Machine Shop which inspired me even more. I went on to completed trade school as an Agriculture and Hydraulic Mechanic, then Advanced Machinist. I went to work for General Electric where all my skills were used. After the GE local shop closed, I went across town and worked for Westinghouse in a motor repair and rewind facility as a machinist/welder where I obtained electrical trade knowledge because it was required. Meanwhile after hours, I invested in real estate and rentals, and worked in the building trades; also while serving in the Army National Guard as a Combat Engineer Officer. In my spare time, I don't know how I found any, but I did, I had fun with wood-working and a lot of other hobbies.

....so if your uncle ever tells you what a hardie and a pritchel is, pay attention; it might come in handy latter in life

I believe your vise is an antique machinists vise. It might be worth something. These were made and used at the start of the machine age, when black-smiths got slowly turned into machinists.

One summer many moons ago I took a 3week course in blacksmithing at a museum near my summer place. You'd be surprised at the accuracy those old smith's could achieve. They used to make replacement parts for Ford Model A's, etc. Sometimes just repaired a broken part, other times made a new one from scratch, such a a spring. The reason I know this is because the museum had the log books from several old blacksmith shops from the area. They also had a lot of the tools, as well as four forges.

Blacksmithing is HARD WORK, but it surely builds up your muscles...

Not only the accuracy they could achieve, but doing amazing things to metal, tempering it, making springs or spring steel, fusing metal, etc. We have a Damascus twist barrel shotgun. It was made by wrapping wire around a wooden core and fusing the coils of wire to each other. Its a collector piece. While it might work just fine there is concern that modern day shells may blow the barrel apart. No one knows and it is not worth the risk to the piece or person. It is unique but not extra valuable because the stock and fore-grip were replaced and but very poorly.

I don't know if the trade, skill and art of Black Smithing turned into machining as much as it transitioned into welding.
All work with metal, have an understanding of metallurgy, modify the properties of it, and add and subtract metal by different methods and techniques. Each is a skill unto its' own, although intertwined.

Blacksmiths shoed horses, sharpened plow shares, made things of metal like gate hinges, made and shrunk tires on wagon wheels.and more. A few still exist and those probably revolve around horses and horse drawn equipment, more simplistic or basic living cultures perhaps with a central religious focus in a communal setting. ...geez did I saw that well without offending anyone.

Technology and mass production made the trade mostly obsolete.

[Bernie May]

thanks, Jeff. great informative post.

[Mel Fulks]

Rich, you are over your vise deal allotment !