broken Vice !! need help!!

[fun4now]

so i finally managed to break my Vice last week. its old and cast iron i think?
so the big question is !! do i try to fix it ?? and if so with what?? i was thinking brazing it would be good for cast but will it hold ?? or should i look at stick welding with nickel ?

any idea's ? advice ? am i waisting my time ?
I'll take a pic of it to show the break, its not looking so good.

[Broccoli1]

Try the Church

[fun4now]

the Church has vices. wo i gotta start going again.

[nocheepgas]

What brand vice is it? If it's a good one like a Wilton it should have a lifetime warranty. If it's a "Made in China" big heavy beast from HF of HD invest in a new one. You won't be sorry. Nothing's worse than a crappy vice or better than a quality one.

[FusionKing]

so i finally managed to break my Vice last week. its old and cast iron i think?
so the big question is !! do i try to fix it ?? and if so with what?? i was thinking brazing it would be good for cast but will it hold ?? or should i look at stick welding with nickel ?

any idea's ? advice ? am i waisting my time ?
I'll take a pic of it to show the break, its not looking so good.

You know the drill!!!!
Post pics!!!

[fun4now]

its a larin.
i don't know if its top shelf but it doesn't seem like HF junk aether. i been beating on it for years and never realized how much i used it till i broke it.

here is a few pic's of it and the break point.
any help would be great.

[jerems]

Real weldors use JB Weld. It worked on my plastic air compressor wheel!

[aametalmaster]

Yup its junk now. Better box it up and send it to me
Tear it apart where you can vee it out all the way around and weld it up with some Crown 255. Give it a healthy shot of preheat then let it cool slow...Bob

[Badd00SS]

I repaired my old chas parker by filling my barbeque with a lot of charcoal, setting her in there totally covered for about an hour, pulling it out with tongs, getting it fairly well aligned and welding it with some ni-99 rod. Dont know if it was the best method, but it hasnt broken yet, 5 years later and a lot of stress since.... Mine cracked at the base of the jaw. the jaws are 1/16 off, I do wish I had gotten it better, but it was hard to get close to that thing, it was putting out some btu's....

[fun4now]

thanks guys.

i like the Barby-Q idea for a pre-heat, but whats the best way to slow cool it / just put it back in the BBQ and let it cool as the coals go out ??

i have also heard of using saw dust , sand , or even gravel as a slow cool option.

i think the BBQ would be best if you all think it will work as a cool down. i figure i will need to do more than one pass, so i can pop it back in the BBQ between weld passes to keep the over all heat up. figure i can keep it good and hot till I'm done then just let the coals go out as it dose it should slowly cool.
sound like a solid plan ??


P.S. i did a search on the net for Larin, found some tools here and there but no company web-site to track down the Vice on. didn't even find a Vice.

any one know if its a good vice or not ?? i know i love it ans suspect that alone makes it worth trying to fix.

[MR.57]

Some guys use lime, but cat litter is my insulator of choice.

Disassemble the viSe, prep the crack, preheat, weld the break, and then bury the entire casting in a box full of cheap cat litter while still hot. Cover box with a blanket and leave it alone overnight.

I've used this method with excellent success for slow cooling castings. Large castings are sometimes still hot the next morning when I dig them out.

Use the generic cheap cat litter, not the expensive clumping kind. The cheap stuff is usually just Bentonite clay granules without any special additives.

[seattle smitty]

We're in a recession. Businesses are closing left and right. Surely you can find a screaming deal on a used vise nearby (Is GM closing a plant near you?). I could buy half a dozen more vises in an hour, cheap, if I needed them.

That said, like you, I probably would go for the challenge of trying to fix the old one, and spend way too much time, fuel-gases, and consumables in the process, and tell myself it was a good learning exercise (then never have any call to apply what I learned)

More seriously, the GM news this morning is an earth-shaker, but it offers certain kinds of opportunity. Reportedly, one of the provisions of the deal is that GM will get to "offshore" a bunch more work that is currently done here. A bunch of companies that build components for GM, besides getting stiffed for most of the money they were owed, are already losing orders from the other manufacturers due to low demand and over-supply. Many will surely fail to survive, and the trickle-down effect will be felt in most places. The only silver lining in this cloud is that anybody with cash is going to be able to make unheard-of deals on a range of equipment, maybe including stuff you always wanted but couldn't afford before.

[turboglenn]

I broke my large vice here a few weeks back trying to use it as a press for some custom motor mounts i made. All i did was give it a bath with soap and water, then used some carb cleaner to blast out any more residue the soap & water couldn't get. After the cleaning I did some test fitting, grooved the weld area out and then stuck it in the oven at 400* and left it there for a good while until my laser tempo gauge said the peice was up to temp.

After the preheating i took my thickest gloves, carried it to the wleding table, clamped it in place with large vice-grip style clamps and went at it with some Hi-99 nickel rod, tacking then alternating sides to keep distortion to a minimum. I also used the O/A torch between weld cycles to keep the entire piece evenly heated. After i was done i stuck it back in the oven (with the oven now "off" and let them both cool down together.

Of course i had to "test" the vice when i was done and it's holding up great!! HOwever mine broke in a different place than yours (the "back jaw" and anvil area snapped right off the swivel base)

I honestly didn't know what to do either when it happened, but i figured at elast trying to fix it would be better than just throwing it away and buying another, plus I got a little stick welding practice while I was at it.... on a weird way it was some what of a "2-for-1" deal, got some practice stick welding cast, and saved myself 50 bucks for a replacement vice!

[fun4now]

the GM problems is not going to help me way out here in BFE.

well i went and picked up some BBQ stuff to pre-heat and looked for some ni rod. holy c rap !!! $26 for 10 rods of 3/32", are you kidding me. ran out of $$ so the repair is on hold for now.

MR.57 thanks for the kitty liter, i forgot about that one. we have that here already.

well wile i await $ for the ni-99 i have 3 tree's i have to plan and i have to fix my push mower wheel adjuster. i broke the wheel adjuster 2 days ago. got the pieces off yesterday and welded them back together. so today I'll clean it up and reinstall it, then get the tree's in the ground.

after i get that done i need to finish up a few life leaves to send out to some tree sponsors. I'm a bit behind in that too.

thanks for the help guy's. i better get out and get some work done.

[Johnny]

This vice was always turning when I didn't want it to.
MM140 at max power pre-heated with an actylene torch stopped the turning.

Of course, as it will likely be noted by some expersts, I "did it ALL WRONG" but it works and I beat the Cra p out of regularly and have for months.