doscazadores
Member
Without knowing why, I always assumed the Athol vise is made of cast iron.
Or could it be forged steel?
Or could it be forged steel?
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Athol vise question
- Thread starter doscazadores
- Start date
Mark in Indiana
Well-known member
Dos,
Welcome to the group.
I've never known Athol to make a bench vise from anything but cast iron. Maybe a tool maker's vise would be forged steel?
You may want to ask your question at the Vises of GJ thread, over in General Tool Discussion.
Welcome to the group.
I've never known Athol to make a bench vise from anything but cast iron. Maybe a tool maker's vise would be forged steel?
You may want to ask your question at the Vises of GJ thread, over in General Tool Discussion.
matt_i
Well-known member
Consider to be a forging the part has to be smashed in a press at greater than red-heat to elongate and "direct" the grain-flow in a beneficial direction in the microstructure of the steel. Its an expensive process.
In very simple ideas, there's a couple basic kinds of cast iron, grey iron which is what most parent-bore engine blocks used to be made of (sleeves still are because of the graphite "flakes" in the microstructure, the oil-lubed cast iron rings on cast iron bores are still about the longest-wearing non-exotic materials)
or
Nodular iron which has a different carbon content and microstructure. You would want to make a steering knuckle out of nodular because of its toughness under impact. The grey iron, while strong, will brittle-fail if overloaded, and imo would be a poor choice for a steering knuckle. By the same token, nodular would be a poor choice for an IC engine cylinder bore.
In general terms, grey iron pours at a lower temp than nodular which pours at a lower temp than cast steel. Forging requires a significant amount of "hammer" work just below the casting temp. You can somewhat equate costs with elevated temps.
A nodular cast iron vise would be my choice for balance of cost and performance.
In very simple ideas, there's a couple basic kinds of cast iron, grey iron which is what most parent-bore engine blocks used to be made of (sleeves still are because of the graphite "flakes" in the microstructure, the oil-lubed cast iron rings on cast iron bores are still about the longest-wearing non-exotic materials)
or
Nodular iron which has a different carbon content and microstructure. You would want to make a steering knuckle out of nodular because of its toughness under impact. The grey iron, while strong, will brittle-fail if overloaded, and imo would be a poor choice for a steering knuckle. By the same token, nodular would be a poor choice for an IC engine cylinder bore.
In general terms, grey iron pours at a lower temp than nodular which pours at a lower temp than cast steel. Forging requires a significant amount of "hammer" work just below the casting temp. You can somewhat equate costs with elevated temps.
A nodular cast iron vise would be my choice for balance of cost and performance.
OP
doscazadores
Member
Thanks, everyone, I thought at much just from what I've read and knowing how forging is actually done.
Kevin54
MEMBER EMERITUS
Ask the Mods to move this to the vise thread in Tools.