Broken Rock Island vise

[bungy42]

I picked up this little Rock Island vise today, but it's got two broken mounting flanges. I'm comfortable heating the casting and welding the flange back on that was still with it. However, I'm not so confident fabricating the rear flange from scratch. Can I weld steel to the cast iron using nickel rods? Or will I need to braze it together? What if I fab up a flange out of scrap cast iron (If I can find something thick enough)? What would the experts do?

 

[noid]

But why?

That vise has lived a long and fruitful life; might it be less work to just find a vise that isn't broken?

 

[bungy42]

But why?

That vise has lived a long and fruitful life; might it be less work to just find a vise that isn't broken?

Yes, that's true, but fixing a worthless vise gives me an opportunity to practice welding cast iron, which I don't get to do much. Then when something breaks that's more difficult to replace, I'll be able to fix it.

 

[davethorik]

Google some of the repairs kmscott has posted. He has done busted off feet, I'm pretty sure he brazed or silver soldered. I'm fairly certain he did some machine work to the vise as well so there could be a "splint" that screwed into both the vise and the foot so they had more than just the braze holding them together. I could be remembering this wrong, but you can easily find his vise repair info here.

 

[cdsloop]

I have a No. 93 vise that was included in another purchase of a homemade parts washer/workbench. It was one of my first "restoration projects." It has one mounting ear that was brazed back on, and that ear has never given any problems since I have owned it. However, I discovered that the main nut was cracked while I was doing the restoration, and I am pretty careful in what I ask that vise to do, so it doesn't get a lot of high stress use. I'd say give it a try, what do you have to lose at this point. If you do decide to scrap it or part it out, please contact me, as I may be interested in the main nut and leadscrew assembly to bring my vise back up to snuff. Good luck in whatever you decide to do.
PS-Let me know if you would like pics of my rear mounting flange to assist you in fabrication, if you decide to go that route.

 

[jimreed2160]

Perhaps you could just fab a base from steel plate and weld the vise to the new base. Good luck with your repair.