Does this look welded to you?

[jonhdw]

I recently bought a Reed 104R because the jaw faces had been machined flat to remove the serrations and I prefer flat jaws over using copper jaw inserts. I didn't think anything of it until I started stripping the rust off and I see what looks like welds around the jaws. Now I'm thinking someone broke this vise, welded the jaws back on, then machined the jaw inserts so they aligned properly. Am I crazy, or is this normal for a Reed?

First 4 pics are of the Dynamic Jaw, the other 3 are of the Static Jaw.

I understand the jaw inserts are "hot forged" in Reeds, so I'm hoping this is a normal effect of that process. I've never had a Reed before, but something doesn't seem right about this to me. What do you guys think? Thanks!

 

[popparoach]

Looks like jaws are missing.but I dunno.

 

[xxaler]

Looks pretty normal. If they were rewelded there would be lots of surface imperfections, and it would be very noticeable on-top.

 

[jonhdw]

Thanks guys, but I think I am not describing my concern properly. The jaw inserts are there, they are just machined flat. There are no screws or fasteners because they are forged into the jaws from the factory.

I am looking at what appears to be welds around the actual jaws, not the inserts. I circled some of the main areas in the pics below, but that is the part of the jaw I am talking about in all the pictures above.

 

[jonhdw]

That's a good idea radrush, but is it possible to tell just by looking at it if it's been welded? If it's been welded at all I'll probably just scrap it, so I'm not concerned with the quality of the weld.

 

[larry_g]

What do you guys think? Thanks!

I think that you should use it like a rented mule. Whats to worry about, if it works as it should then all is good, if it breaks then you'll have learned a lesson in buying vises. Either way you will come out with something.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[454ragtop]

Looks more like casting imperfections to me, seen similar with that type of cast in place jaw inserts.

 

[jonhdw]

Larry, I would, but I bought this vise with the intent to restore and resell and want to make sure it's good to go. I wouldn't want to sell a vise that has been welded on.

And thanks 454 and radrush, I appreciate the input!

 

[DocsMachine]

I see what you mean by the faint hints that suggest welds. But what I'm NOT seeing is any telltale indications the welds were dressed and ground down.

Yes, there's a few grinding marks, most of which look factory to me. The "welded" areas, if they are indeed welded, were then beautifully dressed down, by someone who took a great deal of time to get the contours and shapes right.

And who THEN spent a considerable amount of effort dressing down the ground areas to make it look original. Some of the "welded" areas the person would have specifically and deliberately gone through the effort to reproduce the forged/cast texture of the surface.

Generally speaking, anyone who's going to fix a vise like that is going to weld it together, shave the welds down with a big angle grinder, and if they have a bit of pride in their work, will then dress up the rough grinds with some smaller air tools to smooth things up a bit.

But that virtually always leaves visible traces- you have to work very carefully to not leave such traces- and I'm just not seeing any.

It's not impossible that somebody did that, but in my experience, having done a LOT of weld grinding in my time I'm not seeing anything that indicates anyone ground and smoothed any welds.

Doc.

 

[jonhdw]

Yeah, I see what you're saying Doc, especially in pic #5 of my first post. That makes a lot of sense!