Info on a Reed vise?

[Jason280]

Picked up a couple vises at the scrap yard a few days ago, the larger of the two is a generic Chinese vise. The smaller is a Reed, and has a damaged jaw. Is the jaw salvageable? I know most of these are cast, so it will make welding difficult. Is it worth trying to fix?

Any suggestions?

 

[Jason280]

This is the Chinese vise, just missing the jaws and has a crack in the lower ring...

 

[jakemac]

The Chinese vise isn't worth the bother. New jaws would cost as much or more than its worth.

Can the Reed be salvaged ? Possibly, but it may not be worth the time. If you had the missing pieces you might be able to pin and weld it, but I wouldn't trust it. The other method might be to build up a weld then mill and sand it back to shape. Then make new jaws. This would be too much work IMO. Your best bet would be to find a donor vise for the dynamic jaw, or just part it out. Sorry.

 

[Jason280]

I have an idea of making a set of jaws for the damaged side, drilling and tapping the vise, and simply bolting it in place....that would at least make the vise usable. As far as the chinese vise goes, I'm going to fab up a set of jaws for it, recess the bolt holes, and bolt it in place...the threads are still in place, just needs to be cleaned up a bit.