rock island 597

[sanya]

picked up this vise today for 50 bucks. its big, its heavy, 6" jaws and opens up to 13"

its a little rough and needs some work, but im happy with it. i looked for some info on it and a google search got me no where. can anyone help me figure out its age and any other information?

proud papa

dwarfs the 4" reed

 

[marslawn]

Wow those jaws are beat! Nice vise

 

[Adam McLaughlin]

Wonderful Score!! I could use that in Santa Rosa if you ever change your mind and want to come this way

Adam

 

[autopts]

Thats a nice find! Its missing the chanelled jaws. If you know of someone with a mill that could align and mill them flat, At least you could get 100% surface use from each jaw. You can't go wrong at $50. Its a big one!

 

[purevl]

Thats a nice find! Its missing the chanelled jaws. If you know of someone with a mill that could align and mill them flat, At least you could get 100% surface use from each jaw. You can't go wrong at $50. Its a big one!

It looks like the jaws are there in the first picture. Personally, I think milling the jaw channels off would be a terrible waste.

 

[sanya]

this is one of the issues i want to fix. one of the previous owners bolted up square jaws and welded the gap but all the welding cracked. im cleaning up the jaws and hope to channel them and get them back on the way they were meant to be. i dont think that will be much of a problem, but it wont be pretty from all the welding that it had before. is there any way that i can use a MIG welder to add some metal around the jaws and file smooth to get it looking half way decent?

the other thing is that the handle has been replaced and is too thin and wobbles inside the ball on the end of the screw so i want to replace it. where can i buy the round stock and balls for the ends? i remember someone posting a link up on here before.

 

[autopts]

It looks like the jaws are there in the first picture. Personally, I think milling the jaw channels off would be a terrible waste.

Yes, your right! I just scrolled right down to the second photo.

 

[sanya]

no one?

 

[Outlawmws]

Handle: You might be able to get round stock from a hardware store, but unless its something tougher like drill rod, might bend easily. Since you appear to weld, you can cut the old balls off, leaving say 1/8" or less of the old bar, and weld those onto a new bar.

Welding the vise itself: I've successfully welded CI with MIG, HOWEVER, get the part to be welded into an oven, as hot as it will go, (probably 500 F tops) and have a bucket of hot sand ready for it after you are done filling.

I'd make sure you use a shielding gas and not flux core. Weld, then cool slow in the hot sand. Something that big, you want two buckets, one with the hot sand, and the other to set up the part and dump the sand over. After its cooled (over night?) then do your detailed filing or grinding.

 

[lzenglish]

Nice Find! Some History Info. in this past post here:http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=124285

Wayne

 

[sanya]

thanks for the line, izenglish.

outlawmws, would it not be wise to get the area that needs to be welded really hot with a torch? or would that be too hot?

how do i warm up the sand and whats the point of this? to keep the vise hot while the welding is being done? and after im done welding, pour cool or hot sand over the vise to cool it?

i assume co2/argon shielding gas should work?

i was going to message you with all the questions but figured it would be better to have the answers on here so hopefully it helps someone else in the future.

 

[Outlawmws]

thanks for the line, izenglish.

outlawmws, would it not be wise to get the area that needs to be welded really hot with a torch? or would that be too hot?

Best to have the welding area and welder ready to go, and yes having a second pair of hands with a torch to keep it hot and maybe add a little more heat won't hurt, you are not trying to get it red hot however.

Experiment a bit on some heavy scrap, heated and unheated. You will be amazed at the difference heating the piece to be welded makes. (Welds like butter) you will actually weld at a lower level than when welding a cold piece of material. This also give you a chance to setup the welder for the real job.

The real deal with CI is that CI in a large mass tends to crack as it cools if you simply buzz into it when cold. The rest of the cold mass ***** the heat out of the welded area unevenly and it cracks. (this can start cracking at one end while you are still welding at the other on long welds)

how do i warm up the sand and whats the point of this? to keep the vise hot while the welding is being done? and after im done welding, pour cool or hot sand over the vise to cool it?

Use the oven again and I'd start the sand at least an hour ahead of the CI part. Think about how you will move the heated sand and vise once heated also.

The purpose of the sand is to slow the cooling process, The slower the better, so hot sand into the second bucket, the welded vise on the bed of hot sand and more hot sand on top of that. Then its simple; just walk away and let it cool on its own. You can also set the vise on top of that sand while welding, again to keep the heat up.

i assume co2/argon shielding gas should work?

Yes. that's fine


Lastly don't dawdle once the parts come out of the oven. Weld it and bury it, don't get so rushed that you do a sloppy job, but do have everything ready to start welding as soon as its in position.

 

[sanya]

great info, thank you!