Wilton vise crack would you sweat it

[nyokie]

Auction find 50 bucks. Didn’t notice crack in casting above slide till I cleaned it a bit. Shouldn’t effect function right? Guessing this is a 645 predecessor? 111067 and 111066 only numbers on it. Slide works smooth. Guessing someone pounded the anvil plate too hard?
Got to drill and tap couple of jaw screw holes but I’m thinking still a good buy.

 

[Firstram]

Use it like a vise, not an anvil, and it will be fine!

 

[PierceA]

I agree, use it as a vise and not an anvil. That crack is the result of a hammer impact on that thin top of the static.

Keep a heavy chunk of steel railroad rail, or a small anvil around for actually hammering on.

I'm not sure what has damaged more vises over the years:
Hammering on a weak 'anvil' surface
Hammering on the rear slide of the dynamic jaw
Hammering on or adding a 'cheater pipe' to the handle
Hammering on something held in the jaws until a jaw is broken or a jaw shelf is broken off [Wiltons]
Not paying attention and using a cutting torch on something held in the vise, and cutting a chunk out of the jaws
Not paying attention and using a hacksaw and cutting to deep or too far and cutting a slot in the vise
Dropping the vise on the floor from the top of the work bench and cracking a chunk out of the slide
Using stick arc welder, and striking the welding rod on the vise to test for a good cable connection

All the above are tool abuse.. And yes, I'm guilty of a couple of them, over the last 60 years.
My penance is now I buy abused vises and repair the damage done, restoring the vise to it's former intact status.

PierceA

 

[RUSH55]

I would consider it to be good for parts. That vise has been through the wringer. But if you ever need swivel parts or a screw or nut for another one in better condition, there you go.

 

[Citation]

This is totally outside my wheel house, I understand some would grind and then weld that up. Could it be headed then brazed with something that would wick into that gap? In my head I'm thinking something like how solder wicks into a pipe joint. So long as the metal is hot can you use a good flux then a good filler to seep into that crack? In theory electrical solder and a good flux would fill the gap but it would have all the strength of silly putty in that application. Is there a structural brazing rod that would work?

 

[Iridium rand]

Doesn’t look like a biggie, if you see the crack stretching open or something while cranking on the handle I’d try filling it in with a braze rod but otherwise just don’t hammer on that part And it should be fine

someone suggested using it for parts, well go ahead and do so if it breaks further but you can always strip it down after the fact, no reason not to use it as is

 

[seber]

Brass has very similar strength to cast iron. go ahead and braze it and use it. It will be just fine. In fact the crack has no effect on the function of the vise, so you could just ignore it as long and you don't hammer on that surface. That surface is just there for very light use anyway. Things like straightening pins. Not for forging.