The Filing Vise

There is a drawing of a filing vise in the Blacksmith’s Journal on page 822, Volume 06, Feb 1996.  It is a contribution from Francis Whitaker.  I took a picture of it when I was at his shop in 1999.  I had recently acquired one for my shop.  I have never used the tool for an aid in filing.  I use it mostly for clamping things when I’m doing torch work.

I never really thought about it being an unusual tool until I did a web search and couldn’t find an image of another like it.  There are many images of other types especially for holding saw blades.

The hinge pin broke recently so I replaced it with another I made from a 60d nail.

Whitaker shop filing vise.

My filing vise with new hinge pin.

Using a Vise Cam Clamp

I saw an image of an old farrier tool which locked a horseshoe in place.  It was made to be held by a post vise and a forged cam was the locking lever.

Basically there was a broad curved post the same radius as the inside of the shoe against which a cam could lock the shoe by pushing on the outside radius of the shoe at a tangent point.  This device allowed secure hold and quick release similar to a vise grip clamp.

I do a lot of small repetitive work on the vise usually with torch heat and this looked like a useful tool to make.  I wanted my tool to be adjustable and not be limited to one size stock so I attached the post to a slide bar of 1/4” x 1” flat bar which could move in a barrel made from 1/8” x  1/2” x 1.25” channel.  The working space gap would be locked with a hex bolt through a welded nut.

Just for the learning experience I forged the cam from a piece of 1/2” square bar by drawing a flat taper about 6” long and starting a scroll with a 1/2” circular open center to fit over a 1/2” round bar axel.  The remainder of the taper was tightly closed like a jelly roll until the diameter was about 2.5”.  I cut off the solid bar extending beyond the cam and welded a piece of 1/2” square tube in it’s place to make the tool lighter.

The device seems to work well and it could be adapted in any number of ways.  Time will tell how useful it is.

Open position

Closed position

Clamping position

Vise Round Stock Clamp

I have gradually modified the morphology of this tool through several versions.  The basic idea is that it is hard to securely clamp a piece of round stock in a post vise because the area of the tangent surfaces of the round stock is small so the workpiece can easily rotate in the plane of the vise jaw faces.

I first encountered this problem when making some small decorative bolts from 1/4” stock.  I had seen a tool made by a more experienced blacksmith which I copied.  It could grip round stock from 1/8” up to about 1/2”.

Later, I made another version dedicated to stock about 1” in diameter but changed the design from a spring type linkage to a continuous loop linkage.

This week, I made an even larger version which I can use for stock up to about 3” and I don’t plan to work anything bigger than that.

This is the way I did it.  There are probably better designs and I look forward to seeing what other smiths have to offer.

I cut 36” of 1/8” x 1/2” flat bar and pulled it into a circle and MIG welded the ends to close the circle.  Then, I heated the rather ugly weld with a torch set to a reducing flame until the weld melted, just right for fusion, and hammered it to a nice finished joint.

Next, I cut two short pieces of angle and lightly tacked them together as shown, to keep them in alignment.  I cut two more short pieces of angle which rest on the tops of the vise jaw.

It’s not very pretty, but it is amazingly effective.  I hang it on the wall right beside the vise.

http://www.persimmonforge.com/

Vise Rivet Head Upset Tool

Usually rivets from 3/16” diameter through 1/2” are easy to obtain in commonly useful lengths. Custom rivets, for me, are either ordinary diameter rivets in an extraordinary long length or rivets with a larger than ordinary shank diameter.

I recently needed some 3” rivets with a 9/16” shank so I made them from scratch. Vise clamping and peening with torch heat works well but the shank needs to be gripped securely to prevent slipping. Providing a bottom buck works even better and combining the two is a sure thing.

Over the years I have made one style clamping/bucking tool to be used in the post vise which has worked well, That style is shown in images “Rivet upset tool 6 & 8”. The loop depth is about 3” as that is as long as I have ever needed. When making shorter rivets a piece of steel scrap can be inserted to make the bottom stop more shallow. On the 1/4” shank tool I actually tack welded in a stop piece.

After I had finished making a new larger version for the 9/16” shaft rivets I thought perhaps a more universal tool could be fabricated which would have a screw adjustable stop so I drew up a plan. I won’t take the time now to make and test one but if this comes up again I will try it. See “Adjustable Rivet Header”. The shank gripper part is made by sandwiching a piece of card stock between two blocks of mild steel and drilling the hole about the same diameter as the round stock to be used then relieving the sharp edges. The assembly is completed by welding the gripper jaws to the angle flanges and adding the side arms to the fixed nut creating sort of the bottom half of a turnbuckle. I will use 1” thread rod with 1” nuts for the adjustable stop. I might use a coupler nut for the fixed nut.

When welding clamp a piece of slightly oversized stock in the gripper channel so there is a little spring gap built in. The actual stock will fit easily and the vise jaws only have to bend the spring arms a little to grip firmly.

Tip for clean threaded rod end cuts:

http://www.woodsmithtips.com/2010/10/07/clean-threads/

Tip for upsetting rivets:

http://chestofbooks.com/crafts/machinery/Shop-Practice-V2/Simple-Bend-Forcing.html

http://www.persimmonforge.com/

Trenton-Fisher Vise Chain Repair

Several months ago, actually August 2009, one of the links on my antique Trenton-Fisher vise finally gave way. I took the chain off and inspected the break. It looked like it might be possible to fabricate another link but it might be tedious and time consuming to get it just right so I decided to look for new chain.

At the local farm and ranch supply store I found out that it was called steel detachable chain, also flat steel chain. It is called agricultural chain too in general, but there at least three subtypes. The store didn’t stock the size I needed and suggested I check with John Deere. The most valuable thing I took away was learning the proper name which I was able to use at John Deere.

I drove directly there and they were able to measure the link, look it up in their parts manual and order it for me. The minimum order was 10’ for $38.53 which included shipping and tax. There was the option for buying the chain link by link but time was going to be the biggest expense in the repair and if another link broke and I had to go through all that again it would really be a false economy.

Time flies. The new chain has been in use for almost two years and works fine. I’ve got enough extra chain to fix it again it if I need to do that. So all’s well that ends well.

Here are some references for anyone interested:

Chart showing how to measure a chain link to get the part number:
http://fcmason.thomasnet.com/viewitems/steel-detachable-chain/flat-steel-chain?

Some other chain sources:
http://www.thebigbearingstore.com/servlet/the-Roller-Chain-cln-Detachable-Chain-cln-Attachments/Categories

http://www.balsters.net/agroller_steel_detachablechain.html

http://www.macknair.com/miscellaneousparts.htm

6/27/12 Today I came across some more information about the vise in the Summer 2009 issue of Anvil's Ring on pages 39 - 41.

http://www.persimmonforge.com/