Rock Island WW vise with busted nose

[JimReed@Tallahassee]

One hot day this summer, whilst trolling that famous auction site, I spied a sad Rock Island woodworking vise with a busted nose. It weighs 25+ pounds and is front heavy. The most obvious cause of injury was a fall to the floor accompanied by a positive test of the "butter side down" theory. Upon seeing the carnage wrought, bidders went screaming for the exits. Except for me, the bottom feeding tool doctor with a soft spot for the afflicted and unwanted. A single bid brought it to my doorstep with shipping somewhat higher than purchase price. I stripped it down and began to ponder the repair.




Of course, the vise is usable as is as long as the user avoids hammering on the handle. There is an outside chance that the break will continue. It is quite a project to mount a vise like this and a future break would probably occur at an inopportune time so a fix is in order. Replacement parts are available--not for this specific vise--but suitable to fit a 1" leadscrew. But these replacement parts would exceed the cost of the vise. I went to HD to see if they could help.

Ordinary plumbing Tee parts are too short in the neck but a short piece seemed to be the trick. A coupler could provide a collar. Here is what I brought home.




Then I got out my Dremel and began a grinding fest. The inside of the casting was not round like the pipe.




I also filed the pipe to take down high spots. About twenty minutes of work gave me this result.




Then it was off to the cutoff wheel and the stationary grinder. Here is the result.




Looking good. It is shoved in for a tight pressure fit but I will insert a few pins to keep it from rotating. The force of a vise handle is considerable and I don't want the dang thing to fall out. Stay tuned for the next installment of "Rock Island--From Rags to Riches".

[tim_leo]

Is there a possibility to get a longer nipple and build the new collar on the other side as well? That should keep the casting under compression and prevent a possible break in the future.

[Mike Brady]

If you are going the plumbing fitting route, why not just get a tee fitting?  You can then use a hardwood dowel as the handle.  I didn't see what the inside diameter was required to most closely match your broken casting, but you will have 3/4",1", and larger sizes to choose from.  Get black iron fittings, not galvanized. You can drill out the threading, (and should).

[JimReed@Tallahassee]

Thanks for the tips. Here is a shot from the inside.



The pipe section extends beyond the center hole and I feel pretty comfortable with it.

As for a tee, I purchased one and even did an on line search. The problem is that the neck does not extend far enough. The end of the leadscrew extends an inch into the neck and nothing I found had a neck long enough to accommodate it.

[castguy2003]

I would have made a quick pattern and core box then had a 80,000 psi ductile iron casting made.