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milling vice restoration
Andrew Wildman:
The vice that I use on the Omnimil is a bit shabby looking, has had a number of mishaps in the past (not me!) and could do with a rebuild. I thought about getting a new one from Arc but the budget has to be spent on other things so I am going to tidy it up and make sure it is all square and true.
Here is the lump in all it's glory:
Over the next few weeks I will strip it down, fill the holes with epoxy metal, scrape it true, fit new jaws and give it a lick of paint. I still have a couple of other projects to complete so progress will not be particularly quick but here goes...
leg17:
You can probably R&R those jaw inserts.
Arbalist:
I had an Abwood like that, should never have let it go when I sold the mill. Can you not get someone to fill the holes with weld for you?
Andrew Wildman:
Leg17,the jaws have been milled lower than the main body of the vice so they really need replacing. I don't think they are original.
Arbalist, I did think about welding up the holes myself, but the main one is quite big and I don't want to distort the vice. The epoxy metal solution is not as nice but I think it will be sufficient to stop stuff dropping into the holes. What do you think about weld distorting the vice?
awemawson:
Andrew, before I had my Bridgeport table re-ground a few decades ago, I (perhaps rather foolishly) had some 'oops dings' by the previous owner welded up professionally. They did all the right things, creating a large pre-heat brick enclosure, used the right nickel rods, and let it cool very slowly. Looked ok until it was finish ground, then the welds looked pretty awful :palm: OK I probably notice them more than others would, but I keep them covered by a darn great vice most of the time :lol:
Can you not fabricate a dovetail insert from cast iron to replace the bit with those holes - I'm imagining a bit with a lower dovetail to lock it to the body of the vice, and an upper one to match what is there (but without the holes!)
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