Todays Project - What did you do today?

[PixMan]

Quite an adventurous and industrious day.

I had answered a Craigslist add two weeks ago and got a few tools at a commercial shop in Fitzwilliam NH that was closing. The owner, Ralph Neimela, had his own product lines, one of which were bench, machinist, pipe and combination vises he designed, manufactured and sold almost exclusively through GSA (US government General Services Administration) contracts.

At my first visit I came home with a few good buys on tools that were mentioned here in another thread. The item I wanted but was ill-equipped to pay for on the spot was a huge 6" bench vise with auxiliary pipe jaws. I met Ralph, his daughter Racheal (yes, that's the right spelling) and his son-in-law Arnold. All really nice people. I e-mailed Racheal when I got home that day and asked if she would consider holding or taking a deposit on the vise.

After my business trip to Wisconsin this week, I'd be up there today (Saturday 10Aug) to pay and take it away. And so that was my trip this morning. It was a bit steep for a slightly dinged one, but it did have the sliver painted highlights on the cast-in text, adding to the value and "bling factor." We had to take it down to the three major components to be able to fit it in my car; the swivel base, the sliding jaw and the main body. All together, the vise weighs upwards of 175 pounds (80kg).

I got back to the shop and began the project. First order of business was to remove the vise my dad had bought used, and (mostly) hated. It was a Chinese vise that rotated 360º and had separate pipe and regular 6" jaws. It never seemed to lock in securely, despite his having taken it apart to rework it twice. He'd have been glad to see this thing be removed.



Next, before I mounted the new vise I wanted to make ONE little modification. The GSA contract never specified having an "anvil-like" surface, but there behind the main solid jaw was a block of cast iron just screaming at me to be milled flat.



And so I did, using hand feed at 260 rpm with a 3" 45º lead carbide insert face mill:





The surface now flat, time for installation and reassembly.



Note the beefy 1-1/4" (32mm) ACME threads on the jaw movement. There seems to be thrust bearings on the assembly as well. The handle alone is 3/4" diameter, and the big ends on the sliding handle are each double pinned onto the shaft. They are NEVER going to pop off as you drop the handle down (like my 5" Starrett vise does.)



Fully assembled, it has at least 9" opening between the jaws, though rated for 8". I love how it has such depth from the top of the jaws, and the mass of it counters any flex it might have had because of that height.



I'm so proud to own this, so happy to have met the guy who designed it, made the casting patterns, and machined all the components. Ralph is around 80 years old now, but in seemingly good health. They are never to be made again, as the foundry in New York who made the castings had burned to the ground a few years ago and the patterns went with it. It's a work of art!