Emmert Vise Restoration

[Andy Guss]

I was recently fortunate enough to pick up an Emmert vise. It has all of the parts except for the tillt jaw insert but I know that I can order those if I need one. I am planning to rub the paint off and clean it up a bit, lubricate the parts that warrant it and then probably repaint it black, or possibly leave it in its current color to preserve some of this vise's history.

The one area that needs repair is the little tine that sticks off the ends of the dogs has been broken off two, maybe three of the dogs. Since the dogs seem to be made of steel instead of cast iron, I am wondering if this would be a relatively easy fix, or should I just try to make all new dogs out of some hard material, steel or otherwise?

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_F2bEclKyCeA/TK4LEtIRcYI/AAAAAAAAARY/uk1Yv-q0acs/s640/IMG_20100911_095539.jpg

Thanks,

Andy

[Dave Anderson NH]

I'm not sure it's worth the trouble Andy. When I installed my K-1 on my bench I added a double row of dog holes across the width of the bench to mate up with the vises dogs. I have used them exactly once. As for the tilting jaw, I have mine and have never used it. I find the regular tilt from the lever on the vise gives me all the versatility I need. I do find however that I use the vise with the jaws rotated 90 degrees regularly to give a more comfortable working height. It's great for spokeshave work.

Naturally, your mileage may vary depending on the type of work you do.

[Matt Evans]

Even if they are cast iron, I have had pretty good luck with drilling and tapping old cast iron. I use the largest, coarsest thread I can still get 4-6 threads into the cast iron, and have never had a problem.

I am guessing that by tine you are talking about the handle to raise and lower the dog.

If they are broken off, I would use the original dogs, drill and tap the location of the original handle, then make handles that screw into the holes.

The handles are pretty easy to make, using an appropriately threaded bolt and a piece of brass, steel or wood. A very rough sketch attached of how I do handles like you are talking about. (For really small handles I use a slotted head bolt so I don't have to worry about getting a wrench around a bolt head inside the counter bore.)

[Gary Radice]

I recently got that same vise, though I haven't mounted it yet. Although luckily for me the smaller tines are still intact, if I had to replace one I think I would file or grind the dog or cast iron part flat, then drill and tap a hole in the end of the dog for a screw, and then thread a piece of steel rod and screw it in. It isn't hard to do: just read up about tapping and making threads, get the proper dies and drills, practice on some scrap, and have at it. The nice thing is that in this application the tolerances don't matter that much. You just need a little post sticking up!

But as Dave suggested, you might find that you never need the small tines, so you might just use it for awhile without them. If you find that you wish you had them, then roll your own.

[Andy Guss]

OK, my last post just vaporozed itself, so here we go again.

Thanks for those helpful suggestions. I am glad I came here for advice. I had not thought of just tapping a hole and threading something into it. I had been envisioning having to weld two pieces of steel together which I had never done before.

Gary, if you haven't already mounted yoru vise, I had a little trouble finding the #18 flat head slotted wood screws I wanted for this task. It is still hard to believe that 5 screws mounted close to the edge of the bench hold a 90 lb. vise that moves changes loading angles, etc. In any case, I thought Jamestown distributor screws were a little overpriced and they didn't have a 2" in stainless steel. I went with Greenboatstuff.com (http://www.greenboatstuff.com/ststtytascfl1.html) . They had the widest selection and the cheapest shipping.

Let me know how you decide to mount your vise. I don't think I am going to flush mount mine in that recess. I will just put the mounting plate right on the front edge of the vise.

Thanks again,

Andy