Post leg vice

I find that dropping it all in an electrolysis bath for derusting will do in most paint that wasn't very carefully applied/baked on.

Otherwise a wire brush.

Metal dustbin (garbage can?) filled with caustic soda over a fire - I've stripped several large lumps of steel using this method.

Boiling hot caustic will strip your skin to the bone in seconds, so be careful!

If you want to use a less toxic method, I have had good luck with the non-toxic orange stripper.

There *is* a trick to it, though- if you just wipe it on in the open air, it will dry out before it is finished doing the job. What I do when something is too big to soak in a sealed container (as I'm sure your vise is) is brush on a nice thick coat of the stuff, and then wrap the whole thing in cheap aluminum foil.

Let is sit for about a day, and 99% of the old paint will come off along with the foil. What is left will be very easy to rub off with a wire brush or scrape away with a putty knife.

Easy to do, and easy to clean up. IIRC, the orange stripper is a little more expensive, but you don't have to wear a respirator and elbow length PVC gloves to use the stuff (though it is always a good idea to wear gloves of some sort when doing this- I usually use latex disposable ones). If it gets on your skin, there's plenty of time to go wash it off before it burns you- and if you've ever gotten a chemical burn from stripper, that alone makes it worth the extra couple of bucks.

The other option that comes to mind is sandblasting. If you've got a pretty good compressor, a gravity fed blaster is fairly cheap and will do the job as well- though that is pretty messy, and can sting a bit if you're not wearing adquate clothing and a face shield.

if you have a oxy acetylene torch, using the cutting torch, most of the paint will fly off. the rest can be wire brushed. (don't let your vice get hot enough to reach kindling temp.) i also use the heat of a torch to free up rusted parts when nothing else works. have fun, mark

Cool idea. :)

My favorite paint remover is used brake fluid. Ever-once in a while I run into some paint it won't touch tho.

I've done the sand blasting thing and didn't like it at all. :/

I've also done the lye-vat thing, heated (at work) and not heated at home using a 55 gallon drum, just poured out my used-up RR track batteries into it. Cold is the same as hot only 5 times slower. ;)

Worked great on the VW engine cases I was cleaning. Discoverd that the later cases had aluminum plugs in them too! ;)

Little hand grinder with a wire brush? Old knife and a hammer? Hard to give good advice without seeing it. :)

Anybody post a url of a leg-vise where I could get a good idea of what the missing spring looks like?

Alvin in AZ

The original poster had a link to a picture of a similar vice. Can't tell from the picture but I would assume the spring would be a coil spring around the clamp screw.

GA

All the post vises that I have seen had a flat spring that was held by the mount clamp on the one side, and acted on the opening arm on the other.

A pair of tabs is often present to keep the spring aligned.

Google Images search for "Post Vise" or "leg vise"

The spring is a leaf spring. It is held at its upper end by the band that ties the vise to the vise bracket. It is free at its lower end, all the way down at the pivot point for the movable jaw. That end is usually drawn out to both sides for half an inch and bent around the movable leg slightly so it stays centered . The springs usually have a very gentle S bend.

You can see the spring clearly in the picture. A piece of spring stock from an old trailer spring would work well. I once bought a couple of "Cat's Paw" pry bars at a Harbor Freight kind of place to use in replacing springs on two post vises for a guy. Be sure to temper to blue after shaping them.

Pete Stanaitis

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Kyle J. wrote:

Paint remover, some of them, might react with the Al foil.

Clear plastic wrap or even a bread sack would be better with base type strippers. Great for oiling wood - long soak time - Martin

Mart>>What I do when something is too big to soak in a sealed container

sheesh. looking back at the picture, yes, I can clearly see it. Funny how you can miss things when you think you already understand it.

GA

You are absolutely correct. If it has anything that is highly basic, such as sodium hydroxide, there's a good chance it could eat the foil and release hydrogen gas.

The suggestion is specifically geared towards the bright orange non-toxic stuff that is sold under a couple of different brand names, IIRC. The stuff that is nasty enough to react with aluminum foil is actually usually potent enough to work fine without wrapping it up- but then you get everything else that goes along with that as well. The risk of chemical burns, the awful smell and the fact that you're essentially left with hazardous waste when you're done usually prompts me to go for the nice smelling orange goop. But if I were in a big hurry, I suppose I'd get out the respirator and PVC gloves, and use the strong stuff.

On Tue, 24 Apr 2007 03:41:00 -0500, Prometheus wrote: Lots of replies snipped.

Thank you for all the suggestions. I am going to try the electrolytic method and see if it strips the paint as well. It is nice and safe and I can leave it to do its thing for a week without worrying about what is happening to the vice.

If that does not work I will try the other options. I will let you all know the result.

Geoff

I bought a box of purple gloves for when a risk might be had. We use normal surgical gloves as needed - keep mold off body...bad germs... Why risk when it is so cheap. I have Tyvek jump suits - overalls - zipper and snaps. I use them when ever I put out chemicals or deal with something that can get plant poison on me. Poison ivy, oak, sumac, etc.

Mart> >

geoff, your a metal worker and you don't have a oxy-acetylene? mark

While there's an obvious argument for your position, there's always something to be said for allowing your body to develop a certain level of resistance to things in the environment. Of course, if you're deathly allergic to poison ivy or similar that's a different story- but generally speaking, we are almost too protected these days. That can be a good thing to a point, but if your gloves tear or you just don't have you protective gear handy, you're in a lot more trouble than you might have been otherwise!

I'm a metal worker by profession, and I don't have one either. Everything costs money!

No I don;t have oxyacetylene as I buy as I need. I have a small setup that the torch is almost useless. Fro welding I have stick and tig capabilities so I have never needed oxyacetylene. I have had it on the shopping list for years but never got to buy it as hiring the cylindersw is expensive. (cannot buy them here in South Africa and so a monthly hire for some thing I use seldom is not good fiscal policy) I will get a set up soon as I get more blacksmithing to do. :)

geoff, i also have used oxy-propane which might be available in your area. mark

Except for some things (and poison ivy/oak are amoung them), the more you're exposed the more likely you are to have a reaction. Sometimes it really is better to minimize your risk when you can... --Glenn Lyford