The VISES of Garage Journal

[skmbabon]

Snagged an L.S. Starrett 923 recently, and disassembled and cleaned it up today. I'm so impressed with how well-made these vises are. I was fortunate to get it, since these are super-rare to find here in Canada - in fact this is the first one I've ever seen for sale locally.

Beautiful job Tom!

 

[ranger08]

Snagged an L.S. Starrett 923 recently, and disassembled and cleaned it up today. I'm so impressed with how well-made these vises are. I was fortunate to get it, since these are super-rare to find here in Canada - in fact this is the first one I've ever seen for sale locally.

The as-found condition was a bit rusty and dusty.



But it cleaned up nicely with minimal effort. The original "car trunk liner" paint was in pretty decent shape, so just scrubbed it with soap and water and polished the unpainted areas using some non-woven abrasive buffing wheels.





The jaws were in almost immaculate condition. The only dirt I found inside the vise when cleaning was some sawdust, so it was probably not used for much other than holding pieces of wood steady while sawing.


I was quite surprised to find out that the screw was threaded with a "buttress" thread rather than the normal acme thread. I've only ever seen buttress threads on my quick-release style Made-in-England vises where it works nicely to engage tightly in the half-nut when tightening but slides easily across the nut when using the quick release feature. Wonder why Starrett used this thread type?

Thanks for looking,
Tom

thats a pure restoration, purrfect
it seems most people here rate the starrett, they are very rarely seen down under

 

[Spanner]

I won an online auction bid over the weekend which was described as “Toolbox and contents” and I found this little engineers vise in the box. It is in bad need of some TLC but I’m delighted with the surprise of finding this in the box. I will clean it up and post a few photos.

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

After what feels like an eternity since I've been able to bring home a new vise, I landed this Oswego 24-1/2. This is my first from this manufacturer. It's a little crusty but the price was definitely right. It looks like the jaws are smooth on this one. I don't know if that's common or not.

 

[dannyr]

I won an online auction bid over the weekend which was described as “Toolbox and contents” and I found this little engineers vise in the box. It is in bad need of some TLC but I’m delighted with the surprise of finding this in the box. I will clean it up and post a few photos.

It's a Nippy (drill/machine vise) - not scarce in UK but much liked, so price for a good one is $$. Stackable set of jaw plates to suit job.

Murray & Sons London, 'The Nippy' - sold at least until '60s/'70s - one size is 3.75in wide jaws- there may be others.

 

[Spanner]

It's a Nippy (drill/machine vise) - not scarce in UK but much liked, so price for a good one is $$. Stackable set of jaw plates to suit job.

Murray & Sons London, 'The Nippy' various sizes.

It came in a military box along with some other tools for 19€ in a blind online auction so I am well happy with the price. I see you are from the home of anything forged and the birth place of vices, I would suspect the steel used in this vice originated in your part of the country.

 

[PierceA]

twagler: Thank you for posting the photos of your Starrett 623.
Your photos made clear to me that my Starrett 624 was NOT a repainted vise. I just could NOT get my head around the
automobile-trunk spatter paint. As well as the lack of masking off the slide between the jaw towers.
My Starrett also had a fair amount of overspray on the jaw tops and ends.. I had cleaned that off many months ago.

I do think that my vise was at least mounted to a bench: the paint inside the mounting holes is missing or scored, but other than that, and some paint worn off of the dynamic's jaw tower near the jaw insert, this vise appears to be NEW..
So new, I hesitate to use it.. LOL.


PierceA

 

[TheRealZeus]

I won an online auction bid over the weekend which was described as “Toolbox and contents” and I found this little engineers vise in the box. It is in bad need of some TLC but I’m delighted with the surprise of finding this in the box. I will clean it up and post a few photos.

Here is the box label for them. Some specs. great find! There was a video on the YouTube for one awhile back from sparesorrepair, I think.. I’ll try to remember to look later.

 

[TheRealZeus]

twagler: Thank you for posting the photos of your Starrett 623.
Your photos made clear to me that my Starrett 624 was NOT a repainted vise. I just could NOT get my head around the
automobile-trunk spatter paint. As well as the lack of masking off the slide between the jaw towers.
My Starrett also had a fair amount of overspray on the jaw tops and ends.. I had cleaned that off many months ago.

I do think that my vise was at least mounted to a bench: the paint inside the mounting holes is missing or scored, but other than that, and some paint worn off of the dynamic's jaw tower near the jaw insert, this vise appears to be NEW..
So new, I hesitate to use it.. LOL.


PierceA

Run her. She is pretty, and needs to be front and center. just be gentle! I tried a schema to reproduce that look but it was stupidly messy… couldn’t pull it off with limited equipment.. it involved a Drill Press, dipping a wire wheel, and a lot of cardboard… results= inefficient to cost. if I ever try again I’ll just sling paint with a brush.

 

[Shiftless]

Take inspiration from this guy.

 

[four.cycle]

^ very difficult technique.
Pollock mastered it.

 

[TheRealZeus]

Here is the box label for them. Some specs. great find! There was a video on the YouTube for one awhile back from sparesorrepair, I think.. I’ll try to remember to look later.

 

[Spanner]

Here is the box label for them. Some specs. great find! There was a video on the YouTube for one awhile back from sparesorrepair, I think.. I’ll try to remember to look later.

Here is the box label for them. Some specs. great find! There was a video on the YouTube for one awhile back from sparesorrepair, I think.. I’ll try to remember to look later.

Wow that’s a resurrection not a restoration!
I don’t know how he he managed to keep the base guide flat with a flap disc after all that welding. Surely a run through the milling machine would be required.

 

[Spanner]

Well it got a tidy up and it is ready for use. I also uncovered a Monday morning production mistake on the underside of one of the jaw plates, it was stamped incorrectly twice and then hidden on the underside.

 

[TheRealZeus]

Well it got a tidy up and it is ready for use. I also uncovered a Monday morning production mistake on the underside of one of the jaw plates, it was stamped incorrectly twice and then hidden on the underside.

Monday-Hangover production. He was making the stamp legible to him, after tying a few off with the guys over the weekend.


Nice work!

 

[ViceRoy2030]

Sweet!
We are all looking at a C3 right?

Yes, sorry about not clarifying.

 

[Willy Wilson]

Prentiss #10

 

[cagedfalcon]

Picked up 2 today.
Sad little C43 ¹/² with a broken chin support & lug, & missing jaws. Bur a nice Athol 624¹/². Looks like the dynanic(?) Jaw has been welded, but I'll see more once cleaned up.

Paul

 

[mingiunate]

Hey everyone, I'm new here but wanted to share a recent find. I managed to grab a Parker 59 (not 59X), attaching photos below.
It looks to be in ok shape: opens and closes very smoothly, jaws are pretty well defined and aligned. The bad: the back of the slide has a crack, the collar not is not original, and theres a pretty heavy layer of paint on it (and I'd guess rust under it).

Was curious if anyone had guesses as to the date of this vise. The one odd thing is the fixed jaw casting doesn't seem to have the patent date on it - so not sure if that makes it earlier or much later than 1906.
My plan to start cleaning it would be to dunk it in a bath for electrolytic rust removal and then scrub from there, but happy to hear any other thoughts, thanks!

 

[Shiftless]

Pictures don’t show. You might need more postings before you can post pics.
For removal of paint and grease at the same time, I use hot Simple Green. That softens the paint to the point that it can be easily removed with a stiff brush or low powered pressure washer. The time required depends on many factors but it will be hours.

edit: A first time poster said he picked up a Parker and wanted some info on it and asked about paint. Now the post has disappeared. Must have been removed by a mod. ?????

 

[mingiunate]

Pictures don’t show. You might need more postings before you can post pics.
For removal of paint and grease at the same time, I use hot Simple Green. That softens the paint to the point that it can be easily removed with a stiff brush or low powered pressure washer. The time required depends on many factors but it will be hours.

Got it, thanks, I'll try again after a few posts.

 

[cagedfalcon]

Pictures don’t show. You might need more postings before you can post pics.
For removal of paint and grease at the same time, I use hot Simple Green. That softens the paint to the point that it can be easily removed with a stiff brush or low powered pressure washer. The time required depends on many factors but it will be hours.

Thanks for the cleaning info. As to seeing the pics, 21 views each, and posted some a few weeks ago on this monster of vise, a Hollands 56H.
Pic viewing may be on your end?

 

[Shiftless]

I can see your pic of your big Hollands. VERY NICE!

 

[cagedfalcon]

I can see your pic of your big Hollands. VERY NICE!

 

[mingiunate]

Pictures don’t show. You might need more postings before you can post pics.
For removal of paint and grease at the same time, I use hot Simple Green. That softens the paint to the point that it can be easily removed with a stiff brush or low powered pressure washer. The time required depends on many factors but it will be hours.

edit: A first time poster said he picked up a Parker and wanted some info on it and asked about paint. Now the post has disappeared. Must have been removed by a mod. ?????

That was my bad, I edited the original post to try to add the photos which made the post go back into review and disappear. New guy problems...

 

[Daveo]

Someone gave me a couple old mill vises and said the couldn't be salvaged... Like the one posted above.

I like a challenge and who doesnt want a couple free vises?

 

[Daveo]

Someone gave me a couple old mill vises and said the couldn't be salvaged... Like the one posted above.

I like a challenge and who doesnt want a couple free vises?

Couple more pics

 

[Jayman17]

Couple more pics

Nice save Daveo!

 

[Daveo]

Nice save Daveo!

Thanks! I'll try and dig up pics of the bad one!

 

[Daveo]

Just a cheapie 3-1/2 vise but it is USA made and a perfect size for my bench and working on small parts. I do use the **** out of it!

 

[Shiftless]

Interesting!
Here is a pic of my Little Giant with a disposable lighter added for scale. This vise is not exactly giant, but the handle is certainly optimistic.

 

[Daveo]

I upgraded the screw mechanism, I copied my big Wilton

I put aluminum jaws on all my vises! Yes, they are sacrificial...

 

[Daveo]

Interesting!
Here is a pic of my Little Giant with a disposable lighter added for scale. This vise is not exactly giant, but the handle is certainly optimistic.

Cute little thing!

 

[Outlawmws]

This vise is not exactly giant, but the handle is certainly optimistic.

"When I grow up I wanna be a..."

 

[skmbabon]

I'm hoping for help identifying the maker of this vise, sold by Eaton's (big Canadian department store) in 1956. Doesn't look like anything by the Canadian makers I know. Eaton's had buyers all over the world, so any thoughts on where it's from?
Notice the crown-like decal on the front, and the unusual way the slide fits the static jaw.

 

[Shiftless]

I don’t recognize it but I cropped and enlarged for those of us with poorer eyesight.

 

[mingiunate]

Hey everyone, I'm new here but wanted to share a recent find. I managed to grab a Parker 59 (not 59X), attaching photos below.
It looks to be in ok shape: opens and closes very smoothly, jaws are pretty well defined and aligned. The bad: the back of the slide has a crack, the collar not is not original, and theres a pretty heavy layer of paint on it (and I'd guess rust under it).

Was curious if anyone had guesses as to the date of this vise. The one odd thing is the fixed jaw casting doesn't seem to have the patent date on it - so not sure if that makes it earlier or much later than 1906.
My plan to start cleaning it would be to dunk it in a bath for electrolytic rust removal and then scrub from there, but happy to hear any other thoughts, thanks!

Does anyone know how many posts you need to have before being allowed to add photos?

 

[PierceA]

I seem to remember 5 posts to be able to post photos.


PierceA.

 

[mingiunate]

I seem to remember 5 posts to be able to post photos.


PierceA.

Thanks! Here's hoping that works.

 

[Ignacio]

Thinking about picking up this Reed 106 R. Jaws are non-replaceable and are somewhat worn. Any guess what's the going rate for one in nice shape?