Blacksmith vises 101 companies that made them, catalogs and history show and tell all

[aarggh]

The stand is an absolute beast, but even though the fly press is around 450-500kgs, the metal bender at rear right is about 50kgs, and the trolley itself is around 150kgs now, I can still move it around with the 8 x solid rubber wheels no problem.

Apart from hot pressing/punching when I eventually get around to actual forge work, the fly press is mainly going to be used for stamping my logo into copper/aluminium discs to insert into the base of wooden items I turn, to cover up the marks from the tailstock. I used to spend copious amounts of time worrying about making them look good, but this way is much better and adds a little extra character I think.

I don't know for sure how much the leg vise weighs, as I tend to compare everything big to bags of cement, and it feels like around 4-5 bags of cement. I do have a big scale buried somewhere though so once I've finished sanding and re-painting it, I'll weigh it and add some more pics and details.

The 3rd pic is of several different types of M12 nutserts (also called rivnuts). These are just so incredibly handy, you just drill a hole into the sheet, tube, whatever, insert the size you want, and with the tool tighten it up, so the back of the nutsert is pulled towards the front, causing the body to spread wide encapsulating the material on the back side of the material. These are perfect for tubing, where you need a thread but can't get a nut inside. I don't how I managed without them now, I find hundreds of uses for them, and for building this trolley they were invaluable. And as they are a captive nut, no need to worry about losing nuts when undoing bolts.

I crimped an M8 to a large washer in the pic, hopefully you can see the crimped edge on the upper (rear) side?

The last pic is of one end of the trolley, after I've bolted 2 sandwiched sheets of 3mm steel to it with M8 nutserts, and are inserting 38mm long M12 nutserts to add strength and fixing points for later. And as you can see the largest M12 nutsert is a beast, and the walls are 3.5mm thick, so just imagine the pressure that puts on the sheets to fasten it to the tubing, and when a bolt is inserted and tightened, no way that suckers coming loose!

 

[drivesitfar]

it's hard to believe that press weighs 400-500 kgs (1000 pounds)? great post and thanks for the information on those fasteners.

i'd love to hear how much the big old vise weighs if you can weigh it and also a couple full view pics of the fly press vise set up on your beast?

if you have any questions about the forum i'm happy to help and you can send a PM (private message) to members just by clicking on their name and a drop down menu will give you the link to do so.

I think you'll need to start a garage thread cause whatever you are making and putting copper badges on I bet others would like to see too.

cheers and happy Valentines Day (maybe a day late since you are an Aussie)

 

[Matt-H]

I've uncovered a few surprises after moving into my new home, two of which were these vises (both USA manufacturers, and I'm over in England) hidden in the undergrowth of the back garden.
Does anyone have any information on these makes/models please, and maybe an approximation on their value?
I'm intending to restore the large vise (along with a couple of other restoration candidates I have) and keep it as a feature in the garden, although restoration will be something else I'll need to research first

 

[drivesitfar]

MATT: first off WELCOME TO GARAGE JOURNAL!!

secondly this thread is for the older Blacksmith vises, but you do have a couple nice bench vises there.

here's a link to the VISE REPAIR 101 thread I started about 7 years ago that you can post these on and get plenty of help on how to spiff those up if you want to whether you keep them or sell them they are somewhat wanted here and i'm pretty sure good old USA made vises are bringing a premium over there.

your 4 inch wide jaw Reed 204 is maybe one of the best machined vises of its day and there is a date on the dynamic (front moving piece) on one of the sides .

the other vise is surely a pre WWII Lewis vise and you'll have to tell me (us) how wide the jaws are cause I can't tell you much about that one other than it's an oldie and good one.

here's the link for the 101 thread: https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=252830

and look forward to seeing what you end up doing with them.

 

[Matt-H]

Much appreciated. I'll take a look through that link and post up a few queries before I make any attempt upon it.

I'll be sure to check out the date of the Reed later too. I noticed some info in the same spot on the Lewis, but was unable to make it out clearly (other than it said LT Co. as it was a bit worn), although I didn't know what it was identifying in order to decipher it, and online searches for information on the vise did not bear any fruit.
The jaws are 5 inches wide

 

[drivesitfar]

Matt: your 5 inch old Lewis vise is close to 100 years old and other than some surface rust it looks great.

here's another thread you should read and maybe post up a few pictures of your old vises that is titled RUST REMOVAL:

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=473607

you'd be surprised how easy that rust can be removed. do you have a bench grinder with a wire wheel?

if you'd like to learn more about how to take these apart please post them up on the VISE REPAIR 101 thread if you have any questions and we'll try to talk you through it cause they are better than average old vises.

 

[GETRIDAONE]

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=8970783&postcount=83028

MATT-H I linked your post into the main vise thread after seeing it . Our resident vise historian found an advertisement for your vise. ( I knew he would ). I am going to guess it is over 100 years old.

 

[Matt-H]

Drivesitfar: many thanks for the link. I've had a quick look through both of them now and they're really informative. I'll get properly stuck in when I begin to restore them (as well as a lovely old mangle in similar condition which was left here, although I'm currently mid-renovation on my house, so won't be for a few months yet). First order of the day will be freeing it up from its current ceased state. I don't have a grinder, but will add one to my power tool shopping list (oh no! Another power toy I'll need to buy. Drastic! ;-) ). Very much looking forward to reviving all this old machinery.

Getridaone: that's excellent, thanks. The only reference to it online I managed to find was some information about a Lewis brochure or leaflet in the Smithsonian. It's wonderful to find some history on it.

A great community you have here

 

[drivesitfar]

MATT: again welcome to the group and don't rush spiffing up those old vises cause not many of you members across the pond are able to find 50-100+ year old good old USA made vises.

both of the ones you posted (Lewis & Reed) are great examples of good engineering too and other than surface rust and neglect they can still be made to work and look like new.

we usually will answer questions as best we can if we see them, but get on the Vise Repair 101 thread that gets a lot more of the member's eyes to make future posts since your vises are not older Blacksmith vises.

cheers (yep I drink about a gallon of homemade ice tea daily so maybe i'm part English and not 100% Norwegian)

 

[chenry318]

This is a post vise that was at my grandfather's but actually came from his Aunt's farm. I haven't found any markings on it. It has obviously had some "modifications" over the years.

It's been waiting in my to do pile for awhile now.

Any advice on making a new spring for it?

 

[drivesitfar]

I've never made a spring and i'm not a welder (lets say I would like to be and i've welded a few things), but I think there were a few posts in this thread where a member did show how he made a new spring you might take a look at if he doesn't see your posts.

also if you go to the vise repair 101 thread here in vintage tools and post up your old vise with more pics you might be surprised what some of the regular vise repair guys say.

here's the link: https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=252830

nice find and save.

 

[chenry318]

I've never made a spring and i'm not a welder (lets say I would like to be and i've welded a few things), but I think there were a few posts in this thread where a member did show how he made a new spring you might take a look at if he doesn't see your posts.

also if you go to the vise repair 101 thread here in vintage tools and post up your old vise with more pics you might be surprised what some of the regular vise repair guys say.

here's the link: https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=252830

nice find and save.

Thanks, I'll have to do some more reading. There is a lot of good information in this forum but just starting out it's almost overwhelming.

 

[drivesitfar]

take your time and sometimes GOOGLE'S search engine will find old threads easier than the one GJ uses.

also ask if you need help especially on a thread that is talking about what you need help with is even better.

one tip if you are reading long threads or fast moving ones go in your GJ profile and set your views per page to 100 so you won't have to click on next page as often cause default is 10 or maybe 20.

while you are in there click on AVITAR and download a picture you like. I found this bison made out of scraps I've been using for years, but I've had a few others and even had my cat for a while when she passed as a RIP sort of thing.

good luck and welcome to the forum cause a lot of great guys and a few gals here too.

 

[btrnuthatch]

As I like to bend and pound metal, I've been lusting after a post vise and finally pulled the trigger. Not wanting to wait and spend time searching for a killer deal, I quickly found one that looked original and hoped I would not discover a repair under the thick paint. I paid $175. While not a great deal, times a wasting ....

Scraped, wire wheeled, BLO and graphite on the threads. The remnants of green paint kinda look original so I left it on just because. It has spaces and holes for pipe jaws; I might make some for fun. First, a stand.

5" Columbian before and after with some detail.

 

[drivesitfar]

Great looking old vise and really nice job cleaning it up especially the handle work. Did you use a press on the handle to straighten it or do tell?

 

[don long]

Drives
I have a blacksmith vice (leg vice) in my blacksmith shop. A friend gave it to me several years ago and it just sat around until I put the blacksmith shop together. Seemed like a good fit



I'll try to get a better shot of it tomorrow

 

[btrnuthatch]

Great looking old vise and really nice job cleaning it up especially the handle work. Did you use a press on the handle to straighten it or do tell?

Used a 6" Wilton vise (not mine) and 3 foot length of 1 1/2" diameter pipe as a cheater bar. First squeezed out the big bends then little by little with lots of different placements in the vise, used the cheater over the handle to leverage lots of small tweaks.

 

[Sawmill7]

Picked up this post vise. 2 questions. Any one know the maker and what holds the leg on floor? Thanks for any replys . Bill

 

[Sawmill7]

Picked up this vise today. 2 questions. Anyone know the maker and what holds the leg? Thanks for your help
Bill

 

[drivesitfar]

These vises rarely have a makers name but if the do it would be on the triangle mounting piece.

Once the vice is mounted to a stump, bench, or whatever usually a wooden or steel piece is put under the leg to give it a little support and some give cause these vises were meant to be hammered on.

 

[RTM]

I've seen metal plates in the floor, end grain blocks of stumps, etc.

 

[Sawmill7]

I've seen metal plates in the floor, end grain blocks of stumps, etc.

Thanks for the replys..have picked up ,3 different vise's lately so think the vise bug has bitten me!!

 

[leg17]

Picked up this vise today. 2 questions. Anyone know the maker and what holds the leg? Thanks for your help
Bill

The screw box (nut) looks like a later Columbian.

 

[METTLEBENDER]

ALL: surprisingly i do not yet own a blacksmith vise. one of the best tools ever built to make a quick tool or fix something.

I'd like to own one or more some day and just want to know a lot more about them so i can buy one that will last to pass on to my kids and grand kids.

anybody that wants to post their blacksmith vise please do and if you know any history or details about it please share that. i'm guessing blacksmith vises are pretty similar to bench vises and would like to know the particular part's names and purpose if you know and can share that.

i'll keep links to catalogs stored on post #2 and start a list of all the blacksmith vise making companies on post #3.

post pictures of any and all blacksmith vises and of course this can be a members discussion thread on many subjects pertaining to blacksmith vises and their uses and history.

thanks all and hoping I (we) learn more than we knew yesterday about these wonderful old tools.

ALL: surprisingly i do not yet own a blacksmith vise. one of the best tools ever built to make a quick tool or fix something.

I'd like to own one or more some day and just want to know a lot more about them so i can buy one that will last to pass on to my kids and grand kids.

anybody that wants to post their blacksmith vise please do and if you know any history or details about it please share that. i'm guessing blacksmith vises are pretty similar to bench vises and would like to know the particular part's names and purpose if you know and can share that.

i'll keep links to catalogs stored on post #2 and start a list of all the blacksmith vise making companies on post #3.

post pictures of any and all blacksmith vises and of course this can be a members discussion thread on many subjects pertaining to blacksmith vises and their uses and history.

thanks all and hoping I (we) learn more than we knew yesterday about these wonderful old tools.

ALL: surprisingly i do not yet own a blacksmith vise. one of the best tools ever built to make a quick tool or fix something.

I'd like to own one or more some day and just want to know a lot more about them so i can buy one that will last to pass on to my kids and grand kids.

anybody that wants to post their blacksmith vise please do and if you know any history or details about it please share that. i'm guessing blacksmith vises are pretty similar to bench vises and would like to know the particular part's names and purpose if you know and can share that.

i'll keep links to catalogs stored on post #2 and start a list of all the blacksmith vise making companies on post #3.

post pictures of any and all blacksmith vises and of course this can be a members discussion thread on many subjects pertaining to blacksmith vises and their uses and history.

thanks all and hoping I (we) learn more than we knew yesterday about these wonderful old tools.

Here is one of 3 vises I have. Picture shows only markings I can find. 4 1/2" jaws. 40" in length

 

[2oolhound]

II picked up a small 3 1/2" post vise at the swap meet a few weeks ago.




The screw wouldn't turn. It had a broken table mount plate and the hinge pin that the dynamic jaw pivots on just had a sloppy rivet pounded into it instead of the proper tight fitting bolt. (see photo below):




The screw freed up with some WD40 and very little effort so I was able to break the vise down into parts:



Next I wire wheeled it:



Then I repaired the table mount plate by welding a tap onto it and drilling a hole in it.:




I then discovered what I'd thought was a poorly sized rivet that was used to replace a bolt for the dynamic jaw pivot was actually the way it was designed by the maker .You can see the detent the bump on the rivet homes into when it's driven into place. :





I'm curious to find out who the maker was so if anyone recognizes any of these features please comment below. There are no other names or symbols anywhere. Another distinguishing feature is this grease channel cut into the cheeks (both sides and top) of the hinge area of the dynamic jaw.



The main parts were marked with three deep chisel strikes indicating the blacksmith was making a few of these in assembly line fashion. Mating components like the screw were marked by chisel marks foeming an "X".



After a little work this vise has turned out really well and I'm happy to have it. I've coated it with BLO.

 

[nadogail]

That is a good looking vise.

 

[SkyPuncher]

With the giant vise thread I seem to have forgotten about this one. Thanks 2oolhound for breathing some life back to it. Have a few pics of my latest post vise pickup. Fisher #3 5 1/4 wide jaws, around 92 pounds.

 

[SkyPuncher]

Columbian 4 1/4 jaws, around 42 pounds



And Arthur J O'Leary and Sons No.100 6" jaws, 100 Pounds

 

[drivesitfar]

2ool: sorry I don’t have a good idea who made your vise but thanks for posting all the pics and details. Nice work spiffing it up too

Sky: how does that chain work on those old Fisher blacksmith vises? Joe Striper posted a few of those Fisher blacksmith vises on the huge vise thread maybe 5 years ago and if I recall correctly he knew the person that had maybe a museum or the Fisher company history. Nice find

I also really like the castings and the heft of that O’Leary vise. It looks to be in pretty decent shape too.

All: I did finally pick up a nice 5 inch blacksmith vise and I think it’s and Indian brand. I’ll try to post up a few pics when I can.

 

[SkyPuncher]

The old chain has a bit of slack in it, but it still works smooth as butter. Pretty neat design! Dated 1917, it is still in pretty good shape. O' Leary vise is in really nice shape. You could purchase them out of the Montgomery Ward's catalogs.

Like to see some pics of your Indian post vise!

 

[2oolhound]

THX Drives, Sky, that fisher is interesting. With the bottom screw I guess the jaws stay parallel. So without the need for a spring they were able to incorporate the mount into the static jaw. That looks skookum!

and yer Drives we want to see your Indian vise!

 

[2oolhound]

Uh Drives, we're still waiting for the pics ^^^

Hey guys, I just snagged another one with a lot of blacksmith tools. In the seller's photos it looked bigger and so did the anvil (posted in the anvil thread) but it all came home with me anyway.




Of coarse I had to tear it down and clean it up to get it working smoothly and did I get a pleasant surprise.



Of interest is the fact that the pivot plate for the dynamic jaw is riveted in place as well as forge welded. I'm no expert on these vises but I haven't seen this done before. Is it a Peter Wright thing? Also note the tips on the screw handle, they are kind of pointy.
I don't think the spring is original, I think the PO found this one and made it fit. (I found a 1/2 a broken spring with a pile of rusty stuff)





Here's another interesting thing. Notice the thin metal insert in the opening where the main screw nut fits. There is a thin band of metal welded in there which I think was added to align the nut/screw apparatus so the dynamic jaw lines up correctly with the static jaw. It cradles the bottom and wraps around one side right up to the top (one side only). I always thought this alignment was controlled by the pivot pin.



You can see how the spring looks too long in this last shot. I'll make a new one.

 

[GarageHobbyist]

Just wanted to add mine here. My dad got this at an estate sale for me last year.
I’m hoping to make a stand for it soon now that I’ve found good steel for it.
No makers marks that I have found and it’s a bit ugly at the moment, but I’ll get her cleaned up soon and into use. It has a rather wide set of arms for securing it instead of the 3 bolt plates on a lot of other versions.

 

[2oolhound]

That's a nice looking vise. How wide are the jaws? It looks fairly big. The v-ed out arms for mounting are not that uncommon. The top of the legs where the mount is sitting is something I don't recall seeing before but I'm no expert. It's flat there whereas usually the same shape chamfered edge like on the area below the mount is usually the shape of the whole leg. Hopefully you'll find a maker's mark on it when you clean it up. and no rust!

 

[GarageHobbyist]

That's a nice looking vise. How wide are the jaws? It looks fairly big. The v-ed out arms for mounting are not that uncommon. The top of the legs where the mount is sitting is something I don't recall seeing before but I'm no expert. It's flat there whereas usually the same shape chamfered edge like on the area below the mount is usually the shape of the whole leg. Hopefully you'll find a maker's mark on it when you clean it up. and no rust!

My dad had started cleaning it up before he brought it to my house. No real rust to speak of.

I took some more photos. Jaws are 5”. Bottom of the leg to top of the jaw is 42 1/2”. I’m guessing it weighs around 80lbs

I will say as someone who dabbles with blacksmithing, it looks like parts of this were left with a pretty rough finish. I don’t think any rust or corrosion caused the texturing.

 

[GarageHobbyist]

Not sure if it is appropriate here, but I am down in Mexico right now (real Mexico, not resort Mexico) and spotted this while we were waiting for breakfast at a corner stand.



It’s a leg vise that has the thinner curved jaws. It was holding a plastic cup for some reason.

This guy was tinkering around with things and by the looks of the place and equipment inside, he was fixing random old broken stuff. Not sure if he was selling it or fixing it for himself, but here it’s almost a necessity to repair or reuse things.

He also had a makeshift anvil on a large stump, and an old Miller welder among his tools

 

[ching0n]

I'm looking to pick one of these soon. Are there some manufacturers & models preferred over others? I like the Peter Wright shape but wonder if the Columbian ones aren't better/stronger. I have zero experience so wonder what's le creme de la creme?

 

[SkyPuncher]

Go out and find you a Fisher Norris!

post-5966111

Fisher & Norris - Publication Reprints - Fisher & Norris Vises | VintageMachinery.org

 

[RTM]

Anything you find will be better than

The one you have now

Beating on a Machinist Vise

Not having one


Buy one or two, then they will suddenly appear everywhere. And get cheaper and cheaper, so you can't resist buying.

 

[2oolhound]

I agree with RTM. Buy the 1st one that is complete and functional ...or close to it. Then watch out for a special one.