The VISES of Garage Journal

[master Zoda]

I need some help identifying this little cutie. The only markings I see is V 60. It has a design I have not seen before. The 2 pin slider thing is pretty common but on this one the bottom pin doesn't go through the jaw it just rides in a channel. It is very sturdy almost no play in the jaws.

Jaws are 1-1/2" wide opens 1-1/4" weight is 1lb 2oz.
It's a shame the clamp handle is missing.

This could be a markings but looks like a casting flaw to me.

 

[colmal]

And my strongest and largest by Jaw, and smallest by size/weight not sure when first produced, not before 1982, and not in 2006/23 catalogue. 4 1/2" Workshop SG Super Grade (made from Spheroidal Graphite)- supposedly unbreakable. 17lb/7.7kg

The jaws appear to be factory, haven't seen them elsewhere, but could be a home made thing, could even be useful. Better than supporting something with a block of wood underneath.

Yet to be cleaned up- I have been waiting to get at least 10 vices/anvils together to make up a batch of Molasses, Have a 5 1/4" HD to do, and didn't want to waste a large batch on one vice.

 

[F-22]

Picked up this Polish-made "bullet" vise manufactured by FPU (with rear-moving jaw).

The "bullet" vise from Europe would be the Czech made York vise (in fact, Wilton is a direct copy of those - company was founded by a York vise salesman who moved to the US and copied the vises he used to sell even though those were patented).

The Polish vise on your photo is a typical central European vise design as made by many German manufacturers. The Polish one is interesting for having the "inverted" dovetail compared to the German setup. The dovetail is also adjustable which is uncommon with the German design.

I think the Polish design required a bit less material, might have been easier to cast (?) and was slightly more accessible for machining. However I have seen quite a few broken ones - I assume this inversion weakens the movable jaw compared to the German pattern where that jaw is "more compact" and the forces travel into its centre instead of around a dovetail.

 

[Outlawmws]

The jaws appear to be factory, haven't seen them elsewhere, but could be a home made thing, could even be useful. Better than supporting something with a block of wood underneath.

Interesting jaws - I wonder if they are reversible so the gripping lips don't protrude. I've seen this on Mill vises but again, not common.

 

[colmal]

Interesting jaws - I wonder if they are reversible so the gripping lips don't protrude. I've seen this on Mill vises but again, not common.

Wait one, I'll check

 

[colmal]

Interesting jaws - I wonder if they are reversible so the gripping lips don't protrude. I've seen this on Mill vises but again, not common.

No not reversible, no markings, leaning more towards home built, but I can use em, they have been taken off a lot as bolts are badly burred, maybe 2 sets ? I'll do some more research, but I've not seen on other Dawn vices or replacement jaws, but haven't seen another SG workshop vice either,


Did find some , an older one and 2 for sale/limited Edition, on order ? (no idea how current the ads are) All with a normal Jaw, ( half thinking they are scam sites, look like a cheaper item)

So in the end, pretty much as usual, the more I know the less I know-it would be so much easier pulling **** out of thin air and treating it as gospel like most of the online sellers. (I'm being polite )

I'll take that as mine is home made, I have a heap of old tin tool boxes to do a final clean on before painting, these will be useful, can use 2 hands for a change.

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

I picked up this Athol 614-1/2 a couple years ago at a garage sale. It was marked $15 and the owner said it was “broken inside”. I took a chance and won. It was only the cotter pin that holds the spring on the spindle. I finally got around to giving it some love. Wow this vise is a level above most of my others. Its action is glass smooth and the spring loaded spindle while a total pain in the *** to reassemble is super tight. Just the overall mass of the base and shelf support are impressive. With the smooth jaws I may have to rotate this one into user status.

 

[RichRiddle]

As said, the crack is from a poor design right there, possibly compounded with abuse.

KM Scott has posted how he approaches the fix, and its a good fix. Essentially its burying several socket head bolts, stop drilling the crack, grinding a Vee, and welding with nickle rod. preheating is required and slow cooling.

Is the post from KM Scott in Garage Journal or elsewhere?

 

[Outlawmws]

Is the post from KM Scott in Garage Journal or elsewhere?

Apparently both I know he posted it here, but apparently he has a blog as well as Micah posted

If you're willing to invest the time to repair it the best way possible, I would certainly recommend Kevin's process as already mentioned. He's the best of the best: https://wiltonviseparts.wordpress.com/2020/08/30/restoring-a-prentiss-58/

 

[ranger08]

This is my largest 4" by size and weight, 2nd largest by Jaw.

4 1/4" Dawn, 56lb/25.4kg Built from at least 1932 to 69 and maybe unchanged during that period-has slight offset jaws.

My example looked to have a 50yr old repair, rewelded front jaw, bought it very cheap as uncommon, wanted to practise some cutting/restoring name/something to do basically-have/will weaken it by grinding the welds smooth, but won't sell it as its a display piece for me.
Needs some more work, just trying out different methods on other scrap. The jaws have become one with the vice also, but I'll get em off before painting-have a few more ideas how to do that from here (Thankyou) will try a few before I drill out the screws, I have spares.

as you like Dawns, i saw a superb Dawn 6inch QR at the local market last week all 47kg of it, he wanted $420 for it though
the only Dawn i have is a Dawnette

 

[KMScott]

Is the post from KM Scott in Garage Journal or elsewhere?

This blog might have more detail repairing tail cracks. Just finished one last week.

Kevin

https://wiltonviseparts.wordpress.com/2019/05/07/fixing-tail-cracks-in-vises/

 

[RichRiddle]

This blog might have more detail repairing tail cracks. Just finished one last week.

Kevin

https://wiltonviseparts.wordpress.com/2019/05/07/fixing-tail-cracks-in-vises/

Thank you for the input; it's much appreciated.

 

[can20]

I picked up this Athol 614-1/2 a couple years ago at a garage sale. It was marked $15 and the owner said it was “broken inside”. I took a chance and won. It was only the cotter pin that holds the spring on the spindle. I finally got around to giving it some love. Wow this vise is a level above most of my others. Its action is glass smooth and the spring loaded spindle while a total pain in the *** to reassemble is super tight. Just the overall mass of the base and shelf support are impressive. With the smooth jaws I may have to rotate this one into user status.

Definitely a tota pain in the *** to reassemble the spindle. I have one that I restored very nice but just can’t seem to get the spindle put together again properly. Any advise or tricks?

 

[Outlawmws]

If this is the cotter pinned washer spring deal; A piece of tubing with a notch for the pin hole works wonders.

 

[colmal]

as you like Dawns, i saw a superb Dawn 6inch QR at the local market last week all 47kg of it, he wanted $420 for it though
the only Dawn i have is a Dawnette

In a moment of lunacy I'd buy that, price is good and don't have a QR example which I would like, but that weight is right on the edge of impractical to me and fallen for my 5 1/4 HD, Appox 20% bigger than the Dawn 6" and 5" either side of it and being steel approx 25% lighter than a comparable cast iron - comes in around 35kg/77 lb.

I really, really need to get a garage again, but at least I'm set up for it when that happens and in the meantime I'm staying happy by collecting/restoring some vices/toolsets.
I do have a small outside work area, which I have a fabricated 3" and 4" offset set up to use, and not a big fan off them so wouldn't be terribly distraught if they went missing.

 

[ranger08]

In a moment of lunacy I'd buy that, price is good and don't have a QR example which I would like, but that weight is right on the edge of impractical to me and fallen for my 5 1/4 HD, Appox 20% bigger than the Dawn 6" and 5" either side of it and being steel approx 25% lighter than a comparable cast iron - comes in around 35kg/77 lb.

I really, really need to get a garage again, but at least I'm set up for it when that happens and in the meantime I'm staying happy by collecting/restoring some vices/toolsets.
I do have a small outside work area, which I have a fabricated 3" and 4" offset set up to use, and not a big fan off them so wouldn't be terribly distraught if they went missing.

apart from the dawnette the aussie stuff i have left is a couple of joplin 5 inch fabricated and of course sidchrome socket sets, did have 1 or 2 5inch Carter semi steels man they were heavy, not very accurate but as strong and heavier than anything of comparable size

 

[ranger08]

I need some help identifying this little cutie. The only markings I see is V 60. It has a design I have not seen before. The 2 pin slider thing is pretty common but on this one the bottom pin doesn't go through the jaw it just rides in a channel. It is very sturdy almost no play in the jaws.

Jaws are 1-1/2" wide opens 1-1/4" weight is 1lb 2oz.
It's a shame the clamp handle is missing.

This could be a markings but looks like a casting flaw to me.

love that

 

[tool_scrounge]

Definitely a tota pain in the *** to reassemble the spindle. I have one that I restored very nice but just can’t seem to get the spindle put together again properly. Any advise or tricks?

My technique.

Put spring in vise with only bottom half of spring in jaws and compress the spring.

wrap exposed spring with a 3 wraps of lacing cord and tie a knot. Unwaxed thick dental floss could also work with more wraps. The wrap needs to be pretty thin as the spring does not have much diameter clearance in the vise.

Rotate spring in vise 120 degrees and repeat the above two more times.

Now reassemble the vise with the compressed spring.

Cut the lacing cord and pull out with a needle nose pliers.

 

[colmal]

apart from the dawnette the aussie stuff i have left is a couple of joplin 5 inch fabricated and of course sidchrome socket sets, did have 1 or 2 5inch Carter semi steels man they were heavy, not very accurate but as strong and heavier than anything of comparable size

Yeah, the fabricated ones I have are Joplin 3", 4" a heap of Sidchrome sets also.
Put a few up in the Proto thread, I have mainly the older ones thou.

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

My technique.

Put spring in vise with only bottom half of spring in jaws and compress the spring.

wrap exposed spring with a 3 wraps of lacing cord and tie a knot. Unwaxed thick dental floss could also work with more wraps. The wrap needs to be pretty thin as the spring does not have much diameter clearance in the vise.

Rotate spring in vise 120 degrees and repeat the above two more times.

Now reassemble the vise with the compressed spring.

Cut the lacing cord and pull out with a needle nose pliers.

I used two thin zip ties. I didn’t compress the spring enough to fully expose the cotter pin hole though. Probably should have gone more than half the original length of the spring. I think I’ve seen some here use thin wire as well. Like @Outlawmws said, a piece of tube or pipe with a notch in the end would have been ideal.

 

[tool_scrounge]

I used two thin zip ties. I didn’t compress the spring enough to fully expose the cotter pin hole though. Probably should have gone more than half the original length of the spring. I think I’ve seen some here use thin wire as well. Like @Outlawmws said, a piece of tube or pipe with a notch in the end would have been ideal.

Notched tube was the original plan, but I did not have the correct sized tube. Thin Wire was tried and broke. Thicker wire did not fit on this particular 4.5” Athol. Thus I ended up using lacing cord.

 

[CRSINMICH]

master Zoda: Your clamp-on is a Luther V60. Here's a page from their 1917 catalog. Nice find!

 

[master Zoda]

master Zoda: Your clamp-on is a Luther V60. Here's a page from their 1917 catalog. Nice find!

Thank you very much sir.

 

[yellowoctupus]

Anyone familiar with REALLY OLD vises? Like Pre-Civil War, I'm guessing? I came across a "Gregg's Patent" pipe vise (no, don't scroll by, I'm willing to bet you've never seen a pipe vise like this before...) and the ONLY thing I could find about it on the internet was that there is a US Patent to Charles Gregg in 1854 for this vise. Nothing else in his name, just this one (PDF also attached with not great photos.....I'll try to get some better ones tomorrow).

 

[micahd1997]

Anyone familiar with REALLY OLD vises? Like Pre-Civil War, I'm guessing? I came across a "Gregg's Patent" pipe vise (no, don't scroll by, I'm willing to bet you've never seen a pipe vise like this before...) and the ONLY thing I could find about it on the internet was that there is a US Patent to Charles Gregg in 1854 for this vise. Nothing else in his name, just this one (PDF also attached with not great photos.....I'll try to get some better ones tomorrow).

Beautiful piece of history, Yellow! I've never seen one before. I love the tri-foot mount; it harkens to the mount style of the post vises and bench vises of the time. I dug around briefly, and turned up what might be an ad for his company in the October, 1873 edition of the Iron Age. I've included a photo of the advertisement as well as a link to the entire publication.

The Iron Age 1873-10-30: Vol 12 Iss 18 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

The Iron Age 1873-10-30: Volume 12, Issue 18.Digitized from IA1513635-03.Previous issue: sim_chiltons-iron-age_1873-10-23_12_17.Next issue:...

archive.org

 

[two.dogs]

I thought this thread was a little short on content so here's a fresh Rock Island.

 

[yellowoctupus]

Beautiful piece of history, Yellow! I've never seen one before. I love the tri-foot mount; it harkens to the mount style of the post vises and bench vises of the time. I dug around briefly, and turned up what might be an ad for his company in the October, 1873 edition of the Iron Age. I've included a photo of the advertisement as well as a link to the entire publication.

Looks like Mr Gregg didn't even splurge to include a picture in his ad! The picture on top is for another company. Good eyes finding that ad though, micahd1997.

Of course I'm moving from NH to Guam in a few months, so this crazy vise has to find a new home very soon. I'm supposed to be 'cleaning out' the garage, not 'adding to my collection of oddities' so my wife wasn't soooper thrilled to see something else heavy follow me home. Anyone looking for a collectors item to restore?

 

[Kentc]

I thought this thread was a little short on content so here's a fresh Rock Island.

Is that Tommy bar welded?

 

[ricleh]

Finished restoring this Wilton toddler with homemade swivel base. Just received this baby bullet with pow-r-arm.

 

[12vx2]

Finished restoring this Wilton toddler with homemade swivel base. Just received this baby bullet with pow-r-arm.

Looking at the tops of your toddler swivel locks, I have always wondered why people used the top of the swivel nut to cut I don't know what with a chisel. I have two Wiltons that show marks with the same use. I have seen or used about a dozen others with similar marks. I have never seen anyone using them for this, although in 50 yrs of work I have witnessed and participated in almost every kind of abuse you can imagine.

I would like to know what's up with this? Does anyone have any ideas?

One memorable abuse was a fellow who was working near me started to use the tail of an 8" vise to straighten a part. When I politely asked him what he was doing, and why, he said they work well as a handy anvil. I pointed out that the vise was mounted on about an 12' X 8' X 4" thick steel plate supported by an Acorn Platen of the same size, He said he never thought of that. Some one calculated the weight of that steel table set up being in excess of 40k lbs.

 

[bbrown3979]

Here is a Wilton 500SJ? Posting says 5 inches at least. Located in Marshall Indiana. Hopefully someone picks it up https://hibid.com/lot/213119557/wilton-vise-w--bench

Edit: see reply 2 posts below where you can clearly see the dynamic jaw

 

[CRSINMICH]

Small Vises from Big Name Makers Series

COLUMBIAN #143
Another vise from the Rodney Dangerfield of vise companies.
They don't get no respect.
​

I wouldn't have given this vise much thought if I hadn't looked at the mounting system. It's a through-the-bench mount that uses a stock bolt instead of a threaded lug. The head of the bolt slid into the recess on the bottom of the vise and a wingnut tightened it from the underside of the bench.

 

[SkyPuncher]

Here is a Wilton 500SJ? Posting says 5 inches at least. Located in Marshall Indiana. Hopefully someone picks it up https://hibid.com/lot/213119557/wilton-vise-w--bench

Seems to be some shenanigans going on. I knew this listing looked familiar except for the addition of painting it while still on the bench....

From end of auction 9/7/24 there is no paint and it is obviously broke!


Now the current auction.... But if you have an extra dynamic, it would be a good user.

 

[micahd1997]

Seems to be some shenanigans going on. I knew this listing looked familiar except for the addition of painting it while still on the bench....

From end of auction 9/7/24 there is no paint and it is obviously broke!


Now the current auction.... But if you have an extra dynamic, it would be a good user.

That’s downright evil

 

[micahd1997]

I posted these pictures on Facebook about a month ago, but I figured I’d post them here too.

As a proud owner of a full-sized railroad vise stand, I got the itch about a year ago to have some miniature versions made. But not just any miniatures…the most dimensionally-accurate, proportionately-exact, and true to life miniatures possible. It took over a year to design, have the pattern made, and cast them at a foundry in PA, but they are done and I couldn’t be happier with them.

They are 17½” lb, miniature copies of the legendary, single-gusset railroad vise stands that were popular in the roundhouses of locomotive shops beginning in the early 1910s. I scaled it to hold vises in the 2” jaw range, and it currently holds my 2” Prentiss 207.

I’m making enough to share, and I have commissioned a LIMITED RUN OF 50. 33 have sold and 17 remain. If you would like to reserve one, please shoot me a message, and I should respond within 24 hours.

Details:
* Buyers cost is $375 + FREE shipping for a machined stand, OR $300 + FREE shipping if you would like to machine yours yourself (see pictures of raw casting in the next post)
* 50% down payment required in order to reserve, and estimated 5-6 week lead time to allow for casting and machining
* Mounting plate dimensions are 6½” long x 3½” wide, and the stands are about 8 inches tall.

 

[micahd1997]

(Follow up post)

These are some photos of what you will receive if you purchase the unmachined stand. Notice that the top of the top plate, the underside of the bottom plate, and the two short sides of the top plate have built in drafting that will need to be machined off. On the machined versions that I am selling, I go ahead and machine the two long sides as well so that all sides of the top plate look uniform.

Also see the last picture of a photo of some full-sized rairoad stands in their element at a Santa Fe railroad shop

 

[micahd1997]

(Follow up post)

Lastly, here are some photos of what you will receive if you purchase a machined stand. Every stand will have my shop’s makers mark and the stand number stamped on the underside of the bottom plate.

On the unmachined versions, I will stamp my mark and the stand number on the underside of the top plate.

 

[bbrown3979]

Seems to be some shenanigans going on. I knew this listing looked familiar except for the addition of painting it while still on the bench....

From end of auction 9/7/24 there is no paint and it is obviously broke!


Now the current auction.... But if you have an extra dynamic, it would be a good user.

Yikes. That's criminal

 

[ranger08]

a tiny record 00 from the 1960s still with original stickers

 

[colmal]

I couldn't help myself, bought a Dawn Mitre vice a month ago as why not/it's a Dawn. Had a little look into it and then bought a Joplin mitre vice as I liked their shared history and easy to see when they are next to each other. Both are fairly uncommon as only seen these 2 examples, original condition and paint-not yet tidied up.

Sidchrome bought Dawn (1917 to present) and Joplin (1930's to 1977), both in 1973,sold Joplin fabricated vices as Sidchromes, Joplin still sold vices amongst them a Mitre vice.

1975 catalogue


In 1977 Joplin was wound up and in 1978 Dawn started making a mitre vice

1978 catalogue