The VISES of Garage Journal

[micahd1997]

I

my Swiveling Mini Vise Stands are now available for purchase

Nothing but high praise for @MadeByMiller. I’ve heard nothing but great things from the folks who’ve purchased these vises and stands

 

[MadeByMiller]

I

Nothing but high praise for @MadeByMiller. I’ve heard nothing but great things from the folks who’ve purchased these vises and stands

That's very kind of you to say, thank you! I've been loving all of the documentation you've been finding and sharing lately - what a win for the vise community.

 

[micahd1997]

That's very kind of you to say, thank you! I've been loving all of the documentation you've been finding and sharing lately - what a win for the vise community.

Much appreciated! It’s a team effort to keep the history alive, and these vise stands fall squarely in that effort.

 

[ajuarez55]

I bought the same one in 2016, but on a smaller scale. I love it.

Here some photos of my Meier & Weichelt Zeus VS6 vise I got last weekend for 100 Euros + travel expenses for 2*100 miles. This softens the blow (but only a bit) of just missing out on a 35 Euro next town VS4 (stamped ZEUS4 / DRP, so 100 years old probably) in pristine condition just because I didn't see the offer early enough (a real, real, real let down). I just love that design.

That "64" stamp is confusing, M&W got renamed to LES in 47, and kinda stamped their castings LES. So who knows. But it is also missing the "ZEUS" name. For more information I'd have to travel again to visit some archives to look into catalogs.

As you can see it needs a lot of work, there is a circular crack on the anvil plate and the jaws are kinda riddled by marks, too.
Length: 50cm, Jaws: 15cm / 6", Weight: 51 kg.

I bought the same one in 2016, but on a smaller scale. I love it.

 

[ajuarez55]

The following link contains a catalog of Meier & Weichelt

Meier & Weichelt : Werkbedarf : Meier & Weichelt : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

24 p., illus., 14.8 cm, trade catalog

archive.org

 

[Loga_3]

New year, "new" vise!
Bofors cast steel vise, made in Sweden. It will be media blasted and restored to former glory and put back into action!
As with all pictures of vises it looks enormous, but it's a mid-sized one, weighing in at about 8kg. I'm also planning on fabricating a movable stand for it, would be nice to have i think.

 

[tominboise]

I just bought this Columbian 504 on a stand from a local thrift shop. It seemed like a decent deal at $150. The stand could need a little work but I may just bolt it to the floor or to a bench somewhere in the shop.

 

[micahd1997]

New year, "new" vise!
Bofors cast steel vise, made in Sweden. It will be media blasted and restored to former glory and put back into action!
As with all pictures of vises it looks enormous, but it's a mid-sized one, weighing in at about 8kg. I'm also planning on fabricating a movable stand for it, would be nice to have i think.

Congrats! Love the shape. The jaw support reminds me of a chinstrap beard

 

[ranger08]

I bought the same one in 2016, but on a smaller scale. I love it.


I bought the same one in 2016, but on a smaller scale. I love it.

thats awsome

 

[dapekema]

I restored a Dunlap 5244. Looking forward to putting this one to use. Video of the process here for anyone interested.

 

[colmal]

I'm sure most of youse would have seen this a year or so ago, but for those that haven't worth a look, enjoyed it a nice relaxed pace and informative, I'll even will have a look at a few of his other vids

Reed, Wilton, Athol, Parker

 

[Josh Dekubber]

I'm sure most of youse would have seen this a year or so ago, but for those that haven't worth a look, enjoyed it a nice relaxed pace and informative, I'll even will have a look at a few of his other vids

Reed, Wilton, Athol, Parker

I have watched this before and this video was one of the reasons I wanted to purchase the Reed 204 R and the Parker 974 1/2 to compare for myself side by side. I like the Reed Alot it's great but for me personally I like Parker most.

 

[ALLFAST]

Add a pic of your paint pen to your post if you don’t mind IRQVET. Thanks in advance. Nice work.

Howdy Kevin !
Every good ACE I’ve been to lately has a small stash of very high quality oil based pens near the mixing counter areas. They’re very much in the shadows but available: red, white , black, silver, and chrome yellow.

I just bought this Columbian 504 on a stand from a local thrift shop. It seemed like a decent deal at $150. The stand could need a little work but I may just bolt it to the floor or to a bench somewhere in the shop.

Very nice find! If the copper jaws were included they are worth at least half of the purchase purchase price!

 

[KMScott]

ALLFAST I was impressed with the quality of your lettering. I do mine by hand and still not shaky at my age. Wanted you to share how you did yours.

The VISES of Garage Journal

I'm beginning to think that Lewis was a pretty common family name back then....

www.garagejournal.com

 

[PugetDude]

Help! This thing is following me.

Those welds on the dynamic jaw are pretty impressive.

 

[Beerhippie]

Those welds on the dynamic jaw are pretty impressive.

But how do they do those? I've been welding poorly for decades and have never figured out how to hit the heights of ****** welding displayed there!

 

[ALLFAST]

ALLFAST I was impressed with the quality of your lettering. I do mine by hand and still not shaky at my age. Wanted you to share how you did yours.

The VISES of Garage Journal

I'm beginning to think that Lewis was a pretty common family name back then....

www.garagejournal.com

Kevin,

It’s me, Shawn.

I sent you picts of the 542-BXs ( and conferred with you about the American Scale 66 jaw inserts a few years back). Your letters are outstanding! I especially like the red on black. I didn’t do any recent Lewis letters, so maybe you’ve congratulated the wrong artist, if that’s the case.

What I do is lay the vise on its side and letter them that way; letters facing up …minimal chance of runs for me. I also use a prop stick sometimes ( like a welder or pinstriper) if I’m feeling extra cautious.

A good buddy of mine who is 70 swears by those q-tip like , purple plastic stemmed, 2-3” long applicator swabs (available on Amazon or eBay ) for all of the lettering of his Vintage DeWalt Radial arm saws ( the big GEs and commercial ones from the 40s) . He does great work with those!

 

[Diesel Dan]

Nothing rare or special but picked up another one of these bullets for a c-note.
My second of this model and this one has original paint. Also have a smaller, newer 1745.

 

[micahd1997]

The stars aligned, and this Parker paperweight arrived in the mail last week. If it’s a genuine original, it’s only the second that I’ve ever seen.

 

[twagler]

Here's an oddball - an all wooden version of a bench vise. Spotted this on the Old Wood Working Machinery forum and thought that I'd copy it over for viewing here. Stated to date back to 1844, but no additional details provided.


I thought it might just be a one-off, but then found that another one sold for $687.50 at on-line auction back in March 2024 in Illinois.






Not sure if wooden vises really belong here, but just curious if anyone is familiar with this vise, or the manufacturer, or can confirm that it really dates back to 1844.

Thanks, Tom

 

[Outlawmws]

Those wooden bench vises are AWESOME; and the first one is in incredible shape!

 

[hobie18]

Not sure what is in the background of the wood vise, but I like it

 

[four.cycle]

^

Spotted this on the Old Wood Working Machinery forum and thought that I'd copy it over for viewing here. Stated to date back to 1844, but no additional details provided.

@twagler - not sure if we both downloaded the images from the same website, but there seems to be a photo image missing from your set that was on the same page as the vise:


It's a bit difficult to make out the detail there. This should make it easier:

1911-1912 Chappée & Fils catalog front cover

So... what do "laundry rooms", "pottery", or "heating" have to do with vises?

But then, what does a name like "R.W. Brown" have to do with France? (Wikipedia entry for surname "Brown")

There's something about this that doesn't add up.... Unless you've got a French "Brown" and they've hidden that nameplate somewhere on that bench vise that isn't visible in the photo images. And why don't those photos match? Is the unit painted? Or is it polished wood?

 

[RTM]

Here's an oddball - an all wooden version of a bench vise. Spotted this on the Old Wood Working Machinery forum and thought that I'd copy it over for viewing here. Stated to date back to 1844, but no additional details provided.

Exposed screw, no thanks

Buddy of mine made a repro of a vintage wooden (I think French) gentleman’s vise, probably made for carving. Will try to find out who he copied. Thanks for sharing.

 

[ararat]

Not sure what is in the background of the wood vise, but I like it

Looks like a carving chisel carousel in the first picture. That's a cool idea.

 

[hobie18]

Numbered too. Must be quite a nice collection. And love that it is accessible when you are working

 

[SkyPuncher]

Found this on an auction site.... and I am not talking about the plow!

Large No. 109 Reed Mfg. Vise - 200lb | Live and Online Auctions on HiBid.com

hibid.com

 

[RTM]

Found this on an auction site.... and I am not talking about the plow!

Large No. 109 Reed Mfg. Vise - 200lb | Live and Online Auctions on HiBid.com

hibid.com

Damn, shipping not available.guess I am out.

 

[IRQVET]

Why do people tend not to like the exposed screw style vises? (Not talking about the wood ones specifically) Never seen or used one, so I have nothing to go off of . . .

 

[Outlawmws]

Well, all too often it's just not up to the job and if you really crank on them, they WILL break - far easier than a full-on machinist's vise, and we even manage to break them.

I do have one on my welding bench but it's more of a ground clamp than anything else. I do clamp things in it to cut, grind or wire wheel, but I'm not going to use it for bending metal or forging...

I'm constantly amazed the exposed screw in that one has not died...

 

[RTM]

Why do people tend not to like the exposed screw style vises? (

Mine is: **** tends to build up there. If you file / hacksaw over the screw, the debris falls onto the screw. If the screw is lubricated, might stick a bit, grind into the nut, etc.

I've put a rag over mine when doing stupid stuff, but some debris went thru the weave of a red shop rag.

I use wax on my WW vise to keep the sticky issue down.

 

[Outlawmws]

Dry graphite helps for the debris - but I've sprayed MIG anti spatter on the slide and screw as "lubricant" in the past...

 

[Outlawmws]

Why do people tend not to like the exposed screw style vises? (Not talking about the wood ones specifically) Never seen or used one, so I have nothing to go off of . . .

But we DO have a thread for that !

 

[Shiftless]

But we DO have a thread for that !

Thanks for for the promotion, outlaw!
I credit you with the idea for that thread.

 

[micahd1997]

This was an unexpected find. This 24-page, 5x6¼ pamphlet is the only surviving, publicly-known, standalone catalog of vises made by the Barrett Machine Tool Company of Meadville, PA.

Nestled at the corner of Arch and Mulberry street among other manufacturing interests of the time, the Meadville Vise Company reinvented itself as the Barrett Machine Tool Company in 1905. Reaching even further back into history, the origins of the business sprung from the efforts of James Hazlet in 1858 who established the Crawford Iron Works. Hazlet sold the business in 1880 to Harper & McKay who operated it for less than a year before brothers James and Charles Barrett purchased the works and dubbed it the Meadville Vise Company.

Beginning as early as 1883, James Barrett began patenting (and presumably manufacturing) vises under the Meadville Vise Company name, the first of which was granted on Sept. 18, 1883 for a new swivel jaw design (depicted proudly on the 3rd, 4th, and 5th pages of the catalog). After the company’s 1905 name change, it seems that they continued producing vises until roughly 1955 when, sadly, their property was seized and liquidated due to delinquent non-payment of taxes.

A critical look at the finer details of this catalog will have to wait for another day, but until then…who can help but acknowledge the presence of unbranded Prentiss vises among these pages? Did Barrett (among others) copy Prentiss’ popular design and manufacture them at the facilities of the nearby Meadville Malleable Iron Co.? Did Prentiss coordinate the nearly 400-mile shipment of their own vises to Meadville for resale by Barrett? Nobody truly knows…BUT notice that page 2 clearly states that “All Vises for repairs should be shipped to factory, Meadville, Pa.”

 

[four.cycle]

This was an unexpected find. This 24-page, 5x6¼ pamphlet is the only surviving, publicly-known, standalone catalog of vises made by the Barrett Machine Tool Company of Meadville, PA.

So.... are you going to have Mark scan it and get it uploaded at International Tool Catalog Library?

 

[micahd1997]

So.... are you going to have Mark scan it and get it uploaded at International Tool Catalog Library?

I’m having it professionally scanned myself

 

[four.cycle]

^ I think we could probably call Mark "professional" at this point.

just sayin' ....

 

[micahd1997]

I’m having it professionally scanned myself

I think we could probably call Mark "professional" at this point.

Just to be clear, I was NOT implying that Mark is not a professional, because that's certainly NOT the case. Just because he's not local to me, I sought out a professional service near me where I can have it scanned

 

[Oregon rock crusher]

It's been a cold snowy week confining me to the shop so I cleaned up a few of the vises that have been waiting their turn. They are all sitting on a Prentiss 22 in the group shot. All are Prentiss, a 504, a 514, and an older No. 3. The 514 Bulldog was in great condition and didn't need much so I left what finish it had intact. Even the jaw faces are pretty nice. I think the 514 fixed base used the same dynamic jaw as the 524 swivel base which is why it has both numbers cast in it.

The No. 3 was a bit rougher so I fixed a few bites in the casting and gave it a coat of flat black as it was the factory color. Not seen as often having the swivel jaw on a vise with a fixed base. I had to make a new swivel lock pin for it but it's now solid enough for full usage.

The last one to get the works is a 504. Advertised as an iron workers vise they are not very common. This one was is in pretty good shape but as I was already in painting mode it got a coat of flat black as well. It also needed the swivel jaw pin made. It uses a pinch bolt, missing in the pic, for the swivel base lock and it seems pretty positive. The pics. Ed.