The VISES of Garage Journal

[PostwarO27]

I have an FPU/Bison vise with a 6" jaw, moving rear and swivel base that used to be my fathers. I remember from being a kid he had it mounted on his work bench in the garage. After he passed I found it lying in the corner of his basement on the floor. I thru it in my truck while cleaning out his house and brought it home and found out why it was in the corner. Its missing the gib.

Now I;m trying to track down an OEM piece. I can always make one as I have access to a tools shop but I want an OEM part. Anybody got one? It should be about 9 1/2" long with three recesses spaced 3 3/8" apart on the one side. It will be about 5/16 thick and have a short side profile like a parallelogram.

 

[Shiftless]

Hello folks good afternoon! Need some help to identify this Wilton Vise if anyone could help? Google lens and EBay didn’t help much. Thanks!

That seems to be a 20th anniversary model “Bullet” machinist vise. If you crank the slide most of the way out, can you see a date stamp on the key? If it’s truly a 20th anniversary model, the date code should read 1971.

The stylized X shape seen on that vise is part of ** which of course is Roman numerals for 20.

 

[Solidwork]

That seems to be a 20th anniversary model “Bullet” machinist vise. If you crank the slide most of the way out, can you see a date stamp on the key? If it’s truly a 20th anniversary model, the date code should read 1971.

The stylized X shape seen on that vise is part of ** which of course is Roman numerals for 20.

Thanks Mr Shiftless. The number stamped reads 278.

 

[Shiftless]

Thanks Mr Shiftless. The number stamped reads 278.

I have seen pictures of 20th anniversary models but yours is the first that somebody read the date stamp. It seems that unless your vise has a replacement part, that Wilton was a little “flexible” about what year was the anniversary of the first vise.

 

[Oregon rock crusher]

I cleaned up four Prentiss vises last week that have been in the queue for too long. The model 181 combo vise is an older design but solid. I do still need to make some pipe jaws for it. All the parts of it's old school swivel base will work but I had to make most of it. After debating color options, I went with the flat black on all of them.

I also did three Bull Dogs with the fancy script. I do love that script they used. A No. 92 swivel base and two model 50 fixed base vises. One thing I noticed on all of the Bull Dogs was the June 6, 1911 patent date on the jaw tower cheeks. Pretty faint on the 92 but still partially visible. Also the flat dimple on the meatballs reminding you to "oil the screw". I'd never noticed any of those light stampings before cleaning these vises up. Pics. Ed.

 

[paulsomlo]

Hello folks good afternoon! Need some help to identify this Wilton Vise if anyone could help? Google lens and EBay didn’t help much. Thanks!

I'm going to add the picture of the vise broken down, from the other thread that you started:

I'm certainly no Wilton expert, but I find it interesting that it has straight sides like a Tradesman, while the jaws are secured from front and rear. Also, what's up with the extra holes in the horseshoe? And the insert at the front of the dynamic jaw? I see it's secured with a bolt from underneath.

 

[micahd1997]

Spotted this poor vise on FB market. I am usually up for a challenge but....

From the add---"Prentiss or monarch bench vise. That someone did a decent job on repairing. I was going to reweld the swivel part closed. But I have no time."

It definitely has some charm to it

 

[Solidwork]

I'm going to add the picture of the vise broken down, from the other thread that you started:

I'm certainly no Wilton expert, but I find it interesting that it has straight sides like a Tradesman, while the jaws are secured from front and rear. Also, what's up with the extra holes in the horseshoe? And the insert at the front of the dynamic jaw? I see it's secured with a bolt from underneath.

Thank you i still looking for more details. I was thinking the same that It looks like tradesman.

 

[Mgdoug3]

Not my vise but saw it on the back of a friend's service truck with broken jaws. I told him I could make him a new set. First time I've made serrated jaws. I haven't trammed my mill in for a while so I didn't mind nodding the head and rotating my vise.

 

[tool_scrounge]

Yep:



I still want a fractal vise--I just don't want to pay for one.

I always wondered what an original 1920’s Mantle vise with the swivel base would sell for at auction. Very pretty vises.

 

[Beerhippie]

I always wondered what an original 1920’s Mantle vise with the swivel base would sell for at auction. Very pretty vises.

There's no emoji for drooling that I can find.... ;(

 

[Outlawmws]

 

[Outlawmws]

one of these : and start typing drool

 

[Shiftless]

We need something bigger and more exciting to demonstrate our enthusiasm for the Mantle vise.

 

[Outlawmws]

We need something bigger and more exciting to demonstrate our enthusiasm for the Mantle vise.

 

[12vx2]

Spotted this poor vise on FB market. I am usually up for a challenge but....

From the add---"Prentiss or monarch bench vise. That someone did a decent job on repairing. I was going to reweld the swivel part closed. But I have no time."

I don't blame you for passing on that one, with the body cracked out like that it probably has serious unseen issues.
I do think the alignment fork repair was creative, possibly returning it to some usefulness.

 

[KFBR392]

Milwaukee Tool & Equipment, made in Japan. It’s a poor quality vise overall and the $25 I paid for it was way too much. It was stripped, ultrasonically cleaned, wire wheeled, spray painted, and rebuilt with Super Lube on the screw. It’s just a ****** beater vise.

I let her choose the color and I 3D printed the jaws, which are surprisingly stout and the best part of the vise besides the fun color that reminds me of my partner.

 

[jawstight]

Got one! Found a good deal on what I believe to be a Wilton 350S. I'll strip this down when I get it, clean it up, and try to make it new. Doesn't look to have been abused at all. Anyone know whether the sticker on the right side of the front jaw gives a clue to its age? It has 101160/101161 under the jaws on the left side. Have no pics of the bar yet.

 

[Outlawmws]

Anyone know whether the sticker on the right side of the front jaw gives a clue to its age?

Get the slide out and look for a date on the key.

 

[Shiftless]

Get the slide out and look for a date on the key.

That’s the best way to find out the vintage of your vise.

Based on the sticker, I would guess that your vise is from the middle 70’s
Please update this thread when you are able to crank out the front jaw and look underneath to see the numbers on the key attached to the round slide.

 

[jawstight]

Will do, thanks guys

 

[micahd1997]

Within the span of a week, lightning struck TWICE and I found two extremely early, rare “dog” fastening style Prentiss vises - The first is a 4” stationary and the second is a 7” swivel base.

This “dog” fastening style is something that most of us are familiar with on all Prentiss jeweler’s vises, but legend and several advertisements indicated that Prentiss also utilized this style of spindle attachment for their larger vises as well. Though I’m still honing in on when Prentiss switched from the “dog” fastening style to the traditional collar style, I believe it to be during the early-mid 1880s.

Also with these “dog” style Prentiss vises is the presence of the “trapped” (as I call it) spindle nut. Unlike other Prentiss vises that have the nut dovetailed inside the static jaw and held in with a pin, the nut on the early styles was somehow anchored in and surrounded by the rest of the body.

Lastly, the 7” swivel jaw Prentiss sports a kind of keyed swivel pin hole. Unfortunately the swivel pin didn’t come with the vise, so I’m unsure what it would’ve looked like. However, the only other publicly known “dog” fastening style Prentiss vise outside of these two (a 3” swivel base) ALSO has this same keyed swivel jaw pin hole. Any input as to what this feature might’ve been for would be much appreciated.

I would be thoroughly interested to see pictures of any other member’s Prentiss “dog” fastening style vises if there are others out there

 

[micahd1997]

…pictures of the 7” “dog” fastening style swivel base Prentiss with the keyed swivel jaw pin hole AND the Prentiss ad mentioned in my post above…

 

[Quick01GT]

Brand new old stock, what would you pay?

 

[IRQVET]

Finished this one today, this was the little guy I had welded to my metal fab table, it was in rough shape. Cut the welds off, little time with a grinding wheel. Finished in a lead/ oil based forest green. Not perfect- but way better than it was.

 

[akasrick]

Within the span of a week, lightning struck TWICE and I found two extremely early, rare “dog” fastening style Prentiss vises - The first is a 4” stationary and the second is a 7” swivel base.

This “dog” fastening style is something that most of us are familiar with on all Prentiss jeweler’s vises, but legend and several advertisements indicated that Prentiss also utilized this style of spindle attachment for their larger vises as well. Though I’m still honing in on when Prentiss switched from the “dog” fastening style to the traditional collar style, I believe it to be during the early-mid 1880s.

Also with these “dog” style Prentiss vises is the presence of the “trapped” (as I call it) spindle nut. Unlike other Prentiss vises that have the nut dovetailed inside the static jaw and held in with a pin, the nut on the early styles was somehow anchored in and surrounded by the rest of the body.

Lastly, the 7” swivel jaw Prentiss sports a kind of keyed swivel pin hole. Unfortunately the swivel pin didn’t come with the vise, so I’m unsure what it would’ve looked like. However, the only other publicly known “dog” fastening style Prentiss vise outside of these two (a 3” swivel base) ALSO has this same keyed swivel jaw pin hole. Any input as to what this feature might’ve been for would be much appreciated.

I would be thoroughly interested to see pictures of any other member’s Prentiss “dog” fastening style vises if there are others out there

Micahd1997

This maybe a picture of the patent, if anything it will gave you a date and number to look up.

akasrick

 

[micahd1997]

This maybe a picture of the patent

I appreciate the patent, akasrik! That’s a funky collar that I actually haven’t seen terribly often. Prentiss used it on their later vises, and it isn’t a very popular design with folks these days (the little tabs are very hard to pry up). It seems that Prentiss used the “dog” style from their inception in the late 1870s to the early 1880s, the collar design until the mid 1920s, and the “bottle cap” design (as I personally like to call it) sporadically from then on.

 

[FJ 432]

Brand new old stock, what would you pay?

I might go as high as $500 if I needed a vise. It's a beaut.

 

[Indexmill]

I predict that it will sell for 2X that.

 

[Outlawmws]

Picked up another DP vise, a 2-1/4" Stanley:

 

[Outlawmws]

I might go as high as $500 if I needed a vise. It's a beaut.

I predict that it will sell for 2X that.

A new 4" Wilton bullet can be had for under 800.

 

[Oregon rock crusher]

Here is a Reed 304 1/2 I picked up this weekend out of an antique store in Astoria. Store owner was there and willing to make a deal or it would still be there. I don't find many fixed base swivel jaw vises. It seems most swivel jaw vises were sold with a swivel base. I still need to make a new jaw swivel lock pin but the vise cleaned up pretty fast an only gets a light oil finish.

Anyway here are a few pics of the newly found Reed 4-1/2" vise and a couple of it with an older Prentiss No. 3 which is also a 4-1/2" fixed base swivel jaw vise. The Reed is beefier nearly everywhere but the meat ball. Ed.

 

[micahd1997]

A rather stunning (dare I say…beautiful) vise pamphlet I received recently - a 14 pg. Hollands catalog № 36 stamled March 5, 1940 (just over 85 years old). The reflective gold borders are an especially neat touch.

 

[four.cycle]

posting this here instead of the "ebay hot deals" thread - seems more appropriate here.... posted this morning about 5 hours ago:

Tacoma, Washington
Rock Island 574 vise $75

03/10/25 11:15 PDT

 

[jawstight]

The Craftsman 506.5188 that I picked up came with a frozen swivel adjustment. I had to cut it off with a chisel. I managed to save the bolt, and while it appears to be a 1/2" 13tpi, I'm not completely sure as a couple of nuts I have laying around go on but do not exactly chase the threads smoothly. Can anyone confirm this is the correct size used on these vises?
Also does anyone know of a good source for vise parts. I'm working on several different vises of different manufacture and model. Other than eBay I don't know where to look. Thanks!

 

[neophyte]

Could it be 12 threads per inch ?
1/2”-12 is a standard Whitworth thread size.
The thread roots and crest would be rounded on Whitworth threads.
Whitworth was originally designed for cast iron, since the rounded design is less likely to fracture more brittle materials, and was also used at times for aluminum, as well as in Asia, were the number “13” is considered unlucky.
I don’t have one of the Craftsman vises, but you might try checking with a thread gauge if you have one, or by measuring and counting with a ruler.

 

[jawstight]

It could be, and that sounds like a distinct possibility given that I could not get a clean nut to thread on without resistance. I have thread gauges but unfortunately not one that measures that specific count. This vise is only mid to late 70's so I wouldn't have expected to see an odd tpi like that. Thanks for the tip though!

 

[Outlawmws]

A 506 is Columbian, so I would doubt it being whitworth. Check the bolt for an unseen burr or upset thread.

 

[RTM]

I have thread gauges but unfortunately not one that measures that specific count.

Good young eyes, a bright light, and a precise ruler will work. Plus magnification for me, as I'm missing that first item.

 

[photorocker]

This info at bottom of the page was posted by B100 on the ("American Scale 4 1/2 vise") thread.---Post 19.

Autopts sold me a #25, and this weight sounds about right, but I've never actually weighed mine.---It's a beast.


They also made a #25 Red Seal.---Mine is just a plain #25.


B100 has a good American Scale History in post 13 of the same thread.



I was writing down the numbers for awhile when I'd see one on e-bay or Craigslist. There were several others that I recall seeing, but never wrote down.

No2: open screw, anvil horn, round knob, opens about 2 3/4 inches, swivel base
No3: open screw, anvil horn, round knob
No4: 4" jaw, open screw, anvil horn, round knob, swivel base

N010: 3 3/4" jaw, 5" opening, 31lbs, fixed base, round knob
No15: covered screw, round knob, might have a swivel base
No30: small vise, small anvil, horn, cylinder knob, open screw
No40: small vise w/pipe jaws, anvil, horn , open screw
No45: similar to No4
No50: open screw, swivel base, anvil/horn, 5” jaw, 40lbs
No50C (or 500): same as No50
No55: no info

No20: weird anvil vise wi/drilling hole through dyn jaw 43lbs
No5: 4" jaw, opens 5", same style as no20 34.2lbs

No?: 8” jaw with 14” opening fixed base (looks kinda like mine above without the swivel parts)

No53N: American Scale/Red Seal, fixed base (need size info)
No54: American Scale/Red Seal, 4.5" jaw, 9 3/4" opening, 9" height, fixed base
No56: American Scale/Red Seal, 6" jaw, 12" opening, fixed base
No61C: American Scale/Red Seal, 3" jaw, 35lbs, swivel base
No62C: American Scale/Red Seal, 3 1/2" jaw, 6 1/2" opening, swivel base
No64: American Scale/Red Seal, 4" jaw, 8" opening, swivel base, 11" height, , handle length 13 1/2", 79 lbs
No64: American Scale/Red Seal, 4.5" jaw, 10.25" high, 3.5" from top of jaw to screw cover, 13" length of screw cover from jaw face to end, swivel base, 75 lbs
No66: American Scale/Red Star, 6” jaw, 14” opening
No?: American Scale/Red Seal, 4” jaw,
No75H: American Scale/Red Seal, 4.5" swivel jaw, 7" opening, 3.5" depth, swivel base, 60 lbs
Red Seal 110 66: American Scale/Red Seal, 6" jaw, 24" length, 13 1/2" height, swivel base (looks like vise in post 13, but no swivel jaw)

No79: Swivel base, swivel jaw, 190lbs, 6” jaw, 11” opening (pic in post 13)
No78: same as No79, 5" jaw, opens 11", 11 5/8 H, 26" length, 120lbs
No?: fixed base, 8 1/4 jaw, 36" length, see pics here
No88(?): AM Scale / Red Seal, 8 3/8" jaw, 350lbs, 34" overall length, 16" high, handle 25 1/2" [ebay listing said it had Coaly & Co.,KC Mo on one side, but the pic shows AM SCALE CO]

No22: 3 1/2" jaw, pipe jaws, 17" length, 10" height
No23A: see above, 4.5" jaw, pipe jaws, swivel base
No25: 6" jaw, pipe jaws, 26" length, 15 1/2" height, 200 lbs. ~ swivel base.

Number 53 is 4” jaw purchasing today has 6” fully opened .