The VISES of Garage Journal

[48James]

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My 3 inch Morgan Chicago, under restoration.

Here it is finished:

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[tool_scrounge]

Well I picked up this Wilton vise last night. I was seeing the seller regarding some other stuff and saw this in the back of his truck. I am familiar with most of Wilton's vises but I had not seen this version before. There are no markings on it. Autopts here on GJ thinks it is a US made early 740 series vise (35-40 years old). The current import 744 is listed at 37 lbs. This one weighs 46 lbs. So the older version had more metal in it. For a 4" vise it is surprisingly large.

The bottom of the vise is machined as well as the top of the swivel base. The pilot for the vise in the swivel base is a machined lip about 6" in diameter. The dual clamping mechanism for the swivel base has teeth the grip the mating teeth in the base. Way better than a single carriage bolt in a slot. Overall it is a pretty nice design for a non-machinist heavy duty bench vise.

The first photo is when I picked it up. The other photos are after cleaning and polishing. The rust on the handle and the end of the screw was pretty pitted. If I was really doing to do it right I would replace the handle and machine a few thousands off of the end of the screw to clean it up.

 

[Catalyze]

Nice Wilton purchase! Good effort on the polish job and the jaw faces look very crisp. It should do you well for many eons.

James - once again your latest effort came out very tasty.... those Littlestown vises just seem to pop up all over the place....I can't figure out why my home never had one...LOL
Craig

 

[Catalyze]

Here is an oval slide type of vise again. Someone posted a similar Yankee product several pages ago. This one is a Yankee 67 4" vise made around the 40's according to a date stamp. There is a world of difference between a Charles Parker oval slide and a Yankee as far as machining. I had a fair bit of casting and machining flash to clean up. I decided to make this one my normal bench vise and save my HF Shark (love that name) vise for the portable work table since it is not very heavy for a 4" vise. The Yankee had so much slop that the term "shim" was more like "spacer" needed. Now it will move in less than 1/4 turn. Parker may have gone out of business but they had a much better product in terms of quality.
The Yankee in basic black.......
View media item 9160
A pair of oval slide vises......2 1/2" Parker and 4" Yankee....neither will be involved changing U Joints....LOL
Craig

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[48James]

James - once again your latest effort came out very tasty.... those Littlestown vises just seem to pop up all over the place....I can't figure out why my home never had one...LOL
Craig[/QUOTE]

Thanks, I'm gunna use this as a beater. Lol I put too much work into my Morgan Chicago, afraid to use it!

 

[bgott]

Lol I put too much work into my Morgan Chicago, afraid to use it!

That is why I just wire brush the rust off of my vises, oil 'em up and put 'em to use!

 

[Rickenbackerman]

Here's my Columbian - before pics are on page 101, here she is all dressed up and ready to party!

 

[Catalyze]

Looking good! It has that classic Columbian jaw shape and they don't look beat up at all. So did the Chinese vise gain duty as a door stop yet?
Craig

 

[Mario]

Record No.6 (6"), Made in England. got it for 25$ at a garage sale a few years ago. Until recently I didn't know those sold for 300$ when new!

Record No. 00, 5$ also at a garage sale last year.

Will probably repaint them sometime...

Crappy picture, sorry!

 

[BoilermakerNate]

Here are my vises...

3" old Columbian made in Cleveland, OH.

4.5" Morgan Chicago 345 I got from Alex71, thanks again!

5" Wilton C2 I just picked up a few days ago for $150.

6" Wilton C3 I got with the other Wilton for $175.

 

[Catalyze]

Nate - where to begin? I really like the combo vise Morgan...had to look at it twice to figure out why it was shaped a tad differently than my 140... the Wiltons are just monsters! Would they be called Large Calibers or Big Bullets?

Mario - your second photo puts it all in proper perspective.....nice pair there

Craig

 

[ZRX61]

Here are my vises...


4.5" Morgan Chicago 345 I got from Alex71, thanks again!

Supposed to be blue

 

[scruffy390]

6" Snap on

 

[Nick M]

As requested better picture of my Rock Island 577, though the lighting in the shop is terrible.

 

[Catalyze]

Very nice product plate condition on the Rock Island.
Tags always seem to get tattered as things age. That is still
one large vise.....yowza.
Craig

 

[Catalyze]

How about an old Prentiss model 67 Gipsy vise with 4 inch jaws?
View media item 9161
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I machined the retaining collar for a set screw....hammering it off was enough to make me not want to press it or hammer it back on.
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It had a ton of rust and old black paint on it when I got it. Like an idiot, this was my first vise that didn't get spooged in the electric bath. I won't do that again. The bath takes off that old paint so nicely...let alone the rust it removes. As Mr Horse used to say in Ren and Stempy.....No Sir, I don't like it.....I just don't like it.
Craig

 

[BoilermakerNate]

Supposed to be blue

I'll keep that in mind if I ever repaint it.

 

[PCO6]

Record No.6 (6"), Made in England. got it for 25$ at a garage sale a few years ago. Until recently I didn't know those sold for 300$ when new!

Record No. 00, 5$ also at a garage sale last year.

Will probably repaint them sometime...

Crappy picture, sorry!

Mario - Those are great vices and you got them for great prices. I have Record Nos. 3, 4, 6 & 8 - No. 6 being my main bench vice. I recently purchased new jaws for each of them at Acklands-Grainger for reasonable prices - about $14 to $40 each. They also sell soft jaws - $31 for my No. 6. If you are looking for a good Record blue paint match, Valspar and Tremclad are both very close.

What is the jaw width for the No. 00? I have never seen one.

 

[jayrush13]

Some of my vises

Rock Island 143
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Was a swivel base but is missing some pieces so its just a solid base now

Reed 103 1/2

View media item 9205 was the vises my Dad had on the bench from the time i was young a lot of those dings were from a younger me

Wilton that came on the bench from my Grandpa

View media item 9206
Going back to my Dad traded him for the Rock island

All together
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[BoilermakerNate]

Nate - where to begin? I really like the combo vise Morgan...had to look at it twice to figure out why it was shaped a tad differently than my 140... the Wiltons are just monsters! Would they be called Large Calibers or Big Bullets?

Mario - your second photo puts it all in proper perspective.....nice pair there

Craig

I like the Morgan a lot too, it has a lot of character. I was pretty excited when I found the Wiltons on CL. I've been looking for quite some time now. It took some trying to get the 6" from my car to the workbench by myself...that's a lot of vise! They are both missing the end grease caps, so I'm going to have to come up with something to replace them. I've seen others use freeze plugs and wheel bearing dust caps, might give those a try.

 

[CRTDI]

As requested better picture of my Rock Island 577, though the lighting in the shop is terrible.

Nick M,

Many thanks for posting these additional pics!!

As an owner of one of these I am a bit biased, but I really like the overall style and design of this vise. The I.D. tag is really in fantastic shape. I didn't expect to see an easily removed one foot long lock lever handle, do you think it is original to the vise?

Your vise appears to be a light grayish green color, is it safe to assume that it has been repainted this color? Mine appears to have been originally painted black.

Do you know if there are any patent numbers located on the vise? I couldn't find any on mine. It sure would be nice to find out some additional historical information on this particular model.

 

[Nick M]

Nick M,

Many thanks for posting these additional pics!!

As an owner of one of these I am a bit biased, but I really like the overall style and design of this vise. The I.D. tag is really in fantastic shape. I didn't expect to see an easily removed one foot long lock lever handle, do you think it is original to the vise?

Your vise appears to be a light grayish green color, is it safe to assume that it has been repainted this color? Mine appears to have been originally painted black.

Do you know if there are any patent numbers located on the vise? I couldn't find any on mine. It sure would be nice to find out some additional historical information on this particular model.

I am not sure that the arm is original. It can be slid through, and could have been replaced. Does anyone else have one of these with the lock lever arm?

Yes, I have seen evidence that this was painted over, there was originally duct tape covering the ID tag, I used some goof off to remove (it was dried up). There is also very slight overspray where the main handle was masked. The sides of the jaws are also painted, but I'm not sure when or who re painted.

I have seen casting numbers in the main part as well as the movable jaw, but not sure about patent numbers. I will look for more numbers when I return to the shop (with more lights too!).

Thank you for taking intrest in my vise, This has been sitting for 10 years since it was moved from the original shop, and every time I looked at it, I would get a nice fuzzy warm feeling... It's awsome to acutally start using it now, Just have to bolt it down.

 

[Rickenbackerman]

Looking good! It has that classic Columbian jaw shape and they don't look beat up at all. So did the Chinese vise gain duty as a door stop yet?
Craig

The jaws are actually in FANTASTIC shape, but the slide was used as an anvil for a while... I filed the high spots down with a file and it works fine but doesn't look that great. After I wire-wheeled it I noticed "3 69 22" stamped on the side of the body - March 22, 1969?

Oh, the Chinese Wilton will be demoted to a welding vise.

 

[Mario]

Mario - They also sell soft jaws - $31 for my No. 6. If you are looking for a good Record blue paint match, Valspar and Tremclad are both very close.

What is the jaw width for the No. 00? I have never seen one.

2" for the No. 00

Thanks for the paint, I was gonna ask for the best colormatch.

 

[Goldboattail455]

I have the privilege of using this little guy on Saturdays. It has some history behind it, use to make all the snow plows for the State of IL before they went to the junk they currently use. All the other machines that were used to make the plows are still there. The only thing missing is the metal floor, used so you always have a ground on whatever your welding.

Back to the vise, It says on it: "The Chas. Parker Co. Meriden CT. U.S.A."

 

[red93yj]

bought this vise today, wilton 1760. pretty excited about it. looks to be made in 1993, is that to new to be any good? what changed from the older ones?

 

[Nightshift]

bought this vise today, wilton 1760. pretty excited about it. looks to be made in 1993, is that to new to be any good? what changed from the older ones?

Nick (autopts) will explain ... if he has time.

 

[Catalyze]

Red - great vise there, my Wilton 450 was made in 1993 also so it must have been a good year for vises!

Gold - anytime a Parker has 2 screws holding the "clip" to the jaw.....it's going to be a huge vise and that one is fantastic, great tool with a good history to go with it

Jayrush - Wowzers.....very good array of metal there, you have all the right sizes for whatever you want to do.....good history with them too.....there is no way that I will be in as useful a condition when I am their age.....I am barely useful now (just ask my wife)
Craig

 

[ZRX61]

Should be picking up a Prentiss 52 tomorrow...

 

[Ghostrider]

Well I now have a vise that I deem worthy of posting in this thread after a year of looking. This columbian 206 M 2 followed me home from work for FREE...
It does need a pipe jaw but I'm sure that can be found or made. And just so everyone knows it all Garage Journal's fault......at least thats what I told my wife when she asked why I "needed" something that big.

 

[SweetD]

Free? Wow!

You ****! - nice score!

 

[SweetD]

Should be picking up a Prentiss 52 tomorrow...

Nice - post up some pics when you get a chance. I have the 92, which is of course the 52, but with a swivel base. Love Prentiss vises.

Dave

 

[Ghostrider]

Finally my first you **** lol

 

[ZRX61]

Nice - post up some pics when you get a chance. I have the 92, which is of course the 52, but with a swivel base. Love Prentiss vises.

Dave

Well things didn't quite go according to plan....

...yes, I did pick up the Prentiss 52...

but it came with friends....

Anyone have a swivel base for a Littlestown?.. or you could offer me $50 for it

The guy also had a small Woden (UK) & a 204 1/2 Columbian that weren't for sale

 

[old salvage]

Wow, the 'Penny Pincher' is extra cool.

 

[old salvage]

Anyone have a swivel base for a Littlestown?.. or you could offer me $50 for it

I've got one. Dont know if its for a model 25 or not. Its 4 1/16th across. covered with a lighter green paint.

 

[ZRX61]

meanwhile, A little over an hour later...

 

[ZRX61]

I've got one. Dont know if its for a model 25 or not. Its 4 1/16th across. covered with a lighter green paint.

I'll measure mine when the paint dries

 

[SweetD]

How about an old Prentiss model 67 Gipsy vise with 4 inch jaws?
View media item 9161
View media item 9162
I machined the retaining collar for a set screw....hammering it off was enough to make me not want to press it or hammer it back on.
View media item 9163
It had a ton of rust and old black paint on it when I got it. Like an idiot, this was my first vise that didn't get spooged in the electric bath. I won't do that again. The bath takes off that old paint so nicely...let alone the rust it removes. As Mr Horse used to say in Ren and Stempy.....No Sir, I don't like it.....I just don't like it.
Craig

Craig -

I came real close to picking one of those Gipsy's up off of eBay a couple of weeks ago, but it just looked too beat up at the jaw. Price was decent, but just too far gone I thought. Very unique-looking though...

I would love to have a Gipsy for the Prentiss "vise vice" that I seem to have going on...nice job with the cleanup even w/out the electrolysis. I have a mini-Prentiss #153 on the way that will be my first test case for the e-bath. So far I've just kept my vises in "as-is" condition with some oil, but the 153 is very much in need of a restoration. Enjoy your posts.

Dave

 

[cglasgow]

I like that green -- looks like MG TC engine green....