The VISES of Garage Journal

[HTGTS350]

Down under mate but if you are at the far left or far right of the country stuff just sticks to the walls.

 

[Ketis]

Can anyone identify this for me? This thing is for sale and these are the only pictures they have.

thanks

 

[Outlawmws]

Most likely an import. Compare to a new one at HF before buying... These are often priced more than new cost...

 

[t4runner]

Just picked up 2 vises one is a Snap on the other a Wilton both are going to need new jaw sets. I dont want to spend a bunch on replacing the jaws it seems they are rather expensive. I am going to make some out of flat stock and I was wondering what grade of steel works best.

 

[Mohawk Dave]

Just picked up 2 vises one is a Snap on the other a Wilton both are going to need new jaw sets. I dont want to spend a bunch on replacing the jaws it seems they are rather expensive. I am going to make some out of flat stock and I was wondering what grade of steel works best.

Just a WAG...but if you want hard..tool steel. Soft, get Aluminum.

Copper would be really cool. Set one up different than the other.

 

[PghJKB]

Is this a Wilton Shop King?

Fullthrottle24's outstanding resto of that Shop King has me looking at a recent acquisition of mine and wondering.
It looks to be a Wilton "Shop King" but there are several differences.
There is no manufacturer name (maybe a long ago worn away decal?).
The base is definitely not a Wilton style base - IMHO very cheesy.
There is no hardy hole.
One of the casting marks appears to be a letter "N" inside a square - I have what appears to be a Wilton 1645 with this same mark????
Another of the casting marks looks like the date 12 - 10 - 62, well after Wilton would have discontinued the Shop King.
Finally, the 624 cast into the jaw - is that a model number?

Any thoughts on what I got?

 

[tmwebb3]

Here is my new to me Reed 203, disassembled and ready to be cleaned.

 

[GuyRobot]

My parents moved from their house to a retirement community, so my Dad had to empty out the basement, which was his workshop. He asked me what I wanted, and first on my list was the big old bench vise. He got the vise from his father, and I have memories of both my Grandfather and my father using the vise frequently.

I looked around the web a little to find out what I could, and found this forum where so many people did great restorations, it inspired me to clean up my new (old) vise.

Under many coats of paint, I found "Athol Machine Co."
So far I've learned that the Athol Machine Company was bought out by Starrett in the 1905. That could mean the vise is pre-1905, but that is making the assumption that Starrett immediately added their name to castings in 1906.

The jaws are 4 1/2 inches wide and 2 inches high, and the screw is long enough for me to hold a 10 1/2 inch workpiece. You can lift the dynamic jaw and quickly slide it open and shut.

On one side it says No.41, and there are two small "421" marks as well.

I have some old Stanley planes, and there are all kinds of information and type studies out there, but not for old vises!

I'm curious to know if this was a specific kind of vise, the surface area of the jaws seems pretty big, and it opens quite far.

So if anyone can add anything, I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks!

Rich

 

[Outlawmws]

I believe that to be a pattern maker's (wood) vise. Some call the taller (weaker) jawed vises of that type sheet metal vises, but I don't buy it. (sheet metal is THIN. you don't need the extra opening these often have for sheet metal...

That is a nice vise, take good care of it...

 

[neophyte]

The taller skinnier jawed vises are sometimes called "Sheet Metal Workers" vises, or at least thats what Yost refers to their 503 vise as. The Yost 503 doesn't have the exact same jaw shape but it is similar. Other members on this Forum also use the term "Pattern-makers" vise.

 

[SweetD]

My parents moved from their house to a retirement community, so my Dad had to empty out the basement, which was his workshop. He asked me what I wanted, and first on my list was the big old bench vise. He got the vise from his father, and I have memories of both my Grandfather and my father using the vise frequently.

I looked around the web a little to find out what I could, and found this forum where so many people did great restorations, it inspired me to clean up my new (old) vise.

Under many coats of paint, I found "Athol Machine Co."
So far I've learned that the Athol Machine Company was bought out by Starrett in the 1905. That could mean the vise is pre-1905, but that is making the assumption that Starrett immediately added their name to castings in 1906.

The jaws are 4 1/2 inches wide and 2 inches high, and the screw is long enough for me to hold a 10 1/2 inch workpiece. You can lift the dynamic jaw and quickly slide it open and shut.

On one side it says No.41, and there are two small "421" marks as well.

I have some old Stanley planes, and there are all kinds of information and type studies out there, but not for old vises!

I'm curious to know if this was a specific kind of vise, the surface area of the jaws seems pretty big, and it opens quite far.

So if anyone can add anything, I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks!

Rich

I agree that your vise is in the "pattern-maker's" style. The base is quite similar to the Athol #91 that I restored a couple of years ago:



Definitely quite old - I think about 100 years at this point, maybe more!

Dave

 

[cbb]

Here are a few pics of a 55 pound 4 inch unit, almost 10" high. Anyone want to take a wag at the date of manufacture?

I suppose a decent deal at $50?

 

[bigcaddy]

Here are a few pics of a 55 pound 4 inch unit, almost 10" high. Anyone want to take a wag at the date of manufacturer?

I suppose a decent deal at $50?

You should feel guilty for paying 50.00 for so much vise. Athols are some of the stoutest vises around and don't get the respect they deserve.

I would say yours is around the late 1930s through the 1940s. The only thing that makes it hard to really nail down a date on Athol vises is their style never really changed at all. The only thing ive really seen that varies from vise to vise the the style of lettering on the side.

 

[Mark in Indiana]

I've heard a lot of conflicting information concerning Athol vises. Some say that anything pre-Starrett (or pre 1906) is Athol only. However, if an Athol vise was built after 1905, it will carry the Starrett name. I read an opinion while Googling Athol vises that Starrett didn't always put their name on the Athol vises until the 1940's.

I wish there was some concrete information about the age of the Athols. My 324 1/2x and the two vises in the above posts have a lot of the same features that my Parker 205 (circa 1930) has. However some say that they are more than 25 years older.

 

[Mark in Indiana]

Here are a few pics of a 55 pound 4 inch unit, almost 10" high. Anyone want to take a wag at the date of manufacture?

I suppose a decent deal at $50?

I'd brag about paying $50.00 for a vise like that. Just go to HF, Sears or any of the big box building suppliers and see want $50.00 will buy.

 

[fullthrottle24]

Re: Is this a Wilton Shop King?

Fullthrottle24's outstanding resto of that Shop King has me looking at a recent acquisition of mine and wondering.
It looks to be a Wilton "Shop King" but there are several differences.
There is no manufacturer name (maybe a long ago worn away decal?).
The base is definitely not a Wilton style base - IMHO very cheesy.
There is no hardy hole.

It sure looks like a Shop King. I have seen Craftsman(Columbian) vises that once had the tool hardy then later models did not. Very possible this was a cost saving measure. Either way, clean it up and slap some paint on her. May I suggest black with red inserts, that was my alternate plan for mine. You might need to find a new swivel base, yours looks like it is cracked.

 

[TreePointer]

Here are a few pics of a 55 pound 4 inch unit, almost 10" high. Anyone want to take a wag at the date of manufacture?

I suppose a decent deal at $50?

D'oh, you beat me by five bucks, LOL! I got an Athol 624 a two weekends ago. No regrets on the price here. Did you just clean and apply a clear coat or oil?

 

[TheGr8erG00d]

This is my Carl E. Shields bench vise. I found it in my grandfather's garage after he passed around ten years ago. My dad let me keep it in my little shop because he wasn't interested in it. I recently made some room for my tools and built a little, mobile workbench in the garage and decided to dig back up and put it to use again. These pictures are after giving it a good sandblasting. It had some random paint splatter and grease smeared on it before. Never realized they were so uncommon.

http://www.google.com/patents?id=tW...=gbs_selected_pages&cad=1#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

[fullthrottle24]

Here is my Prentiss # 91 all finished up except for new jaws.
Before:

After:

Sorry about the lousy pics. The color is Rust oleum hammered red.
The jaws are 3 5/8". I have the original jaws, trying to have some new ones made up.

 

[fullthrottle24]

One more resto for you
Before :

After:

Reed 71 pipe vise. Disappointed that I couldn't find square bolts and nuts. This one belonged to my grandfather, I plan on using it and passing it down to my kids.

 

[fordbroncodave]

anyone know what brand this is?

and picked these 3 little ones up for FREE!

 

[cbb]

D'oh, you beat me by five bucks, LOL! I got an Athol 624 a two weekends ago. No regrets on the price here. Did you just clean and apply a clear coat or oil?

No clear just oil. I am going to see if this works out, if I get some surface rust then I will rethink as clear coating would be my other option. Yours looks to be in nice shape!

 

[tool_scrounge]

anyone know what brand this is?

and picked these 3 little ones up for FREE!

Cole bench/pipe vise

 

[kukko]

I realized that I had too many vises (yes, it's possible), and so I've been clearing some out. Sold some on CL to a local vise/tool flipper (I was amazed at how little interest I had in them, not even here in the classifieds). I made a nice trade with Autopts, who happens to live close to my parents in Chicagoland, so shipping/transport was not a problem, considering how heavy the vises were that we swapped.
Anyway, I had been delicately using the Parker 8W (seen here http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=2894318&postcount=7348 ) since it's such an unusual vise in really good condition. I was really "scared" to use it because I did not want to do any damage to it. So last night I decommissioned the 8W and did a quick minor clean up and lube on the vise I traded for with Nick. It's a Parker 249X. It's in really good physical condition, jaws good, nice and stout, but has a few coats of ugly paint on it. I cleaned off the important surfaces, greased it, and bolted it to the bench and used it right away for a transmission job I am working on. Someday I will strip off the rest of the bad paint and perhaps leave this one bare metal. Thanks again Nick!

Now to wait for the two vises that are going to be delivered next month. So much for too many vises!

 

[fury9]

Well, here's my new vise, 53 dollars. I'm guessing it weighs about 60 pounds, Nice and straight ,no cracks and works great. Bought it from an engineer at Stanadyne's son. Don't know much about it, I think I did alright though.

 

[va.grouseman]

Question. Can anyone tell me if Starrett ever produced a vise with swivel base and 8inch jaws, and had the Starrett logo on the side? The largest I've seen had 6inch jaws.

 

[fury9]

check post 5962, seems to be a large one page 299

 

[Low Friction]

Here's an Athol 628 8" monster. But I don't see Starrett anywhere.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=2884549&postcount=76

 

[va.grouseman]

That Athol is a monster, but I'm like you Low Friction, I have not seen an eight inch with the Starrett logo anywhere. Not saying they don't exist.

 

[bigcaddy]

Here is my first Record vise that i've ever found before, freshly finished. Anybody have any idea on how to determine the age of these things?

I tried to chase down that Tremclad brand paint only to find out its just Rustoleum rebranded for the crazy Canadians to the north.

The color was something i picked up a Grainger, either Regal or True blue. Either way, i think it looks good.

 

[bigcaddy]

Here is my other project i started/completed this week. Found this guy on CL for a few bucks and started on it right away.

The seller had no idea it was a Wilton 1750 Tradesman, but i did

It was complete but needed some work on the jaw inserts. The holes for the mounting screws were beat to hell so they underwent some serious plastic surgery. After some turned down screws were installed, they look like new.

The date code is 11/81 so its 31 years old and hardly used

 

[ZRX61]

Here is my first Record vise that i've ever found before, freshly finished.

Figured out how to get it apart & back together I see

 

[bigcaddy]

Figured out how to get it apart & back together I see

It made my brain hurt a little bit but i got everything back together with no extra parts.

 

[Steroblan]

Here is my other project i started/completed this week. Found this guy on CL for a few bucks and started on it right away.

The seller had no idea it was a Wilton 1750 Tradesman, but i did

It was complete but needed some work on the jaw inserts. The holes for the mounting screws were beat to hell so they underwent some serious plastic surgery. After some turned down screws were installed, they look like new.

The date code is 11/81 so its 31 years old and hardly used

Sweet Resto BC!!

 

[ZRX61]

Picked up (on approval) a MASSIVE vise this morning...









Says *Marshall* on the right end of the static (front) jaw & *Valstar* on the other end. Dynamic jaw says *Made in Japan*

May well be open to offers

 

[Mark in Indiana]

It looks like it would make a pretty cool hood ornament.

 

[ZRX61]

& the 4in Paramo from the homeland

 

[bluebolt]

My parents moved from their house to a retirement community, so my Dad had to empty out the basement, which was his workshop. He asked me what I wanted, and first on my list was the big old bench vise. He got the vise from his father, and I have memories of both my Grandfather and my father using the vise frequently.

I looked around the web a little to find out what I could, and found this forum where so many people did great restorations, it inspired me to clean up my new (old) vise.

Under many coats of paint, I found "Athol Machine Co."
So far I've learned that the Athol Machine Company was bought out by Starrett in the 1905. That could mean the vise is pre-1905, but that is making the assumption that Starrett immediately added their name to castings in 1906.

The jaws are 4 1/2 inches wide and 2 inches high, and the screw is long enough for me to hold a 10 1/2 inch workpiece. You can lift the dynamic jaw and quickly slide it open and shut.

On one side it says No.41, and there are two small "421" marks as well.

I have some old Stanley planes, and there are all kinds of information and type studies out there, but not for old vises!

I'm curious to know if this was a specific kind of vise, the surface area of the jaws seems pretty big, and it opens quite far.

So if anyone can add anything, I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks!

Rich

I can add I just picked up one pretty similar but mine says AMCO Athol Mass and has a patent date of I believe 1871! When I first picked it up I thought it was broke because the dynamic jaw flopped up and won, then I saw that "half nut" and realized it was a quick adjust vise.

 

[ssffnomad]

tmwebb3 , curious what colors you found on Reed 203 ?

 

[Outlawmws]

ZRX61, I have one very similar I picked up this past winter. Painted with black wrinkle, the jaw inserts are slightly different, as are some of the details of the casting (corners and such). The main screw head on mine is not hollow and is bullet shaped.

Was the coin what you paid for yours?