Bought an Old Vise at a Yard Sale Today.

[Filson]

Hey guys, I just picked up a big old vise at a yard sale today, it's a Craftsman with the number 5162 on it. I found a picture of it on the web and some info - it was made in the late 30's/early 40's. Anyway, I tried to upload a pic of mine but my phone is being weird so I'm just going to use the photo they had online of it.

The problem with mine though - is that the faces are a bit messed up, and one of the faces seem to be bolted in place, from the rear. A bolt has been passed through from the back side of the main body piece, into the rear of the face. It seems stout enough and doesn't wobble.

Anyway, other than that it seems in great shape. It has a 4" jaw width and opens up to 6-7". I've seen different figures on the weight and haven't weighed it myself, but they all list 51-58lbs and I'd bet that's about right. It measures 17 1/2" long and 9 1/2" tall.

I picked it up for $15 bucks and am not sure what they are worth? I couldn't find any info on the web. Any ballpark ideas? Any of you have any experience with older Craftsman vises in terms of quality/durability? Do you think that was a good buy?

 

[bigcaddy]

I have the exact same vise and its in excellent condition, like yours.

Your vise was made by Rock Island for Craftsman and if you take a look just behind the stationary jaw, where the dynamic jaw slides through, you should find a 3 digit month/year date code stamped on the top of the slide.

I would think yours is 1940s but it could be earlier

As far as quality is concerned, Rock Islands are solid hunks of metal and nearly indestructible. That little vise with grab the **** out of whatever you put in its mouth and won't easily let go. Excellent quality vise with the Craftsman named branded on its side. Its a great find for the price. I paid 60 for mine.

 

[ganymede]

As bigcaddy said, your vise was made by Rock Island Mfg Co.
15 bucks is a super price for a vise of that size and quality.

 

[Super Sport]

Vise value is often assigned at $1/lb, although that is only a rough estimate and can vary greatly.

For $15, you ****!

 

[ajchien]

Very good buy!

 

[Filson]

Awesome guys, thanks! I can't make out the numbers completely but it looks like 9 47 with the 7 being the only crisp number. Good enough though, I think I'm gonna have to clean it up a bit and find a home in the shop for it. =)

Any idea what a similar vise would cost new these days?

 

[spongerich]

$15.00 is a YOU **** unless it's busted.

A brand new American made vise like that would be $200-$600 depending on brand. Wilton and Yost are the only 2 I'm aware of still made here (I'm sure there's others) and they're VERY expensive.

 

[Filson]

And my wife gave me the 'your in trouble' glare when she seen me packing it out of there. Pshhh.

 

[zoomieport]

$15.00 is a YOU **** unless it's busted.

A brand new American made vise like that would be $200-$600 depending on brand. Wilton and Yost are the only 2 I'm aware of still made here (I'm sure there's others) and they're VERY expensive.

Morgan Milwaukee is still making USA made vises too... and yes, they are expensive. Well done!

 

[CNGsaves]

OP, that trip to yard sale probably wasn't worth it . . .

. . . . you should pack up that vise and ship it my way.


















Just kidding !!! That's a great vise for $15 . . . holy **** !!!

Now you'll need to tear it apart and rebuild with lots of pics here on GJ.

Well deserved compliment on your find . . . . . YOU **** !!!

 

[Filson]

lol! I definitely want to rebuild it and clean it up. Any issues with rebuilding a vise I should know about before I get into it (little pins that can go missing or break, etc), or is it pretty straight forward?

 

[Steevo]

You stole if for that price!
I have the same vise in a fixed-base model.

 

[Filson]

Awesome! Makes me want to get mine cleaned up and painted even more. =)

 

[Filson]

Finally got the pics uploaded.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/62276422@N04/9045944650/" title="Full Vise Coke by Velchosus, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3702/9045944650_82dc27f91b.jpg" width="500" height="282" alt="Full Vise Coke"></a>

Added the can of coke for scale.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/62276422@N04/9045945476/" title="Vise screw back by Velchosus, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3705/9045945476_d5c564cfa4.jpg" width="282" height="500" alt="Vise screw back"></a>

Showing the screw + cutaway they had to make to do it.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/62276422@N04/9043721647/" title="Screw side by Velchosus, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5528/9043721647_cb28bb8f63.jpg" width="500" height="282" alt="Screw side"></a>

Side view of the screw.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/62276422@N04/9045945108/" title="Faces top by Velchosus, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7352/9045945108_c2b8752cc7.jpg" width="500" height="282" alt="Faces top"></a>

It looks like they tried to weld the faces on for some reason. They still screw off just fine and when tight have zero movement so I guess I can't complain. The actual surface of the faces still have clean checkering.

 

[Farmall450]

Maybe they welded something on there to weld it to something else?

Like tacking a piece to the workbench. Except that isn't no tack.

 

[Filson]

Possible. It didn't seem to hurt the vise any, minus a little cosmetically.

I took her all apart (minus the swivel, I don't have a socket large enough for it) and cleaned everything off pretty thoroughly. I took a pic of the progress mid-step and will take some more as I repaint and all that and will add in a single post later down the road. =)

 

[rickhigginshtbr]

that old beast is sweet!

 

[Filson]

Thank you!

Anyone have any suggestions on what type/brand of paint to use on this?

 

[Outlawmws]

$15.00 is a YOU **** unless it's busted.

A brand new American made vise like that would be $200-$600 depending on brand. Wilton and Yost are the only 2 I'm aware of still made here (I'm sure there's others) and they're VERY expensive.

Reed still make some here also.

 

[rickhigginshtbr]

Thank you!

Anyone have any suggestions on what type/brand of paint to use on this?

judging by the color on that one you posted, the color looks like a lighter pontiac blue engine paint... take some simple green to a few spots, see if it has anything original left on it. Me, personally, would try to get as close as possible... or if there's a lot left, just shoot a clear over what's left. either way, definitely an enamel.

 

[bluebolt]

Nice find for $15. The cut for that bolt and screw setup and the previousl welded on jaw inserts really hurts the collectability value but it's still a great vise for use around your shop.

 

[Filson]

Yeah, my only concern is that it will still hold up to heavy use (as it was designed to do) for my shop. But I don't really think it was hurt very bad at all in terms of functionality, so I'm happy =)

Thanks for the paint recommendation, I'll have to look around for what catches my eye and get to it.

 

[zoomieport]

Yeah, my only concern is that it will still hold up to heavy use (as it was designed to do) for my shop. But I don't really think it was hurt very bad at all in terms of functionality, so I'm happy =)

Thanks for the paint recommendation, I'll have to look around for what catches my eye and get to it.

I have a Rock Island / Craftsman from the same era... Which I believe to have had dark blue original paint, if you care... I'm not 100% sure, but it sure looked like the original paint...

 

[Filson]

Went down to the depot to find some paint and they didn't really have any colors I would of liked to use, and decided to settle on a hammered 'antique pewter'. We'll see what it looks like here in a few hours, and I'll decide if I want to repaint it or not lol.

 

[Filson]

A couple coats later and it's baking in the sun. I'll assemble it here in an hour or so and take a couple pics for you guys.

 

[Filson]

So after painting and assembling it back together... it was stiff as hell due to the paint on the collar over the main screw. Not sure why it's such a tight fit - I've seen a number of you guys were able to paint the whole thing. But anyway, I had to end up scraping it off to get it to work smoothly again. =/

Before:

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After:

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View media item 31235
During:

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View media item 31236
Anyway, not sure if I can get away with sanding the slide back down to bare metal and doing a really light coat on it, just to get the uniform color, or if I'm just going to have to leave it without. =/

 

[Outlawmws]

Mostly you don't want the slide painted. The paint will generally gall and possibly load up. leave the slide bare metal.

 

[Filson]

Yeah I'm agreeing with ya on that, it just doesn't seem to work very well lol. Ah well.

 

[Filson]

Question - after I sand off the remaining paint on the slide - should I treat the bare metal with anything?

 

[rickhigginshtbr]

penetrating oil... rub it down in kroil, pb blaster, etc, and plan to do it every few months or so.

 

[Filson]

Thanks!