The VISES of Garage Journal

oldldh · Mar 23, 2014

Outlawmws said:
....it still has a hint of orange in it!

Don't forget, Outlaw, his son is seven years old... :rocker:

And his eyes still work...unlike most of ours... :thumbup:

And "Arrest-Me-Red"'s first cousin, "M-F-Red", is really, really RED!!! :evil:

And I, for one, really, really like it... :drool:

Gasgunner: That vise will wind up on your son's workbench...and he'll tell his son, "Yep...when I was about your age, Grandad and I restored this, and I'll give it to you, and you can pass it on to your son"...(Sons and Grandsons are arrows shot into the future, where we can't go....Who would have thought, the arrows would carry cast iron vises with them???)

Ya Dun Gud, Bubba...

Yeah, ya did...

wrenchguy · Mar 23, 2014

gasgunner said:
First post here. Recently been needing to upgrade the vise in my little basement shop, but just could not bring myself to spend good $ on the junk at the home improvement store. Found this site and began doing some reading and decided I needed a vise with a swiveling fixed jaw. A few weeks ago I did not even know they existed. So I began watching e-bay and low and behold a Reed 403 1/2 showed up about 10 miles form my house. A quick e-mail to the seller confirmed that I could see it and pick it up to save the shipping so I clicked the buy it now price and this is what I brought home.

Rear jaw was frozen, but after letting it soak for a few hours it started to move and shortly had it freed right up.

My 7 year old some and I spent the day cleaning it up today. The base plate needed blasted, but the balance of the vise cleaned up well with just some solvent and a good wire brushing. Ben wanted it red, so a can of left over Massey Ferguson red was deemed satisfactory.

The top of the vise has a lot of heavy pitting, and the handle was bent, but the inside it is very good condition. The screw had a coating of grease on it and once cleaned off about 90 % of the original finish was still on the screw and no rust at all. The nut was likewise in great shape. I straightened out the handle and parkerized it. Thought the black might be a good contrast to the bright red. I hope to get it together later this week and post a picture of it all together.

John

nice.

kmbo · Mar 23, 2014

va.grouseman said:
kmbo----The Metro looks like a Morgan.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Millwrights...1?pt=BI_Tool_Work_Holding&hash=item2ecfd3edf5

Nice looking vise, and another vise with a car name. Hang on to it.

Thanks va.grouseman and PghJKB for your replies. It really does look like that Morgan. Cool!

I'm posting a couple of pics now that I've had a chance to get into this. Posting on this forum is tricksy - I think it'll be easier to restore this vise!

I took everything apart with no problems except the swivel base. Any advice on how to remove the swivel base from the body? I only see the six sided bolt/nut underneath, but I'm not sure if that's something that's supposed to be removed

.

Also, do you know what the 130L means on the base?

And what's the best grease, primer, paint to use on this after it's cleaned?

View media item 38999
View media item 39001
View media item 39002
View media item 39000
Thanks so much!
kmbo

bigcaddy · Mar 23, 2014

Kmbo,

You are gonna need a 3/4 drive ratchet and a 1 1/2" socket or something near that size to fit that nut. It should come off fairly easily since it doesn't look rusty at all

Once it's off, the swivel base will come right off.

Just make sure to clamp you vise into your bigger vise do you can get proper leverage when removing that bolt :evil:

Fretters · Mar 23, 2014

zkling said:
Any advice?

Use it. Provided it's functioning, pretty ain't essential. It'll make a good "I can't make it any worse so don't need to worry what I use it for" vice.

Fretters · Mar 23, 2014

PghJKB said:
CudaChick

With all respect to Outlaw, your Reed may have originally been gray.

Black sounds better. Hell, even rust sounds a better option than grey. :evil:

Personally, I like satin, (I always go with satins no matter the colour), black. It's timeless.

CudaChick1968 · Mar 23, 2014

Welcome aboard gasgunner!

I can tell already you're going to fit in great around here. I have the feeling it probably won't be long before Ben wants his own GJ handle too. Thanks for being another hands-on dad ... so many today aren't, and both of you will be better men because of it. I hope you enjoy this place as much as we do. < curtsey >

CudaChick1968 · Mar 23, 2014

Fretters said:
Black sounds better. Hell, even rust sounds a better option than grey.

Personally, I like satin, (I always go with satins no matter the colour), black. It's timeless.

LOL Fretters! I adore you already. But if that <---- wasn't a dead giveaway as it is, I kinda prefer the flash over the mild, and will probably end up doing some wild custom and classy thing on my Reed.

Though my daughter (now 28) used to be a Mini Me, nowadays she drives a Lexus :dunno:

and isn't inclined to get dirty anymore ... so it's pretty unlikely I'm going to have anyone to pass it down to who will appreciate it.

Hell, I just might have to have my Executor send it off to South Yorkshire, England. I know a guy who could use a little color on his bench.

va.grouseman · Mar 23, 2014

Kmbo-----The 130 is probably just a parts number.

I refer you to Autopts for the grease.

I refer you to Autopts/Blane/Eoc Jason, for primer/paint scheme.

And I guess I ought to refer you to b100 about the #130L. I'm probably wrong.

kmbo · Mar 23, 2014

bigcaddy said:
Kmbo,

You are gonna need a 3/4 drive ratchet and a 1 1/2" socket or something near that size to fit that nut. It should come off fairly easily since it doesn't look rusty at all

Once it's off, the swivel base will come right off.

Just make sure to clamp you vise into your bigger vise do you can get proper leverage when removing that bolt

Thanks! I just needed someone to say, yes, that bolt does need to come off.
Now, it's on with the cleaning.

Fretters · Mar 23, 2014

CudaChick1968 said:
LOL Fretters! I adore you already. But if that <---- wasn't a dead giveaway as it is, I kinda prefer the flash over the mild, and will probably end up doing some wild custom and classy thing on my Reed.

I had noted you might be into slightly brighter colour schemes than I.

Hell, I just might have to have my Executor send it off to South Yorkshire, England. I know a guy who could use a little color on his bench.

Could just imagine it. I'd be there, telling the other machinery and equipment, (I don't normally talk to my machinery though. Honest.

), not to worry and that it wouldn't bite.

Outlawmws · Mar 23, 2014

Oh, I'm SURE you talk to, or at least at your tools; I think we all do at times!

:tantrum2:

Fretters · Mar 23, 2014

Hopefully we won't get carted off to the funny farm for it though.

CudaChick1968 · Mar 23, 2014

Outlawmws said:
Oh, I'm SURE you talk to, or at least at your tools; I think we all do at times!

Uh huh ... and when we talk to our tools it's not usually to tell them how fabulous they are. It's more like "C'mon you piece of $#%*^@#$*% do your !@#$%&* job!"

Or maybe it's just me.

Fretters · Mar 23, 2014

When I'm cursing, it's usually about the person who seemed obviously to think that whatever trick they did to a piece of equipment was fine or amusing.

The tools get coddled. Wouldn't want to upset the tools.

CudaChick1968 · Mar 23, 2014

I only remember one or two Wizards in this thread and this one looks cool too! Maybe someone can ****** it up.

http://montgomery.craigslist.org/tls/4375586101.html

Steve V. · Mar 23, 2014

CudaChick1968 said:
Uh huh ... and when we talk to our tools it's not usually to tell them how fabulous they are. It's more like "C'mon you piece of $#%*^@#$*% do your !@#$%&* job!"

Or maybe it's just me.

It's not just you.

A new Olympic sport - lay under a car on a creeper and see how far you can throw a 9/16 wrench out to the side.

:lol_hitti

Steve

CudaChick1968 · Mar 23, 2014

Steve V. said:
It's not just you.

A new Olympic sport - lay under a car on a creeper and see how far you can throw a 9/16 wrench out to the side.

Steve

Get your hair stuck in the wheels some time. You'll throw the whole car.

f575gtc · Mar 23, 2014

Before I try to restore this, can anyone tell me if I have anything valuable here? like a vintage vise or anything?

The text says Prentissvice Co. New York Bulldog No.92

This vise is stationary, it doesn't turn, but the base seems like it was meant to sit on something and rotate as it sits uneven.

I picked it up today, I know nothing about vises, and I was planning on actually using it.

jakemac · Mar 23, 2014

CudaChick1968 said:
Get your hair stuck in the wheels some time. You'll throw the whole car.

That's nothin', I got my beard caught in wheels once. Couldn't move my head. View media item 38281

Craptain · Mar 23, 2014

f575gtc. What you have is a solid vise. The value is the value you place in it and especially if you intend to use it. For me I would just give it a clean and lube then bolt it down at hte other end of the bench. (so the little guy doesn't feel inferior).

I don't know but someone will, if it should have a rotating base, but if you don't need it then use as is. Take a good look to see why it doesn't sit flat and either remove obstruction or make a (wood or metal) pad for it to sit on with suitable cutouts to enable it to sit flat.

wrenchguy · Mar 23, 2014

jakemac said:
That's nothin', I got my beard caught in wheels once. Couldn't move my head. View media item 38281

u 2 jake

wrenchguy · Mar 23, 2014

f575gtc said:
Before I try to restore this, can anyone tell me if I have anything valuable here? like a vintage vise or anything

The text says Prentissvice Co. New York Bulldog No.92

This vise is stationary, it doesn't turn, but the base seems like it was meant to sit on something and rotate as it sits uneven.

I picked it up today, I know nothing about vises, and I was planning on actually using it.

mortise it in, bolt it down and use with respect. :thumbup:

i got some incomplete oldies i use too.

Mark in Indiana · Mar 23, 2014

Outlawmws said:
Oh, I'm SURE you talk to, or at least at your tools; I think we all do at times!

All to often my equipment is more interesting to talk to than a lot of people. :dunno:

f575gtc · Mar 23, 2014

I got it for free so I will use it.

I am going to sand blast it, powder coat it red, lube it up and use it.

I plan to make a 3/4 inch plywood base and cut out a circular center so the vise sits flush. The little red vise is coming out, if I have the big one, I don't need the small one too, I have no need for 2 vises.

Fretters · Mar 23, 2014

f575gtc said:
I have no need for 2 vises.

That's what they all say, at first.

Mark in Indiana said:
All to often my equipment is more interesting to talk to than a lot of people.

Plus, with machinery, you know you're talking to dense objects rather than just wondering if you are. :evil:

Mark in Indiana · Mar 23, 2014

f575gtc said:
Before I try to restore this, can anyone tell me if I have anything valuable here? like a vintage vise or anything?

The text says Prentissvice Co. New York Bulldog No.92

This vise is stationary, it doesn't turn, but the base seems like it was meant to sit on something and rotate as it sits uneven.

I picked it up today, I know nothing about vises, and I was planning on actually using it.

It looks like a good hefty vise. Bulldogs are a top shelf brand. From what I see, it had a swivel base. It may have broke or got lost. Unfortunately that will decrease the resale value. However bolting it down to your bench as is will make a better workhorse than a lot of vises out there if you're OK with a stationary vise.

Age: I would guess that it was made anywhere from the early 1900s to the 1930s.

Hang here long enough...not only will you be vise savvy but you end up needing to own more vises than you would possibly ever need. :willy_nil

Outlawmws · Mar 23, 2014

It's an older Prentice, not sure if the swivel base has gone missing or it was the earlier "swivels on the bench-top" version. Shot of the Bottom? is there a threaded hole on the center? Is there a boss as well?

Outlawmws · Mar 23, 2014

Found the ad:

If I'm reading the side right its a No. 92?

Early Swivel base like I mentioned before; its missing the intermediate plate, a stud and a giant wing nut to be operational as a swivel. The holes in the side flanges are for dropping a pin into a mating hole in the plate and the bench top so it can be locked at a particular angle. (Or were drilled to bolt it down...)

Some plates had mating lugs or teeth between the base of the vise and the plate for more incremental angles.

Again, you can mod the bench top to take the vise base.

When you PC, mask off areas like the slide and it's mating surfaces...

tedsters · Mar 23, 2014

Wilton 450 picked this up tonight from C/L it was kind a cool talking with the guy he was a collector of antiques i told him i was in to old craftsman stuff i got the vise $75 cheaper then asking price the first day on C/L and he gave me this Sear/Craftsman catalog like brand new he would not take anything for it, just a good old guy he said he used this vise once in three years he said it was time to let it go this thing will clean up nice i am not even sure if there is a ding in the handle it was gently used

zkling · Mar 24, 2014

It's a solid vise. I wonder why prentiss had such a large diametrial clearance between the handle and the screw eye? :dunno:

Outlaw beat me to the catalog scan page.

f575gtc said:
The text says Prentissvice Co. New York Bulldog No.92

5:15pm, no edit

Outlawmws said:
If I'm reading the side right its a No. 92?

6:13pm

drivesitfar · Mar 24, 2014

f575gtc: i thought your vise looked familiar, but that hole in your base just didn't look right to me. i have the exact vise less the back half of my dynamic slide and mine has a bolt under it to bolt onto the bench and tighten below. if yours can be mounted with those added holes and you can keep it from rocking you have a nice old Prentiss early 1900's vise.

if you do have enough of the bolt holder left on the underside of the base and want to mount it that way i'll get better pictures of mine. here is another older vise i own that has the HUGE wing nut that would tighten it from below.

nice vise and welcome to Garage Journal. not sure how long you will last with only the one or two vise mentality, but i wish you the best.

Tedsters: nice Wilton and not much work to do on that one to mount on your bench.

t4runner · Mar 24, 2014

Heres my before and after shots of the American Scale vise I picked up.

GETRIDAONE · Mar 24, 2014

You didn't waste ant time on getting that one fixed up !!

GETRIDAONE · Mar 24, 2014

The excitement of vise hunting
CL ad: parker vise no. 107 made in usa weights 140lbs good condition :eyecrazy:

Sunday afternoon 4:00 PM see ad on CL. Call to get him to send pictures. He won't be home for a couple of hours. It is an hour away so I ask if I can meet when he gets home. Its a beautiful day so the ride to the mountain foot hills is nice one. I can see problems with the vise but hope of being repairable is in the back of my mind.
It is a mess, front jaw has been replaced with a welded home made job but pinned in original holes. Static jaw has the original top but face has been cut off and a plate welded top, bottom and sides. The front support has either been torched off was broken and welded across ?? The front hole the screw goes through was worn out. I bet it had 3/8" inch play in it. The only good thing was the handle was straight and the rear off the slide was great.
I did learn that a 107 is only a 6" jaw. I guess later on the model numbering changed to reflect the actual jaw width.

oldldh · Mar 24, 2014

Argh...

zkling · Mar 24, 2014

Lunchtime browsing. Check out this beauty, offered by one of GJ's favorite sellers. I think my favorite is the hunk of ? just chilling on the top of the slide, completely painted over. :spit:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Craftsman-bench-vise-/141227546559?pt=US_Hand_Tools&hash=item20e1d157bf

oldldh · Mar 24, 2014

Argh...

Fretters · Mar 24, 2014

That example is a prime one of why I avoid stuff like the plague which has been recently painted.

Some people really have no shame.

Fretters · Mar 24, 2014

t4runner said:
Heres my before and after shots of the American Scale vise I picked up.

Looks tidy.

What method did you use for cleaning the bare metal parts? Nice to see ones which haven't been cleaned and buffed/polished to excess.

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