The VISES of Garage Journal

[EOC_Jason]

Soooooooo..... What did you pay for it??? Pictures?

OK Just got back from a sale via a Craigslist ad .
I did the stupidest,dumbest,most foolish thing I could ever do.
While picking through the tools I find a Wilton Pow-r-arm 301 and blurt out
"that's worth way more than the $10 you have it tagged at"

I did a quick Google Search after the fact and find out they sell for $200-$300 on Ebay....F'me ....shoulda just learned to shut up ,buy the damned thing and my whole purchase would have been free and doubled my money...aaarrrghhh!!!

 

[BFBOB]

I GOT IT!!!
I've been searching for a Parker 94 ever since I saw a picture of one here. My Parker 63 1/2 needs a big brother, after all. I finally found one on fleaBay and nailed it at the $75 opening bid. Can't believe I was the only bidder. The shipping was slightly outrageous at $40, but the total is what counts and it was worth it to me.
It's winging its way (or rolling) to me right now. I'll post pix when it gets here.

Yee-Hah!

 

[alinc100]

Soooooooo..... What did you pay for it??? Pictures?

I didn't buy it. I had blurted out that it must be worth a $100 or more but I wasn't exactly sure. It was not until later,after I left the sale, I looked it up and saw the used value.
It was one of those moments where my mouth opened faster than my brain could process the info. I had never seen a 301,last weekend I saw my first baby bullet and pow-r-arm, fortunately I had the sense to buy those. My incoming data wasn't as fast as my outgoing data, I was hungry and not thinking too clearly. I'm gonna have to stock up on Snickers bars before I go picking.
Next time I'll be ready and just slide that item into my pile and bundle price it all,quietly.

 

[KMScott]

More vise that were sitting in the "inbox" when I got home

Craftsman 5151-rock Island
Craftsman 5184-Reed
American Scale 3"
Columbian 504 1/2

Caddy, how in hell do you keep coming up with the Craftsman's. You working Nevada and western Arizona too. Imagine oldie, having a whole Vise Museum Wing dedicated to old Craftsman Vises. That makes almost twenty of them but who's counting. A U **** award is coming your way from Colorado.

 

[jakemac]

More vise that were sitting in the "inbox" when I got home

Craftsman 5151-rock Island
Craftsman 5184-Reed
American Scale 3"
Columbian 504 1/2

Your "inbox" looks suspiciously mobile. Is the "outbox" a compact ?

 

[bigcaddy]

Your "inbox" looks suspiciously mobile. Is the "outbox" a compact ?

I just needed something that could handle all of that weight. I'll try to post more pictures of the remaining vises soon

 

[FMC1959]

I wanted to clutter a page with photos also. The weather is threating and this vise was not 100% finished but I'll take up some space anyway..............................................
This is a Morgan 340B and the last one that was on GJ was a few years back. I came out of the color box and painted this one something other then Black. I had a new set of 4" Morgan jaws that fit perfect. The original smoothies aren't bad. One finger for either swivel. Morgan's are so underrated to the novice. Look at the nice long support off the base that supports the slide SPECS, LENGTH, 16 1/2", HEIGHT, 9 3/4", OPENS, 4 1/2", JAWS, 4" WIDE, THROAT, 3 3/4", WEIGHT, 65 LBS.

Beautiful vise, great paint job

 

[Fretters]

Well, I picked that vice up today. The more I look at it, the less inclined I am to believe it's a Record, unless it is either a very old model else some quirky model they made. There are no features on it which aren't fairly generic amongst the old English vices, (barring the nut), or which are similar to owt else I've come across. I can honestly say I wouldn't even like to hazard a guess as to what this might be, manufacturer wise. It seems a sturdy little beast though.

As you can see, the nut is actually part of the main casting and not a separate part.

This is the original colour. Can't decide whether it's a faded red/burgundy else a rusty brown type colour.

This shows what I meant about the bracing seeming shallow in comparison to what one would normally expect to see.

The fault it had with the jaw not following the leadscrew was just due to a missing pin, as I'd expected, so that's a nowt type fault to sort. The spring and washer were still in there.

 

[Fretters]

Anybody wanna come over and give me a swift kick in the a$$.

I think you deserve it in the nads, never mind up the ****.

 

[Fretters]

Reassembled the old Parkinson wood vice today.

Quite pleased with the end result, considering how rusty it was when it came here.

 

[oldldh]

I know some of you "Swivelin' B@#tards" are really "Both Ways Swivelers"

And...

I know some of you have a thing about size!!!

A Reed 407 would fulfill both of those needs...

It's probably been posted before, but I don't remember seeing it...

It's on Ebay, with a RIDICULOUS BIN of $ 1,111.33!!!

But it is big---and it does go BOTH ways!!!, and it weighs 220 pounds!!!

And---

How many Reed 407's are there remaining to be found...:

(It would take at least two cans of 'Arrest-Me-Red" to properly paint this wee beastie!!!)

It's nearly 0300, as I post this, so if it's a repeat...blame it on my heartburn...

 

[demographic]

Reassembled the old Parkinson wood vice today.

Quite pleased with the end result, considering how rusty it was when it came here.

I like that, plus its done in the right colour.

 

[Waggoner72]

Before and after pics of my Wilton C0.

 

[Danglerb]

More details on the utter humiliation, what did the seller say, and why didn't you work out some acceptable price?

Sometimes the sellers appreciates honesty, and really wants the item gone more than top dollar.

OK Just got back from a sale via a Craigslist ad .
I did the stupidest,dumbest,most foolish thing I could ever do.
While picking through the tools I find a Wilton Pow-r-arm 301 and blurt out
"that's worth way more than the $10 you have it tagged at"

I did a quick Google Search after the fact and find out they sell for $200-$300 on Ebay....F'me ....shoulda just learned to shut up ,buy the damned thing and my whole purchase would have been free and doubled my money...aaarrrghhh!!!


Anybody wanna come over and give me a swift kick in the a$$.

 

[drivesitfar]

Fretters: nice job on the Parkinson wood vise and looks like the linseed oil under the paint worked out.

I've still got my money on your new vice project being Record and maybe those #'s and letters on the side are a clue.

All: I just found this Prentiss #4 and i'd take a couple Benjamins for it if somebody had to have a nice 5.5 or 6 inch swivel jaw vise that needs some lovin. or it's going into the "little cabinet" and on the list to make like new again some day in the future. i think it weighs close to 100 pounds.

 

[EOC_Jason]

All: I just found this Prentiss #4 and i'd take a couple Benjamins for it if somebody had to have a nice 5.5 or 6 inch swivel jaw vise that needs some lovin. or it's going into the "little cabinet" and on the list to make like new again some day in the future. i think it weighs close to 100 pounds.

I think you are overestimating the tensile strength of your cabinet with all those vises in there! You need to sell them off cheap to relieve the load so you don't break your cabinet!

 

[EOC_Jason]

I didn't buy it. I had blurted out that it must be worth a $100 or more but I wasn't exactly sure. It was not until later,after I left the sale, I looked it up and saw the used value.
It was one of those moments where my mouth opened faster than my brain could process the info. I had never seen a 301,last weekend I saw my first baby bullet and pow-r-arm, fortunately I had the sense to buy those. My incoming data wasn't as fast as my outgoing data, I was hungry and not thinking too clearly. I'm gonna have to stock up on Snickers bars before I go picking.
Next time I'll be ready and just slide that item into my pile and bundle price it all,quietly.

 

[Outlawmws]

Alinc, if everybody was honest, I'd bet all of them have at least one face palm moment in their past!

 

[bigcaddy]

I had time to drag out one body for pictures this afternoon. Maybe I 2 weeks I'll get some more posted. I've got to head out of town for a while

Athol 614 1/2 with smooth jaws

 

[Outlawmws]

UM, BC, I thought you just got back..

 

[Dennis Leigh Henry]

Hi.. A few questions before I take pictures and post my vises.. Are both "bench" style or machinist bench vises and wood working vises part of this thread? I've plowed backward about 50 pages and see a few so I'd like an official ruling (if there is such a thing!). Also, what about drill press, pipe, and milling machine vises??

I've got an American Red Seal, two Wilton bullets, and a more modern Columbian that are all classic bench vises, and two smaller Wilton wood worker's vises. I have a number of drill press / tool maker's vises and one small pipe vise.

Does anyone know if the Columbian 3050 is made in the USA or how I would determine that?

Thanks..

 

[va.grouseman]

oldldh.------Been watching that 407 myself. First one I've ever seen. I wonder if Demoman is watching that thing? He's been scouring the country, looking for the 408 for a decade. This would be the next best thing. But that price would probably scare him off.
Wonder why 7 inchers in any brand are kind of rare? Hope a member get's that thing. I would like to see it all spruced up.

 

[Mark in Indiana]

Hi.. A few questions before I take pictures and post my vises.. Are both "bench" style or machinist bench vises and wood working vises part of this thread? I've plowed backward about 50 pages and see a few so I'd like an official ruling (if there is such a thing!). Also, what about drill press, pipe, and milling machine vises??

I've got an American Red Seal, two Wilton bullets, and a more modern Columbian that are all classic bench vises, and two smaller Wilton wood worker's vises. I have a number of drill press / tool maker's vises and one small pipe vise.

Does anyone know if the Columbian 3050 is made in the USA or how I would determine that?

Thanks..

All vises are welcome here. However, we make fun of cheap ones because they're worthless.
Please post pictures. Sounds like you have a good collection.

 

[bigcaddy]

UM, BC, I thought you just got back..

You are correct but I have a wedding to attend up in Monterey.

 

[joe.striper]

Took my new Grand vise apart today and decided that sometime the best restoration is no restoration. It cleaned up great with alloy wheel cleaner. Sanded the bare metal and greased it up. Very, very nice action.

Very little to be found on line about these. I love the shape and color. Only issue was a few small cracks on the dynamic jaw. If anyone has info please let me know.

Next step is putting it in the collection.

 

[Dennis Leigh Henry]

Here are my several vises:

Wilton Bullet - 5" - Schiller Park (no date code on keyway)
Wilton Bullet - 4" - Pat Pen (haven't looked at keyway yet)
Wilton 7" wood working (2x)
Columbian 3050 5" (pictures continue on next post)
American Red Seal 5"
Wilton drill press vise
Un-Named pipe vise

Any help you can provide to zero in on model number (or make of the pipe vise), age, etc. is appreciated. Cheers..

 

[Dennis Leigh Henry]

more pictures ..

 

[Dennis Leigh Henry]

last ones (for now)

 

[drivesitfar]

Dennis: happy to see that you asked permission (you didn't need to, but thanks for asking) and then posted up a bunch of great looking vises. not that you need to know because you already own some nice vises, but if you hang around this thread you end up for a need or a want for a 100 or 200 pound plus vise. Just because is the best explanation i can tell you. welcome.

Jason: thanks for worrying and i'll let you know, but the darn vises are too big to create any issues for my "little" cabinet. you might have been gone when i mentioned that my "little" cabinet weighs 500 pounds without anything in it and each of the 5 shelves are rated for a ton. Here is another shelving unit i have that is going to hold the tall 6 inch vises i can't fit in the "little" cabinet and all the weight on the shelves in the picture was inside my cabinet plus 2000 more pounds that i sold off a couple shelves before moving them.

this one didn't make it in the cabinet, but i don't see these often so posted up a picture as i found it in the back of a huge barn. Hardy is the name on it and don't know much more about it. it looks like a Stanley so did Hardy make vises for them or vise versa??

 

[Dennis Leigh Henry]

Drivesitfar, thanks for the comments.. I know what you mean re large vise. I have always drooled over the large vise that was common on some of the heavy tow truck / recovery vehicles I saw at AM General's main plant in South Bend during the late 1970s and early 1980s.. M816, M932, M936 are examples. I'm not certain what size or model of Wilton bullet vise they were but they were certainly very large and very heavy ..

Cheers..

 

[Dennis Leigh Henry]

last ones (for now)

Anybody recognize this pipe vise? Maker?? Its an old one and I'm fairly certain its a US made one, old square head cap screws give it away imho. Any thoughts or ideas are appreciated. Thanks.. Dennis

 

[va.grouseman]

joe.striper------You did good on your Grand. They are nice little vises with some good featchers about them. You don't see to many of them pop up. I think they are the same company that made the Grand Quickset table vise. And as you can see They are Grand Specialties Co. out of Chicago, and that's it for me. You'll have to ask b100 for the whole story.

 

[organ]

Took my new Grand vise apart today and decided that sometime the best restoration is no restoration. It cleaned up great with alloy wheel cleaner. Sanded the bare metal and greased it up. Very, very nice action.

Very little to be found on line about these. I love the shape and color. Only issue was a few small cracks on the dynamic jaw. If anyone has info please let me know.

Next step is putting it in the collection.

That thing is awesome!

 

[macgee]

Took my new Grand vise apart today and decided that sometime the best restoration is no restoration. It cleaned up great with alloy wheel cleaner. Sanded the bare metal and greased it up. Very, very nice action.

Very little to be found on line about these. I love the shape and color. Only issue was a few small cracks on the dynamic jaw. If anyone has info please let me know.

Next step is putting it in the collection.

Joe,

That's a nice vise, well done scoring it.

I agree, it's nice just the way it is and does't need any restoration.

I'm jealous

 

[drivesitfar]

Dennis: i'd agree that your pipe vise is older than 70's and probably 50's with those square head nuts. maybe a Rigid, but i don't see a lot of pipe vises and only own a couple.

i'd bet your Columbian is made in China, but not sure and only because of the over shiny chrome handle and it doesn't say made in USA on it.

i think one of your Wilton bullets is an early 40's and can you check the slide on the bottom of the dynamic jaw or have you already? the ones with Patent Pending might not have the date stamped on the slide so if you wipe it clean and it isn't there don't be surprised.

i really like your American seal vise too. nice collection and colors and looks like they are all working which is awesome.

Joe: interesting vise

 

[macgee]

Dennis,

I like your Wilton vises, you have a nice setup with the pair of Wilton wood vises.

Joe. Stripper

I think you'll appreciate seeing this and how much nicer yours is:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rare-Vintage-Collectible-3-1-2-Grand-Vise-Master-/171362905362?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27e6066d12

 

[macgee]

Carla:
An Anglock base should be more than strong enough to serve as an 'adapted' swivel for a bench vise.......imagine one used on, for example, a light pattern Cincinnati 16" shaper, which puts 5hp on a single-point tool-bit., or, say, a #2 size K&T mill, which would put 5 or 7-1/2hp on a milling cutter......that loading is quite a bit more than the usual small bench vise would ever see.

Carla,

You are totally correct about this. I didn't try to poo poo the idea, I think it's a great idea. I had a Wilton 600 that I wished swiveled, your base could have been a good match if I didn't already trade it.

 

[Fretters]

I like that, plus its done in the right colour.

Cheers. It was more luck than judgement on the colour. That was just a colour I settled on ages ago for the non-mechanised equipment. Fortunately, it just happens to be somewhere near the original Parkinson colour, although it does appear their original colour might have been a slightly more garish shade. Found a portion on an old vice a while ago which had been pretty well protected over the years, hence it hadn't suffered the usual darkening from everything. Seems they were actually quite chirpy with their tones. Practically even cheerful, one might say. This is the portion I found. That remnant had been quite well preserved, especially considering the age of the vice.

 

[Dennis Leigh Henry]

Dennis: i'd agree that your pipe vise is older than 70's and probably 50's with those square head nuts. maybe a Rigid, but i don't see a lot of pipe vises and only own a couple.

i'd bet your Columbian is made in China, but not sure and only because of the over shiny chrome handle and it doesn't say made in USA on it.

i think one of your Wilton bullets is an early 40's and can you check the slide on the bottom of the dynamic jaw or have you already? the ones with Patent Pending might not have the date stamped on the slide so if you wipe it clean and it isn't there don't be surprised.

i really like your American seal vise too. nice collection and colors and looks like they are all working which is awesome.

Joe: interesting vise

Dennis,

I like your Wilton vises, you have a nice setup with the pair of Wilton wood vises.

Joe. Stripper

I think you'll appreciate seeing this and how much nicer yours is:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rare-Vintage-Collectible-3-1-2-Grand-Vise-Master-/171362905362?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27e6066d12

Drivesitfar, Thanks for your comments. The Columbian was one that my father purchased for me sometime in the late 80s or early 90s, and has / had no identification on it now or as I recall from back then. (I've always been a Made in the USA guy..) It is well made so I'm not certain of its origin either. Yes, the pipe vise appears to be old (it was pretty crusty before I cleaned it up and painted it. Hard telling where it was produced.

Macgee, thanks for the comments too.. The Wilton wood worker's don't have the bench dog feature on them (my uncle got them from an equipment reseller and I've never taken the time (yet) to reproduce the dogs), which is something I'd love to have for my workbench.

Cheers..

 

[Mark in Indiana]

Hello Vise Friends,

Here's a Reed No. 0 pipe vise I bought from a second hand store last week. These are my favorite pipe vises because of the quick release and the large jaw surface areas. I found a good home for it a couple of days ago.