Hello,
I have been enjoying the vise related threads here on Garage Journal for quite some time. Thought it was time to a share some photos of some of may favorite and more unusual vises. Some of these may have been posted before on Practical Machinist.
I am quite impressed with the collections some of you guys have!
The first vise is one I use almost daily. Its a Monarch vise built by Prentiss (it's marked PV Co.) It has 6.5" wide jaws. I believe this was the largest size Monarch vise made. I once saw an ad for these and 6.5" was the largest listed.
Does anyone have an ad for the Monarch vises?
I repaired this vise by braze welding in a new steel piece.
The other vise is an neat Athol coachmaker's/sheet metal vise. Again, used almost daily. Its unusual as it has a quick release nut. A handy feature.
The last vise is my newest addition and my first Chas. Parker. This one is in almost pristine shape. It still has the ID tag from the Bulova Watch Co. on it.
Thanks!
Dan
Dan,
Welcome and those are some very respectable vises, all three of those are some of my favorites. I have a clean smaller Monarch (3.5") and love it but your Athol is super cool and since I am watch collector/trader I would dig having that Parker, actually I would be quite happy using that parker daily so it you want to get rid of it, I'll gladly take it off your hands (Joking, but no really)
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Mac: i'd have that 7 inch Parker shipped for that price. what's up with that? maybe a crack or broken part on the slide or other side? swivel jaw too.
drivesitfar
I have no idea but one thing I have learned the hard way is to try not to buy a vise without testing it. It's so hard finding problems with a vise online, while a picture can tell a thousand words they are still spots and problems that can not be seen/told by a pic.
If you see a big Chas Parker vise for sale for $50 it's either because the seller has no idea which means they won't be able to tell you if it has bad backlash or that the jaws don't line up evenly or close perfectly flush against each other or that the jaws are cracked and the jaw bolts are stripped or worse tig welded in place or if there's a crack on the backside on the slider or if the fixed nut for the spindle is cracked or worn out.............etc.
If the seller is knowledgeable then I doubt he would sell a flawless 100 lb Chas Parker with a rotating static jaw for $50 without it having problems unless he's GJ member.
All these possibilities above make the vise far from desirable and difficult to know while buying online unless he's GJ member.
Having said that the vise looks good, from the only pic (one side shot) I don't see any cracks or flaws, if the rotating jaw is in good shape and has the locking pin that's a plus and the jaws seem to line up and closed flush, that's always good. If there's nothing wrong with it, then yes after shipping it still probably a good buy (albeit: if there's nothing wrong with it).
I would rather buy online from a GJ member, D Ravizza are you reading this? I want your Chas Parker, take pity on me I just broke my vise
Cheers
