The VISES of Garage Journal

[zkling]

Here are some post vises I got at a salvage yard auction this summer. I think there was 16 and they were scrap price. Could not pass up.

Dang, what are some details behind that one? Sizes? Condition? Mostly where/why would one place have so many post vises? Industry?

 

[demoman]

The post vises came from a man that went to a lot of sales and cleaned up scrap from old farms. Most are of the 3-6" variety. He had a sale to downsize and it was one of those days where it was 105 out and the crowd was just not there. They sold choice first and I got an 8" and a 7" that were a good deal. I try not to collect the post vises but they find me. Here in Kansas they are a common farm sale item and we actually get several in the scrap yard over the years. A shame. I have about 6 of the 8" that are hard to get. I probably have over 50. There were a lot of different brands.

 

[Tritonus]

My wife is such a great gift giver. Here is another that came to me for Christmas, an Athol 628.

I was just looking at a Prentiss 57 yesterday. The jaws did not meet evenly, so I passed. Wasn't sure what the problem was. Your 57 looks much better. How does one find a 8" athol is a mystery to me.

270# vise on a swivel

 

[zkling]

The post vises came from a man that went to a lot of sales and cleaned up scrap from old farms. Most are of the 3-6" variety. He had a sale to downsize and it was one of those days where it was 105 out and the crowd was just not there. They sold choice first and I got an 8" and a 7" that were a good deal. I try not to collect the post vises but they find me. Here in Kansas they are a common farm sale item and we actually get several in the scrap yard over the years. A shame. I have about 6 of the 8" that are hard to get. I probably have over 50. There were a lot of different brands.

Interesting, thanks for the details. Wow to the bold part.

 

[va.grouseman]

Demo,---here's a Massey but not like yours.---Yours is much older.---This was posted back on page 500, post 9982.

Here's an odd duck. Think it's made by Morgan. A future restore project. 75 lbs.













I included a couple of pics I got off E-bay of a Morgan Massey. I don't know if it proves anything or not. May be just a coincidence. I'll leave that to the historians. I's a wood worker's vise, so there may be no correlation.

Will the Athol go over 300 lbs. with the base?---Looking forward to seeing that Railroad Vise.

 

[drivesitfar]

Demo: any group shots of the Blacksmith vises so i can have another Demoman screensaver picture to save? amazing to see all those old blacksmith vises all laying on a pallet. I rarely see one except a friend's collection he is slowly selling and i think he had maybe 40 blacksmith vises at it's peak and probably half that many anvils.

VA: nice looking old Massey combination vise. does it have quick release like the Records and Parkinson vises do?

ALL: here's my smaller and maybe older Massey again with a different handle i might as well ad to my post while we are talking about Massey vises. i read someplace that maybe Fulton or some other vise company owner married the only daughter of Massey. anybody know that story?

 

[joe.striper]

Long day today. Picked up this cute anvil vise for 50 and then tried to buy this Parker 976. No go...then this 4 1/4" Yost. ******* wouldn't sell it!!! Thats ok though. The guy made me an appointment with the former owner of a large manufacturing plant. He says she over 100 vises bigger than his Parker 976! We shall see.

 

[va.grouseman]

Drivesit ---That is another sweet Massey.---Yours and Demo's are probably among the very first production models.

Yea, that is a quick release like the Records.

Joe.striper---Sorry you didn't get the Yost.---That was a prize.---I'd rather have that Yost swivel head than a swivel head Parker.---Rarely ever see the Yost's, and the fact that it has G. M. Yost on it could put it back as far as 1907.---The very first Yost's had the G. M. Yost logo on them.

Here is the Dayid's Yost time line.

http://scuttle.dayid.org/wiki/index.php/Yost

 

[Fretters]

New England accent.

Is it funny that an englishman thinks a New ENGLAND accent is funny? (considring all the local accents England has... like Cockney )

Cockney's are more a Cockney breed with a stupid dialect than natives with a Cockney dialect. They're like Gypo's. They're here and they're permanent, but they're in a world all of their own. (I'm probably going to get some ear bashing from any Southerners after the Cockney comment ).

FWIW :
In New England it isn't pronounced "Draw", it's pronounced "Drawah".
In some places around here, his name is pronounced "Noahm".
Everyone thinks that New England[ah]s drop their trailing R's.
They don't, they replace the R with "ah".
And no, I don't do that. I moved around too much as a kid to have a regional accent.

Regional accents and dialects are weird things, aren't they. It's like the one in my home town. Some people find it very hard to understand a lot of it, and even a lot of the locals these days don't use it much. It's amusing when you're having a conversation with two different types of people at once and switching between using Queen's and Tyke though. I always just plump for which one is most appropriate at the time.

I was born in Jersey, for ch**t's sake ! View media item 38281

I take it that's no good thing then?

 

[Fretters]

Drivesit ---That is another sweet Massey.---Yours and Demo's are probably among the very first production models.

Yea, that is a quick release like the Records.

That's the first time I can recall seeing the Parkinson quick release system on an American vise. Judging from the QR and the styling on one side of that slide:

I think they may well have been using a Parkinson as a template/guide for the basics of that one. Seems weird seeing a combination of English and American styling and design.

 

[jakemac]

I take it that's no good thing then?

It's only a good thing if you live there. If you live anywhere else ..............

 

[Fretters]

It's only a good thing if you live there. If you live anywhere else ..............

Between us, I think we've probably managed to piss off some Jersey'ers and Cockneys after the last few comments.

 

[oldldh]

Watch it fellows...

They'll come for you...

 

[cretedog]

Cretedog: welcome back and more great vise ****. are you talking about the 695 pound big brother to your Pittsburgh?

cheers

Drivesitfar-

Thank you for the welcome, and yes, sir, on Big Brother.

"i bet you keep your 978 inside the house? did you make the stand for your Yost because that looks like the stand might weigh 500 pounds?"

Had the wife talked into keeping the 978 in the front room, as 'we never use it anyway', but the floor started groaning as I moved it in, so it had to go back out to the shop.

Yes, I poured the stand for the Big Yost after I got it cleaned up and ready for use. Gets used almost daily.

Thank you, VA

Demoman-

If you're not coming until Leseur, you'll have ample time to secure THE BIG PITTSBURG and bring it on up to keep his Little Brother company. Unloading and lodging facilities will be no problem...

Time to suit up and spray some hanger brackets. Regards.

 

[drivesitfar]

Cretedog: thanks for sharing and even though you are a new member here on GJ you already have the right stuff. don't make yourself a stranger because you don't only have to post cool big and old vises to share information. i bet you have a few stories behind all those vises and some that got away. by the way sounds like you married the right gal so don't let her get away if she was willing to let a 600 pound vise and stand come in the house.

Demoman and Cretedog: if you happen to just see that old 695 pound Pittsburgh vise in person don't forget to take a ton of pictures because some of us that know that vise even was made if it was have only seen a catalog picture of that monster. good luck

 

[larry4406]

Here is my Prentiss Bulldog 51 with new jaw inserts from Kevin. The inserts are fantastic and fit like a glove!

 

[demoman]

Nice to see a good set of jaws. They are always beat to death on those older vises or missing. Kevins service for repair parts is invaluable to the cause!

 

[demoman]

Cretedog Where did you find the pittsburgh vise if you don't mind me asking. Never seen one but I have kind of let ebay searches go so I might not have seen it on there.

 

[cretedog]

Demoman-
My sister lives in Pittsburgh and found it for me when she was looking for Big Brother- don't believe it was ever on Ebay. It sat patiently in the corner of her garage until it could make the trip west this winter to come and join the fold.

 

[KMScott]

There has been several nice large vises shared lately, some of these little guys are nice to. I finished this little Parker #20 last week. I bought it from e-bay with no handle, no swivel base and the jaws busted out and way to short. I redesigned a Jaw set for this vise and made a smooth and a serrated set. I installed the serrated set just because most like the teeth. It also did not know what the swivel base should look like so I made one simple and strong that matched the base diameter. This would be a great hobby or roll around toolbox vise.

 

[zkling]

There has been several nice large vises shared lately, some of these little guys are nice to. I finished this little Parker #20 last week. I bought it from e-bay with no handle, no swivel base and the jaws busted out and way to short. I redesigned a Jaw set for this vise and made a smooth and a serrated set. I installed the serrated set just because most like the teeth. It also did not know what the swivel base should look like so I made one simple and strong that matched the base diameter. This would be a great hobby or roll around toolbox vise.

Just fantastic.

 

[demoman]

Very nice. I like the small ones as well.

 

[ritzblitz]

Nice work on the swivel base kevin.

 

[rmalkow2]

Fantastic job on the small vise. The swivel base looks like it is a perfect match.

 

[Outlawmws]

I to the master!

 

[KMScott]

Thanks guys, I really enjoy working on these vises big and small, I wish I had more time to play. Today I primed a Red Seal out side because it was so warm, ten minutes later it was snowing,

 

[oldldh]

Reverend Scott---


Ya Dun Gud, Bubba!!!

 

[Fretters]

Very nice work Kevin. Any shots of that base sans paint?

 

[Fretters]

Here is my Prentiss Bulldog 51 with new jaw inserts from Kevin. The inserts are fantastic and fit like a glove!

Looks good.

 

[BFBOB]

Merry to all!
And special thanx to bareass721 and one GJ-er whose handle I don't remember. Anon supplied the idea for the vise-bookends, and Bare supplied a vise that was truly broken beyond repair. After I pinned and JB-Welded the slide back onto the dynamic jaw, I had just a flash of "Gee, that looks pretty good... I wonder..." , but better sense prevailed and I had to accept it would never be a tool again. It's a present for my BIL, so in keeping with his tastes, I left the original chipped paint and rust intact and made the bases of fairly weathered, unfinished rough sawn oak. The whole shebang weighs close to 40 lbs, so it should do a pretty good job of holding up his car and truck manuals.

Cheers!

 

[drivesitfar]

Larry: when jaws are missing from a vise there is usually a reason so were your screws broken or stripped? Kevin did a great job on the jaws, but do tell what might have been involved in getting the old screws out and putting the new jaws on if you don't mind sharing.

Kevin: more great pictures of a shiny almost new looking 100 year old vise coming out of your shop. sounds like it wasn't in very good shape before you started it's rehab and do you have a couple before pictures even though they won't look anywhere as nice as the ones you posted of that old Parker?

BFBOB: great idea for bookends. I've heard of some members doing that with a busted or parts vise, but yours might be the first one I've seen. it's easy to see how you attached the static to that well built oak bookend, but i'm not sure how you attached the dynamic. did you bolt through the wood and into the jaws and maybe bolt the main screw from the other side of the wood? very nice.

 

[JeremyBurke]

BFBOB those look great. Cool idea that I may very well steal.

 

[rmalkow2]

Bookends! That's an awesome idea for a broken vise.

 

[KMScott]

Very nice work Kevin. Any shots of that base sans paint?

Reverend Scott---
Ya Dun Gud, Bubba!!!

Kevin: more great pictures of a shiny almost new looking 100 year old vise coming out of your shop. sounds like it wasn't in very good shape before you started it's rehab and do you have a couple before pictures even though they won't look anywhere as nice as the ones you posted of that old Parker?

Fretters, I painted the vise with Rust-Oleum Hammered Brown and I added a couple pictures of the two swivel bases being made, i had a old rusty 3/4 plate that worked perfect. I made for these two swivel bases for these two 2" Parkers one was a #0 and the other a #20.

Thanks Oldie, not red but still purdy, I am painting a Red Seal # 53 red and will share this restore later on, this restore required mucho work.

Drive, the vise casting was in decent shape but the thin hard steel jaws were damaged and coming off, I would be interested in knowing how they stick the hard steel jaw faces on, like others these are stuck but not with brass or silver solder. Carla might know. Some times I forget to take pics of the vise before starting. I bought this vise from e-bay and the owner was the person in AZ that I made 8" jaws for his 978 Parker. Funny how it goes.

 

[Von Der Pfalz]

Wife bought old Bridgeport Rotary vise on CL for me, for $80. Other than minor wear and tear, it is in phenomenal working condition. Brought it home and my 2-1/2 year old daughter says "that is beautiful daddy!" Music to my ears!

I have 2 Kurt vises on my Mill, but wanted a decent heavy vise for my drill press, it is extremely overkill for my drill press, but that's ok Too big for the current table on my drill press, sooooo.......just had to make a new one. Found some 1" stainless plate from work and will be getting that fit up shortly.

Took me about 20 minutes to completely tear her down, she will be getting a bath and paint job, and hopefully put to use by this weekend. Attached are a couple of pics, and one glamour shot of the yost in the foreground.

Merry Christmas everyone!

 

[drivesitfar]

Von: first off i commend you for marrying the right woman. while my wife sort of likes my old vise vice i still can't see her buying and bringing one home to me. i have a question about your Yost. what's with the wood jaws? your new DP table sounds nice and if your DP is vintage maybe post it over on the vintage Drill Press thread.

also welcome to the forum because it looks like you are a new member and happy to have you join our group.

Kevin: thanks for the great pictures again and funny story about the vises going back and forth between Colorado and Arizona. hope you are planning on taking a day off or two or three because from what I've seen and heard you have had your hands on a lot of vises the last few months. even though none were mine i want to thank you for being available and also sharing your skills with all of us.

 

[Von Der Pfalz]

Thank Drivesitfar! I have been very fortunate. We have an agreement, her kitchen is like my shop. She loves her old cast iron skillets and wedgewood stove as much as I love my old American built cast iron tooling. The DB is a Taiwan press from the 70's, branded Continental but they came over and were branded many different names. It's in pretty nice condition and works well, but will be replaced eventually.

As for the wood jaws, I do not have a nice wood working vise yet, so I made some wood jaws for when I am working on wood projects. Currently I was working on a new stock for my Mosin Nagant Project. Pic attached

 

[drivesitfar]

Von: way to think outside the box with your wood jaw replacements. very nice looking handle too. so when you go back to steel you just unscrew the wood jaws off and put back on the steel ones?

just curious if it might be easier if you had the plastic inserts that have magnets on them to put over your steel jaws? or do you need the height of the wood ones?

again it sounds like your gal is a keeper.

 

[Von Der Pfalz]

Drive: Thanks again. I made the large wood jaws so as to give more surface area as well as allow me to clamp things outside of the vise itself. (Think tall and vertical) I have some plastic jaws, but have had the best luck with wood. The wood gives more than the plastic, helping to ensure I do not indent, or mar the wood that I am working on. You are correct, I use the same bolts for the metal jaws as I do the wood jaws.

 

[GETRIDAONE]

Kevin, I like the way the jaws came out on that little Parker. They match the brown paint job. You jaws are normally shiny, did you darken them up some or is the camera flash making them appear darker.

It is getting time for someone to post a picture of a
"Christmas Vise Tree"