The VISES of Garage Journal

[36truck]

This vise was a class project in high school. We had Grede foundries cast them from patterns that a class before us made. We cast about 30 vises after all the machining was done I think we ended up with 27 all done. We sold a few of them one went to the Ford dealership in town. They used & abused it till the place burned down. I had this for 40 years all ready.

 

[bagged89s10]

McGee: Wow what a nice job restoring that vise. very impressive. any idea how many actual hours you spent on it? also if you wouldn't mind would you post over on the vise repair 101 thread and mention all the technique that you used to do such a fantastic job?



TP: yes a lot of those older bullets have no dates and we are finding out that they were probably made for the government from 1941-1945 so it will still help our if you can post it over there. some of those style vises also have stamps in the late 40's as you'll see in that thread. you might want to take a look at what Bluebolt's data he gathered from this vise thread and a few other sources has started to turn up.



Bagged: we did a great electrolysis thread with lots of information and if you need help just ask on this thread. some of the guys like Fretters has something in their tank almost 24/7.



http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=237752&highlight=homemade+electrolysis



ALL: since we are talking about how Parker vises look so close to other vises can any of you say whether Morgan or Parker made their model #88 first and who copied who and why? maybe a worker at Parker started Morgan and was able to make a similar vise before Parker secured a patent?



I was reading something a while back about Fulton vises and i think Fulton married the daughter of the Massey vise company owner so it was a fairly close group back in the late 1800's and early 1900's in the vise making industry.

Thanks for your help Drives.


~Veeps

 

[wrenchguy]

This vise was a class project in high school. We had Grede foundries cast them from patterns that a class before us made. We cast about 30 vises after all the machining was done I think we ended up with 27 all done. We sold a few of them one went to the Ford dealership in town. They used & abused it till the place burned down. I had this for 40 years all ready.

nice, real nice. do u know what any of the marking mean?

 

[36truck]

Yes the KHS is Kingsford High School. 72 is the year the pattern was made. The I over M Is Grede's Iron Mountain plant. The PK-RH is two students initials that built the pattern. The rest of the # are for sizing.

 

[balane]

You went to a lot cooler high school than I did. We made a tin box!

 

[wrenchguy]

You went to a lot cooler high school than I did. We made a tin box!

yup, we made dust pans........

 

[36truck]

Yes we had a very good Vocational shop with all the good machines. I made a bunch of cool things. But the vise was the best.

 

[balane]

I don't know how many of you have seen Texasbuddyl's listings on eBay before but he's sold a ton of those art-deco style 3 1/2" Craftsman vises. He polishes them all up like the photo below. He does amazing work and his little Craftsman vises sell for a lot more than other similar ones on eBay.

I noticed this morning that he has refinished a full-sized heavy duty vise in the same way. It's the first large vise I've seen him put out. He's asking a lot for it but it's hard to fathom how much time he spent sitting in front of a polishing wheel. That guy's biceps must be like tree trunks.

He does really good work imo and sells some of the nicest vises I've seen. Too bad he doesn't post here, would love to read more on his technique. (Not to copy it, just to admire his skills, that's more time than I can put into one.)

Polished Columbian vise link.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/281643719860

.

 

[FMC1959]

Excellent work, I have seen his stuff before. His work looks like it should be sitting on the fireplace mantle. I would be curious to know if any of the buyers actually use them or keep them as a shelf queen.

 

[FMC1959]

I was looking through an old tool catalogue and saw a Parker 260X listed, can't find any pictures of one. Have any of the collectors on here got a 260X? At 351lb it'll be a hard one to miss

I have a listing for the 260X, it shows it to be a Parker Superior Vise, 8" jaws, but I do not have a weight for it. I also have a listing for the 60X, which is the same vise but stationary. It gives the weight at 265 lbs, a nice hefty vise. However, I don't think the swivel would add 85 lbs, I figure 40 lbs, maybe 50 lbs at best.

If you want to see what it looked like, this link has a 259X, same thing but bigger.
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1509936&postcount=2181

 

[FMC1959]

I was looking through an old tool catalogue and saw a Parker 260X listed, can't find any pictures of one. Have any of the collectors on here got a 260X? At 351lb it'll be a hard one to miss

CW, would you be able to post any pages from that catalog that has USA vises?

 

[bagged89s10]

This vise was a class project in high school. We had Grede foundries cast them from patterns that a class before us made. We cast about 30 vises after all the machining was done I think we ended up with 27 all done. We sold a few of them one went to the Ford dealership in town. They used & abused it till the place burned down. I had this for 40 years all ready.

That's really awesome! I remember one of my highschool project was a ball peen hammer.


~Veeps

 

[Trey T]

....

I noticed this morning that he has refinished a full-sized heavy duty vise in the same way. It's the first large vise I've seen him put out. He's asking a lot for it but it's hard to fathom how much time he spent sitting in front of a polishing wheel. That guy's biceps must be like tree trunks.

...
Polished Columbian vise link.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/281643719860

.

Agreed! Restoring takes a lot of time and time is money. I think bunch of the ones you restored and sold on ebay should be worth more.

 

[CwazyWabbit]

I have a listing for the 260X, it shows it to be a Parker Superior Vise, 8" jaws, but I do not have a weight for it. I also have a listing for the 60X, which is the same vise but stationary. It gives the weight at 265 lbs, a nice hefty vise. However, I don't think the swivel would add 85 lbs, I figure 40 lbs, maybe 50 lbs at best.

If you want to see what it looked like, this link has a 259X, same thing but bigger.
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1509936&postcount=2181

CW, would you be able to post any pages from that catalog that has USA vises?

Cheers for the info and link

Here are the adverts of Parker vises from that catalogue.

The 60X is also listed at 297lbs

 

[balane]

Agreed! Restoring takes a lot of time and time is money. I think bunch of the ones you restored and sold on ebay should be worth more.

Thanks. A lot of that is on me though and I know it. I've made some controversial paint choices in the past and I'm aware of it. But I'll still do it because I enjoy doing some crazy color schemes now and then even if they're not for everybody.

 

[Mark in Indiana]

This vise was a class project in high school. We had Grede foundries cast them from patterns that a class before us made. We cast about 30 vises after all the machining was done I think we ended up with 27 all done. We sold a few of them one went to the Ford dealership in town. They used & abused it till the place burned down. I had this for 40 years all ready.

That's a great story that makes that vise a treasure. I'm sure that I'm in the majority when I say that you went to a cooler school than I did.


However, I thought I'd share this one: Pictured below is a lead anvil (yes, lead) that the 8th grade Industrial Arts class I was in had to cast. One per student. Just to give a timeline, Nixon had recently resigned.

The assignment was:
1. Each student (13 year old child) had to go to a gas station and collect a sandwich bag full of lead tire weights. Service stations gave them freely.
2. We brought the tire weights back to class and melted them in a crucible and scooped out the slag. Yes, we children had to do this.
3. Each of us made a sand cast using an aluminum blank.
4. We poured the molten lead into the sand cast.
5. After the anvils cooled down, we dug them out of the sand and filed off the flash.

I can't imagine a shop class assignment like that given these days.
BTW: No one died from exposure and I ended up here on GJ.

 

[36truck]

That Polished Columbian sure is a sweet vise. He only lives an hour away from me. Might have to check him out next time I'm that way.

 

[flavc3]

That's a great story that makes that vise a treasure. I'm sure that I'm in the majority when I say that you went to a cooler school than I did.


However, I thought I'd share this one: Pictured below is a lead anvil (yes, lead) that the 8th grade Industrial Arts class I was in had to cast. One per student. Just to give a timeline, Nixon had recently resigned.

The assignment was:
1. Each student (13 year old child) had to go to a gas station and collect a sandwich bag full of lead tire weights. Service stations gave them freely.
2. We brought the tire weights back to class and melted them in a crucible and scoop out the slag. Yes, we children had to do this.
3. Each of us made a sand cast using an aluminum blank.
4. We poured the molten lead into the sand cast.
5. After the anvils cooled down, we dug them out of the sand and filed off the slag.

I can't imagine a shop class assignment like that given these days.
BTW: No one died from exposure and I ended up here on GJ.

Man that is amazing.......nowadays they're getting rid of school parks because kids could get hurt.....seems we're going backwards in society, not foward.

 

[36truck]

Mark we also had a furnace to melt Aluminum & bronze. We made some Aluminum Eagles with wings spread. I made a pair of candlesticks out of Bronze. I had a lot of fun in machine shop & welding class. Still use some of those skills to this day.

 

[bareass172]

I just wanted to chime in this thread and say how much I admire the work many of you do with these. I must admit, I was a long-time reader here but never signed up or posted for a long time. One of my first posts here was because a friend broke my old (Taiwan) bench vise and I was looking for advise to find a new one:
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=235261
That story had a happy ending as Jason was great enough to get me a good solid newer vise that I didn't have to worry about like I would have with vintage iron. I was also glad that my old junk vise served a purpose beyond the scrap pile thanks to BFBOB:
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4481837&postcount=23238

So my first posts out of the way were quickly followed by a find that wasn't worth the price:
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=236512
And then one that was:
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=261515
And another:
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=274408

I paid $5 for that little Wilton tilter and the last one was a freebie. I must admit guys, when I first joined I got a kick out of those of you with vises for avatars and vise info in your sigs, but somehow the old iron bug has bit me and I find myself reading everyday to see who found what. I keep patiently waiting and watching CL in the hopes of finding my first bullet, mostly just because I love the styling. So far everything I've found except my big Yost 32C has been small, but I hold out hope based on what I see from you guys. I just don't think there is a lot of big iron to be had down here in the deep south. Barn finds down here rust away from the humidity and salt air.

I want to thank all of you who have contributed to my affliction and I look forward to posting when I find new ones!

 

[balane]

Mark we also had a furnace to melt Aluminum & bronze. We made some Aluminum Eagles with wings spread. I made a pair of candlesticks out of Bronze. I had a lot of fun in machine shop & welding class. Still use some of those skills to this day.

I used to skip my boring shop class all the time because the teacher had 1" thick glasses, could hardly see, was always baked and never took roll. But if I had your shop class I'd hike through the snow sick with the flu just to attend. Just goes to show the kind of difference a good teacher can make.

 

[36truck]

Yes my machine shop teacher was a great teacher. He passed away last year. He didn't take any gruff from any one. He had the biggest hands I've ever seen. We had one trouble make kid in class teacher had enough of it one day. Picked him up one handed pinned the kid against the and told him if I ever see you doing something like that again he wouldn't live to tell about it.

 

[FMC1959]

Yes my machine shop teacher was a great teacher. He passed away last year. He didn't take any gruff from any one. He had the biggest hands I've ever seen. We had one trouble make kid in class teacher had enough of it one day. Picked him up one handed pinned the kid against the and told him if I ever see you doing something like that again he wouldn't live to tell about it.

You know how many lawsuits that would be today....

 

[FMC1959]

8" Willton 800, do not see these often.
https://losangeles.craigslist.org/ant/tls/4947978405.html

He's asking $1500, which means there's room for negotiation, and if in good condition, could be a deal. Just says an 800 but if the weight is right, it would have to be an 800S

 

[topop101]

Mark we also had a furnace to melt Aluminum & bronze. We made some Aluminum Eagles with wings spread. I made a pair of candlesticks out of Bronze. I had a lot of fun in machine shop & welding class. Still use some of those skills to this day.

We had made cast aluminum eagle's and indian heads with head dress in the 8 th grade. My senior year we built a formula II car with a motor cycle engine and ******. HURST shifter grips and ball peen and chipping hammers were cranked out by the bushel. Then there was wood shop ,of course and plastics and plumbing shop where we built molded plastic shelves over ridged copper tubing structures.

Sure wish we could have built a vise . I'd still would have had that !

 

[Mark in Indiana]

In shop class we also got to design & build wooden paddles to be used on younger students.

 

[macgee]

I don't know how many of you have seen Texasbuddyl's listings on eBay before but he's sold a ton of those art-deco style 3 1/2" Craftsman vises. He polishes them all up like the photo below. He does amazing work and his little Craftsman vises sell for a lot more than other similar ones on eBay.

I noticed this morning that he has refinished a full-sized heavy duty vise in the same way. It's the first large vise I've seen him put out. He's asking a lot for it but it's hard to fathom how much time he spent sitting in front of a polishing wheel. That guy's biceps must be like tree trunks.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/281643719860

.

Thanks Balane, You just had to rain on my parade showing a vise like that; you could of at least given me a day till you posted something like that, now I feel a bit inadequate.

But I totally agree, it was awesome to know how he does it; not to steal but just to learn how to do something like that.

The Wilton vise I posted above may look hard to do but the big secret on polishing it was because it didn't weigh much so it was easy to handle and shift around. I used my 5" orbital sander (150 grit). Dico Nyalox brushes and a 8" polishing wheel station with compound to help finish it off. I could just hold it and work on a spot that needed it. Certainly not the case (at least for me) with that polished Columbian and I'm pretty young and fit, the level of difficulty to polish a vise that big is exponential. I can feel my arms twitching/cramping at just the thought of polishing something like that.


Your right he must have some secret to shaping it so smooth, then polishing down to the point that all the wire wheel dimples are removed.

He gets the front and back of the jaws so perfectly smooth when usually that's where the biggest casting seams marks are left under the paint, that would take a lot of time (the anvil too).

I can't match this guys midas touch but one piece of advice I can give is to be very careful polishing the slide or removing the coloration or rust from it to make it shiny again can increase slop/play, at least with square milled slides. A thousand of a inch can make a big difference between a nice tight fitting dynamic jaw and a loose one.

Excuse me but I gotta go lift some iron.

 

[zkling]

Sadly, I am of the generation "What's shop class?".

8" Willton 800, do not see these often.
https://losangeles.craigslist.org/ant/tls/4947978405.html

He's asking $1500, which means there's room for negotiation, and if in good condition, could be a deal. Just says an 800 but if the weight is right, it would have to be an 800S

$1500 vise and they can't post a picture?

 

[Craptain]

$1500 vise and they can't post a picture?

Can't or don't want us to see what it really is?

I am sure it is as described but who knows.

Sent from my LG-D801 using Tapatalk

 

[topop101]

I just wanted to chime in this thread and say how much I admire the work many of you do with these. I must admit, I was a long-time reader here but never signed up or posted for a long time. One of my first posts here was because a friend broke my old (Taiwan) bench vise and I was looking for advise to find a new one:
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=235261
That story had a happy ending as Jason was great enough to get me a good solid newer vise that I didn't have to worry about like I would have with vintage iron. I was also glad that my old junk vise served a purpose beyond the scrap pile thanks to BFBOB:
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4481837&postcount=23238

So my first posts out of the way were quickly followed by a find that wasn't worth the price:
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=236512
And then one that was:
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=261515
And another:
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=274408

I paid $5 for that little Wilton tilter and the last one was a freebie. I must admit guys, when I first joined I got a kick out of those of you with vises for avatars and vise info in your sigs, but somehow the old iron bug has bit me and I find myself reading everyday to see who found what. I keep patiently waiting and watching CL in the hopes of finding my first bullet, mostly just because I love the styling. So far everything I've found except my big Yost 32C has been small, but I hold out hope based on what I see from you guys. I just don't think there is a lot of big iron to be had down here in the deep south. Barn finds down here rust away from the humidity and salt air.

I want to thank all of you who have contributed to my affliction and I look forward to posting when I find new ones!

Don't worry, They will find you. Big, small... wilton bullets. You might have to widen you search a bit. I've found vises looking for toolboxes, work benches under both vise and vice, bench grip. sometimes a vise may be in a picture but not being sold so I'll call and ask about it any way. Some ppl just need cash and will sell anything.

 

[topop101]

In shop class we also got to design & build wooden paddles to be used on younger students.

And I have the welts to prove it....

 

[topop101]

Thanks Balane, You just had to rain on my parade showing a vise like that; you could of at least giving me a day till you posted something like that, now I feel a bit inadequate.

But I totally agree, it was awesome to know how he does it; not to steal but just to learn how to do something like that.

The Wilton vise I posted above may look hard to do but the big secret on polishing it was because it didn't weigh much so it was easy to handle and shift around. I used my 5" orbital sander (150 grit) and a 8" polishing wheel station with compound to help finish it off. I could just hold it and work on a spot that needed it. Certainly not the case (at least for me) with that polished Columbian and I'm pretty young and fit, the level of difficulty to polish a vise that big is exponential. I can feel my arms twitching/cramping at just the thought of polishing something like that.


Your right he must have some secret to shaping it so smooth, then polishing down to the point that all the wire wheel dimples are removed.

He gets the front and back of the jaws so perfectly smooth when usually that's where the biggest casting seams marks are left under the paint, that would take a lot of time (the anvil too).

I can't match this guys midas touch but one piece of advice I can give is to be very careful polishing the slide or removing the coloration or rust from it to make it shiny again can increase slop/play, at least with square milled slides. A thousand of a inch can make a big difference between a nice tight fitting dynamic jaw and a loose one.

Excuse me but I gotta go lift some iron.

I'm guessing there is some 1200 and 1500 grit paper involved before polishing

 

[macgee]

I'm guessing there is some 1200 and 1500 grit paper involved before polishing

Your probably correct. That would take a lot a time and sheets of paper.

That vise is probably alone worth the price in just man hours and material costs or am I missing something?

 

[Craptain]

Today for $15 3 1/2" Craftsman.

Sent from my LG-D801 using Tapatalk

 

[FMC1959]

Thanks Balane, You just had to rain on my parade.

But I totally agree, it was awesome to know how he does it; not to steal but just to learn how to do something like that.

The Wilton vise I posted above may look hard to do but the big secret on polishing it was because it didn't weigh much so it was easy to handle and shift around. I used my 5" orbital sander (150 grit) and a 8" polishing wheel station with compound to help finish it off. I could just hold it and work on a spot that needed it. Certainly not the case (at least for me) with that polished Columbian and I'm pretty young and fit, the level of difficulty to polish a vise that big is exponential. I can feel my arms twitching/cramping at just the thought of polishing something like that.


Your right he must have some secret to shaping it so smooth, then polishing down to the point that all the wire wheel dimples are removed.

He gets the front and back of the jaws so perfectly smooth when usually that's where the biggest casting seams marks are left under the paint, that would take a lot of time (the anvil too).

I can't match this guys midas touch but one piece of advice I can give is to be very careful polishing the slide or removing the coloration or rust from it to make it shiny again can increase slop/play, at least with square milled slides. A thousand of a inch can make a big difference between a nice tight fitting dynamic jaw and a loose one.

Excuse me but I got go lift some weights.

He has just the 2 vises at the moment but I have seen in the past he had a couple of others, might have been Craftsman also. One was red and the other was blue, plus he had another all plain steel one.

Both the red & blue had beautiful finishes, very much like custom paint jobs on serious hot rods.

Not to be outdone, MacGee, the job you did is vey impressive. Balane, all of yours are nice to fantastic. many others on this thread have done some impressive work, KMScott comes to mind, and recently jreb10's baby bullet was beautiful....and there have been many others.

The one distinction I find with texasbuddyl work, at least from the pictures, everyone elses, as good as they look, they are a tool. A vise that is as good or better than new in the box vise. This guys work almost looks more ornamental or collectible. From what I see on the pics, not sure I would buy one to use it.

 

[macgee]

McGee: Wow what a nice job restoring that vise. very impressive. any idea how many actual hours you spent on it? also if you wouldn't mind would you post over on the vise repair 101 thread and mention all the technique that you used to do such a fantastic job?

Thanks Drive for the compliment,

I'm happy to post in that thread on how I did it but I will need to get on that a little later on when I have some time to write it all down and also try to remember how I did it.

I do know that I tried something different things on it that worked very well.


The real person who should be posting on how to do it is "TexasBuddy" from eBay. Somebody should contact him and let him know about GJ.

The one distinction I find with texasbuddyl work, at least from the pictures, everyone elses, as good as they look, they are a tool. A vise that is as good or better than new in the box vise. This guys work almost looks more ornamental or collectible. From what I see on the pics, not sure I would buy one to use it.

I totally agree 100%. I like to call these Gucci vises and I always say about the vise I did above is that I put lipstick & high heels on a pig.

If you have one of these Gucci vises bolted to your bench and you need to whack something with a hammer, are you going to think I need to be careful not to scratch my vise? If you do, then that vise is being a disservice to your shop and no longer becomes a useful tool.

 

[topop101]

Your probably correct. That would take a lot a time and sheets of paper.

That vise is probably alone worth the price in just man hours and material costs or am I missing something?

Oh dayz... and probably several carpal tunnel surgeries With a fine grit you don't have to have it perfect to shine bright . But to get the mirror finish you have to take 100 grit steps to at least 1500 before the polishing begins-IMHO

 

[balane]

He has just the 2 vises at the moment but I have seen in the past he had a couple of others, might have been Craftsman also.

If you click on the box to see his completed listings you can see many that he's recently sold. I do remember the red and blue tinted ones and they were gorgeous too.

 

[CwazyWabbit]

If you click on the box to see his completed listings you can see many that he's recently sold. I do remember the red and blue tinted ones and they were gorgeous too.

At the rate he is selling them he must be completing one or two a week, he has to be doing the prep with some machine, that can't just be emery paper or he'd have no fingers left.

They look brilliant, I want to know his secret

 

[balane]

And where does he get them all to begin with?!?!