The VISES of Garage Journal

[trijeff]

Drives the Prentiss 58 is 275# and also had a swivel base/plate available. Still looking to find the 98 in any catalogs.

 

[Outlawmws]

Has anyone seen one of these Rock Island's " 592 " before?

I just acquired this yesterday out of an old mechanic shop, it was hiding under a pile of old newspapers from the '60's. It's has "10 56" stamped on top of the slide but I unable to find online any information or reference of a #592.

The jaws are 3 1/2" wide. I think the paint is orig. and looks in excellent condition. It's a nice little vise, it weighs 31 lbs.

looks very similar to my craftsman 5151

It looks extremely close to mine, good eye.

It's nice little vise and can't believe how nice the paint is on this one.

Does anyone have any old Rock Island Ad's/brochures from the 50's?

It's been established that both RI and Reed made the same vises for Sears, and the 515X series (probably the 516X series also). Top pop, have you had the main nut out of the Craftsman ? it could have either Reed or RI markings... (That was how it was established..)

 

[macgee]

I'm working on two Athols right now, that gray one and that 325. I should have had the gray one today but Long Island traffic killed me.. Id have pd 100 for it. The 325 we are negotiating. Ive offered 150. It is REAL clean.

I do believe Dayids. I have yet to find a major error and quiet frankly all I know is that the 107 is as heavy as HELL!

Neither vise is on CL so I dont mind discussing them here and quite frankly i am soooo beat (just geting home now) that i bought so much I just dont care.

Here are pics from my day. So first is the tailgate pic. Ive now identified everything here. Reed 107, Reed 104, Millhoff vise, Palmgren 610, Heinrich machinist vise, yost 125

Next is the Prentiss 58 I delivered to MA for a member.

Here is the place i delivered it to. That is a 600lb Gernan anvil. And yes that is an 80lb hanging anvil that is being usedcas a counterweight. Some of their work in process.

Wow, that place is pretty amazing. Not exactly my taste but can appreciate the work. The art deco anvil is really cool. Thanks for the pics

Also see in the back of your truck one of those rotating Millhof AllSteel vises.

It's been established that both RI and Reed made the same vises for Sears, and the 515X series (probably the 516X series also). Top pop, have you had the main nut out of the Craftsman ? it could have either Reed or RI markings... (That was how it was established..)

Thanks Outlaws,

I've come across a lot of Rock Islands and never seen a 592 before and there's virtually almost no mention on the internet of 592's which I find odd.

 

[tedsters]

Tedsters: you must be in the 20's now for the # of vises that have followed you home? can't beat a good old Reed if all the parts are there which yours seems to be.

drives
between vises and grinders my wallets getting pretty thin, its hard to let a nice vise slip thru your fingers though.
this one will look nice spiffed up there are no peen marks or nicks in the slide, i loosened the swivel handle and give the swivel base a turn and turned the base retaining screw out with my fingers, the previous owner at some point put some thread ease on the screw sure makes a difference how a vise come apart with it on the the threaded parts. my 406 was the same way

 

[Fretters]

Hammerite is good stuff. The best in my opinion. It needs to go on thick, the thicker the application the better the hammered affect. Right at the point before it runs. This photo is Hammerite. I really liked it but it's twice the price of Rustoleum hammered finish.

As Balane says xxaler, you do have to lather the stuff on thickly to get the proper effect from it. It's better from the tin than a can too. Absolute ***** of a paint to apply properly though, and if you apply a second coat for any reason you need to follow their time directions to the letter otherwise you'll just pull the first coat off.

You'd have liked their older formulation even more Balane. The old stuff truly was good stuff. The modern stuff doesn't seem to be a patch on it, unfortunately. Still gives the same type of finish, but it used to give more resilient a finish.

 

[exmaxima1]

Wire wheeled it down, taped it off and shot it hammertone blue. Paint cost me $72 after shipping and customs from the UK, and of course, doesn't come out hammertone, instead semi-metallic. Fantastic. Could have got that for $8 at NAPA.

Seriously? $72 for a can of paint?

 

[joe.striper]

Joe: speaking of Prentiss vises that 58 ain't no little thing. did it really have 8.5 inch jaws like Dayid's vise Wiki says? it didn't say the weight, but guessing it was in the 240 pound neighborhood? i do like the way you move those big vises.

very cool anvil and vise **** pictures and i'd love to have a camera on your forehead with live feeds coming to my laptop to see some of the old shops you see practically on a daily basis. nice deals big guy[/QUOTE]

I wish i did have a live feed sometime. I see the coolest stuff every day. I also meet the nicest people every day.

 

[FMC1959]

Joe: speaking of Prentiss vises that 58 ain't no little thing. did it really have 8.5 inch jaws like Dayid's vise Wiki says? it didn't say the weight, but guessing it was in the 240 pound neighborhood? i do like the way you move those big vises.

very cool anvil and vise **** pictures and i'd love to have a camera on your forehead with live feeds coming to my laptop to see some of the old shops you see practically on a daily basis. nice deals big guy

Joe:I wish i did have a live feed sometime. I see the coolest stuff every day. I also meet the nicest people every day.

Get one of these and you take us on for the ride....

http://gopro.com/

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&ke...vptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_6kwa45bbd0_b

 

[454ragtop]

Has anyone seen one of these Rock Island's " 592 " before?

I just acquired this yesterday out of an old mechanic shop, it was hiding under a pile of old newspapers from the '60's. It's has "10 56" stamped on top of the slide but I unable to find online any information or reference of a #592.

The jaws are 3 1/2" wide. I think the paint is orig. and looks in excellent condition. It's a nice little vise, it weighs 31 lbs.

Nice one. I have its brother on a swivel base, posted pic here about 20000 posts ago http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=3120305#post3120305
Jim

 

[vintage nut]

I have been using tremclad (canadian labeled rustoleum) hammered paint, and I really love the stuff. The hammered black is possibly my favorite paint. Gonna try to find a really dark green hammertone paint for a future project....

you can never have too many tools

 

[joe.striper]

Get one of these and you take us on for the ride....

http://gopro.com/

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&ke...vptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_6kwa45bbd0_b

Then you'd all know my secrets and sources and I'd have to kill you all and we wouldnt want that would we?

 

[drivesitfar]

Joe: i think you live too close to New Jersey or maybe you grew up there. we don't want all the details just the pictures so keep posting and we'll just keep wondering if your supply will ever dry up.

Jim: when i went back to look at your awesome Rock Island restoration i saw Oak's interesting handle he put on his Morgan. i have to repost it for the new members that haven't had a chance to read the entire thread yet and just because it is pretty neat idea for some of our vises with bent, broken or missing handles.

 

[Tacoma bo]

Hey everyone. I came across a littlestown no. 81 vise. I'll get some pics posted up later but I'm having a hard time finding any info for it. From other pictures I've found online it closely resembles a littlestown no.300. Mine says littlestown New York and looks like it may have had a swivel base at one time. I'll get pics up later today, but any point in the right direction helps. Thanks

 

[Craptain]

Tacoma,
Littlestown are everywhere, except for yours. I have never seen one from NY as all the ones I have seen came from PA. Also never (knowingly) seen an 81. However they are all much the same so I know what it looks like. Open screw?
In any case they are a good middle quality homeowners vise and will give years of service if not abused. In fact they have already given years of service, which is a testament to the quality.

 

[vintage nut]

Hmm thinking I might try a metal fleck british racing green on the next vise I do. Could look interesting. I have an idea in mind for a certain big vise that will be coming my way, but I'm not revealing my plan yet

you can never have too many tools

 

[CwazyWabbit]

I truly can't believe that no-one has questioned your reasoning with this testing method as yet.

TBF if he can make the bearing give using that test method I doubt there's any of us man enough to question him .....

 

[FMC1959]

Then you'd all know my secrets and sources and I'd have to kill you all and we wouldnt want that would we?

Actually footage of following you around all day (and a couple of others on this thread) would make for one of those shows on HGTV or Cottage Life. You could call it Vise Wars, Vise Life, Looking for Clampers....well, you can work on the title, but I would definitely watch

 

[CwazyWabbit]

I'd try and have a look at that one in person on a colour chart before trying it. Just had a look online, and the samples look quite different depending on which site they're viewed, and I also noted that one place referred to it as Post Office red, so if it's owt like I recall postbox red as, likely way off the colour on this 8A. Something like an orange/red cross would seem closer. The Parkinson's appear red/burgundy after a few years and some patina, but if aiming for originality, any vibrant/dark red would seem to be quite a way off. I'd almost say it's bordering on a hint of brown with the original paint.

I've ordered a BS381 colour chart to check, although I'm guessing the actual colour is from a time before the BS ..... although there is quite a long production period so they may be somewhat like record blue which seems to have been a number of different hues over the years.

I've a No.6 in original paint that I should be able to check against, might even work out what colour Samsonia blue was while I'm at it.

I'll probably decide I don't like it and choose my own colour then

 

[wmrra13]

Tyler: I'm guessing you are looking at an ad I posted for my 1978 Wilton C 2 on Craigslist. I don't have one empty workbench and starting a new fence project so if it sells or doesn't either way works for me. Sounds like we live close so how do you like these 70 degree days in April?

I love it but, combined with the recent heavy rains, my lawn is growing too fast! I was able to finish mowing it last night leaving my weekend free for other projects and family time.

Cheers!

 

[JZiggy]

TBF if he can make the bearing give using that test method I doubt there's any of us man enough to question him .....

Naw, anybody can just put a pipe on it

Reminds of when I bent a 3/4" Craftsman slide breaker bar into a banana trying to get an axle nut loose. It took a 6' pipe and a 250lb guy on the end of it jumping up and down to get it loose. The folks at Sears gave me the incredulous look reserved for special occasions when I asked for an exchange.

 

[CwazyWabbit]

.....
4) Not yet, though I've wanked on a handle pretty hard and felt the bearing yield a bit (I think).
.....

I truly can't believe that no-one has questioned your reasoning with this testing method as yet.

TBF if he can make the bearing give using that test method I doubt there's any of us man enough to question him .....

Naw, anybody can just put a pipe on it

Reminds of when I bent a 3/4" Craftsman slide breaker bar into a banana trying to get an axle nut loose. It took a 6' pipe and a 250lb guy on the end of it jumping up and down to get it loose. The folks at Sears gave me the incredulous look reserved for special occasions when I asked for an exchange.

I've included your original message for context

 

[JZiggy]

Anyone in Eastern Washington? Nice 6" Record swivel popped up:

https://kpr.craigslist.org/tls/4980929475.html

 

[balane]

Anybody know the weight of that No. 6 swivel Record?

 

[CwazyWabbit]

Anybody know the weight of that No. 6 swivel Record?

87lb with the swivel

 

[JZiggy]

Interesting. Looks *just* like my No6 Paramo which is 100lb.

 

[Fretters]

I've included your original message for context

I'm beginning to wonder if it may not be a term used across the pond, seeing as we Brits seem to be the only ones amused by it.

 

[JZiggy]

Friday afternoon vise pondering:

Can I measure the clamp force with a short hydraulic ram?

Like this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/371046640506?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

And then put a hydraulic pressure gauge in the inlet port? Would I need to include a tee so I could bleed it first and make sure there was no air in there, or maybe it wouldn't matter?

Edit: found a writeup: http://www.skylighter.com/fireworks/arbor-press-force-gauge.asp

 

[jakemac]

I'm beginning to wonder if it may not be a term used across the pond, seeing as we Brits seem to be the only ones amused by it.

The term is definitely Brit-wit, we have similar euphemisms, but none that could be applied to yanking on a vise handle. OK, maybe "yanking" but that isn't a term that's used in both contexts very often over here.

 

[Fretters]

I've ordered a BS381 colour chart to check, although I'm guessing the actual colour is from a time before the BS ..... although there is quite a long production period so they may be somewhat like record blue which seems to have been a number of different hues over the years.

The BS charts seem to cover most of the classics from way back, (Brunswick being one which instantly springs to mind), so I'm guessing they must've included all of the commonly used colours in there. Hopefully they'll have used some colour commonly available.

I've a No.6 in original paint that I should be able to check against, might even work out what colour Samsonia blue was while I'm at it.

Honestly didn't realise the Samsonia's were blue. For some reason, I'd got it into my head they were a dark green.

I'll probably decide I don't like it and choose my own colour then

Pretty much the tack I used. That's the reason most of my vices are painted Wine Red. That was the one colour I could see on the charts which reminded me most of the old maroon/burgundy machinery colours I could remember seeing.

I've gone with something different for this Fortis. With that being green originally, I've used some Moss Green which someone gave me. Thought it time I gave that a whirl. Much prefer my usual paint for applying though.

This Fortis truly must have either been a Friday afternoon special with Stevie in charge of QC that day, else the quality of Fortis went downhill in later years, judging by what you said about their cast/finishing quality, 'cos by 'eck, this one is as rough as a badgers **** which has been wiped with coarse sandpaper. There's a small hole in the cast on the encircled 10 on the slide, for example, and the repair for that has been two flat head nails inserted into the hole and then bent round to complete the circle around the 10. Saying that, I do like this vice. It definitely makes a Swindens seem like Da Vinci material in comparison to it for finishing and cast quality though.

 

[Fretters]

The term is definitely Brit-wit, we have similar euphemisms, but none that could be applied to yanking on a vise handle. OK, maybe "yanking" but that isn't a term that's used in both contexts very often over here.

Definitely not an American thing then. I'll explain this one so that you can see where the particular amusement value lay. It's not a euphemism at work, but merely the typo which turned what should have read:

4) Not yet, though I've yanked on a handle pretty hard and felt the bearing yield a bit (I think)

into:

4) Not yet, though I've wanked on a handle pretty hard and felt the bearing yield a bit (I think)

Click on the underscored, bold word to go to the dictionary page for that word. Schoolboy humour I know, but possibly now you can see why that sentence had a completely different meaning for us.

 

[jakemac]

O, I got the meaning, and the humour. It's just not a word that's used over here. We tend to use creative phrases (which I won't repeat) for the same action, rather than one word.

I think that many americans are only recently becoming aware of the word due to more British shows making it into mainstream TV on cable. But they may not fully understand it's use yet.

 

[CwazyWabbit]

Fretters: I have a Samsonia that belonged to the father of the guy I bought it from and he swears it was never repainted (and to me it looks pretty original) and that is blue, I need to get around to giving it a clean.

I've got 3 Fortis vices in the pile, a new and old style number 12 and a number 10 with the split front jaw. From memory (which admitedly isn't great) the new style number 12 is the worst of them for finish which supports the going downhill theory..... but two bent nails is a new low.

I'm guessing the particular bit of schoolboy humour is an English one in this case

 

[dutchgray]

CW and Fretters
My Samsonia whilst is mostly finished in surface rust, the few bits of paint left on it look a dark blue.

 

[flavc3]

does anybody have any info on this one?? Said its a "Craftsman" made in England vise

 

[oberst]

The Stanley 400 picture framing vise and the Panavise swivel hobby vise: (Comes with two sets of jaws, pretty well made)

 

[CwazyWabbit]

Is that picture frame vise the type with a swivel base?

 

[Nicodimas]

Used oven cleaner and a wire wheel and all the paint is gone...

Now for the jaws they are..quite rough...under all that rust. Suggestions. I could leave them as is as its mainly an aesthetics thing really

Before:

After:

< note to self some of said oven cleaner got over my glove..i guess...ouch! don't do this...>

 

[oberst]

Is that picture frame vise the type with a swivel base?

Yes. Got it for 25 at a yard sale last weekend.

I've wanted one for years, but everyone thinks they have gold bricks stashed inside 'em!

 

[tedsters]

does anybody have any info on this one?? Said its a "Craftsman" made in England vise

interesting

 

[drivesitfar]

Tacoma: do you have a picture of your Littlestown? i had a NY version, but it was model #400 so not sure what yours looks like. i'm guessing it's an open screw light to medium duty vise and I've seen many on very handy guy's benches because its well made.

Fretters: i missed the JZ's mis spelled word that he either did on purpose for you guys or maybe missed the entire keyboard. in any case i always thought ****** was a Jerk and i guess i was sort of close.

Flav: do you have any more pictures or more information on the English made Craftsman? also wondering if our English gents have seen one in person.