The VISES of Garage Journal

[indianaclay93]

Here is my Trojan 704 vise I just got finished painting it. Does anyone know how old it is?

 

[dutchgray]

Just noticed that 2" Swindens made £56 odd, which is surprisingly little I feel.

 

[CwazyWabbit]

I looked at it and the main jaw faces had been replaced with soft jaws, I'd guess that dropped the price somewhat

 

[Fretters]

Sounds like you've dropped on one which hasn't seen too much use too, which is good. If it doesn't become one of your favourites once you've fettled it, I'll be very surprised. This one had a missing retaining pin for the spring when I got it, so had to be pulled out manually. Same as yours in general, with very little play or slop. I'll be damned if I can figure out how the previous owner(s) managed to get the ball end of the leadscrew so deeply rust pitted though, especially seeing as that was lathered in paint when I got it. Looks like they must have suspended it in water for weeks. Barely a hint of corrosion anywhere else though.

This was mine when I first got it.

Just use that Rd No. as the search term, and include the description in the search. It does work quite well for finding a good portion of the listings without finding excess unrelated stuff. Not a vast amount of them seem to turn up though, which is quite surprising, as they appear to be the model aimed at home/general users, so I would have expected there to be more of them out there. Rarely will you find them described for what they are. It took me ages to find out who the manufacturer was and what the model was, (Sod's law that I then came across an old advert for one a week or two later ), and that was only through pure chance, as one listing had the remnants of the original sticker on the front of the vice. Most sellers seem to assume they're Record, so searching for Parkinson or Handy will usually get you nowhere.

 

[CwazyWabbit]

Frettera: Dutch: Now I'm feeling left out without a 'Handy Vise' ..... Darn you two

 

[Fretters]

Frettera: Dutch: Now I'm feeling left out without a 'Handy Vise' ..... Darn you two

I looked at it and the main jaw faces had been replaced with soft jaws, I'd guess that dropped the price somewhat

Was looking at the photo's of the other one I saw the other day, and I noticed the design seemed slightly different too. That may also have had some effect. Would have expected a small Swindens to go for more than that regardless though. I've attached a photo of it.

 

[CwazyWabbit]

Now that one Fretters is I think the swivel version .....

 

[thehorse13]

I have a Charles Parker model NO. 429. I can't find much info on it. It's big & heavy (about 80lb). Was wondering what was it used for. It rotates at the base & the jaw rotates.....https://books.google.com/books?id=Z...wBQ#v=onepage&q=chas. parker 429 vise&f=false...... this is the only info I could find.Thanks Scott

My father has one of these 429s. The woman who sold it my father said that her late husband worked in the Erie Railroad machine shop.

 

[Fraggles]

Frettera: Dutch: Now I'm feeling left out without a 'Handy Vise' ..... Darn you two

I guess I have one too, a No.1 with 3" jaws




It's cast Made in England on the other side




There are two Charles Parker vices on eBay, with and without bases

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RARE-THE-...253?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item3aa820d18d

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Charles-p...085?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item3cf794642d

 

[CwazyWabbit]

Damn you all!!!!

Fretters: That is indeed the swivelling version of the Swindens.

 

[JZiggy]

Finally put my Paramo No. 6 swivel on the bathroom scale today. 102 pounds!

 

[CwazyWabbit]

JZiggy: That's a fair weight for an English vice

 

[dutchgray]

Fraggles
Nice little handy vise.

I'm thinking about leaving mine light grey or going green.

CW
I'm sure you could find yourself one pretty easily.

 

[trijeff]

any idea what the biggest vise is that Prentiss made? is it the #58?

Probably it's Swivelin' B@#tards cousin, the 98. I have never seen a listing for a 98, and someone was asking for just that a week or so ago. I think B100 had said that he had seen a Prentiss 98 brochure and it was 345 lbs, or maybe it was his guess based off of the weight of his 58

Drives / FMC: I have been looking for official specs on the 98 ever since getting one (way too many hours but have seen a lot of interesting stuff along the way) Still have not come up with anything ... I think the advertising for the 98 might be more rare than the vise itself The only thing I have been able to quasi-pin-down is that it was mfg'd sometime between 1925-42. But!! I have my 98 in pieces right now so it was easy to weigh:

Lead screw/handle: 22#
Swivel base: 40#
Dynamic: 112#
Static: 144#

Total weight for the Prentiss 98 is 318#

Terrible pictures and obviously not a super scientific scale, but the 318# is really close. I'm thinking they probably marketed it at 320#.

 

[dutchgray]

Fretters
Many sellers tag them all "Record" because they know they will show up in the average persons search.

 

[CwazyWabbit]

Fraggles
Nice little handy vise.

I'm thinking about leaving mine light grey or going green.

CW
I'm sure you could find yourself one pretty easily.

I did a completed search using the rd number and there have been a fair few sold recently so I guess I'll pick one up soon enough

 

[vintage nut]

Drives / FMC: I have been looking for official specs on the 98 ever since getting one (way too many hours but have seen a lot of interesting stuff along the way) Still have not come up with anything ... I think the advertising for the 98 might be more rare than the vise itself The only thing I have been able to quasi-pin-down is that it was mfg'd sometime between 1925-42. But!! I have my 98 in pieces right now so it was easy to weigh:

Lead screw/handle: 22#
Swivel base: 40#
Dynamic: 112#
Static: 144#

Total weight for the Prentiss 98 is 318#

Terrible pictures and obviously not a super scientific scale, but the 318# is really close. I'm thinking they probably marketed it at 320#.

Damn just the static weighs as much as the (not nearly as) big vise that will be coming my way.... I thought that thing was a monster!

you can never have too many tools

 

[JZiggy]

Drives / FMC:
...
Lead screw/handle: 22#
Swivel base: 40#
Dynamic: 112#
Static: 144#
...

What is the diameter of the lead screw? I'm guessing 1.5"?

 

[trijeff]

What is the diameter of the lead screw? I'm guessing 1.5"?

Nailed it

 

[dutchgray]

318lb, I would have to take that apart just to move it, that is a beast.

 

[Thrumcap]

Middleboro, MA

http://boston.craigslist.org/sob/tls/4987735945.html



As of two minutes ago, it's still there. 6" Parker pipe jaw vise with the pipe jaws, $125 . It looks identical to my Parker 289 1/2 or perhaps a 438. In the 180 lb range... if that's what it is.

Thrumcap

 

[CwazyWabbit]

On the subject of heavy vices Dutch, I was looking up vices the other day and the Record 912 weighed 200lb, now that's pretty heavy for a Record vice ...... but more impressive when you consider that was a pipe vice! One was listed on ebay back in 2013 and they wanted 500 quid for it :-/

 

[Thrumcap]

On a slightly smaller scale.... an RAE Model 30 with 3" jaws, with a decal closeup. It's about the size of a Record No. 1.

Thrumcap

 

[dutchgray]

CW
I'm guessing 12" capacity for a 912, based on how their pipe vices are usually numbered, so it would have to be pretty meaty.

thrumcap
That's a nice English style vice and one I doubt would ever turn up over here, nice bright original colour too.

 

[CwazyWabbit]

Dutch: Yep was a 12" vice however the eBay seller claimed it would hold a 14" pipe and took 2 men to carry it around site

Thrumcap: Nice Rae vice, what vice is it sitting on?

 

[Thrumcap]

Dutch: Yep was a 12" vice however the eBay seller claimed it would hold a 14" pipe and took 2 men to carry it around site

Thrumcap: Nice Rae vice, what vice is it sitting on?

A Parker 386 6" vise.

I suspect the 386 will be parted out,once some of the parts migrate to my 289 1/2 restoration.

Thrumcap

 

[Fretters]

I like the styling of that front lower support for the slide on that RAE, TC. Makes it stand out.

CW: You wouldn't happen to have any info/specs for the Woden 186E range in any of your catalogues, would you? Just been flicking through the limited Woden info I have here, and that range isn't mentioned.

 

[Thrumcap]

The English Delegation

Yes, the tiny vises do look nifty, and orange, no less! It was found nailed to a long board at a flea market this weekend. There isn't a huge amount on RAE vises online....

Waiting for someone to snipe that vise outside Boston. Too far to drive now.... maybe pick some cool ones up in the summer on vacay...

Thrumcap

 

[CwazyWabbit]

I like the styling of that front lower support for the slide on that RAE, TC. Makes it stand out.

CW: You wouldn't happen to have any info/specs for the Woden 186E range in any of your catalogues, would you? Just been flicking through the limited Woden info I have here, and that range isn't mentioned.

Here you go

 

[jakemac]

Waiting for someone to snipe that vise outside Boston. Too far to drive now.... maybe pick some cool ones up in the summer on vacay...

Thrumcap

Too far outside my traveling range, or I'd offer to pick it up and hold it for you. Sorry.

 

[Fretters]

Here you go

Cheers. You're a star.

 

[Garageguy54]

Middleboro, MA

http://boston.craigslist.org/sob/tls/4987735945.html



As of two minutes ago, it's still there. 6" Parker pipe jaw vise with the pipe jaws, $125 . It looks identical to my Parker 289 1/2 or perhaps a 438. In the 180 lb range... if that's what it is.

Thrumcap

I live almost 4hrs from there, i just have to find the time for the drive and i have the smaller one in my garage (the parker 87 with the pipe jaws). thanks for the post.GG54

 

[CwazyWabbit]

Just for completeness here's more Woden stuff.

1958 catalogue








1964 catalogue new 190 unbreakable, I guess these replaced the 186S

 

[Thrumcap]

Too far outside my traveling range, or I'd offer to pick it up and hold it for you. Sorry.

Cheers Jakemac. Easy come, easy go and looks like Garageguy54 has a new toy!

 

[CwazyWabbit]

The English Delegation

Yes, the tiny vises do look nifty, and orange, no less! It was found nailed to a long board at a flea market this weekend. There isn't a huge amount on RAE vises online....


Thrumcap

You may be the one who posted this originally....

 

[scottmoli]

Any idea what year? I've had it a few years it was left w/ the house I bought is it worth anything? Thanx again Scott

 

[Thrumcap]

You may be the one who posted this originally....

Not me, but thanks for this post. *print*

Thrumcap

 

[topop101]

Here is my Trojan 704 vise I just got finished painting it. Does anyone know how old it is?

Not sure about it's age, but I am sure that you did a fine job on it

 

[wrenchguy]

Drives / FMC: I have been looking for official specs on the 98 ever since getting one (way too many hours but have seen a lot of interesting stuff along the way) Still have not come up with anything ... I think the advertising for the 98 might be more rare than the vise itself The only thing I have been able to quasi-pin-down is that it was mfg'd sometime between 1925-42. But!! I have my 98 in pieces right now so it was easy to weigh:

Lead screw/handle: 22#
Swivel base: 40#
Dynamic: 112#
Static: 144#

Total weight for the Prentiss 98 is 318#

nice, real nice.

 

[wrenchguy]

A Parker 386 6" vise.

I suspect the 386 will be parted out,once some of the parts migrate to my 289 1/2 restoration.

Thrumcap

man i'd try milling that weld off and clean up to use. thats a nice vise.