The VISES of Garage Journal
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drivesitfar
Well-known member
Alinc: i live an hour from a few of those types of ships that are sitting in the Bremerton naval base. i haven't been on one of their tours for years and not sure they still have them, but i should maybe check and take a tour again now that I've got a true respect and liking for old US steel. that Rock Island with it's pipe jaws isn't a common vise and it would work well on any of our benches. i found this Craftsman version (picture attached) of it that Rock Island most likely made that i couldn't get the owner to ship to me so i'm still looking for one. thanks for posting and sharing your adventure with us.
Vintage: i tend to agree with you about the many advantages of owning several vises. that's one reason i'm learning how to weld is to make trailer hitch type attachments so i can swap out a vise on my bench if i need or want to for a different job or look.
Balane: so since you only have one vise which is a very nice Parker vise do you think you'll ever upgrade to a different one and what might that be? i'm amazed with all the versa vises you've bought and restored that you haven't kept one for those odd angle jobs or do you have one sitting on a shelf?
ALL: so Alinc's Rock Island vise was on the 1946 USS Missouri. i thought Wilton had the government contracts during WWII. i got my Morgan 50 off the USS Independence that was built in 1956 (picture attached). so wonder when Morgan got the contract? Rock island sold their vise company to Birtman electric in 1957 if i remember correctly. so Allinc your picture helps put another piece in our puzzle and thanks for remembering to take a picture with all the stuff that must have been going on in that little room and on that tour.
Vintage: i tend to agree with you about the many advantages of owning several vises. that's one reason i'm learning how to weld is to make trailer hitch type attachments so i can swap out a vise on my bench if i need or want to for a different job or look.
Balane: so since you only have one vise which is a very nice Parker vise do you think you'll ever upgrade to a different one and what might that be? i'm amazed with all the versa vises you've bought and restored that you haven't kept one for those odd angle jobs or do you have one sitting on a shelf?
ALL: so Alinc's Rock Island vise was on the 1946 USS Missouri. i thought Wilton had the government contracts during WWII. i got my Morgan 50 off the USS Independence that was built in 1956 (picture attached). so wonder when Morgan got the contract? Rock island sold their vise company to Birtman electric in 1957 if i remember correctly. so Allinc your picture helps put another piece in our puzzle and thanks for remembering to take a picture with all the stuff that must have been going on in that little room and on that tour.
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sbosecker
Well-known member
FMC1959,
One other question in addition to the Swivel Lock Bolt weld question...
Mine has what appears to be a serial number. The first number is tough to read and my guess is either a zero, a six or a nine. This character is followed 8258.
Yours is a couple of years old. May I ask what the serial number is?
Best regards,
Scott
sbosecker
Well-known member
I managed to get the other Swivel Lock off the Yost 33C this morning.
Now I can try to get this thing cleaned up a bit.
I don't think there's been any grease on the screw for a very long time.
Scott
Now I can try to get this thing cleaned up a bit.
I don't think there's been any grease on the screw for a very long time.
Scott
FMC1959
Well-known member
I am not 100% sure if I understand the question.
Looking at the vise from the top side, there are no welds of any kind on the swivel bolts or the vise body.
I think you mean underneath where the swivel nut connects to I assume a bolt? Unfortunately I can't help there. My vise is bolted to my bench and I cut & smoothed off the excess part of the 4 bolts holding the vise down. Taking it off the bench to see under the vise is not a simple option.
Sorry
sbosecker
Well-known member
I am not 100% sure if I understand the question.
Looking at the vise from the top side, there are no welds of any kind on the swivel bolts or the vise body.
I think you mean underneath where the swivel nut connects to I assume a bolt? Unfortunately I can't help there. My vise is bolted to my bench and I cut & smoothed off the excess part of the 4 bolts holding the vise down. Taking it off the bench to see under the vise is not a simple option.
Sorry
Ha!
No problem. Underneath the vise is where I was wondering.
On mine the heads of the bolts - basically carriage bolts - are welded to the bottom of the vise. To me it doesn't really look like something the manufacturer would have done.
Best regards,
Scott
alinc100
Well-known member
From what I know the USS Missouri was refurbished in the 1980's and saw action in the Persian Gulf before being decommissioned and placed at Pearl Harbor so there is a chance that that is not original to its first commission in 1944 and a nice Wilton is floating around somewhere
drivesitfar
Well-known member
Alinc: that Rock Island is definitely a 1940's made vise so guessing the remodel kept some of the good old US steel that was still in good working condition.
thanks again for sharing your story and with some vise **** too.
Scott: those bolts are not original and were probably spinning while trying to tighten or loosen the swivel nuts hence the welds. check Yost's site and see what a new one looks like or maybe we have a total Yost vise restoration thread on GJ because i can't remember one posted on the 101 thread yet.
thanks again for sharing your story and with some vise **** too.
Scott: those bolts are not original and were probably spinning while trying to tighten or loosen the swivel nuts hence the welds. check Yost's site and see what a new one looks like or maybe we have a total Yost vise restoration thread on GJ because i can't remember one posted on the 101 thread yet.
FMC1959
Well-known member
FMC1959,
One other question in addition to the Swivel Lock Bolt weld question...
Mine has what appears to be a serial number. The first number is tough to read and my guess is either a zero, a six or a nine. This character is followed 8258.
Yours is a couple of years old. May I ask what the serial number is?
Best regards,
Scott
I checked on mine and it looks like the S/N is on the dynamic jaw support part of the static. (first pic, red outline)
The 3rd pic shows the S/N; I didn't take the pic upside down, that's the way it is. In case you can't make it out well on the pic, it is 06043.
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sbosecker
Well-known member
DrivesItFar,
Just to muddy the water a little...
The Missouri and all the other Iowa class Battleships were brought back into service at various times after WWII. I believe all of them were active in the 1980's. The vise may be from a later era.
In the best tradition of "the thread is useless without pictures", attached please find a picture I took in September 1983 of the USS New Jersey (BB-63) producing a very nice rooster-tail as it transited the Mediterranean Sea - heading due East - making way to Lebanon.
EDIT: I now see DrivesItFar has addressed this in an earlier post. It took me a little while to dig through my closet to find the slide of the USS New Jersey so I missed his earlier response to a similar post.
Best regards,
Scott
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454ragtop
Well-known member
Ha!
No problem. Underneath the vise is where I was wondering.
On mine the heads of the bolts - basically carriage bolts - are welded to the bottom of the vise. To me it doesn't really look like something the manufacturer would have done.
Best regards,
Scott
If I had to guess, I'd say that's a shop made replacement plate with the bolts for the swivel locks. Appears to be steel plate, I imagine the original was probably cast iron.
HTH, Jim
oldldh
Well-known member
Scott--The big question is how many water skiers could the USS New Jersey pull???
sbosecker
Well-known member
FMC1959,
Hmmm...
The serial number on mine is right side up and, based on your 06043, is probably 08258. Yet yours is only a couple of years old...
Like I wrote earlier, the seller thought that the truck that this came off of was about 8 years old.
Weird.
Best regards,
Scott
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sbosecker
Well-known member
454ragtop
Well-known member
Jim,
The other side of the plate.
Best regards,
Scott
Well, so much for that theory, it clearly is cast iron. Square cutouts for the carriage bolts seem like they were made for a larger bolt, hence the welds I guess.
Jim
Outlawmws
Well-known member
FMC and Sbose, since those are cast in numbers, and the plate would have to be stamped out and installed each vise, (you can see the pop rivets holding to the pattern) I doubt they are serial no's; it would be too expensive to replace the plate each time for each casting.
Probably either a mold/pattern number, or possibly a date code or Lot code for a batch of castings.
Probably either a mold/pattern number, or possibly a date code or Lot code for a batch of castings.
CwazyWabbit
Well-known member
We rarely see wood working vices/vises gracing the pages of this thread, is there a reason for this?
Did they not catch on in the US, a bit like the lever style QR is rare for you guys as well?
Do your carpenters prefer an all wood vise perhaps?
Did they not catch on in the US, a bit like the lever style QR is rare for you guys as well?
Do your carpenters prefer an all wood vise perhaps?
drivesitfar
Well-known member
CW: most likely because all the wood vises look pretty much the same and except for Emmert and a few others that made the ones we can't afford or find to buy they don't pop up much. there are quite a few if you want to start reading the 1500 pages and count.
maybe Bluebolt can tell us about how many wood vises are on this thread since he just went through the entire thread pulling out all the Wilton bullets and cadet vises for our date stamping thread. or has anybody else read the entire thread lately?
i read it when it was about 500 pages and was looking for something last year maybe the twin to my Wilton 606 SJ (swivel jaw) vise and i think i read all 1,000 pages. 1,500 pages i might have to be on a pretty nice beach with a laptop and some huge fonts to read that many pages now.
anybody own one of these Emmert wood vises like in the picture??
Scott: since your swivel base seems to be working now i don't think i'd change it especially if you are planning on using a bolt as your new handle. Jim's theory about bigger (headed) bolts sounds good so they wouldn't move around in that square hole.
maybe Bluebolt can tell us about how many wood vises are on this thread since he just went through the entire thread pulling out all the Wilton bullets and cadet vises for our date stamping thread. or has anybody else read the entire thread lately?
i read it when it was about 500 pages and was looking for something last year maybe the twin to my Wilton 606 SJ (swivel jaw) vise and i think i read all 1,000 pages. 1,500 pages i might have to be on a pretty nice beach with a laptop and some huge fonts to read that many pages now.
anybody own one of these Emmert wood vises like in the picture??
Scott: since your swivel base seems to be working now i don't think i'd change it especially if you are planning on using a bolt as your new handle. Jim's theory about bigger (headed) bolts sounds good so they wouldn't move around in that square hole.
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Outlawmws
Well-known member
Drives, if you were on a beach, I doubt you would care if the font was huge or not; You'd be too busy looking for other things to see how huge they were! 
CW, Drives is right, mostly people just seem to focus on the bench vises, and mostly there it's machinist vises, but the wood worker vices do show up occasionally; I have 4 or 5 of them.
CW, Drives is right, mostly people just seem to focus on the bench vises, and mostly there it's machinist vises, but the wood worker vices do show up occasionally; I have 4 or 5 of them.
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drivesitfar
Well-known member
Outlaw: Did i forget to say it might take me a few weeks to read 1500 pages? 
GETRIDAONE
Well-known member
CW, You asked about vises that you trip over earlier. Mine isn't on the floor but on my work bench. It is an Emmert vise that has been sitting there for over a year. It needs some brazing to fix a cracked piece and I just can't seem to get to it or don't want to ? The one jaw I media blasted has hardly any surface rust after a year, maybe it is the metal it is made of.
My guess is a lack of wood vises would be this forum caters mostly to mechanical type hobbies and not to the woodworking guys.
My guess is a lack of wood vises would be this forum caters mostly to mechanical type hobbies and not to the woodworking guys.
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Outlawmws
Well-known member
Outlaw: Did i forget to say it might take me a few weeks to read 1500 pages?
just don't let SWMBO catch you at it! 
FMC1959
Well-known member
Definitely makes sense, a cast in S/N would not make economic sense.
CwazyWabbit
Well-known member
Hmm, not sure I'm ready for all 1500 pages in one go.... I'd need a lot of Guinness for that session and I might not be focussing too well on the vices by the end of it! 
I might be getting some more woodworking vices soon, some of which are a bit different to the norm ... but I'm still negotiating. I'd love to get hold of one of those pattern makers vices like the Emmert, or perhaps the Wadkin version.
On another note would you say this incorrectly listed item is in fact some of the long lost pipe jaws from a combination vise?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pair-of-engineers-ridged-parallels-/141664805641
I might be getting some more woodworking vices soon, some of which are a bit different to the norm ... but I'm still negotiating. I'd love to get hold of one of those pattern makers vices like the Emmert, or perhaps the Wadkin version.
On another note would you say this incorrectly listed item is in fact some of the long lost pipe jaws from a combination vise?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pair-of-engineers-ridged-parallels-/141664805641
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drivesitfar
Well-known member
Outlaw: that's what my laptop was for and i'm sure sunglasses will help too.
Get: i know that your Emmert isn't any little thing looking at those wrenches and my picture with the hammer so how wide are those jaws?
any idea how old your Emmert vise is??
Get: i know that your Emmert isn't any little thing looking at those wrenches and my picture with the hammer so how wide are those jaws?
any idea how old your Emmert vise is??
CwazyWabbit
Well-known member
That is a mighty nice vise sir
Looks like an 18" one.... I think I'd have brazed that up the day I got it I'm thinking you are right about the mechanical leaning limiting the interest in wood vises, but I'm also guessing that wood vices tend to get sold with the benches they get built into. This side of the pond wood vises tend to be pretty cheap, apart from the Emmert type pattern makers ones.
GETRIDAONE
Well-known member
Drives, CW got the jaw width 18 x 9, It has the little pop up dogs that that are 2" wide also. I had to make the bracket that is cut in to the bench and that is where it stopped ? I would guess around 1900, it is the second series.
dutchgray
Well-known member
CWthey certainly look like pipe jaws.
I can fair imagine XCMTB83 buying a full set for peanuts and posting a photo of his latest acquisition.
I will just leave this right here...
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topop101
Well-known member
Hounddog
Well-known member
My first vise refurb
My next...this is fun..
My next...this is fun..
bagged89s10
Well-known member
My first vise refurb
My next...this is fun..
Nice work. You're hooked. No turning back now.
oldldh
Well-known member
oldldh
Well-known member
A COMMUNIST VISE!!!
TOO MUCH RED!!!
TOO MUCH RED!!!
MY EYES!!!
MY EYES!!!
( Arrest-Me-Red is a nice color, but that fellow should be arrested!!!)
TOO MUCH RED!!!
TOO MUCH RED!!!
MY EYES!!!
MY EYES!!!
( Arrest-Me-Red is a nice color, but that fellow should be arrested!!!)
Craptain
Well-known member
Don't let me out..... I have enough tools and especially vises. Or apparently not. Today's trophies include a Yost 203 1/2 and a Columbian 5".
The Yost was identified, OK guessed at, from a bad CL picture. But for $15 I was not missing it. My very first Yost. And I could not be happier with it. I have its new home picked out already. It will join my new (!) Craftsman DP on its bench. There is still some work to do on the vise but I hope it is quicker than my other "Restorations". It will be restored for work not resale. It has cosmetic issues but has not been repaired and is missing just a swivel lock nut and bolt. Right now it is not swivelin anyway but I need it fixed. Jaws are very smooth, but good for my use. One picture shows the casting voids that I am undecided about how or whether to address. Unless the vise is painted I will probably ignore them.
Second vise is a 5" Columbian. I have had an import Columbian on my welding bench for a couple of years and not worried about it. Well not too much anyway. So this is an almost exact replica, but USA made. Now I have to decide what to do. The beater is just that, and I first thought of replacing it with the 'new' vise. But I am having second thoughts. Do I really want to use a good american vise for (relatively) brutal purposes? On the other hand what was the vise made for? So I am still deciding. Anyone want a Columbian to save me from the decision?
Here are some pics.
The Yost was identified, OK guessed at, from a bad CL picture. But for $15 I was not missing it. My very first Yost. And I could not be happier with it. I have its new home picked out already. It will join my new (!) Craftsman DP on its bench. There is still some work to do on the vise but I hope it is quicker than my other "Restorations". It will be restored for work not resale. It has cosmetic issues but has not been repaired and is missing just a swivel lock nut and bolt. Right now it is not swivelin anyway but I need it fixed. Jaws are very smooth, but good for my use. One picture shows the casting voids that I am undecided about how or whether to address. Unless the vise is painted I will probably ignore them.
Second vise is a 5" Columbian. I have had an import Columbian on my welding bench for a couple of years and not worried about it. Well not too much anyway. So this is an almost exact replica, but USA made. Now I have to decide what to do. The beater is just that, and I first thought of replacing it with the 'new' vise. But I am having second thoughts. Do I really want to use a good american vise for (relatively) brutal purposes? On the other hand what was the vise made for? So I am still deciding. Anyone want a Columbian to save me from the decision?
Here are some pics.
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I have a nice # 3 Wilton for sale???
In case you haven't read this already you might find it interesting.
http://sabertoothowl.blogspot.com/
sbosecker
Well-known member
torqueman2002
Well-known member
Another Craftsman to add to the recent postings.
This one is a NO. 506-51830; and a work in progress.
Step 1 - Quick clean-up with Simple Green, to see what warts it has.
So, how do I fix this wart?
More pictures in this PB SlideShow.
http://s786.photobucket.com/user/torqueman2002/slideshow/Vises/Craftsman NO_506_51830
Thanks for looking.
This one is a NO. 506-51830; and a work in progress.
Step 1 - Quick clean-up with Simple Green, to see what warts it has.
So, how do I fix this wart?
More pictures in this PB SlideShow.
http://s786.photobucket.com/user/torqueman2002/slideshow/Vises/Craftsman NO_506_51830
Thanks for looking.