The VISES of Garage Journal

[topop101]

I just looked over those ads and saw what you are talking about the "gray enamel finish". To me that sounds like a battle ship gray?? Anybody done any more research on this or have one of these with at least some original paint on it? Also I looked at my slide last night and about mid way down on the up portion of it is the number 11 stamped in. Does this indicate one manufacturer or another?

Not sure on the paint, my 5151 had a navy blue as the base color. As for the "11" It should have 4 digits of course mine only has 3... 114. The fourth is unreadable. And the numbers refer to month and year of manufacture.

 

[joe.striper]

Joe It sounds like you must be slippin. How did you miss a $10.00 Parker in your back yard??? Do I need to come up there after all?

My son moved near the grey elephant flea market,or something like that, in Milford CT. I've got to get down there.

 

[Outlawmws]

I just looked over those ads and saw what you are talking about the "gray enamel finish". To me that sounds like a battle ship gray?? Anybody done any more research on this or have one of these with at least some original paint on it? Also I looked at my slide last night and about mid way down on the up portion of it is the number 11 stamped in. Does this indicate one manufacturer or another?

Pretty much this...

 

[Outlawmws]

Not sure on the paint, my 5151 had a navy blue as the base color. As for the "11" It should have 4 digits of course mine only has 3... 114. The fourth is unreadable. And the numbers refer to month and year of manufacture.

So Nov, 4X almost certainly no later than 42. After that is was war effort...

 

[topop101]

My son moved near the grey elephant flea market,or something like that, in Milford CT. I've got to get down there.

Joe sounds like it would be well worth the visit. I'm trying to nail down a 956 this week . The current owner is playing hardball at 235. This may hurt

 

[topop101]

So Nov, 4X almost certainly no later than 42. After that is was war effort...

Yep...

 

[bluebolt]

Here's a lil' 3 1/2 " USA Craftsman I finished for a knife builder. I thought the brass jaws would serve him well. I really like the color too. I decided on black to make the brass jaws pop but wanted to keep some classic Craftsman red on it. The black is an epoxy paint and took 4 days to get full cure before I laid on the red. Not something you would use on a rush job but should hold up much better than the regular rattle can. It's pretty limited in colors though.

Sweet did you make any extra jaws?

 

[Fretters]

Fraggles: Not I on the Versa Vice either.

I bet that rule doesn't apply to the staff.

The rule definitely only applies when they see fit, and they have a container at ours to stash "their" finds in.

I pressed them as to what they paid, fearing it was too much.

Bad form asking for a price on a present Joe. It doesn't matter what they paid; It was a present. Just accept without question next time. Asking prices on presents is an easy way to offend someone.

 

[Fretters]

Here's a lil' 3 1/2 " USA Craftsman I finished for a knife builder. I thought the brass jaws would serve him well.

Those brass inserts set that colour scheme off a treat. Nice work.

 

[topop101]

Sweet did you make any extra jaws?

Bluebolt No I didn't. The knife maker didn't want to pay for a extra set he said he'd never use. The vise had the brass ones in it when I bought it for 10 bucks.

 

[CwazyWabbit]

Fraggles: Fretters: Dutch: I'd also been watching that versa vise but didn't buy it .... I thought it was a little over priced ..... perhaps I was wrong, It had been listed a number of times.

 

[joe.striper]

[Quote)
Bad form asking for a price on a present Joe. It doesn't matter what they paid; It was a present. Just accept without question next time. Asking prices on presents is an easy way to offend someone.[/QUOTE]

I asked where they got it. They were proud of the price they paid. I was doubly proud! No foul, no harm here.

 

[joe.striper]

Joe sounds like it would be well worth the visit. I'm trying to nail down a 956 this week . The current owner is playing hardball at 235. This may hurt

You don't need a 956. I'd pass and give me the guys# for research

 

[Fretters]

I asked where they got it. They were proud of the price they paid. I was doubly proud! No foul, no harm here.

All good then. You'd made it sound like you'd been interrogating them over the price. Sounds like that little lady has a keen eye and money sense.

 

[vintage nut]

Having to repair a bit of wear on the post vise. I'll have to see how the epoxy worked. I'm guessing it should do pretty well!

I'm thinking I might be able to get another 4" for my dad, and possibly a 6" beast for myself!

you can never have too many tools

 

[vintage nut]

Well here's the fix! Had a little time before work to file and sand it all down. I used west systems epoxy with a lot of aluminum powder as filler to build up the area. Jb weld probably would have worked, but I personally think this is better epoxy. And you can mix it to any thickness you want by adding fillers. Anything from maple syrup to thick putty.
Anyways, over 100 years of use, the key on the nut had rounded off, and the opposite side of the nut had worn down, allowing the key to slip out. I cleaned it up, put on a heavy coat of my favorite epoxy, and filed it to shape. Worked perfectly! With how tough this epoxy is, I doubt it will ever wear out. If it does I can always braze it


I actually had to switch to my rock island swivel jaw when I started filing it. The morgan didn't like holding the conical nut.
If you're wondering, the jaw covers are made of purpleheart wood. Very dense and hard stuff. I rabbited them on the tablesaw so they have something to hook on the top of the jaws, then crazy glued magnets into holes in the back. Probably my favorite of all the soft jaws I've used. Won't hurt anything, yet they are very tough and stand up very well.

you can never have too many tools

 

[CwazyWabbit]

My new old Parkinson turned up today It's a 4" jaw and still has some original paint which isn't bad for something that has to be around 100 years+
The only fault I can see is it has a missing jaw fixing screw, so not a big issue.

 

[CwazyWabbit]

Picked an old Parkinson up today. I owe CwazyWabbit a reaaaallly big favour for helping me in getting this one. It's a 4" version of the 3" one which I got last year.

This is a photo of it alongside the Parkinson No.7, which is approx. a 4-5/8" jaw width, then a Woden B3 and a York 100A, both of which are 4" vices, to give an idea of size.

This is a photo of the 3" one alongside the same Woden B3, to give an idea of difference in size between the two.

I notice the side of the slide on your old Parkinson is different to mine, I'm thinking yours is older.

 

[CwazyWabbit]

A photo of the underside for you.

My U-Bolts go the other way .....

 

[topop101]

You don't need a 956. I'd pass and give me the guys# for research

Joe I actually thought of doing that but then thought it would just look too good sitting with my # 2,#42,# 203,#205, #954, #974, and #985. And maybe some day you'll find me that # 86 up there in Vise haven

 

[CwazyWabbit]

Seen a few time people asking how to deal with mounting different vices/vises to a bench without creating a sea of holes.
Whilst perusing eBay I noticed the following vice stand that has provision for mounting different sizes of vice, so long as the slots don't meet up and the steel is of a sufficient thickness I reckon it's a pretty good solution. You could do a pattern for both 3 and 4 bolt vices.

 

[Fretters]

I notice the side of the slide on your old Parkinson is different to mine, I'm thinking yours is older.

Hadn't noticed that until ypu mentioned it. Does yours have a model number on that top portion of the rear jaw? Judging from that other one, if it's a later version, I'm guessing it might have?

Wonder which way was actually the correct way for those U bolts, or whether they just tended to fit them either/either way. They appear to be bent to fit, if I recall correctly, so I'm guessing either/either.

 

[Fretters]

Seen a few time people asking how to deal with mounting different vices/vises to a bench without creating a sea of holes.
Whilst perusing eBay I noticed the following vice stand that has provision for mounting different sizes of vice, so long as the slots don't meet up and the steel is of a sufficient thickness I reckon it's a pretty good solution. You could do a pattern for both 3 and 4 bolt vices.

Noticed that one earlier. First time I've seen a Parkinson on one of those types of stand. It's usually a Record with the ones I've seen in the past. I wonder if B&H sold those as a universal stand/bench.

 

[CwazyWabbit]

Perhaps they fitted them whichever way they could make them fit? However all of my nuts are level with the end of the threads and as the front nuts are higher that must mean the U bolts have one leg longer than the other ......

No model number markings on mine, which is strange as the other one has a similar slide style to yours (we're talking quite cryptically about this 'other one')

 

[CwazyWabbit]

Noticed that one earlier. First time I've seen a Parkinson on one of those types of stand. It's usually a Record with the ones I've seen in the past. I wonder if B&H sold those as a universal stand/bench.

We know how to answer that question

Seems they are universal and it's missing the file rack ..... pictured with an old style parkinson to

 

[Thrumcap]

The new beast has arrived! American Scale No. 79 with machine stand.

[url=http://imgur.com/fyN2XCA] [/URL]


Now to get that jaw pin out.

Thrumcap

 

[Fretters]

We know how to answer that question

Seems they are universal and it's missing the file rack ..... pictured with an old style parkinson to

Sweet. What's the date on that catalogue; I'm guessing it's one of the older ones? Looks like that one on Ebay has the optional drawer unit too. Nice looking bit of kit.

 

[Fretters]

The new beast has arrived!

Beast is a very apt description. That's nice.

 

[Fretters]

Perhaps they fitted them whichever way they could make them fit? However all of my nuts are level with the end of the threads and as the front nuts are higher that must mean the U bolts have one leg longer than the other ......

I'll check that small one when I get chance and see which way they run. I seem to recall I had to tweak one of the U bolts on that to get it to seat a bit better when I was restoring it, so it may have been a "whichever way fits" thing.

No model number markings on mine, which is strange as the other one has a similar slide style to yours (we're talking quite cryptically about this 'other one')

They seem to be quite random, don't they. Hard to tell which variations are older or newer.

 

[CwazyWabbit]

Sweet. What's the date on that catalogue; I'm guessing it's one of the older ones? Looks like that one on Ebay has the optional drawer unit too. Nice looking bit of kit.

That's from the 1935 catalogue but it's also in the earliest catalogue I have (1923) and the 1964 catalogue, seem to have stopped selling it by 1970. There's also a Woden variant that looks exactly the same.

 

[CwazyWabbit]

The new beast has arrived! American Scale No. 79 with machine stand.

.....

Now to get that jaw pin out.

Thrumcap

How big is that beast? Stick a Record next to it for scale

 

[drivesitfar]

Thrum: i'm guessing your American Scale # 79 weighs about 190 pounds? no hurry on this, but if you do take the time to weigh it and post the # can you measure the handle for me because i'm pretty sure American Scale made my Wilton 600 swivel jaw vise. nice find and hopefully the seller didn't damage it at all before you were able to buy it. that one is a keeper and nice find.

Fretters and CW: have you two met in person yet? i'd like to be a bug in the room listening to you two talk about vises or any old tools. always fun reading your posts.

Vintage: nice work on the Blacksmith vise and I guess it's good you have a couple of vises to choose from. if you want to post up how you made those wood jaws for your Morgan over on the vise repair 101 thread i'd like to see that. I've also heard Devcon works better than JB weld if you can get your hands on some to try i'd like to hear your take on that.

 

[Fretters]

Fretters and CW: have you two met in person yet? i'd like to be a bug in the room listening to you two talk about vises or any old tools. always fun reading your posts.

Not as yet, but one day, hopefully.

 

[Fretters]

That's from the 1935 catalogue but it's also in the earliest catalogue I have (1923) and the 1964 catalogue, seem to have stopped selling it by 1970. There's also a Woden variant that looks exactly the same.

That's one more thing on my list of things I'd like but have no space for then.

 

[2jz4me]

Man, I'm so jealous. I have no vise at all and cant ever find one. Where do you guys find these awesome, heavy vises? I would love to have a big chas parker or columbian or reed or...... If any of you kings of vises want to help me acquire a vise I would sure appreciate it!

 

[jakemac]

It would help if you put your general location in your profile. Something a little more specific than just "Earth".

 

[CwazyWabbit]

Not as yet, but one day, hopefully.

One day it will happen, there's quite a distance between us though and of course English miles are much longer than American miles due to the price of fuel

That's one more thing on my list of things I'd like but have no space for then.

I would love one of those stands, you could drag it outside for some jobs as well, or drag it to whatever you are working on

 

[Lu-Max]

My second C-3. It was employed in a shop in the petroleum industry and underneath that black crud the paint is in great condition.

She just turned 21, I think I'll take her out for a beer!

BTW, if you aren't yet using a hydraulic lift table to lift and move your heaviest vises around I can't recommend one strongly enough. They can be expensive, but I got this one at HF on sale + a 25% off one item coupon, the total was under $200. It has 1000# lift capacity and lifts to about 3' high. HF item #60438.

 

[CwazyWabbit]

It would help if you put your general location in your profile. Something a little more specific than just "Earth".

I'm going to randomly guess Columbus ....

 

[Mark in Indiana]

The new beast has arrived! American Scale No. 79 with machine stand.


Now to get that jaw pin out.

Thrumcap

I restored an American Scale 75H a few years ago. The pin was stuck. I was unable to remove it with a drift pin.

I don't know if this will help you, but this is how I removed it.

1. Removed dynamic jaw and soaked the pin area with penetrating oil for a week.
2. Placed a stack of washers, large enough to cover the pin, around the pin. Stacked them a little higher than the top of the pin.
3. Placed a 5/16" x 1" bolt at the bottom end of the pin. The bolt should go into the hole.
4. Using a heavy duty C- clamp (like a Wilton 404), set it up so the spindle foot is pressing on the stack of washers, and the end of the fixed jaw on the end of the bolt (at the bottom of the pin.
5. Tighten the c-clamp. In doing that, you're pushing the pin up into the stack of washers. The pin will "pop" lose after a little fight.


BTW: Cool stand!

You will want to remove the pivoting jaw. You will have to press out 2 pins at the side of the stationary jaw body. The jaw will come straight out, but with a fight.

If you would, please take pictures of your restoration progress. I wish I had.