The VISES of Garage Journal

[Mark in Indiana]

Here's another dreamer:

http://binghamton.craigslist.org/tls/5053008320.html

I would be very surprised if he got his asking price.

Maui

Good luck to him, but I reckin' he'll be keepin' it.
I'd be tickled to death to get that price for one that was restored correctly.

 

[joe.striper]

First post on garage journal! My grandfather in law gave me a Columbian autocrat 415 cleaned it shimed the main spindle nut. Added a washer in front on the retention clip. With the slop and backlash resolved I fabricated some aluminum jaws then stripped the paint and shot primer. It stayed like that until I read the vices of garage journal. Then i shot it with some hammered rosemary Rustolium. Hit the action surfaces with a unitized disk then a buffer.

Nice first effort. Good job! Now be nice and never shop in the Northeast!!

 

[va.grouseman]

$787.01---Not bad for a little Sawyer.---I figured it would go into the GOT TO HAVE ITSPHERE.

 

[drivesitfar]

VA: how high did you go on the Sawyer because i know you were not bluffing this time?

Balane: nice job and another nice sale.

Mark: you get a nice American Scale #79 and restore it and let me know because i do like that vise. not the beat up one that is for sale that just got posted because i'm getting pickier these days.


Gaz: I can't say I've seen that version of Columbian vise and not that it's rare it's just not a brand i look for as much. i wish i would have saved more of my Gramps tools and happy to hear you were able to fix yours so you can still use it. i also like your vice for vises spirit and i'm sure you'll have half a dozen or more shortly if you hang around here. welcome to our group

 

[Gazedo]

Nice first effort. Good job! Now be nice and never shop in the Northeast!!

Thanks it was a relaxing way to spend my Friday off. Do all the 75lb + vises hide in the northeast? When I visit my home state of Ohio I will have to haul one down south.

 

[va.grouseman]

Drive,---I tapped out a 422.00---Was getting hard to breath at that height.---Looks like someone thought to ******** oxygen tanks.---They were prepared to go to the moon.---Was a dandy little vise, but as Eastwood said, (Man's got to know his limitations).

 

[bagged89s10]

First post on garage journal! My grandfather in law gave me a Columbian autocrat 415 cleaned it shimed the main spindle nut. Added a washer in front on the retention clip. With the slop and backlash resolved I fabricated some aluminum jaws then stripped the paint and shot primer. It stayed like that until I read the vices of garage journal. Then i shot it with some hammered rosemary Rustolium. Hit the action surfaces with a unitized disk then a buffer.

Excellent job on that vise and welcome to GJ!

 

[bagged89s10]

I think some one in Illinois should buy this and turn it into a vise stand. Only $35 and weighs 125lbs+

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=331601257674&globalID=EBAY-US

 

[Shiftless]

First post on garage journal! My grandfather in law gave me a Columbian autocrat 415 cleaned it shimed the main spindle nut. Added a washer in front on the retention clip. With the slop and backlash resolved I fabricated some aluminum jaws then stripped the paint and shot primer. It stayed like that until I read the vices of garage journal. Then i shot it with some hammered rosemary Rustolium. Hit the action surfaces with a unitized disk then a buffer.

Gazedo: Nice vise!
Welcome to our little corner of craziness.
I'm still on the hunt for my grandfather's vise. I am now a grandfather myself so it would be very special for my own grandson to someday have that chunk of iron.

 

[Olafur]

Vice identification: FF Nr 115 - 4,5" jaws
I fished this out of the scrap pile:




Missing jaw and part of the jaw seat is broken off. This one has taken some beating:






Anyone know more about this one?

 

[Smokeshow69]

So I had some time to work on the vise this weekend... Got everything buzzed down to bare metal and am in the process of painting it. One of my jaw screws is damaged. Anyone have an extra Rock Island screw around?


Vise parts drying in the nice warm 98 degree weather



Parts in the process of getting cleaned up. I got these 2 wheels because the guys at the fab shop said they work really well for polishing metal. Are these the same style that you guys use?? Their texture is almost like a brillo pad.



The University of Oregon fans might not want to look at my post when I post the finished vise

So without further ado, as promised above, I got my craftsman 5161 vise all restored Here are some pictures with the obligatory stump shots













Hope you guys like it! Can't wait to put it to use in the garage next to my smooth jaw Columbian! Also can't wait to find and restore my next one

 

[jrobb316]

Very sweet Craftsman. I like that simple design of that generation and that they're made by Rock Island.

 

[drivesitfar]

Smoke: does your 5161 have a 3 inch wide jaw? I've got a few of his cousins and i like these old Rock Island craftsman vises almost as much as the 519x's.

congrats and nice job. you'll have to cut a tilt on your stump to get the pics straighter though.

Olaf: i still can't tell you much about your FF vise, but maybe the boys across the pond will be able to in the morning. also don't be shy and post up a few of your other vise purchases this week. for not having a very good inventory of vises to choose from in Iceland you sure found some good ones this last week.

 

[jrobb316]

Smoke: does your 5161 have a 3 inch wide jaw? I've got a few of his cousins and i like these old Rock Island craftsman vises almost as much as the 519x's.

congrats and nice job. you'll have to cut a tilt on your stump to get the pics straighter though.

Olaf: i still can't tell you much about your FF vise, but maybe the boys across the pond will be able to in the morning. also don't be shy and post up a few of your other vise purchases this week. for not having a very good inventory of vises to choose from in Iceland you sure found some good ones this last week.

It should be 3.5" jaws on the 5161

 

[Smokeshow69]

It should be 3.5" jaws on the 5161

You are correct. I will have to cut some more stumps up for all my vises I will be finding

 

[Olafur]

And since I am under the impression you guys like vices, here is one more for identification.
This one is resting on the floor of a diesel shop I sometimes work for.


Not bad.




My coke can has seen better days:


"LES"


"S 200" (possibly indicating the 200 mm jaws)






My Wilton C1 in comparison




My 4" Starrett in comparison



Backside with Starrett on top:


Finally bottom shot:

 

[drivesitfar]

Olaf: LES IS A MONSTER!!! Les almost looks like another candidate for the Wilton copy group we talked about last week? can you lift Les because it looks like a 250 pounder? thanks for sharing

 

[Olafur]

My estimate is around 250 pounds for the Les.

 

[oldldh]

Olaf---

That is a BIG B@#TARD!!!

Restore it, please...

Does anyone have clue about it's bloodline???

 

[drivesitfar]

VA: i'm guessing you had to have your bride sit on you to keep from bidding higher on the Sawyer because it would have been a nice addition to your already nice group with that name on it.

Oldie: i bet Les is from the UK so maybe our guys from across the pond have seen one or have a catalog page for Olaf.

it does sort of look like a Wilton doesn't it?

 

[Olafur]

Did some search for LES and it seems to mean: Leipziger Eisen und Stahlwerke from East Germany era.

http://mz-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=54640

Another member states: it's made by VEB Spannwerkzeuge Zeulenroda. if it has this logo:

Looks like a smaller version of the LES.

 

[tool_scrounge]

I know we've looked at a bunch of Parker vises...

This is on Ebay...

A Parker 794A...(I had a "Senior Moment" and saved them as 974A's...)

I have never seen one like this...

That doesn't mean they're rare, it just means I haven't seen one before...

More streamlined???...It's a "Union" vise, so newer, rather that older...

4", 45lbs, too much money...

Doesn't look restored, so nearly new, or almost unused, I'd wager...

I picked up the Union Parker 595A vise a while back, which is the 5" non-swivel style of that vise. It is a nice stout vise. Not very common though.

Link to thread with more pictures:
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=245705

 

[drivesitfar]

Olaf: i'm not very good at reading German, but that link mentions something about Leinen connection with LES vise. maybe some of our German members can let us know. also post up the LES and your FF vices over on the Tools of the Old World thread and see what Monty and the guys over there say and get back to us?

here are a few more pictures i found on that link you posted of maybe a couple other Les vises and noticed you posted the newer looking one. here's my Leinen 150 for comparison.

 

[balane]

Packaged up the Sawyer and it will leave in the morning. Obviously I want this one well protected. The brown paper is construction flooring paper and is much thicker than typical paper, it doesn't compress easily. The bare vise weighs 26 Lbs. and packaged up it weighs 37 Lbs.

.

 

[balane]

Here is my next project, a 1953 Baby Wilton. I'll start on this one tomorrow evening.

.

 

[Nuts]

Olafur, you have proven that Les is more.

Damn big vise.

 

[bigcaddy]

Here is my next project, a 1953 Baby Wilton. I'll start on this one tomorrow evening.

.

I think the year might be off on that one. The raised "replaceable" anvil model were much earlier the the 50s.

 

[topop101]

Packaged up the Sawyer and it will leave in the morning. Obviously I want this one well protected. The brown paper is construction flooring paper and is much thicker than typical paper, it doesn't compress easily. The bare vise weighs 26 Lbs. and packaged up it weighs 37 Lbs.

.

Nice job packing , I had a feeling when we talked that one was going to do well for you. Make's that Reed pipe vise a nonissue

 

[va.grouseman]

Olaf,---I'm now looking for a MORE.---If LES is more, think how much more a MORE would be.

 

[Olafur]

Olafur, you have proven that Les is more.

Damn big vise.

Olaf,---I'm now looking for a MORE.---If LES is more, think how much more a MORE would be.

Indeed, LES is more. The hunt for MORE starts now.

On a serious note, Iceland did trade with the East bloc during the Cold war. It looks like this monster came from East Germany, made by Leipziger Eisen und Stahlwerke or re branded from VEB Spannwerkzeuge Zeulenroda.

Either way whoever made it had plenty of cast Iron to throw around.

 

[oldldh]

GASP!!!

A Communist Vice!!!

I didn't know they had any...






(Well, I had to use the "European" spelling, didn't I???)

 

[balane]

I think the year might be off on that one. The raised "replaceable" anvil model were much earlier the the 50s.

I thought so too but I have to go by the date stamp. The little Wiltons have a history of unusual dating.

.

 

[vintage nut]

I'd sure like to find a german vise someday. West german would be preferable, but I sure wouldn't turn down les!

you can never have too many tools

 

[Steve.S]

I don't own a Wilton vise, but thanks to GJ I recognized this one yesterday. It's aboard the USS Clamagore, a World War II-era diesel submarine that's permanently anchored in Charleston Harbor as a museum. I wonder how many sailors used the vise over the boat's 30+ year career?

 

[joe.striper]

I saw this yesterday while picking the scrapper at lunch. I couldn't get it off of my mind so I went back today and bought the buffer and stand. Paid $100 which is OK as the buffer is 1 hp and runs flawlessly!! The stand is 2" heavy square tubing and the stand weighs about 70-80 lbs. It is super stable.

So I bought this buffer and stand.

To take off the buffer.

To use it for this!

I think my 7" Reed is just a little too heavy but it will be perfect for a 6" Reed I've got on my workbench or perhaps for my 5" Wilton fixed base.

 

[drivesitfar]

Joe: if you would rather have the bigger Reed 207 on the stand you might weld or bolt a bigger plate on top of the existing plate. interesting design on the stand.

i think I'm going to make a belt grinder out of my 3/4 HP Dayton so your 1 HP Dayton buffer is a find and i bet you know you didn't overpay.

Steve: thanks for the Wilton picture on a bench in the ship

Olaf: even if you don't get to buy a bigger vise than the LES please post pictures of the MORE vise when you find it.

BC: i think Wilton made thousands of baby bullets in Chicago before they moved to Schiller Park because on the Wilton date stamp thread i think one of the Chicago baby bullets is stamped in 1983. not sure what the anvil looked like on it so i'll let you look it up if you have time.

Balane: are you ever sad to see some of those vises you spiff up leave your shop? is that one heading to Los Angeles or do tell if you can? i might have made a wood box for that vise instead of leaving the corners open, but that is a lot better shipping packaging than 95% of the shippers do. nice job on a very cool vise. you might want to keep the baby bullet to use for a while before you send it down the road because they are handy especially if you find a power arm.

 

[JeremyBurke]

Joe Add 4 more legs and make it the OCTO-VISE it would make a good comic book villains vise.

 

[jreb10]

It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood....




Milhoff All Steel Vise. I never thought I would see one, much less buy one. Got it for $100. I live about 7 miles from the present-day Milhoff location in Savage, MN.

A few more views:

 

[bluebolt]

I thought so too but I have to go by the date stamp. The little Wiltons have a history of unusual dating.

.

The baby Wiltons are in a class of their own when it comes to dates. Have not seen one with GUAR EXP on it either so far.

Thanks Balane for the pics, updated the database.

 

[Fretters]

I don't own a Wilton vise, but thanks to GJ I recognized this one yesterday. It's aboard the USS Clamagore, a World War II-era diesel submarine that's permanently anchored in Charleston Harbor as a museum. I wonder how many sailors used the vise over the boat's 30+ year career?

I'm guessing a good few. Always nice to see tools and machinery in their original setting.