The VISES of Garage Journal

[Fretters]

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.

.

The vice looks good. Why the opposing open corners on that box?

 

[balane]

Thanks. No particular reason on the wood, it's just the length I had on hand and wanted something for vertical reinforcement. It will get there fine.

Balane: are you ever sad to see some of those vises you spiff up leave your shop?

Not yet. I just enjoy the process refinishing them. I only need one.

 

[joe.striper]

Thanks. No particular reason on the wood, it's just the length I had on hand and wanted something for vertical reinforcement. It will get there fine.



Not yet. I just enjoy the process refinishing them. I only need one.

Balane, just like wives, I only need one.

 

[joe.striper]

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:

Congrats on your Milhoff. Pm me and I'll send you what I have on them. My Milhoff is my everyday worker. Great for holding round steel.

 

[jreb10]

Well, the hits just keep on coming today. Very strange for this vise wasteland. This guy popped up just as I finished posting about the Milhoff. And just 15 minutes from me!




Does anyone know what model this is? I can't seem to find any designation on it. It does have 4 inch jaws.




I'll post the date and photos on the Wilton Bullet date thread.

 

[balane]

That's a nice old Chicago No. 9400 that looks to be in very good condition. Nice vise!

 

[drivesitfar]

JReb: your collection is growing pretty fast and a couple nice finds. congrats.


Joe: i also agree with the one wife theory, but since you own a couple dozen vises and several are your favorites which "ONE" are you going to keep? or is ok to have a couple extra ones?

cheers

 

[jreb10]

JReb: your collection is growing pretty fast and a couple nice finds. congrats.

There may be some kind of vise karma going on. I have two vises out on eBay now, with a third getting ready to go and another behind it. Maybe I need to sell a vise in order to snag a new vise? I have not seen anything at all for a good few months, and then last week the 5" Hollands popped up, and today, all of this?

 

[littleponderosa]

OK, I'm in need of a new vise nut for the reed 34 I bought. I'm sure I saw a link, but my search on the thread didn't yield it. Course, I'm having a ******* day so anything is possible.
Anybody?
Thanks again fellas.
Bill

 

[joe.striper]

JReb: your collection is growing pretty fast and a couple nice finds. congrats.


Joe: i also agree with the one wife theory, but since you own a couple dozen vises and several are your favorites which "ONE" are you going to keep? or is ok to have a couple extra ones?

cheers

My everyday go to vise is my Milhoff. Just an excellent piece for a working vise. Better than anything else i use. Best vise jaws ever, rotating head and rock solid lockdown. Only vise I'd buy new if my garage was sucked up in a twister! Of course I've never tried a Sawyer!

 

[FMC1959]

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...

That looks in great shape, I haven't seen them before either. Definitely different from your classic Parker, standard jaws, no front collar and a very European sports car look to it.

 

[Outlawmws]

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

.

Slacker!

 

[Fretters]

Thanks. No particular reason on the wood, it's just the length I had on hand and wanted something for vertical reinforcement.

Thought that might be the answer, but just wondered if there was some other reasoning.

 

[balane]

Slacker!

I couldn't help it, the mailman wasn't dropping it off until today. It is finished now however.

.

 

[GT3North]

I couldn't help it, the mailman wasn't dropping it off until today. It is finished now however.

.

Wow, that is sweet. What model is that one?

 

[balane]

That's a Wilton Baby Bullet. 2" jaws, very small. People call it the 920 or 820 because those are cast into some of them. Weighs about 4.5 Lbs. This particular one was manufactured in 1953. Few more pictures.

.

 

[bagged89s10]

That's a Wilton Baby Bullet. 2" jaws, very small. People call it the 920 or 820 because those are cast into some of them. Weighs about 4.5 Lbs. This particular one was manufactured in 1953. Few more pictures.



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Ok that came out awesome. I might have to just restore mine quickly. The neighbors might get mad at me if I open up the garage and start wire wheeling it outside though. Lol.

But I found some foam in my garage that's perfect for vise packaging. Bolted the vise to some free wood from gutting my in-laws kitchen the other day. The foam sandwiched between the vise and wood compresses nicely and should absorb vibrations. I should have this vise packaged tomorrow and mailed out for a fellow GJ member.

 

[Outlawmws]

Wow, that came out great Balane! Not bad for a "slacker"!

 

[balane]

Haha, thanks. You are right though, my garage is HOT so I did take a couple of water breaks after the mailman came by.

 

[KMScott]

Wrapped up three vises tonight, these guys tested me. So many repairs that it would take me to long to list. The Golden pile is a big commitment, just can’t let these guys go to the scrap yard.


Starting with the Morgan 140, it was abused but not beat on. The owners kept using it for years without a jaw. I set bolted it to my CNC and just started cutting away all the jaw damage and came up with a new jaw shelf. The screw holes were in different locations after finishing my cuts so I made two sets of jaws, one smooth and one serrated. Tha vise finished up pretty good.

The next two are Parker Unions, one is a 3 inch no tag and the other is a 973-1/2B. The 973-1/2B had a broken horseshoe clamp so I made a larger style and added the Parker name to the Aluminum Bronze/Ampco material. I also made one for the 3 inch Union. The jaws were OK, But I did draw them up in case I need to make a different set, to be honest I did not want to put more labor into this vise since it is a little lower quality then the older Parkers.

The last Parker Union had a broken jaw ledge and a great candidate for a new set of custom jaws, I made a smooth set to. I made new handles for all three and added a wear plate using the Ampco material I have. Added new swivel clamps and tied in the spindle screw better then factory. Seems every time I do this I come up with a different way. I like this 3 inch Parker, anyone know what it is called, it did not have a label in the side pocket, might make a brass tag if I can come up with its model number.

I hope this is not to long winded, and also hope members do not select quote if replying to this posting so we do not have to see these pics again. Balane, you are so efficient, you just got the baby and now it is done, excellent job like all your others. These took me 5 weeks.

 

[va.grouseman]

Balane, please don't put that pretty little bullet on E-bay just yet or at all.---I'm still reeling from the last show.---I need rehab time to get prepared for the next accent up what Wall Street calls that Wall of Worry.---Vertigo kicks in at about $260.00 every time.---Addiction keeps driving me, but I'm not in good enough shape to sustain those high altitudes.---Have pity on this oldtimey man.

 

[Outlawmws]

As always, STELLAR work Dr. Scott!

 

[balane]

Jaw dropped here Kevin. Those are all 100% fabulous! I love the colors you picked too. I don't think those are going to sit on your shelf very long!

Edit: Va.grouseman, ..... sorry, the deed has been done. I don't expect this one to get as high as the Sawyer or baby Athol though, little Wiltons are a dime a dozen, always several on eBay to choose from.

 

[va.grouseman]

EXCELLENT work KM.---I'll bet they didn't look near that good new.---The pile has to be whittled down by now.---How many are left?

 

[oldldh]

Ya Dun Gud, Reverend Scott...

They are purdy!!!

Do you hear anything from Maclin???

 

[KMScott]

Thanks Balane and Outlaw, Thanks VA, I have not even emptied my bench yet, I have a closet full of the big guys that I can not wait to get to, at least a couple 7 inchers and a 1/2 dozen six inchers, these will require removing the hard inserts that were casted in then replacing with bolt on jaws. I have about 50 more to go through and pick one up now and then through auctions.
Oldie, I have spoken with Gregg and he is hanging in there, he would have appreciated the bump you gave on his baby Wilton sitting on the Powerarm he is selling now on e-bay. He does not do as well as Balane does on e-bay. His wife has good days and bad ones.

 

[bluebolt]

Outstanding work as always KMScott!

 

[twertsy]

Ok, "searched" this thread, to no avail. ASSUMING everything is in good shape (no pics yet), what is a restored Prentiss 254 worth? I've found one, just need to negotiate with a little knowledge behind me. Thanks much! Todd

 

[twertsy]

Ok...........this is a new one on me? Vise made at a High School? Lower Merion I believe would be Philly. Odd and pretty cool at the same time. CL Link

 

[jrobb316]

Ok, "searched" this thread, to no avail. ASSUMING everything is in good shape (no pics yet), what is a restored Prentiss 254 worth? I've found one, just need to negotiate with a little knowledge behind me. Thanks much! Todd

That's going to be a 4" jaw, fixed base. I have a 264, which is the same vise just a swivel base, and it weighs 51 lbs. I assume the 254 will weigh about 40-45 lbs. It was the last line of vises made by Prentiss. Prentiss got bought by Parker and this was that last line made by Parker under the prentiss name. That's why it says Meriden CT on the side and not NYC. Overall it's a good vise. If vises are hard to find in your area I may give $150 in restored condition. They are not rare, I personally bought mine for $60 and wouldn't pay much more than that, maybe $100 restored, but I have fairly good pickings that come along here, especially in smallish models like that.

 

[twertsy]

That's going to be a 4" jaw, fixed base. I have a 264, which is the same vise just a swivel base, and it weighs 51 lbs. I assume the 254 will weigh about 40-45 lbs. It was the last line of vises made by Prentiss. Prentiss got bought by Parker and this was that last line made by Parker under the prentiss name. That's why it says Meriden CT on the side and not NYC. Overall it's a good vise. If vises are hard to find in your area I may give $150 in restored condition. They are not rare, I personally bought mine for $60 and wouldn't pay much more than that, maybe $100 restored, but I have fairly good pickings that come along here, especially in smallish models like that.

Appreciate that info. He is asking $250..............unrestored "patina"

 

[jrobb316]

I actually am trying to sell this guy right now, I have it in the classifieds. Not that I need to or it's a bad vise, I am just trying to downsize my 4" range. $250 is way too high. I added a pic to my original posting. And mine is as clean as they come, another reason I don't care if it sells or not, but if someone wants it I'll move it along.
To add: a 264 (with no pic) has been for sale for months locally and he's asking 150. But like I said he's posted no pic so who knows what it actually looks like.

 

[twertsy]

I actually am trying to sell this guy right now, I have it in the classifieds. Not that I need to or it's a bad vise, I am just trying to downsize my 4" range. $250 is way too high. I added a pic to my original posting. And mine is as clean as they come, another reason I don't care if it sells or not, but if someone wants it I'll move it along.
To add: a 264 (with no pic) has been for sale for months locally and he's asking 150. But like I said he's posted no pic so who knows what it actually looks like.

Yup, no pics here in this listing either. What do you think of that vise made in the high school? At the very least, cool history! How the heck would a HS shop have the means to make a vise?

 

[Fretters]

The last Parker Union had a broken jaw ledge and a great candidate for a new set of custom jaws, I made a smooth set too.

Nice work on those Kevin. I'd even go so far as to say those look the dogs ********. Like the ones where you use the English style shelf and inserts as a repair method too. That addresses the main flaw in the American styles, IMHO, in that it removes the need for shedloads of shaping & fitting on inserts. Makes them so that you can quickly and easily fit a replacement or alternative set of inserts if needed.

 

[jrobb316]

Some HS shops had pretty good shop departments. Maybe one had a foundry class? Either way unless it has some personal value it's probably not worth much of anything. Good user/beater maybe? I could be wrong here though.

 

[Fretters]

I couldn't help it, the mailman wasn't dropping it off until today. It is finished now however.

Nice. Like how you've left some age to the appearance of the metal on that one too, instead of shining it up.

On a side note, (I'm not being picky, honest ), it might be worthwhile considering using a flat needle file on mangled screwheads, just to remove the burrs and tidy up the slots in future. It makes a world of difference to the appearance of a slightly mangled head, without affecting their usefulness.

 

[TreePointer]

Ok...........this is a new one on me? Vise made at a High School? Lower Merion I believe would be Philly. Odd and pretty cool at the same time. CL Link

At least one other high school vise made the discussion not too long ago. Here's a link with more details:

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4749555&postcount=27159

 

[balane]

Nice. Like how you've left some age to the appearance of the metal on that one too, instead of shining it up.

On a side note, (I'm not being picky, honest ), it might be worthwhile considering using a flat needle file on mangled screwheads, just to remove the burrs and tidy up the slots in future. It makes a world of difference to the appearance of a slightly mangled head, without affecting their usefulness.

I was pumped for time to get that one up on eBay because the mailman came so late. I always clean those up, in fact they're cleaned up now but I still am picking up four new fasteners today to replace them and, when I get them installed and photographed, I'll put an addendum on the listing with a picture. I also see a couple of grease fingerprints in the photos so this vise will be resprayed before it ships. Thanks for looking out though, I always appreciate constructive criticism.

 

[drivesitfar]

Balane: it's really hard to pick out flaws in your work and since i can't do better i usually don't say anything, but on that little Baby Bullet i might not have put on the Wilton sticker.

also loved the new stump picture in the shape of a hand on your first baby restoration post.

Twertsy: i'd always pick up a high school or trade school cast vise if reasonable just to have it if it was in good shape and a great price. especially if you might end up knowing a person that went to that school and doesn't have one because it would make a great gift or trading fodder.

I love Prentiss vises, but $250 is pretty far up there especially for an unrestored 4 incher.

JR: good posts

 

[balane]

Buyer's choice on the decal. Peels off easily with no harm done, I let the bidders know if they wanted me to peel it off before I ship just to ask.