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The VISES of Garage Journal

Outlawmws

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Aug 9, 2011
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39,284
Location
The Badlands
I found somethign on Wiss:

1906 - Power drop hammers for hot forging the frames of steel shears are installed, making it possible to weld tough high-carbon steel blades to softer, more malleable steel. This new process makes Wiss shears and scissors virtually indestructible.

1912 - The company perfects a process of forging steel handles. The Wiss "steel forged" process allowed the welding of inlaid blades of high carbon crucible steel to the forged steel frames of tailors' shears.

Not a lot but there it is...
 
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ironhorsemachinery

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May 20, 2015
Messages
64
Not easy but challenging, I was thinking you were a full time Toolmaker or Machinist from a few posts you wrote, excuse me if I am mislead.



Jaws on the most part are square blocks with a couple holes in them and maybe a channel cut like for the Rock Islands. The Parkers are challenging on the surface grinder only. You can rough them out on a Bridgeport pretty easy in a couple hours. Having side wheel grinding experience and good metrology skills makes them easier to make, got to know where to cut and at what angle. Remember if you have a Parker that is in great shape and only needs jaws then spending a little time on it will extend it's life another 50+ years.



I have many vises that has the hard inserts casted in and I am excited to start on those. Those will be challenging just removing the hard inserts, once they are gone then the rest will be fun. Got to clean up the vises I have on my work bench first.


I don't know what kind of steel those inserts are made of, but I wondered about perhaps annealing them? Heat up with a torch and wrap in a welding blanket so the jaw cools slowly. Then maybe the insert would be soft enough to hog out with a carbide end mill?

Just a thought ...


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zkling

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Jan 23, 2007
Messages
16,939
I picked up this 4" blacksmith's vise and the cordless trimmer today for $20.00. I haven't had the opportunity to check over the vise yet - that'll be tomorrow.

Blue

Looks like the only thing you'll need is the spring. Easy enough.

Not easy but challenging, I was thinking you were a full time Toolmaker or Machinist from a few posts you wrote, excuse me if I am mislead.

Key word is easy, square up the blocks, drop some holes, counter bore done :lol_hitti I pretty much only use aluminum jaw inserts. Part time, kinda.

You mean replacement jaws right? I've made many types of jaw covers in different materials for different purposes for my Parker.

Yea, I find those to be a pain, move around etc. I cut some out of thick copper pipe like the Wilton ones. About the only non attached ones I will use are a sheet of rubber or leather.

I found somethign on Wiss:

1906 - Power drop hammers for hot forging the frames of steel shears are installed, making it possible to weld tough high-carbon steel blades to softer, more malleable steel. This new process makes Wiss shears and scissors virtually indestructible.

1912 - The company perfects a process of forging steel handles. The Wiss "steel forged" process allowed the welding of inlaid blades of high carbon crucible steel to the forged steel frames of tailors' shears.

Not a lot but there it is...

So essentially they are forge welded. It might be interesting to cross section and etch a cast in place vise jaw to see what the boundary looks like.
 
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bagged89s10

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Mar 13, 2005
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4,607
Location
CT
Haven't gotten rid of my Wilton C1 yet, but my Yost 32C will probably be its replacement. The square slide is stiffer and stronger than the round.



The full encapsulation of the screw & nut is nice but it just ain't that hard to swab some fresh grease on every once in a while.


That's one reason I like my Reed with the oil holes.

The problem is that each vise has a few very nice features that another vise doesn't have. Good thing to be able to find old vises fairly cheap so I can keep a handful.
 

Nuts

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Joined
Jan 31, 2010
Messages
376
Location
Baker City, Or
Anyone seen these handy little rigs?


301821.jpg

SStruckguy

My brother and his son in law just twisted the guts out of one.
Not made for heathens with a cheater pipe, on the other hand
the tractor needed repaired and a $200 price tag wasn't considered
while the crop needed harvesting.

Nuts
 

CwazyWabbit

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Joined
Jan 9, 2015
Messages
1,189
Location
Surrey, UK
Alright, here's the Record 634 finished this evening.
.....
WKPpG5V.jpg


Glides like a wood drawer now!

Thrumcap
:canada:

Very nice job, that slide looks immaculate! Much better condition than my 633 that came from the scrap yard ..... which reminds me must get back to restoring that as I seem to have gone off the boil.

BTW what colour blue is that? Looks slightly darker than Roundel Blue, I prefer the slightly darker colour.
 

Tyberius

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Nov 26, 2013
Messages
312
Location
Wilmette, IL
Unfortunately I'm not sure I can move that line, as its my tapatalk signature. I just changed it to that rather than the normal "sent from my.... "

you can never have too many tools


I'm posting from Tapatalk (when I post it's usually from my phone). I have my signature turned off.
 

bggrnchvy

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Nov 14, 2011
Messages
588
Location
Pleasant Hill, CA

DandDMachine

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Feb 22, 2008
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227
Location
Bloomington, MN

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CwazyWabbit

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Jan 9, 2015
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Surrey, UK
TBF it says it belonged to a watch maker and he's obviously modified it to do his job. The four holes behind the jaws must be for pins to hold round objects which I believe is common on specialist watch vises. Not 100% on the odd screw on chuck but no doubt it helped him with his job.

Anyway, it's obviously had a life being used .....
 

drivesitfar

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Joined
Oct 23, 2013
Messages
36,036
Location
Pacific Northwest
DanD: i'm not sure if those baby Prentiss vises were salesman samples or just small vises, but I've seen a couple in person and they are cool. don't be surprised if it sells for more than a few bucks and looks like it's already got 7 bids and up to $75.

JZ: how about a pre 1942 made vise? :D

seriously it could be several, but doesn't look nearly big enough with all those tanks in the picture. i did save the picture though.
 

va.grouseman

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Joined
Mar 26, 2011
Messages
4,965
Location
Southern-Central VA.
Originally posted by JZiggy.

Bottom left side of the picture -- what kind of vise is this?
----------------------------------------------------------------


I'm going to say a Charles Parker, about a 973 or 974, but no bigger.

I'm with Drive, for tanks, should have been a Reed 206, 4C, or a 208, but nothing smaller than a Rock 577.:headscrat
 
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flavc3

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Jul 18, 2014
Messages
66
Location
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Just got this NOS craftsmen 5180 with original box and pamphlet. Lady said her ex-husband had it in the garage for "decades", her words. He never got around to mounting it on a bench and now shes selling his stuff . I don't need it for myself but I couldn't resist buying a NOS vise......my Pop's needs a new vise for his bench so i'll give it to him. Oh ya paid $30 for it and when I got home I notice the store's sticker price of $29.99 on the box, I guess I did pretty good:D
 

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JZiggy

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Dec 1, 2014
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990
Location
Atlanta
Nice. I need these on my 34P. I'm thinking about putting some thin pieces of brass shim stock in to take out about 10 thou of lash that let the slide knock side to side a bit when its moving.
 

xxaler

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Nov 16, 2014
Messages
239
Location
Sutton Ontario
Yes, fresh jaws. Just haven't had much time to play with it lately. Paramo is a No.1. Picked it up for free, just had to clean it up.
 

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ironhorsemachinery

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May 20, 2015
Messages
64
Dutch: Not forgetting the grub screws so you can remove all slop from the slide, the angled surfaces make it like a dovetail :)


Do those screws bear directly on the slide, or is there another piece inside (a gib, like on the cross-slide of a lathe)? I imagine the latter, otherwise they would leave a score on the slide.


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