The VISES of Garage Journal

[CRSINMICH]

Dug up this 1946 Wilton No.4 from my dad's shed the other day and gave it a makeover. It was locked up tight but cleaned up nicely with a little vinegar and brute force.

Also took delivery of a Columbian 504 1/2 the other day.

Brute, Force, and Ignorance is my favorite resto company. Good job on the Wilton. Your dad has good taste in shed clutter. What else might he have in there?

 

[Bulldawg]

Brute, Force, and Ignorance is my favorite resto company. Good job on the Wilton. Your dad has good taste in shed clutter. What else might he have in there?

We actually went out there while discussing blacksmithing tools. He mentioned he had a post vise and post drill, and I wanted to have a look at them. The Wilton was right there with 'em, and he wasn't even aware he had it. He's also got a couple of forges, blowers, an old plow, bucksaw, and other goodies.

 

[CRSINMICH]

We actually went out there while discussing blacksmithing tools. He mentioned he had a post vise and post drill, and I wanted to have a look at them. The Wilton was right there with 'em, and he wasn't even aware he had it. He's also got a couple of forges, blowers, an old plow, bucksaw, and other goodies.

Life sure is strange sometimes. On Saturday morning I had only heard about blacksmith's vises. By Sunday evening I owned a matched pair of them that I bought about 125 miles apart from each other. From looking at the pix of your father's vise I'd say it's the same as my two. Weird!

 

[sometoyotaguy]

I picked this up at a yard sale a couple of months ago to restore.

I think it'll go to my brother since he just bought a new house, and finally has a garage/shop.










It still needs to be painted, but I think it cleaned up ok. It was $2, and is in pretty good shape underneath all the surface rust and crud.

 

[CRSINMICH]

Toyota Guy,
My brother restored a Craftsman for me. Your brother has a great brother too.

 

[Shiftless]

Toyota Guy
Nice score on that old (WW2 era) Craftsman! And thanks for posting your pics to our crazy corner of GJ.
You did very well on the price, scoring well below the targeted (by some) dollar a pound.
You hit what... 25 cents a pound?

 

[sometoyotaguy]

Toyota Guy,
My brother restored a Craftsman for me. Your brother has a great brother too.

Toyota Guy
Nice score on that old (WW2 era) Craftsman! And thanks for posting your pics to our crazy corner of GJ.
You did very well on the price, scoring well below the targeted (by some) dollar a pound.
You hit what... 25 cents a pound?

Thanks guys. It was a pretty good price, but as you can see, it wasn't very pretty when I picked it up. I think it weighs around 8lbs or so. It's not really large, but it does open up to 6" or so.

This thread has been very helpful for tips on rebuilds. I wish the screw would come out easily. Instead of a collar, they peened the threads over to lock the washer/nut in place.

 

[Shiftless]

Toyota Guy
I restored a very similar but later model Craftsman.
When I got mine the main screw would tighten the dynamic jaw but wouldn't open the jaws. There was no retainer in place at all, just a tangle of wire that somebody thought would do the job. After cleaning it up, I added a washer and what is known as a e-clip riding in the groove of the shaft as a retainer and voila...it worked! If your vise has a similar groove, maybe you can grind off the damaged portion of the threads with a Dremel or die grinder and proceed from there.
I can't post a pic because I then donated the vise to a worthy cause.
FYI, There is another thread devoted to vise repairs but post here too...I think it gets a lot more viewing

 

[CRSINMICH]

I'm going to try attaching a photo for the first time. Let's see what happens. This is my first restoration. Can anyone tell me anything about this vise? All I have been able to find is two classified ads from the late 1930's and early 1940's with the address of Metro-Vise Co. in Detroit. I bought this vise (for $10) about 3 miles outside of Detroit so that fits. It was a fun job restoring it and I discovered some quirks of the vise while doing it.

 

[CRSINMICH]

Okay, that Metro Vise post seemed to work so here is another one. This is a 3 1/2 inch Craftsman deco beauty mbsinmich restored and gave to me for my birthday.

 

[balane]

That Metro vise looks nice. My money is on Morgan as the OEM for it.

 

[G20-Budo]

I'm going to try attaching a photo for the first time. Let's see what happens. This is my first restoration. Can anyone tell me anything about this vise? All I have been able to find is two classified ads from the late 1930's and early 1940's with the address of Metro-Vise Co. in Detroit. I bought this vise (for $10) about 3 miles outside of Detroit so that fits. It was a fun job restoring it and I discovered some quirks of the vise while doing it.

CRSINMICH,

How wide are the jaws?

 

[Craptain]

Metro is a new one on me. It is not listed on dayid, though that doesn't prove much.
I tend to follow the lead of a far more knowledgeable man, Balane, for actual manufacturer.

Sent from my LG-D801 using Tapatalk

 

[CRSINMICH]

That Metro vise looks nice. My money is on Morgan as the OEM for it.

It is nice but, while most of the machining is well done, whoever bored and tapped the center hole in the swivel base was off-center and the hole was too. The result is that the vise sits slightly off center of the base.

 

[CRSINMICH]

CRSINMICH,

How wide are the jaws?

The jaws are 4". The vise sits 8 1/2 inches tall and it is 15 inches long.

 

[CRSINMICH]

That Metro vise looks nice. My money is on Morgan as the OEM for it.

Thanks for the reply balane. It'd be nice if it was a Morgan but I'll probably never know. I did see in a thread somewhere that a woman had rescued her father's Metro and she had was trying to find out about it too. There are more out there somewhere.

 

[mbsinmich]

I'm going to try attaching a photo for the first time. Let's see what happens. This is my first restoration. Can anyone tell me anything about this vise? All I have been able to find is two classified ads from the late 1930's and early 1940's with the address of Metro-Vise Co. in Detroit. I bought this vise (for $10) about 3 miles outside of Detroit so that fits. It was a fun job restoring it and I discovered some quirks of the vise while doing it.

Man! That resto came out sweet! It's a totally different vise from when you picked it up!

 

[mbsinmich]

Okay, that Metro Vise post seemed to work so here is another one. This is a 3 1/2 inch Craftsman deco beauty mbsinmich restored and gave to me for my birthday.

Of course, that Craftsman is really cool too! LOL!

 

[CRSINMICH]

Of course, that Craftsman is really cool too! LOL!

Thanks for the reminder. I have to take some pictures of that 5 inch Craftsman deco beauty before I start on its resto.

 

[CRSINMICH]

Did anyone notice that I painted this Metro vise in Farmall colors and not those garish Deere colors? Friends don't let friends drive green tractors.

 

[sometoyotaguy]

Thanks for the reminder. I have to take some pictures of that 5 inch Craftsman deco beauty before I start on its resto.

Before and after pics are always nice to see. Some are pretty clean when picket up, but others need quite a bit of work.

A decent wire wheel works almost as well as a sand blaster.

 

[CRSINMICH]

Toyo - Thanks for the tip. In fact, I did use a wire wheel on that Metro. It worked better than I thought it would. In addition, you don't have to deal with messy chemical sludge, just messy paint and iron dust. Wear a dust mask and eye protection. After you mentioned before-and-after pix I took some befores of a Wilton I've been keeping up my sleeve. Thanks again.

 

[bluebolt]

I'm going to try attaching a photo for the first time. Let's see what happens. This is my first restoration. Can anyone tell me anything about this vise? All I have been able to find is two classified ads from the late 1930's and early 1940's with the address of Metro-Vise Co. in Detroit. I bought this vise (for $10) about 3 miles outside of Detroit so that fits. It was a fun job restoring it and I discovered some quirks of the vise while doing it.

There has been some discussion of it before. The Standard, Metro and Mercury vises of that size look very similar and may have been made by Morgan.

Where did you find the vise ads?

 

[timbitca]

Just pîcked up my second vise. a RAE Hamilton Canada No 4. 4" jaws. Dirty as heck but seems in pretty good sape, couldn't let it pass on Kijiji for 20$. From the looks of it (under the grease and grime) it was partially spray bombed black, base still shows what I believe is the original blue colour. It's a lighter blue than my Record No 4 and I like it, will probably try to match it.

It's no heavyweight but I'll likely use it to beat on more than my Record, I'm just too sentimentally attached to that one, it being my Grandfathers.

 

[CRSINMICH]

There has been some discussion of it before. The Standard, Metro and Mercury vises of that size look very similar and may have been made by Morgan.

Where did you find the vise ads?

I don't remember now Blue. I'll try to dig them up and post either URLs or pix. As I remember it, at least one of the ads seemed to be for a devise to put into the jaws of a vise which would allow you to rotate your work.

 

[CRSINMICH]

Timbit - I just came back from a trip to France. Before I left I kidded my brother, who digs art deco vises, that I would keep my eyes open for an Art Nouveau vise. It was just a joke but it looks like you actually found one. Do you know any artists who could paint it in that style? BTW Tim, I like to tell Canadians that I live just north of Windsor. So far only one person has gotten it.

 

[CRSINMICH]

There has been some discussion of it before. The Standard, Metro and Mercury vises of that size look very similar and may have been made by Morgan.

Where did you find the vise ads?

Blue- If you Google metro-vise (with the dash) You'll find Google Books is selling a Popular Mechanics from June 1944. On page 8A there is a two line classified ad for Metro-Vise. It reads, "Positioner mounted on ball and socket
Metro-Vise Co. Stephenson Bldg. Detroit 2, Mich." Sorta sounds like a Pow-R-Arm doesn't it?

I haven't found the 1937 ad yet but it was similar or identical.

 

[bagged89s10]

A very clean 3.5" swivel Jaw Parker No. 370 in Rhode Island


early 1900's Charles Parker Vise No 370 works great / clean $75

http://providence.craigslist.org/atq/5176864325.html

 

[topop101]

That Metro vise looks nice. My money is on Morgan as the OEM for it.

 

[va.grouseman]

CRSINMICH, if you want to se a comparison between the Morgan, the Metro, the Standard, and the Mercury, go to page 1159, posts 23169, 23171, 23175.

I agree with Balane.---They all look like Morgans to me.---Notice especially the jaw design.

But were they all made by Morgan for sure?

 

[59'trump]

Anyone know the value of this? The lettering reads, "massey's perfect vise" 3 1/2" width and at least 4 1/2" of travel


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[CRSINMICH]

Thanks Grouseman. I checked them out and they do look nearly identical. I could only spot one slight difference between my Metro and the Morgan. It was so slight that it could have been the camera angle. Does anyone out there have experience in commercial foundry work? How difficult is it to change molds to put different names on the same vise? I would think that it would be cost prohibitive but apparently it's not. What would Tubalcain do?

 

[balane]

It's not uncommon at all and has been done for years by virtually every major vise manufacturer. Wilton made vises for numerous companies as did Reed, Rock Island, etc. While Morgan was in full swing it would have been easy for them to change branding in their molds. Molds are used once and then destroyed when broken away from the cast iron. It would be a simple process along the lines of typesetting.

 

[topop101]

Anyone know the value of this? The lettering reads, "massey's perfect vise" 3 1/2" width and at least 4 1/2" of travel


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59that old thing is pretty wore out... It's worth scrap value.. .10 cents a pound. Heck I'll give and even ten bucks for it

 

[CRSINMICH]

It's not uncommon at all and has been done for years by virtually every major vise manufacturer. Wilton made vises for numerous companies as did Reed, Rock Island, etc. While Morgan was in full swing it would have been easy for them to change branding in their molds. Molds are used once and then destroyed when broken away from the cast iron. It would be a simple process along the lines of typesetting.

Thanks Balane. I knew that the molds were broken to get the casting out. I guess it's not too hard to imagine a pattern that could be changed easily to make it more versatile.

 

[va.grouseman]

Anyone know the value of this? The lettering reads, "massey's perfect vise" 3 1/2" width and at least 4 1/2" of travel


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59, can't tell you the value, but it resembles one posted by JGARFF, on page 44, post 866.---It's a Massey E&K, but it's a bolt through the bench swivel type.---Here's something interesting.---Look what is also called a Massey Perfect.---Page 499, post 9968.---There are gurus on here that can give you a ballpark figure on the value.

 

[sometoyotaguy]

I finished up the vise yesterday with a little paint. I forgot to mask the anvil area, but it's not the end of the world for a garage vise.

Before:



After:



More pics here for those that are interested.

http://s625.photobucket.com/user/so...ols/Craftsman 5210 Vise Rebuild?sort=3&page=1

 

[CRSINMICH]

Good job Toyotaguy. Great starter vise for your brother.

 

[mbsinmich]

I finished up the vise yesterday with a little paint. I forgot to mask the anvil area, but it's not the end of the world for a garage vise.

Before:



After:



More pics here for those that are interested.

http://s625.photobucket.com/user/so...ols/Craftsman 5210 Vise Rebuild?sort=3&page=1

Sharp! Nothing like a freshly painted vise!

 

[sometoyotaguy]

Thanks guys. It was a fun little project. Now I have a little motivation for another couple of vises that need some freshening up.