The VISES of Garage Journal

[jakemac]

A HA, there are vises! Here's one, a crappy Record wood vise . Look closely at the third pic. See the bullet on the back bench? He said there are a lot of vises. He's making me a pile. .

That Record isn't as crappy as it first appears to be. It's one of the better models that were sold in the US. It's not top shelf quality (as US buyers know it), but it's far from being flimsy Chicom. These were sold through Woodworker's Warehouse in the 80's and 90's and are fairly reliable. The value isn't all that high here, but it's a good serviceable wood vise for the DYIer and light professional.

If you get it cheap enough, I'll take it off your hands.

 

[joe.striper]

That Record isn't as crappy as it first appears to be. It's one of the better models that were sold in the US. It's not top shelf quality (as US buyers know it), but it's far from being flimsy Chicom. These were sold through Woodworker's Warehouse in the 80's and 90's and are fairly reliable. The value isn't all that high here, but it's a good serviceable wood vise for the DYIer and light professional.

If you get it cheap enough, I'll take it off your hands.

Jake, first I was trying to raise Fretters hackles. Second I will get it cheap and thats means youcwill as well. Maybe we can pick it together. It is up your way....

 

[jakemac]

Sounds good, let me know and I'll see if I can get out of the house to help you load your car.

Sorry to spoil your fun with Fretters. Maybe he won't read my post before he gets his hackles up.

 

[Youngguns]

Young: going from 4 to 6 to 8 inch vises can sometimes get us a bit off the topic. i don't own an 8 inch (vise) so can't really say what they would open up to, but i think my Parker 956 was about 16 or 18 inches with the slide still sticking out the back of the static and here's a picture before i sold it. jaws were 6 inches wide.

I have an Emmert pattern maker's vise that is 16 or 18 wide and opens about as much.

How much did you end up selling that Parker for?

 

[joe.striper]

Ok brainiacs...who makes this???

Found it!!!

http://www.yatego.com/svh24/p,535909dc8e74b,534f894fd74dc6_6,techniker-schraubstock-auf-kugelgelenk

 

[vintage nut]

Vintage,
Any oil is better than no oil. To battle flash rust (although my methods may seem ****), I do the following:

* The slide:
I now use a light coat of gear oil. I had been using Lubriplate for years, but it holds grinder dust, saw dust & metal shavings. Gear oil seems to do better. Just wipe down the slide & re-oil as needed.
BTW; For aesthetics, I apply silicon grease to restored vises that I sell.
* Bare metal components:
For the handle, anvil, & jaw faces, I apply a light coat of WD40. Seems to work for that, and I have a couple of gallons of it.
Otherwise; I clear coat these areas on restored vises that I sell, and advise the customer to apply light oil as the clear coat wears off.

* A couple of other tips:
1. Keep your vise covered with first, a large piece of cotton (an old shirt will do), then a garbage bag over the fabric. That will keep dust & moisture out, and eliminate condensation.
2. Periodically clean & re-lube your vise.


Happy Trails.


Edit: I believe ATF will damage paint.

Well I've got some gear oil, so I think I'll start using that. Covering the vises would probably be a bit impractical as I use both the vises on my bench many times virtually every single day. I'm generally in the shop all weekend, and most days after work. They haven't been on my bench that long, but my plan is to clean and relube my two main users (morgan chicago 160 and a rock island 851 dual swivel) probably every 6 months.
Since covering them isn't practical, I just brush them off every time I'm finished getting dust on them. The jaws wear their lead covers pretty much whenever I'm not soldering in the vise.
I guess I'll just bring my goldenrod Can of gear oil into that shop, and wipe them down every so often. I'm planning on having this pair on my main bench for the rest of my life (unless I happen to find the big brother to my dad's old reed...) so I want to make sure they stay in good shape.

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[vintage nut]

I think I'm going to start keeping my eye out for a nice wood vise. I've used the records a fair bit, but I think I'd rather have something else. I'd really love a patternmaker vise (yost, emmert, oliver, ect) but they aren't exactly easy to find....
I did like the look of the quick release wilton that was posted a while back. Apparently morgan made them too.
I'm probably most likely to find one of the nicer records around here though

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[timbitca]

Bought this small vise this morning at the flea market for 10$. Thought it was cool looking. Its got Germany stamped on the static jaw, anyone know anything about it?


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[CRSINMICH]

Blame it on me TIMBIT. She'll never be the wiser.

 

[balane]

Here's a Columbian C44 vise I just finished. 4" jaws and 29 Lbs. This one is considerably larger than the 3 1/2" vises of this style that you see frequently. Very nicely kept by the original owner. I gave it a textured base coat and then painted with oil rubbed bronze enamel. Raised lettering highlighted in red. I'm probably using this combo too much but I really like it.

.

 

[CRSINMICH]

BALANE I think that vise must look better than new. Great job!

 

[bagged89s10]

Here's a Columbian C44 vise I just finished. 4" jaws and 29 Lbs. This one is considerably larger than the 3 1/2" vises of this style that you see frequently. Very nicely kept by the original owner. I gave it a textured base coat and then painted with oil rubbed bronze enamel. Raised lettering highlighted in red. I'm probably using this combo too much but I really like it.



.

Came out great! What did you use for the texture?

 

[neophyte]

Ok brainiacs...who makes this???

Found it!!!

http://www.yatego.com/svh24/p,535909dc8e74b,534f894fd74dc6_6,techniker-schraubstock-auf-kugelgelenk

That vise is made in Germany by Bernstein. Bernstein calls it the SPANNFIX. There are a few different base styles available for it.

http://www.bernstein-werkzeuge.de/en/products/vices/

Brochure.

http://www.bernstein-werkzeuge.de/files/kataloge/bernstein-wsp-en.pdf


Facom amongst others sells a rebranded version of the vise which they call the Micro-Tech Swivel Vice, part number 1150.MT.

http://uk.farnell.com/facom/1150-mt/table-vice/dp/4312168

 

[timbitca]

Blame it on me TIMBIT. She'll never be the wiser.

Haha!

The guy I bought the vise from this morning had a restored RAE wood vise for 42$ also. Might buy it from him in a few weeks.

He had 4 or 5 other vises but all Japan or China and nothing of interest to me.

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[Fretters]

Here's a Columbian C44 vise I just finished. 4" jaws and 29 Lbs. This one is considerably larger than the 3 1/2" vises of this style that you see frequently. Very nicely kept by the original owner. I gave it a textured base coat and then painted with oil rubbed bronze enamel. Raised lettering highlighted in red. I'm probably using this combo too much but I really like it.

Looks good Balane. No sticker going on that one?

 

[Fretters]

Jake, first I was trying to raise Fretters hackles.

Honestly Stripper, you'll have to try harder than that.

 

[balane]

Thanks everyone.

Bagged, I just whatever textured paint I happen to have on hand, they all give the same results. You can buy it at any store that sells paint.

No decal on this one Fretters. I didn't like the way it looked on the available real estate and I also don't like them on ~brownish colored finishes.

 

[morgaj1]

Balane, that turned out really nice.

 

[vintage nut]

I just remembered I actually have a nice old Colombian 6" woodworking vise that was my great grandfather's. Nice vise in real nice shape, although I think I'd rather have something bigger and quick release on my bench.... It's currently mounted in a frame that can be clamped in another vise. I use it for clamping small laminations for box lids and such. Line it with waxed paper so glue doesn't get on it, and it works really well!

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[vintage nut]

And nice work on that Colombian! I'm generally not a fan of that style of vise, but it looks really good!


Anyone want pictures of my old Colombian? I can grab some next time I'm in the shop.

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[Fretters]

Anyone want pictures of my old Colombian?

Does an alcoholic fancy a pint?

 

[vintage nut]

Well here it is. Got a few paint drips, and a piece of pipe for the handle, but I believe my great grandfather bought it new, so I'm keeping it how it is. 6" wide jaws. Not the fanciest one, and actually all steel, no castings. It definitely seems like a good vise though! Served well for a very long time.

 

[Outlawmws]

Another terrific Spiff up job Balane!

 

[Outlawmws]

Anyone want pictures of my old Colombian?

Does an alcoholic fancy a pint?

 

[Smokeshow69]

Picked up this little guy last weekend. It is a Reed 203 vise- 3" jaws. It has all original paint and looks to have been barely even used. The jaws are in great shape and it has about 95% of the original paint. It had some surface rust on the handle and the slide so I cleaned it up lightly to preserve the original paint and patina and covered all bare metal in Boiled linseed oil. Any of you guys know how old this vise is?? I am guessing mid 50's ?

 

[drivesitfar]

Smoke: not exactly sure, but most likely 60's or early 70's. there are many vises with that styling and looks like Reed has one of the nicer ones. good find and can't say I've seen that version of a Reed before.

Vintage: the little holder under Gramp's old wood vise looks pretty handy.

 

[jakemac]

Smoke - I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but that isn't a Reed 203. It's a Reed 23. The 203 is a heavier vise, the 23 looks to be a lighter model, similar to the Columbian vises.

Still a good vise, but not the heavy hauler that the solid cast vises are.

 

[CRSINMICH]

Haha!

The guy I bought the vise from this morning had a restored RAE wood vise for 42$ also. Might buy it from him in a few weeks.

He had 4 or 5 other vises but all Japan or China and nothing of interest to me.

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TIMBIT I don't know anything about that clamp on vise. The GERMANY stamp may well be a clue as to when it was made though. If it was a little older it probably would have read WEST GERMANY. Of course, if it was a lot older it would have been stamped GERMANY. It looks too new to be pre-war.

By the way, I have several wood vises so I don't actually need another. I did look though, but the closest RAE woodworking vise I could find was in Hamilton. Ont. of all places.

 

[gooseadrian]

This thread is full of awesome

 

[Youngguns]

This thread is full of awesome

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=157833

 

[CRSINMICH]

All this talk of woodworking vises made me want to dig out the two vises I bought at local sales earlier this year. I have three more but those are smaller and currently in use.

 

[Flattie]

A week ago this was a rusted bunch of parts I paid 3 bucks for. I bought the jaws at wiltonviseparts.com. Kevin Scott is awesome to do business with. It was missing the swivel handle so I made one using a coupling nut and hi carbon rod. It is Ford tractor gray. I am giving it to my dad. He and I have never had a nice vise. I figured he deserves the first one. You guys inspired me. Make sure you take a look at Kevin's website. The A2 tool steel Jaws only cost 70 or 75 to my door. He heat treats them. It isn't rust in the pic.

 

[drivesitfar]

Flattie: Kevin makes the best jaws in the world as far as we know so you did the right thing asking for him to make yours. any chance you can post up a few pictures of your Wilton vise so we can all see what you gave your Dad. nice story too.

 

[Flattie]

Flattie: Kevin makes the best jaws in the world as far as we know so you did the right thing asking for him to make yours. any chance you can post up a few pictures of your Wilton vise so we can all see what you gave your Dad. nice story too.

Edited the above post. I am not so great at this

 

[drivesitfar]

Flattie: you did just fine. looks great

 

[Flattie]

Flattie: you did just fine. looks great

Thank you sir. Was ecstatic to be able to add to this awesome thread

 

[Mike in Ohio]

Mac 51810-3 Z3. Need jaws and maybe a base plate, haven't started searching yet. Any suggestions of where to search besides Mac?

 

[vintage nut]

As a bit of a sucker for mac stuff, I like that vise!

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[Thumper68]

Got this one in an online auction tonight, just under $50 pick it up on Wed so I can't give the exact condition.

Simplex 61S

 

[va.grouseman]

Very nice Thumper.


Edit.---Considering price, very very nice.