The VISES of Garage Journal
- Thread starter mjozefow
- Start date
Picked up my first blacksmith/post vise today. I don't know much about these vises or any of the common manufactures to begin with. I can't see any identifying marks on it through the grime. I'm just hoping someone here can help identify from this crappy picture?
Outlawmws
Well-known member
derust that post vise and see if there are any marks very few have any, so difficult to say "X" made this... Many were forged by the Blacksmith...
A lot of people prefer the older Steel ones over the Malleable ones but I'm not so sure this is based on any facts.
I did some comparison photos between two Record 36's that I restored a while back, one was a steel one and one was a later malleable one. The steel one had been bent during it's working life and had to be straightened, if you looked at the malleable one you could see where it had been strengthened in the area that the steel one had bent.
The point I'm trying to make is that even if the steel is a better material development work and improvements did carry on being made in the designs so it's not as simple as whether steel of malleable iron is best ........ they are both very good though
The pictures of the Record 36's are here http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4696404&postcount=59
Also I would add that the anvil area on any vice is really only for light work
Many thanks for this. Great advice, much appreciated
xxaler
Well-known member
Except this one! I've seen it in person, and lifted it. It's one solid anvil.
http://www.kijiji.ca/v-hand-tool/markham-york-region/chas-parker-model-985-vise-100-lbs-usa-steel/1113810896?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true
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Outlawmws
Well-known member
xxaler, Even that one needs to be treated with some respect. I've seen those Parker mechanics vises broken. it's cast iron when all is said and done, and any decent Blacksmith can tell you They won't take a hard beating. CW is right; light work only... Can that one do a little more than the typical tiny vise anvil? Sure, but only a little.
Having said that, that style Parker is on my gotta find one list... I like em...
Having said that, that style Parker is on my gotta find one list... I like em...
drivesitfar
Well-known member
Thursday: i have yet to buy a blacksmith vise so you are one ahead of me. looks great so maybe take a few more pictures and post them on the new blacksmith vise thread in the vintage tool section we started. those old vises need a thread of their own and i and maybe others would like to know more about them. especially since these old vises were designed to have something in their jaws and hit with a BFH.
CRS: you are in good company so probably asking the wrong guys for help if you want out. can you say hi as you walk or fall by to some of us since most of us haven't met you in person?
nice touch with the font
CRS: you are in good company so probably asking the wrong guys for help if you want out. can you say hi as you walk or fall by to some of us since most of us haven't met you in person?
nice touch with the font
xxaler
Well-known member
Then make it gone! He said he was going to post them up here and offer shipping.
Outlawmws
Well-known member
Shipping kills the deal. I'm patent.
va.grouseman
Well-known member
Originally posted by Drivesitfar.
ALL: is anybody thinking they might actually make a cast vise in their own shop?
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Drive, Demoman said he was going to get the schematics and dimensions on the 695 lb. Railroad vise, and have one cast.---He said if you can't find one, make one.---If anybody could make that happen, it's Demo.---I don't care if it's repro. I want to see that thing.
ALL: is anybody thinking they might actually make a cast vise in their own shop?
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Drive, Demoman said he was going to get the schematics and dimensions on the 695 lb. Railroad vise, and have one cast.---He said if you can't find one, make one.---If anybody could make that happen, it's Demo.---I don't care if it's repro. I want to see that thing.
drivesitfar
Well-known member
VA: if it was anybody but Demo i'd probably send a few hundred pounds of steel to help, but i don't want to insult him. that would be cool REPOP or not.
i think even TJ would be amazed and still eat a hat.
Outlaw: i know you are an original, but i bet you'll be "patient" waiting to find those vises in your area as you can.
good luck and i agree that any anvil like object on a vise isn't ready to get beat on and more than likely has zero or very little rebound.
i think even TJ would be amazed and still eat a hat.
Outlaw: i know you are an original, but i bet you'll be "patient" waiting to find those vises in your area as you can.
good luck and i agree that any anvil like object on a vise isn't ready to get beat on and more than likely has zero or very little rebound.
topop101
Well-known member
I have this one. , It has a huge anvil and tips the scale a 99 pounds. I wouldn't hit it with more than a 16 oz beater. I have seen the same model with a big diagonal break down the both sides of the static and welded....
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trijeff
Well-known member
I think even TJ would be amazed and still eat a hat.
[emoji106]
joe.striper
Well-known member
Just came in from the road. Long day,Christmas shopping. ..and vise shopping...but a good day.
I never thought I'd get another one but here I am with another 4.5" Fisher-Norris double post chain vise! I bartered one of my 4.5" restored Columbians for it. Happy to have it. I will start degreasing it tomorrow.
Also got this Cole vise, how could I pass it up for only $20?
I never thought I'd get another one but here I am with another 4.5" Fisher-Norris double post chain vise! I bartered one of my 4.5" restored Columbians for it. Happy to have it. I will start degreasing it tomorrow.
Also got this Cole vise, how could I pass it up for only $20?
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Outlawmws
Well-known member
VA: if it was anybody but Demo i'd probably send a few hundred pounds of steel to help, but i don't want to insult him. that would be cool REPOP or not.
i think even TJ would be amazed and still eat a hat.
Outlaw: i know you are an original, but i bet you'll be "patient" waiting to find those vises in your area as you can.
good luck and i agree that any anvil like object on a vise isn't ready to get beat on and more than likely has zero or very little rebound.
It's interesting; I tried the rebound test on a number of flat surfaces in my garage and a couple had NO rebound. IIR one was the table on my DP. Thunk! and nothing... it was weird...
Shiftless
Well-known member
Joe:
Nice score on that Fisher Norris
Lots of Columbians around but not many chain vises!
I remember the incomplete one you took to the museum not long ago.
Nice score on that Fisher Norris
Lots of Columbians around but not many chain vises!
I remember the incomplete one you took to the museum not long ago.
anndel
Well-known member
Is there a list of vise manufactures, model numbers, jaw opening, year built, etc., here? I saw a link that took me to a online table which listed the various vises but can't seem to find it now. Thanks very much and Happy Holidays!
TreePointer
Well-known member
http://scuttle.dayid.org/wiki/index.php/Category:ID_Chart
Click on a manufacturer and you'll get its info. table.
drivesitfar
Well-known member
ANNDEL: there is a bigger list of vise makers on the vise repair 101 thread's #2 post that the members here have compiled. here's the link to it.
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=252830
it doesn't have the pictures and individual vise specs that Dayid's has because several of the members were helping Dayid's when he put his together and we don't have a web site for one. Bl00 has a web site he's been working on and i'll let him or another member post that address because i can't recall it at the moment.
good luck and if you have questions just ask on a specific vise or a general question that might not have been asked yet. reading this entire thread might take you a few days, but there is a lot of great information here amongst the talking between members.
Joe: nice find and did you pick up the AS #79 too or is that today? BTW did you see that i started a blacksmith vise thread in Vintage section? can you post up some of your blacksmith vises there? also you might make a few posts about the chain vises you seem to find with a few links and more information on them if you have time. thanks
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=252830
it doesn't have the pictures and individual vise specs that Dayid's has because several of the members were helping Dayid's when he put his together and we don't have a web site for one. Bl00 has a web site he's been working on and i'll let him or another member post that address because i can't recall it at the moment.
good luck and if you have questions just ask on a specific vise or a general question that might not have been asked yet. reading this entire thread might take you a few days, but there is a lot of great information here amongst the talking between members.
Joe: nice find and did you pick up the AS #79 too or is that today? BTW did you see that i started a blacksmith vise thread in Vintage section? can you post up some of your blacksmith vises there? also you might make a few posts about the chain vises you seem to find with a few links and more information on them if you have time. thanks
Rileysan
Well-known member
This has been on my mind for some time. I could easily use one of my personal vises as a pattern and have one molded one up by one of our apprentices, but the main issue is casting it in the right metal. Any making a personal casting would have to be done using left-over metal that is about to be pigged - unless one was willing to pay for a one-ton heat (Something we can and will do. I can't tell you the cost, but I do know it would be cost-prohibitive)
Our foundry specializes in wear parts for the mining industry - IE: the kind of metal that would work great for an anvil (Manganese alloy steel) but terrible for a vise. We are also a jobber shop and make one-off castings but I don't recall casting anything in gray or ductile iron and the thought of casting any vise in mild steel makes me cringe.
The comments about malleable iron lead me to read a bit more. We actually melt the correct metal (white iron) but annealing/heat treating would be difficult, if not impossible, to make it into malleable iron. Our heat treat ovens and quench tanks are too big for such a small job (to put into perspective, we make parts that weigh up to 30 tons).
Still, the thought of casting my own vise lingers ...
Brian
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drivesitfar
Well-known member
Riley: now you are talking some righteous stuff and here's the catalog page for the 695 pound Pittsburgh RR vise. i have few chunks of steel and still a couple thousand pounds of weight plates so we could maybe make 2 (one for me and one for you while the others drool?).
will this stuff work? or maybe we can take the 4 foot 7 inch diameter piece of steel and just pound a vise out of it?
will this stuff work? or maybe we can take the 4 foot 7 inch diameter piece of steel and just pound a vise out of it?
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Rileysan
Well-known member
Riley: now you are talking some righteous stuff and here's the catalog page for the 695 pound Pittsburgh RR vise. i have few chunks of steel and still a couple thousand pounds of weight plates so we could maybe make 2 (one for me and one for you while the others drool?).
will this stuff work? or maybe we can take the 4 foot 7 inch diameter piece of steel and just pound a vise out of it?
Your shop is the stuff dreams are made of ...
This reminds me, we have a RR drill press hiding in one of our storage building. It was only retired a few years ago (I have actually serviced it). So what's the big deal, you ask? It is cast iron, stands more than 7' tall, and weighs in excess of 1500 lbs. It has a flywheel that is capable of being drive by a PTO drive belt. I really need to get a picture ...
Brian
CRSINMICH
Well-known member
EVERYONE
Here is the Wilton 9400 I purchased for parts yesterday. THE PARTS ARE ALREADY SPOKEN FOR. If that changes I’ll repost this.
I’m posting today because I’ve never seen a vise this abused. I thought it would be fun to get some of your guesses as to what happened to it. Jokes and absurd answers are encouraged. There are no incorrect answers because I don’t know how it got this way
WHAT HAPPENED TO THIS VISE?
Here is the Wilton 9400 I purchased for parts yesterday. THE PARTS ARE ALREADY SPOKEN FOR. If that changes I’ll repost this.
I’m posting today because I’ve never seen a vise this abused. I thought it would be fun to get some of your guesses as to what happened to it. Jokes and absurd answers are encouraged. There are no incorrect answers because I don’t know how it got this way
WHAT HAPPENED TO THIS VISE?
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drivesitfar
Well-known member
Riley: can you maybe tell i do like steel a little?
CRS: BFH and a welder that had plenty of brazing material to burn. i can see why you kept walking by it, but it does have a few parts so good to grab and maybe use to save another or pass on like it sounds that you are doing.
CRS: BFH and a welder that had plenty of brazing material to burn. i can see why you kept walking by it, but it does have a few parts so good to grab and maybe use to save another or pass on like it sounds that you are doing.
CRSINMICH
Well-known member
drivesitfar
Well-known member
CRS: you bet even broken ones will keep adding data to our results so far. (thanks again Bluebolt for making the excel sheet and taking the time). i think we are well above 200 Wiltons now and getting a better idea how and why the date stamps worked.
Shiftless
Well-known member
Speaking for myself, my biggest, effingist, hammer is a 10 pound sledge with a full length handle. I guess a full swing on a vise like that would crack it pretty good.
Hurts me to even type out those words
What amazes me is remember that CRS said that the slide still cranks in and out!
Drives:
I live about a 9 iron shot (for you) from the Hayward fault. I think about stuff falling during quakes. That shelf full of weights better be bolted to the wall studs, right?
Hurts me to even type out those words
What amazes me is remember that CRS said that the slide still cranks in and out!
Drives:
I live about a 9 iron shot (for you) from the Hayward fault. I think about stuff falling during quakes. That shelf full of weights better be bolted to the wall studs, right?
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CRSINMICH
Well-known member
Shift: It was a little stiff for the first 1/2 turn but from then on it was completely one finger turning. Amazing. The nut must be okay.
Rileysan
Well-known member
Riley: can you maybe tell i do like steel a little?
Then perhaps you'd like a length of our drag chain to hang from the ceiling?
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Shiftless
Well-known member
CRS:
Of course! It's a Wilton so it qualifies, abused as it is
It will be giving up a front washer to my 8400/9400 dated New Year's Eve 1962.
And other parts to other members so it can finally go to rest knowing that it died to give life to other of its brethren.
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CRSINMICH
Well-known member
Shiftless
Well-known member
So how would a guy link those pieces together?
Got any pics of a vise clamped around one of those monster links?
Blue Frog
Well-known member
CRS, here's one that comes in a close second to yours, an 8400.
Look closely and you'll see mis-aligned jaws.
because of a broken dynamic jaw that has been welded, but not aligned properly.
If your deals fall through, I can use the dynamic jaw!
Blue
ganymede
Well-known member
One day in anytown, 'The League Of Extraordinary Gorillas' were having their weekly craft fest. One said to the other..
"We been smashin this vise for two months and it ain't broken yet. I buy tools to use not gawk at em like one of them tool polishers".
Another left and minutes later, returned riding a forklift and parked it next to the Wilton. Then he carfully positioned one of the forks between the vise jaws and clamped down on it with a 2 ft pipe over the handle. Then he lowered the forks until the forklift raised itself 4 ft in the air. While this was being set up another member had run across the street to Walmart and bought a case of Keystone.
Then they all climbed in the forklift, put a greasy cassette tape of 'Jump' in the one speaker boom box that had been wire wrapped to the safety cage and proceeded to bounce around like kids in the opening credits to 'The Electric Company'.
CRSINMICH
Well-known member
Rileysan
Well-known member
The links are cast as singles.
We have a rather unique process (read: patented) for laying out single links in a long line, typically 12-15 links, then molding and pouring links in between to make a strand 24-30 links long. A strand of chain made with these links is used as drag chain on really, really (did I stress "really" enough?!?) big excavator buckets - up to 300 yards big!
As for vises holding these links? I wish! Our original foundry was in another location prior to 1961 - and much of what existed prior to then was auctioned or scrapped. If the company owned any big, classic vises, they are long gone
Edit: I added a picture of an excavator bucket that is similar to what we make. This one is actually on the "small" side.
Brian
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CRSINMICH
Well-known member
Shiftless
Well-known member
ganymede:
Your story has my vote!
I couldn't read it all at once because I was laughing so hard, my eyes started watering!
I was thinking about writing a story involving a drop from a multi story construction job, but I doubt I could approach your level of humor. The case of Keystone from Walmart was a stroke of genius!
Your story has my vote!
I couldn't read it all at once because I was laughing so hard, my eyes started watering!
I was thinking about writing a story involving a drop from a multi story construction job, but I doubt I could approach your level of humor. The case of Keystone from Walmart was a stroke of genius!
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ganymede
Well-known member
Thanks.Ganymede: Yeah, that's the kind of response I was hoping for. Funny guy!
It's Sunday so hopefully you'll get a bunch.
ganymede
Well-known member
ganymede:
Your story has my vote!
I couldn't read it all at once because I was laughing so hard, my eyes started watering!
Thank you.