The VISES of Garage Journal

[Blue Frog]

Picked this up today off C/L. I'll be going back in a few days to get a 4" swivelling Yost.











A little clean-up and this will be a very nice vise.


Blue

 

[Loydski29]

Shift:thanks I will look it over good hopefully I can get the price down if not I'll have to wait for another one to pop up. Good vises are getting hard to come by in my area just have to be patient I guess.

 

[Fretters]

DIF: I wish I had enough floor or wall space left to build another shelf unit. I've pretty much used up every bit of empty space in there. Even the ceiling has a rack on it.

 

[yossarian19]

Shift:thanks I will look it over good hopefully I can get the price down if not I'll have to wait for another one to pop up. Good vises are getting hard to come by in my area just have to be patient I guess.

In my experience stuff in CA goes for a lot more than what guys in the midwest say it's worth. You have to look at where old industrial junk comes from : it comes from old industrial plants. The midwest is a gold mind for this sort of stuff. California? Less so. Plus, we workin' folk have to compete with LA and SF money.
$400 still sounds high for a welded vise. $200, maybe, sure. You can cut through the weld and pay a machinist to make a pass or two, clean up the area, and put replacement jaws on it. Honestly, though, after my own (way over budget) vise project I'd just keep looking.
Know that vises get exponentially heavier and more expensive per inch of jaw width you add. A 4" Reed or Athol might be the last vise you ever need, depending what you do to (with) it, and costs a lot less than even a mangled 6" vise.

 

[Shiftless]

In my experience stuff in CA goes for a lot more than what guys in the midwest say it's worth. You have to look at where old industrial junk comes from : it comes from old industrial plants. The midwest is a gold mind for this sort of stuff. California? Less so. Plus, we workin' folk have to compete with LA and SF money.
$400 still sounds high for a welded vise. $200, maybe, sure. You can cut through the weld and pay a machinist to make a pass or two, clean up the area, and put replacement jaws on it. Honestly, though, after my own (way over budget) vise project I'd just keep looking.
Know that vises get exponentially heavier and more expensive per inch of jaw width you add. A 4" Reed or Athol might be the last vise you ever need, depending what you do to (with) it, and costs a lot less than even a mangled 6" vise.

Absolutely correct!
But you only have to pay high prices if you are impatient or if you need a vise right now for a specific project. Realize that there is an implied cost to checking Craigslist every couple of hours 7 days a week in order to be first in line for a super deal on a desirable vise. If that isn't fun for you and your time is worth minimum wage, you might as well just ask one of us vise guys for what you're looking for and have it shipped. Project vise or finished product...your choice.

 

[Loydski29]

Shift:im on Craig's list all the time and swap meets on weekends I'm not rushed to find them it just seems lately they have dryed up a bit and the one that are out there are expensive. I'm new to the vice game and do it purely as a hobby and I'm running out of vises to work on lol.

 

[Techie1961]

You guys are a bad influence on me. I am so envious of all the beautiful Wiltons, Morgans, Craftsmans etc. that I had to pull my Record apart and pretty it up. It was seriously behind the curve. There are some shots of a BG that I rescued from a rusty death for comparison. They are both 6" vises but note the difference in weight.

 

[Techie1961]

All
Attached are photos of the Parker 973-1/2 I bought on EBay....Seller shipped it to me in the plastic container that you see....I didn't damage the container after receiving it; I took the lid off and removed the vise.....The photo of the vise in the container is exactly as I received it.....Absolutely no padding at all.....Surprisingly the vise sustained no damage...Also shown is the vise sitting with some of my vise family.....
Hemi

Holy ****!

 

[Shiftless]

Shift:im on Craig's list all the time and swap meets on weekends I'm not rushed to find them it just seems lately they have dryed up a bit and the one that are out there are expensive. I'm new to the vice game and do it purely as a hobby and I'm running out of vises to work on lol.

I feel your pain.
Do you get into the Los Angeles area once in a while? Lots of inventory there. Right now there are 2 different Athol vises with 4 1/2 inch jaws with asking prices of $120. After a week I'm sure sellers are in the mood to negotiate. Last weekend I offered a seller half of what he had it listed for and he accepted gladly.
Are you also looking for 3 inch and 4 inch vises? Much less expensive than the monster 6 inchers. As a hobby, are you building shelves for an ever expanding collection or will you sell them off once they overtake ALL of your storage?
Several members here renovate vises belonging to other people. You could do that too.
If you can't find any of your own, I'd be happy to let you work on one of mine.

 

[Shiftless]

My latest acquisition ...Parker 956 $100 off of Craigslist

I didn't think a can of beer with the word "light" would be appropriate in this situation.
Parkers are really heavy. This one with 6 inch jaws weighs 130 pounds.

 

[Shiftless]

Parker 956 Jaws

Jaws are in pretty good shape. I'll be needing some new ends for the handle. The handle is 13/16 in diameter and has 1/2-13 threaded ends. I assume this is the original handle.

edit: I don't know why this pic is upside down... sorry

 

[bagged89s10]

My latest acquisition ...Parker 956 $100 off of Craigslist

I didn't think a can of beer with the word "light" would be appropriate in this situation.
Parkers are really heavy. This one with 6 inch jaws weighs 130 pounds.

Sweet find! At least the handle is a pretty easy fix. The jaws look pretty crisp too!

 

[Loydski29]

I feel your pain.
Do you get into the Los Angeles area once in a while? Lots of inventory there. Right now there are 2 different Athol vises with 4 1/2 inch jaws with asking prices of $120. After a week I'm sure sellers are in the mood to negotiate. Last weekend I offered a seller half of what he had it listed for and he accepted gladly.
Are you also looking for 3 inch and 4 inch vises? Much less expensive than the monster 6 inchers. As a hobby, are you building shelves for an ever expanding collection or will you sell them off once they overtake ALL of your storage?
Several members here renovate vises belonging to other people. You could do that too.
If you can't find any of your own, I'd be happy to let you work on one of mine.

Yea I saw those athol's but I don't get to the la area very often but it looks like I might have to make some time and go.i will build shelves but I'm not to that point yet. I'm a welder fabracator so I have more use for bigger vises I look for 4" and up.

 

[Shiftless]

Yea I saw those athol's but I don't get to the la area very often but it looks like I might have to make some time and go.i will build shelves but I'm not to that point yet. I'm a welder fabracator so I have more use for bigger vises I look for 4" and up.

I have a 5 1/2 inch wide jaw Columbian in need of restoration. It weighs about 65 pounds. A really beefy vise.
If you're interested PM me.

 

[srr]

My collection. I'm embarrassed at what a sh*thole my garage looks like right now. I actually have two more large vise's outside, one mounted to my 64 Chevy flatbed and one on a bench.

 

[trijeff]

Beautiful job on the restoration AND on the crating.
And with that extreme green color, and its imposing mass, some one is going to be able to seriously upstage his buddies' 1750 vises.

That guy needs some lessons from trijeff on shipping containers.

Thanks, guys!!

TJ: have you already sold the C3? very nice shipping method and i copied the picture to my laptop for future reference. are you using Fastenal or did you find another shipper to haul your big vises?

Yes, the C3 is sold. First time I did a "Buy It Now" on eBay (vs. auction) and happy with the results. This one is going to Phoenix via Fastenal. Loading it into my truck without a forklift or helper is going to be a good time ... I'll use two 2x12s as a ramp and just muscle it up.

 

[Screwdriver]

You guys are a bad influence on me. I am so envious of all the beautiful Wiltons, Morgans, Craftsmans etc. that I had to pull my Record apart and pretty it up. It was seriously behind the curve. There are some shots of a BG that I rescued from a rusty death for comparison. They are both 6" vises but note the difference in weight.

Nice work. What colour paint is that?

S.

 

[anndel]

You guys are a bad influence on me. I am so envious of all the beautiful Wiltons, Morgans, Craftsmans etc. that I had to pull my Record apart and pretty it up. It was seriously behind the curve. There are some shots of a BG that I rescued from a rusty death for comparison. They are both 6" vises but note the difference in weight.
QUOTE]

What you'd use to remove the old paint?

 

[GETRIDAONE]

It looks like is was media blasted.

 

[mali]

Looking at getting an old vise from CL. There are two, one is bad and the other looks to have the original finish, but not that great looking. Complete and uniform, but not nice. An easy tear down and degease would be in order... But what is the most durable paint? Not concerned with proper color etc, just want a durable finish.

Not sure if its a powder coat ( I doubt ) or a paint finish. One vise is an Athol and one is a Wilton

mroneeyedboh if you want to use more advanced protective layer on your vise I recommend you electroplating. Good approach to electrochemical methods you can find here: http://marcello.iq.pl/pannonia/Galwanizacja.pdf
(text is in Polish)

some simple method is presented here

http://www.noonco.com/nickel/
This movie not explain all aspects which are extremely important to obtain long lasting layer. For instance very important is degreasing of surface, you can read about this in Sękowski's book.

You can also ask for help guys from chemical department at the university in your city. For instance, you can offer them preparing a movie which promote their university in project of electroplating vise Who knowsmaybe they will agree.

 

[bagged89s10]

mroneeyedboh if you want to use more advanced protective layer on your vise I recommend you electroplating. Good approach to electrochemical methods you can find here: http://marcello.iq.pl/pannonia/Galwanizacja.pdf

(text is in Polish)



some simple method is presented here

http://www.noonco.com/nickel/

This movie not explain all aspects which are extremely important to obtain long lasting layer. For instance very important is degreasing of surface, you can read about this in Skowski's book.



You can also ask for help guys from chemical department at the university in your city. For instance, you can offer them preparing a movie which promote their university in project of electroplating vise Who knowsmaybe they will agree.

That is pretty awesome. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Techie1961]

Nice work. What colour paint is that?

S.

Thanks! It's Tremclad Royal Blue

You guys are a bad influence on me. I am so envious of all the beautiful Wiltons, Morgans, Craftsmans etc. that I had to pull my Record apart and pretty it up. It was seriously behind the curve. There are some shots of a BG that I rescued from a rusty death for comparison. They are both 6" vises but note the difference in weight.
QUOTE]

What you'd use to remove the old paint?

It looks like is was media blasted.

Yup, sandblasted. Just regular stuff, not beads.

 

[drivesitfar]

TJ: You might need to find a little hydraulic table lift for the big pallets you have to move. pretty handy to just slide off and on if you find a good one. or find a neighbor with some muscles to help you lift it into your SUV or on your truck.

 

[Hemi49]

My latest acquisition ...Parker 956 $100 off of Craigslist

I didn't think a can of beer with the word "light" would be appropriate in this situation.
Parkers are really heavy. This one with 6 inch jaws weighs 130 pounds.

Shift
That's a nice vise..... very stout
Hemi

 

[drivesitfar]

Shift: in case you need a little help lifting that big old Parker out of your trunk you might want to find one of these lifts too. nice looking old big Parker and one of the few that i've owned. here's a stand i had that came with mine and it might have weighed more than the 130 pound Parker. it was my outside vise until a client offered me some benjamins for it and hauled it to his house.

a large rubbermaid storage container barely fit over the top of it to keep the rain off it, but it worked great to conceal the vise and protect it while it sat waiting to work. my big Rock Island with the broken off mounting foot will replace that Parker as my outside vise soon.

 

[Gidge]

Drives: That old Parker is a monster !

How large are the jaws ? Once I land a vise like that my quest will be over (who am I kidding ? I'll still be hunting down old vises)

 

[joe.striper]

My latest acquisition ...Parker 956 $100 off of Craigslist

I didn't think a can of beer with the word "light" would be appropriate in this situation.
Parkers are really heavy. This one with 6 inch jaws weighs 130 pounds.

Here are some of the 5 and 6 inch Parkers I've had. The green one was 5" and weighed 130 lbs. The blue 26X weighed (as I recall) 195 and the last one, a 976A weighed 175 lbs. Very well made vises. I love Parkers!

 

[GETRIDAONE]

Drives, The one I am working on didn't get a cover of any kind.
Just a little bit of pitting.

 

[drivesitfar]

Get: that's just PATINA.

Joe: sweet pictures and thanks for posting the catalog page with them

Gidge: that Parker i owned was a 956 the same as the one Shift just bought/found. it's a 6 inch wide jaw vise and like Shift says it was about 130 pounds and without a swivel. i still don't own a real 8 inch bench or blacksmith vise (vice), but someday the search will find one i have enough cash in my pocket to buy.

 

[bagged89s10]

Here are some of the 5 and 6 inch Parkers I've had. The green one was 5" and weighed 130 lbs. The blue 26X weighed (as I recall) 195 and the last one, a 976A weighed 175 lbs. Very well made vises. I love Parkers!

Here is the ad page for the 26x. 6.25" jaws 176lbs

 

[anndel]

Thanks! It's Tremclad Royal Blue

Yup, sandblasted. Just regular stuff, not beads.

RR, thanks. It's a very awesome looking vise.

BTW RR = roger that

 

[sammer]

Hey I can play now!
Picked these up yesterday. Paid $140cdn for the pair. I think that's probably about $0.80usd
Probably not worthy of a "you ****" but still not a bad deal.

8" ITC swivel, can't find any info on this beast but it's in good shape overall.

And 10" Richards Wilcox quick release woodworkers vice in really nice shape. Needs a bit of a cleanup and the handle fixed. I have the knob just gotta get the tape off the handle and have a look at the threads.
Not really much info on this one out there either.

Obligatory beer can pic!

Now just gotta get some benchs built and find a place to mount these buggers.
Oh well, one step at a time I guess.

sam

 

[topop101]

My collection. I'm embarrassed at what a sh*thole my garage looks like right now. I actually have two more large vise's outside, one mounted to my 64 Chevy flatbed and one on a bench.

A nice collection of vise's! I'm a lil confused as to the mess you spoke of??? I can see bench top and floor in almost every picture. lol I have one shed I'm afraid to open the door on for fear I may not be able to close it.

 

[exmaxima1]

You guys are a bad influence on me. I am so envious of all the beautiful Wiltons, Morgans, Craftsmans etc. that I had to pull my Record apart and pretty it up. It was seriously behind the curve. There are some shots of a BG that I rescued from a rusty death for comparison. They are both 6" vises but note the difference in weight.

I'm a bit surprised by the weight of your big Record No. 6. I have the Paramo version, and I swear it weighs 102 lbs with the swivel base. I think the base is about 20 lbs, so the Record appears to weigh about 10 lbs less than the Paramo version...

The Paramo says "Hi Duty" on it, so maybe it is slightly different from the No. 6

 

[topop101]

An interesting set up. The Wilton in the middle...

 

[KMScott]

An interesting set up. The Wilton in the middle...

Tops, I have a few pictures of this stamped 1-74 Wilton. Check out how the 4-1/2 jaws are bolted on and how much taller they are. Does anyone know anything about this model. Built in Schiller Park. Kind of a different Wilton model. #101115 on the side.

 

[Techie1961]

I'm a bit surprised by the weight of your big Record No. 6. I have the Paramo version, and I swear it weighs 102 lbs with the swivel base. I think the base is about 20 lbs, so the Record appears to weigh about 10 lbs less than the Paramo version...

The Paramo says "Hi Duty" on it, so maybe it is slightly different from the No. 6

I hadn't heard of the Paramo version so I did a Google image search. They do look a bit heavier in the base and the areas near the jaws. Could also be a thicker casting in other areas like the dynamic ways.

 

[dutchgray]

That Record No6 is a late version, open bolt holes and basically what Irwin churns out in China today, I'm not surprised its not as heavy as a much older Paramo.

 

[joe.striper]

One of my minions fond this one. Clearly some condition issues. I think it is a Prentiss because of the split slide. I think there are cracks in the towers where the pipe jaws would fit. Clearly a pre-1900 vise. Bolt through the counter.

Anyone have an idea on who made this??

 

[joe.striper]

On my way to pick this up!! Always wanted to get one of these.