The VISES of Garage Journal

[McBrownie]

Was on a Craigslist run after work today to look at a Craftsman block grinder. Saw this little guy on the garage floor and asked if it was for sale. 15 bucs later and it's riding home with me!

Reed 103 that's in really nice shape minus the bent handle. Also seems heavy for its size.

What?!?! A block and a vise on the same day in the same garage? Nice job!

 

[topop101]

I was going to wait to disassemble this 449 but... It came right apart. Very heavy and solid. check out the handle screw assembly next to a Reed 204 - the Reed looks like a baby! The only thing I could not easily get apart is the swivel base. That 1 3/8 bolt is huge! I don't have a socket that big, any thoughts? I am thinking about how I would like to finish this when I get to it, does anyone know what color these old parkers were from the factory? Thanks for your help - Jim

Hey bud, Some O'Reilly's or advanced auto have tool you can borrow. If you don't want to buy.

 

[topop101]

RHJO51, gotta use the right tool, a crescent wrench will damage the 1-3/8 nut. Borrow or rent a large socket. It's the best way.

 

[topop101]

Stopped in a restore after a doc appointment , digging through boxes of old hardware and came across a box of stuff I recognized right off the bat. It wasn't a full gross but had 96 fillister head 3/4" 10/32 screws... $0.25 . Fits a lot of the older Wilton's. Like the 3" & 3-1/2" I'm working on now.

 

[joe.striper]

I was going to wait to disassemble this 449 but... It came right apart. Very heavy and solid. check out the handle screw assembly next to a Reed 204 - the Reed looks like a baby! The only thing I could not easily get apart is the swivel base. That 1 3/8 bolt is huge! I don't have a socket that big, any thoughts? I am thinking about how I would like to finish this when I get to it, does anyone know what color these old parkers were from the factory? Thanks for your help - Jim

Jim may I suggest putting some valve lapping compound inside the body of the swivel and rotating it for a few minutes to clean it up really well and seat the pieces together better. It was a suggestion to me and it worked really well.

 

[drivesitfar]

Joe: you could say the vise gods are smiling on you when a Wilton C3 shows up on your doorstep. I like those jaws that bolt on through the back a lot and it might be my favorite Wilton other than the Baby.

Karma is good at Joe's today.

 

[RHJO51]

Jim may I suggest putting some valve lapping compound inside the body of the swivel and rotating it for a few minutes to clean it up really well and seat the pieces together better. It was a suggestion to me and it worked really well.

Thanks Guys for your good advice on loosening that big nut. I'm going to find a socket somewhere as I don't want to ****** it up. Patience will be key.

Joe, great idea about the valve lapping compound, I'll try that when I get there. Thanks!

 

[meatsis]

View attachment 518116

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heres my latest score. Athol 628! 303 pounds of beauty!!!

 

[GETRIDAONE]

Pictures not showing up. Hurry I need to see this one

 

[02superduty]

Last week I picked up this Desmond Stephan Simplex C43. 4 3/4" jaws with original pipe jaws. I haven't had time to take her apart yet. Only issue is bent handle which when I have time I will fix. Not a lot of info out there on this vise. In the past I have sold many vises that wish I had kept. this one is a keeper.

 

[FMC1959]

Pictures not showing up. Hurry I need to see this one

Yes, yes.....definitely need pics! Where did you find it? A big boy like this must have a story behind it. If you are at liberty to tell us what you paid for it

As far as I recall, this is only the second 8" Athol beast on this thread, congrats.!

 

[meatsis]

Yes, yes.....definitely need pics! Where did you find it? A big boy like this must have a story behind it. If you are at liberty to tell us what you paid for it

As far as I recall, this is only the second 8" Athol beast on this thread, congrats.!

unfortunately I really don't have any history behind it. I was told it was sitting out back behind an old shop for many years in Pennsylvania. paid $150 for it. now I just need to figure out how to get these pictures up.

 

[oldldh]

Meatsis ---

Most Quickly, Please!!!

 

[meatsis]

yes, yes.....definitely need pics! Where did you find it? A big boy like this must have a story behind it. If you are at liberty to tell us what you paid for it

As far as i recall, this is only the second 8" athol beast on this thread, congrats.!

 

[S4cruiser]

That there is a large vise!!

 

[meatsis]

here it is next to a parker 974 for size comparison. it actually looks a lot smaller in the pictures.

 

[meatsis]

Here she was when she was rescued. It was about to go to the scrap yard

 

[Loydski29]

Meatsis:you scored on that one nice find!! Congrats

 

[dittle fart around]

That's a sweet beer can ya got there.

 

[454ragtop]

Got to wonder what they were doing when they bent the handle on that monster!

 

[topop101]

Here she was when she was rescued. It was about to go to the scrap yard

Nice save!

Why would any one scrap that beauty?

 

[meatsis]

got to wonder what they were doing when they bent the handle on that monster!

thats the one bad thing about this vise. Looks like someone replaced the original spindle with one from an old parker. Not sure how im gonna tackle that yet. the rest of it is mint!

 

[FMC1959]

thats the one bad thing about this vise. Looks like someone replaced the original spindle with one from an old parker. Not sure how im gonna tackle that yet. the rest of it is mint!

Here is a link from the other GJ member that got their hands on one of the beasts.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=162924

 

[meatsis]

Meatsis:you scored on that one nice find!! Congrats

thanks loyd. ill try to get some pics of my other big vises when I get home. got quite a few of them.

 

[joe.striper]

Wow that's a huge piece of steel...whens the last time you heard that 'Meat'?

 

[meatsis]

wow that's a huge piece of steel...whens the last time you heard that 'meat'?

haha its usually the other way around! Wow thats a huge piece of meat lol

 

[bagged89s10]

thats the one bad thing about this vise. Looks like someone replaced the original spindle with one from an old parker. Not sure how im gonna tackle that yet. the rest of it is mint!

Either way, you ****!

 

[meatsis]

either way, you ****!

thanks veeps. Its gotten alot harder to pick up vises with you and joe around. Gotta be quick these days.

 

[asadsack]

Here's my latest find. It's a Merrill Bros No 5 vise. It weighs about 75 pounds. I've been looking for one of these for a while. Considering it's age -- at least 100 years old -- it's in pretty good shape. Should clean up nicely. Of course, it's missing the baseplate and lower locking handle. Practically every one of these I've seen, suffers from the same problem--they're always missing the baseplate and locking handle. If anyone has these two items laying around in your parts bin, and you don't know what they are for, please let me know. It would add about 20 pounds to the overall weight of this item. Plus, make it more complete. I'd like to find some more of these vises--they came in four sizes and topped out at 212 pounds with 8 inch jaws.

From what I've found, Merrill Bros vises were made for around 25 years. Roughly 1890 to around World War I. During this time, they were made in two versions. The earlier vises had round bases and a smooth rear part. They were also lighter than the later models. The later vises were introduced around 1906 and were quite a bit beefier than the earlier ones. You can tell the later ones because of the more elaborate baseplate and the square area on the rear end. I've include a couple of screen grabs of the two styles. The company started out in Brooklyn, NY, and all the vises that I've seen are marked this way, However, in the early 'teens, the company moved to Maspeth, NY. So, it's possible that some later vises were marked "Maspeth, NY".

I like these Merrill Bros vises. They look good and they're built like tanks. And the company had an interesting history. In addition to vises, they also made large drop hammers, steel plate lifting hooks, and cable turnbuckles used in bridge construction. As a matter of fact, I read somewhere that Merrill made the cable stays that were used on the Brooklyn Bridge. Which isn't surprising since the factory was located on Kent Avenue in Brooklyn, which is really close to where the new bridge was located.

 

[drivesitfar]

Meat: you might want to start working out again so you can not only lift that monster around the shop, but i think those 8 inch vises are about the only ones Bagged and Joe pass on because to heavy to ship.

i'm all for you taking more pictures of your monsters and posting them when you can. i hope that one you picked up is something you can make work like it is or find some parts for it if you need to. cheers

02: normally a guy posting a KEEPER with an almost 5 inch old US combo vise will get noticed and i did especially since it's sitting in front of a smaller Reed C series vise (#1?). nice find and one of these days i'm going to find one of those old school combo vises with the pipe jaws that are ALWAYS missing.

nice find

Sack: i just saw your post on that big open screw vise. thanks for posting and adding some history. i hope you find the big ones too. good luck and i can't say i've seen that name before, but maybe one is on the vise thread in the early days that one of the members can find.

 

[bagged89s10]

thanks veeps. Its gotten alot harder to pick up vises with you and joe around. Gotta be quick these days.

I'm hoping to slow my vise buying this year so that should you and joe out. Although I did buy a Wilton on eBay the other day.

 

[joe.striper]

Meat: you might want to start working out again so you can not only lift that monster around the shop, but i think those 8 inch vises are about the only ones Bagged and Joe pass on because to heavy to ship.

i'm all for you taking more pictures of your monsters and posting them when you can. i hope that one you picked up is something you can make work like it is or find some parts for it if you need to. cheers

02: normally a guy posting a KEEPER with an almost 5 inch old US combo vise will get noticed and i did especially since it's sitting in front of a smaller Reed C series vise (#1?). nice find and one of these days i'm going to find one of those old school combo vises with the pipe jaws that are ALWAYS missing.

nice find

Sack: i just saw your post on that big open screw vise. thanks for posting and adding some history. i hope you find the big ones too. good luck and i can't say i've seen that name before, but maybe one is on the vise thread in the early days that one of the members can find.

meat thats exactly why I pass on all thos 8" vises. I wont buy anything heavier than me!! Oh wait, i just did the math. ... I can buy 12" vises!!!!! Yopee

 

[Dennis Leigh Henry]

Hi Drivesitfar..

No.. Henry Filters is no affiliation that I know of to my family.. I got that machine logo on an old block line that we were scrapping here ~ 10 years ago. The scrapper let me take all those I could get loose and carry out.. I ended up with several. I'll have to see if I can find the post that had many of them on it...

This thread should give a better picture of many of the machine name tags I obtained as referenced .. including the Henry Filter one....

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=258563&highlight=machine+name+plate

 

[02superduty]

drives nice eye I have two Reed 1C. I will be keeping one. Yesterday I came across a honey hole that I will soon be revisiting. I spent all of my sale money their. I will post yesterdays finds when I have more time probably this weekend.

 

[drivesitfar]

JOE: did they legalize that stuff you are smoking? you mentioned a 10 inch Parker that i'm pretty sure was a myth because it never surfaced and now you are talking 12 inches? just curious if you do find a 300 pound vise are you going to buy it just because it weighs less than you? or have your son come pick it up and load it in the car? it's good to have a little help on those and lift with your legs.

Dennis: i'll check out link later and if you have any old pictures please post them in the new thread i started in the vintage section.

02: congrats and sounds like you found something good besides the vise.

 

[va.grouseman]

Sadsack, there is a #6 Merrill Bros. in the ("New" Merrill Bros. Vise) thread.


http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=257436

 

[joe.striper]

JOE: did they legalize that stuff you are smoking? you mentioned a 10 inch Parker that i'm pretty sure was a myth because it never surfaced and now you are talking 12 inches? just curious if you do find a 300 pound vise are you going to buy it just because it weighs less than you? or have your son come pick it up and load it in the car? it's good to have a little help on those and lift with your legs.

Dennis: i'll check out link later and if you have any old pictures please post them in the new thread i started in the vintage section.

02: congrats and sounds like you found something good besides the vise.

Hey as to 10" vises i am more than happy to spread as many rumors as i can if I hear them. As far as picking them up...i just bought a Wesco Pl-54-2222 hydraulic lift 2 wheeled handtruck. I can now lift 750 lbs up to 54" iff the ground. Foot actuated hydraulics. This will make a lot of difference in my life. It will be great for those 10" vises when I find them

Lastly, i saw an ad up here for a Prentiss Bulldog #99. Heres a pic. Guy wants 125 but thats too steep for me. If anyone HAS to have this let me know

 

[Thrumcap]

Here she was when she was rescued. It was about to go to the scrap yard

Yep, you **** big time....nice find!

Thrumcap

 

[demoman]

Meatsis - Very nice find on the big Athol. You should buy a powerball ticket! I only know of 4 of these out there. They are a well made heavy vise. The RR used them from what I have found. Here are some pics of one I have that is missing the base and another I am working on acquiring on a RR roundhouse base. My son is checking it out. Welcome to the 8 inch club!
Just noticed mine has a homemade handle as well. Must have been a problem.

 

[joe.striper]

http://boston.craigslist.org/bmw/tls/5392632625.html

For all you Red Seal lovers....