The VISES of Garage Journal

[macgee]

Mac, did you also get that stand with it? Looking forward to what you do with it, as I really Like that style of Parker.

Thanks Outlaw,

Yes, I got the cast iron stand as well. Not sure what I'm going to do with it but I may replace the original base of my Rockwell 1" x 42" belt sander with this one and mount the motor underneath to save on foot print. The stand is far from light. It's currently getting it's paint removed.

The vise will be interesting, I really hope I can easily come up with a solution to mounting it on a swivel base. Unfortunately I do not have the skills or machinery that KMScott has, my mill is too small to make a new base.

I'm hoping I can convert a 973 1/2 parker vise base to work with my #22.
I will need to put out feelers about that. I am wondering what the outside diameter at the top of the base of a 973 1/2" is?

 

[organ]

Well I'm back in business found a main screw for a 594 on eBay that had the same dimensions. Installed it last night. Works great.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Nice! Ready for another eighty years of service... or one more use with a three foot cheater pipe...

 

[macgee]

So yesterday I got home and sitting on my front door matt was a big box that santa fedex dropped off. It contained a vise I was all excited about and have been wanting for a while. It's a 4" Starrett vise that was in great condition that I purchased at a very reasonable price.

Unfortunately, When I pulled it out the box and checked the backlash it took almost two full wobbly turns for the jaws to move and then noticed a long crack in the slide = Bummer.

The spindle screw was twisted and the spindle nut was super loose. Fortunately the seller immediately sent me a return shipping label which I'm thankful for but super bummed I never got to use the vise. I've always wanted to put a newer Starrett vise through the paces and see how well they work. Oh' well

 

[GETRIDAONE]

That is strange that it cracked perfectly along the surface grinder marks. I wonder if it got jammed in the grinder or the casting was extra thick and the wheels put to much pressure on it passing through ?
Sorry it got broken.

 

[GETRIDAONE]

Thanks Outlaw,



I'm hoping I can convert a 973 1/2 parker vise base to work with my #22.
I will need to put out feelers about that. I am wondering what the outside diameter at the top of the base of a 973 1/2" is?

The base is 6" OD. The bolt is 3/4 " thread. The second picture is an old 6" base plate sitting on top of the 973 1/2 base, it fits perfect. I converted a 289 1/2 to a Parker 976 base and it worked OK

 

[KMScott]

Thanks Outlaw,

The vise will be interesting, I really hope I can easily come up with a solution to mounting it on a swivel base. Unfortunately I do not have the skills or machinery that KMScott has, my mill is too small to make a new base.

I'm hoping I can convert a 973 1/2 parker vise base to work with my #22.
I will need to put out feelers about that. I am wondering what the outside diameter at the top of the base of a 973 1/2" is?

macgee, here is my base design, I dimension-ed a few area's that are important. If you have a Bridgeport and a rotatory table then you could make a base, it would take some time. I hope this helps. Let me know if you need more numbers. Kevin

 

[ganymede]

Yay MINIONS!!! I am sooo excited about this one. Fixed base Athol #88, 2.5" jaws. Buddy found it for me in Boston for $20 bucks. I LOVE little vises and I LOVE Athols!

Wow, that little guy looks like it wasn't ever used, just sat on a basement work bench for 70 yrs.


(also, my vise stalking area includes Boston. GAAAAH !)

 

[joe.striper]

Wow, that little guy looks like it wasn't ever used, just sat on a basement work bench for 70 yrs.


(also, my vise stalking area includes Boston. GAAAAH !)

[SIZE="4] Dont feel bad. Almost all my stuff comes out of basements, not yard sales or flea markets, so no one ever sees it. If you are ever out west message me for a visit!

Mounted my Wilton C3 today. Really a beast! Absolutely love my hydraulic handtruck for moving my big iron[/SIZE]

 

[bluebolt]

If anyone has a Wilton 9350SJ swivel jaw vise I would appreciate some pictures of the pull out pin. Trying to figure out how to get mine out from my recently acquired vise.

 

[Outlawmws]

BB, I think the Wiltons thread in...

 

[Outlawmws]

Mac, was it dropped in transit? That's what it looks like to me...

A side hit like that could easily crack at a stress riser like those milling marks.

 

[ganymede]

[SIZE="4] Dont feel bad. Almost all my stuff comes out of basements, not yard sales or flea markets, so no one ever sees it. If you are ever out west message me for a visit!

Mounted my Wilton C3 today. Really a beast! Absolutely love my hydraulic handtruck for moving my big iron[/SIZE]

Nice! A hand truck is the friend of a healthy spine.

 

[Jcrapola]

Ok. Since I started posting, I been wanting a big one (big vise). I found a guy selling a 7" swivel jaw prentiss (it will be the subject of a different post on the repair thread). I get to his garage and spent 2 hours looking at his collection of tools. Wow! He had 2 older Wilton 800s model vises. One was like new. A whole bunch of 5"-6" wiltons. And a 6" Ridge tool co vise. Next to the Ridge, he had an enormous 8" vise from "a steel foundry near Chicago". He was CERTAIN it had been custom built at the foundry. Anyone ever hear of such a thing?
I saw the vise and it is HUGE! The last pic has the 6" Ridge in the photo for scale.

 

[joe.striper]

Ok. Since I started posting, I been wanting a big one (big vise). I found a guy selling a 7" swivel jaw prentiss (it will be the subject of a different post on the repair thread). I get to his garage and spent 2 hours looking at his collection of tools. Wow! He had 2 older Wilton 800s model vises. One was like new. A whole bunch of 5"-6" wiltons. And a 6" Ridge tool co vise. Next to the Ridge, he had an enormous 8" vise from "a steel foundry near Chicago". He was CERTAIN it had been custom built at the foundry. Anyone ever hear of such a thing?
I saw the vise and it is HUGE! The last pic has the 6" Ridge in the photo for scale.

I thought I knew what that big vise is but I was wrong...I'm going to shut up now... thanks for sharing your pics

 

[Jcrapola]

I thought I knew what that big vise is but I was wrong...I'm going to shut up now... thanks for sharing your pics

What did you think it is? There was no ID markings that i saw. Just a couple numbers.. Why would foundry making a tool for their shop cast numbers into it?
I do not doubt the vise was purchased (removed, stolen, whatever) from a foundry. But, shop made? Im not so sure...

 

[Jcrapola]

Great guy BTW. Lotsa cool old stories. Lotsa lotsa tools. His wife said he had over 100 snapon toolboxes! She was showing me rows of them. All vintage. Most of them in very nice shape. I saw at least 5 with the aluminum roll up door on the front. AWESOME,,

 

[bagged89s10]

It was spring like weather today in Connecticut so I had time to work on some vises. My etank thawed enough to get the Parker 804 and Columbian 203-1/2 out of the etank.

The Parker 804 was really rusty when I got it.



Look at how many shims it needs to work properly. When I have time I'll make a custom brass bushing.

The etank did a great job on the rust on. This one. The slide cleaned up better than I expected. I coated it with BLO.



I had the Columbian 203-1/2 stripped a while ago but I've been too busy to get it coated with BLO so it flash rusted. Last week I thru it in the etank for a quick cleanup, but then the temp dropped to -0F so the tank froze. This week it warmed up a lot. I did a little epoxy filler work and coated it with BLO. I'm going to order new jaws and make a new handle.

How I got it


After some epoxy filler for the deep gouges and coated with BLO






This one is going to be really nice once it's done.


I also had time to get the Wilton woodworker vise apart and it's coated with paint stripper right now.




I also coated my Reed 105R with BLO. It really darkened up with BLO.

 

[wrenchguy]

What did you think it is? There was no ID markings that i saw. Just a couple numbers.. Why would foundry making a tool for their shop cast numbers into it?
I do not doubt the vise was purchased (removed, stolen, whatever) from a foundry. But, shop made? Im not so sure...

isn't it the old athols that have that cast design on top of the jaw towers?

 

[drivesitfar]

Wrenchguy: Rock Island, Sawyer and a couple others have those sort of towers but the jaws don't look right to be one of those. the #68 i think is a Rock Island vise # and maybe Bl00 or somebody else with a catalog can say if it was and it's specs.

JC: i've yet to see an 8 inch wide jaw vise in person and you see a truckload of them today. i like the Wilton 800 with those jaws that are attached from the back and that big red #68 is a monster. sounds like you had fun today and thanks for sharing a few pictures.

 

[Off-Street Parking]

I had the Columbian 203-1/2 stripped a while ago but I've been too busy to get it coated with BLO so it flash rusted. Last week I thru it in the etank for a quick cleanup, but then the temp dropped to -0F so the tank froze. This week it warmed up a lot. I did a little epoxy filler work and coated it with BLO. I'm going to order new jaws and make a new handle.

How I got it

Are you sure you can't save that handle? It looks like just one relatively minor bend to straighten, and you could have a vise that is that much more original.

 

[macgee]

The base is 6" OD. The bolt is 3/4 " thread. The second picture is an old 6" base plate sitting on top of the 973 1/2 base, it fits perfect. I converted a 289 1/2 to a Parker 976 base and it worked OK

macgee, here is my base design, I dimension-ed a few area's that are important. If you have a Bridgeport and a rotatory table then you could make a base, it would take some time. I hope this helps. Let me know if you need more numbers. Kevin

Thank You very much for the info. You both have greatly saved me a lot of time trying to come up with a solution with hard numbers in place. You two just did that for me, I now have two good solid solutions for this old vise; again thank you.

Kevin, Thank you for the great diagrams, they will be very useful but my mill is a benchtop SX3 mill and while I do have a rotatory table it's simply not big enough and sadly my mill is not very happy making real steel shavings especially anything of that scale. By the time I was done trying to make it, I would be in a wheel chair.

I have to pick my battles, so with the info and pics that GETRIDAONE kindly provided me I'm going to go towards trying to find a 973 1/2 base and adapt the #22 to it. At least that solution will keep it in C. Parker family. I hate bastardizing a great old vise like this but it's incomplete and I think it will be more useful with adaptation? Any opinions?

So if anyone has a spare 973 1/2 base or another C. Parker 6" base (3 1/2" vise) laying around I would gladly take it off your hands.

Once more, Thank You!

 

[Outlawmws]

JC, I think that "Mystery Vise" is an Oswego.

 

[GETRIDAONE]

If anyone has a Wilton 9350SJ swivel jaw vise I would appreciate some pictures of the pull out pin. Trying to figure out how to get mine out from my recently acquired vise.

Check the vise repair thread on pages 112 - 113 for more info. There are three models mentioned and all have tapered pins.

 

[bluebolt]

Check the vise repair thread on pages 112 - 113 for more info. There are three models mentioned and all have tapered pins.

Thanks Getridaone. My pin has a perfectly round top and does not stick up that high, I think it may be a non-Wilton pin forced in there.

 

[Big Pete]

picked these up from the scrapyard for a buddy of mine, my old man stripped and cleaned them. One leg vise needs a handle and a new wedge set making, but not bad for $60. 6" Record #6 and two 5" leg vises .

 

[bagged89s10]

Are you sure you can't save that handle? It looks like just one relatively minor bend to straighten, and you could have a vise that is that much more original.

Yea I can probably save it. It's easier to make a new handle if I want to polish the handle and nose. That's what I did on this Wilton.

It's a difference of days of polishing vs hours. And I like the look. I'm not too worried about the handle being original. I know some people want it original, but this vise is going to a guy who's putting it to use. I don't want a weak handle either, so I'll make it from stressproof rod.

 

[KMScott]

Thanks Getridaone. My pin has a perfectly round top and does not stick up that high, I think it may be a non-Wilton pin forced in there.

Here is a sketch I made when I was repairing a swivel pin for macklin. His did not have the release nut on top. The nut is a good idea but kind of ugly in my view.

Veeps, what material do you use for your handle, can you find diameters in 11/16 and 9/16? Nice job on your Wilton.

 

[bagged89s10]

Veeps, what material do you use for your handle, can you find diameters in 11/16 and 9/16? Nice job on your Wilton.

I know i can get 9/16 and 5/8 from where I bought it. I haven't looked for the larger sizes yet.

 

[Jcrapola]

Outlaw what makes you say oswego? I am interested in the cues used for vise ID...

Wrenchguy: i dunno... Did Athol cast their name into their vises?

Drives: i hadnt seen one before either. I will say, the pics do not convey the size accurately. Speaking with Crsinmich, he said "seeing pics of the grand canyon wont prepare you for being there either". So, kinda like that..... (Smaller, but like that)

 

[Outlawmws]

Whoops, I didn't reat past the picture here:

It's made by Sawyer Tool Co., Oswego N.Y.

Post 174 in this very thread:

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1841756&postcount=174

Compared to the one you posted:

 

[bagged89s10]

Whoops, I didn't reat past the picture here:

It's made by Sawyer Tool Co., Oswego N.Y.

Post 174 in this very thread:

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1841756&postcount=174

Compared to the one you posted:

Yeah the swoop on top of the jaws says Oswego to me.

 

[zkling]

It's closer to a rock island, especially if you look at the casting lines, screw eye and screw "awning" on the front of the dynamic jaw. What throws me is the lack of extra support for the static jaw shelf that was so common on rock islands. I think the key is going to be the casting numbers.

 

[bagged89s10]

So I just sold a Parker 955 and Parker 975 to a nice guy today. Even cooler is that he is shipping both to his cousin and father in Poland for their auto shop.

 

[GETRIDAONE]

Veep's Vises International
I would hate to pay that freight bill to Poland

 

[Shiftless]

Anybody want to help me understand how this 3HD with a date code of 3-47 brought a winning bid of $151.50 on that big auction site? (shipping extra on top of the bid amount) Missing swivel, beat up non-original? paint... BTW, this one had serrated jaws...when did Wilton change over from the earlier horizontal grooved jaw inserts?
Thanks!

 

[bagged89s10]

Anybody want to help me understand how this 3HD with a date code of 3-47 brought a winning bid of $151.50 on that big auction site? (shipping extra on top of the bid amount) Missing swivel, beat up non-original paint... BTW, this one had serrated jaws...when did Wilton change over from the earlier horizontal grooved jaw inserts?

Thanks!

All Wiltons are bringing a lot of money in eBay. I haven't been able to get one under $100. The last one I bought was a 9350 3.5" without base and I ended up paying a little over $100. I should have stopped bidding but you know how eBay gets you sometimes. Lol

 

[bagged89s10]

Veep's Vises International

I would hate to pay that freight bill to Poland

Yeah crazy but having a vise in a shop that won't break will help his family pay the bills, and put food on the table. The guy drive 2 hours to buy them. He also showed me a picture of a complete 8" Columbian swivel he found at the scrapper!

 

[bagged89s10]

It's closer to a rock island, especially if you look at the casting lines, screw eye and screw "awning" on the front of the dynamic jaw. What throws me is the lack of extra support for the static jaw shelf that was so common on rock islands. I think the key is going to be the casting numbers.

You might be right that it could be a rock island.

 

[Shiftless]

Bagged:
That's a coincidence.
$100 is also the exact amount I paid for this 9350 I bought last week. I didn't pay any shipping but I did drive 30 miles each way. Not too bad.

 

[zkling]

You might be right that it could be a rock island.

I'm not quite sure that it is, but just stated that it has a number of similarities, more so than the Oswego/Sawyer. What throws me is
a.) The swivel base
b.) The lack of extra support "bump" between the static jaw body and support shelf
c.) The lack of any features on the backside of the static jaw body.