The VISES of Garage Journal

[bagged89s10]

I finally had time to finish cleaning and wire brushing my well used Reed 204 and the Parker 449. The Reed looks so small compared to the parker even through the jaws are about the same size. I'm trying to decide on the finish - BLO or paint. I can see traces of black paint on the Parker. Any recommendations? - Jim

Do BLO as your first coat. If you don't like it, you can paint right over it. The BLO will act like a primer.

 

[KMScott]

econotrk nice job. I like those horn vises too.

 

[flavc3]

Just finished my Chas Parker 493. I picked this up because I wanted a nice, smaller vise for, well, smaller work. I don't do much to remove the well earned marks that any type of tool has, part of the character to me. Now just have to find a good place to mount it.

I like it awesome job.......is that the satin olive green colour???

 

[toolferone]

Just finished restoring this today. My new 3-1/2"Wilton. It's my 1st vise restoration.

 

[autopts]

Thanks Guys, I decided to go with the BLO for now and I'm rally please with the look. I decided to remove my old broken Parker 271 1/2 swivel head vise from the bench to make some room for the new ones. Is there any hope for this cracked 271? Or is it just a parts vise? I'm going to get rid of it, thoughts on price as is? Thanks - Jim

I think the base and of coarse PARKER collar would be worth something. I have a 4" bullet sitting perfectly on a Parker 272 base. Its a older 9400 and that base makes it feel 10 lbs heavier. Works perfect. I had the Parker center nut turned down to 5/8" and threaded the bullet center hole to match.

 

[CRSINMICH]

Toolfeorne: That's a really nice vise and a very nice restoration job! Congrats and welcome to the thread. Some of the other members may try to tell you that vises are a sickness and an addiction. Don't listen to them. It's just good clean harmless fun.

Edit: By the way, do you know about the Wilton Bullet Vise date stamping thread? Here's a link in case you're interested: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=269079

 

[bagged89s10]

A customer just dropped this Parker 2X for restoration. It was his grandfathers.

 

[CRSINMICH]

A customer just dropped this Parker 2X for restoration. It was his grandfathers.

I can't wait to see this one when you get done. It looks like it's in amazing shape underneath the peeling paint.

 

[econotrk]

I like it awesome job.......is that the satin olive green colour???

Flav, it's a color I saw first on here, satin oregano. First time I ever sprayed a Rustoleum 2x paint, primer and paint in one. I'm very happy with how easily it covered and how fast it dried.

Thanks everyone for the compliments. The examples to follow and knowledge of everyone on this thread has been invaluable.

I forgot to mention about the original wrench being missing. Went over to the local Habitat for Humanity and found a selection of these nice wrenches with a rubber coated handle. $1.00 a piece, that made my day.

 

[joe.striper]

As promised, more Stephens pics.

 

[Shiftless]

Toolfeorne: That's a really nice vise and a very nice restoration job! Congrats and welcome to the thread. Some of the other members may try to tell you that vises are a sickness and an addiction. Don't listen to them. It's just good clean harmless fun.

Edit: By the way, do you know about the Wilton Bullet Vise date stamping thread? Here's a link in case you're interested: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=269079

Toolfeorne:
Everything CRS says is true!
Great job on the bullet.

 

[RHJO51]

I'm with Fret on this one. Drill three holes for tapping, Clearance drill to the crack, counter bore that for a socket head screw, tap the bottom section, and then heat the section before bolting it down.

Put the piece in an oven and let it bake at 500 for a hour or two, to get that heat deep; then go at it with a torch, maybe sit it on top of a camp stove flame while you do to keep it heated.

Then screw it down and cool slowly. You could also (pre) grind and weld the outside cracks while its good and hot.

EDIT: Cool Slowly...

Guys, thanks for the suggestions. I don't braze or have easy access to one. But I'm willing to try the drill and tap w/socket head screws. Not much to loose here. This is new to me though. Are you saying to heat it just before I install the socket head screws and tighten them? Why? Thanks again.

 

[RHJO51]

RHJ,

That's strange that would have happened. Are you able to remove the swing jaw portion? I don't how that would have happened unless the big pivot pin is missing or broken and the locking pin was out. If so, That would easily would have cracked that back part of the vise. There's a couple of scenarios I could think of why that would happen like the jaw was swiveled and there was **** wedging the swivel jaw into the back of the vise and then the vise was clamped hard transferring the energy to the back of vise but if the pivot pin and locking pin were properly installed then that would be pretty hard to crack.

Hello Macgee, I'm the knucklehead who cracked the vise. Many years ago I was using the vise to press out some u joints and was using a pipe on the handle, throwing my weight into it. The pivot pin and locking pin were in. In fact, I never even knew about the swivel jaw. Well I popped the u joint, but cracked the vise. The swivel jaws moves a hair, but that locking pin is stuck bad.

 

[Outlawmws]

RH, the heat is so when you tighten the screws, you don't just snap off what is left completely.

You will need a torch though, a Bernz-O-Matic won't get it hot enough

 

[mike_paxton]

As promised, more Stephens pics.

Joe.striper:

Thks for posting more pics of the Stephens vises.

It looks like the locking mechanism is very similar to the quick release used in the Sheldon WW vises.

Mike

 

[bagged89s10]

I can't wait to see this one when you get done. It looks like it's in amazing shape underneath the peeling paint.

Yeah it is. It's going to get a fresh red paint job with black lettering. Not going to have mirror polishing. Will get a brushed scotchbrite type finish on the jaws.

 

[dngrmse]

Picked this up from a Craigslist ad. Thought it was much smaller, turns out it was a big bench. Got it for $125, going to need some caps fabricated for this replacement handle. The Jaws are 5 in. wide

 

[taumac]

I wanted to share a vise I seen this weekend. The GJ members never seen one in person and frankly I never knew they even exist.

They guy that had it said that he only found one other on the Internet. After snapping a couple of pics I can say I'm pretty happier to have seen such a rare piece.

 

[drivesitfar]

Taumac: not trying to burst your bubble, but there are quite a few Wilton swivel jaw vises. that one does look like it's in great shape and you are absolutely correct that they are cool looking. is that a price tag and did you buy it or how much was it?

Joe: is that sunshine on your Cool old ratchet style vises. didn't you have a bout 3 feet of snow about this time last year? good find and i'm guessing you are keeping those?

Dngr: have you pulled out the dynamic of your big Wilton bullet yet to see if it is date stamped? my guess is late 40's or maybe no stamp and government issue possibility. any history to share?

 

[joe.striper]

Taumac: not trying to burst your bubble, but there are quite a few Wilton swivel jaw vises. that one does look like it's in great shape and you are absolutely correct that they are cool looking. is that a price tag and did you buy it or how much was it?

Joe: is that sunshine on your Cool old ratchet style vises. didn't you have a bout 3 feet of snow about this time last year? good find and i'm guessing you are keeping those?

Dngr: have you pulled out the dynamic of your big Wilton bullet yet to see if it is date stamped? my guess is late 40's or maybe no stamp and government issue possibility. any history to share?

Yes, good memory, we did have 3' last year at this time.

As to the Stephens vises....Unfortunately one belongs to Meatsis. He found the ad and I agreed to pick them up for him. Just waiting to finalize the deal and trying to decide which one he wants and which one I want.

Happy to say that by tonight my Athol 88 will be finished. I have to say my love of ATHOL has increased after working on that little 2.5"er. The tolerances are soooo tight on that one. When I tried breaking it down the slide wouldn't come out because there was a film of grime on the slide. I had to wire wheel it smooth to get it out. No wiggle or play in that one. Almost as tight as a machinist vise. Pics as soon as it comes out of the oven....

I am confident this one will be my new Avatar!

 

[Fretters]

Thought it was much smaller, turns out it was a big bench.

Been there, with the under-estimating the size of something. Can lead to some inventive measures on occasion.

That looks in generally tidy nick. Obviously needs the handle sorting and a fettle, but that looks like it should turn out quite well.

 

[dngrmse]

Dngr: have you pulled out the dynamic of your big Wilton bullet yet to see if it is date stamped? my guess is late 40's or maybe no stamp and government issue possibility. any history to share?

Initially I thoought it was much older as well. But the date on the slide reads
1 70 Myabe it was old stock? I purchased it from a machine shop that closed down in Paterson NJ, one of our older cities with a lot of old industrial buildings. I was surprised to see he still had this, because he didn't have much else left.

 

[drivesitfar]

Joe: so you are one of Meatsis' minions??

that little Athol sounds nice and i'm liking the small ones almost as much as the huge ones now. maybe because I keep hurting myself moving the big ones that are not mounted.

Dngr: in the wilton date stamp thread if you have time to take a look at it you'll find that some Chicago cast BABY BULLETS are dated up into the 80's. some swivel jaw bullets like Taumac just posted with Chicago on their side are stamped in the 70's like yours is. so i'd think that maybe they were moving across the street or cleaning out old inventory at Wilton. some of the Patent Pend cast vises have dates after WWII and so they were not all sold to the government.

also if you do get over to the wilton date stamp thread in vintage tools if you want to post a few pictures of your Wilton and it's date stamp to add to Bluebolt's awesome data base that would be great. I think he's got maybe close to 250 bullets by now on his Excel sheet so getting a good idea how Wilton bullets are stamped and when they left the factory.

 

[va.grouseman]

Taumac, Drive is right, there are about a dozen examples of the Wilton Swivel Jaw in the 2088 pages so far.

 

[slotard]

The Reed I picked up has a hole marked "oil". Not something I've noticed on other vises I've used but I guess it's to be expected on something built to last a lifetime. Is that common? I assume I should use a reasonably heavy weight oil in it.

 

[drivesitfar]

Slot: unless you want it dripping all over your bench or shop floor i'd probably take all of my Reed vises apart and clean and re grease them annually more or less depending on use. it's a great idea for a commercial environment, but probably not great for home or a fairly clean shop's use.

VA: love your Wilton Family pictures, but i think they are missing a few new additions like the Hydraulic and the Huge Swivel Jaw among others you might have sitting around or on a bench you are using.

Taumac: in case you want a picture of a little rarer Wilton Swivel jaw look at this Wilton SJ 600 that VA bought from me that weighs maybe 170-190 pounds. we've only seen 2 of these.

 

[Hemi49]

The Reed I picked up has a hole marked "oil". Not something I've noticed on other vises I've used but I guess it's to be expected on something built to last a lifetime. Is that common? I assume I should use a reasonably heavy weight oil in it.

Slot

If you have an oil can you use for general squirting around your house / garage just use that for the oil hole..... Reed did the oil hole port, Prentiss put a message on the spindle knob...... Any vise including Chicoms need periodic cleaning & lubrication.....Just don't go nuts with the oil as it is a dirt/dust attractant.....
Hemi

 

[S4cruiser]

Finished and finally got a decent picture. I vaguely remember someone asking for specs, see below.

Jaws: 4.25 x 2.5
Weight: 46lbs

 

[Shiftless]

S4:
Nice job on that old Prentiss
I love the "font" of the brand name on the real oldies.
Did you use an artist brush on the lettering or the paper towel stamp method?

 

[macgee]

S4,

Very nice, I'm jealous.

 

[Mark in Indiana]

S4:
Beautiful restoration.

 

[organ]

I am so generous... passing this along! 6 inch Record? for $75 in Atlanta... https://atlanta.craigslist.org/eat/tls/5470021663.html

 

[slotard]

Wow, that's a hell of a deal.

 

[organ]

It was posted about an hour ago... better hurry! I hope someone here gets it.

 

[bagged89s10]

Finished and finally got a decent picture. I vaguely remember someone asking for specs, see below.



Jaws: 4.25 x 2.5

Weight: 46lbs

That thing is a beauty!

 

[chiz1180]

Over the weekend I was able to acquire this 4in bullet, date code is 7-945.

Next to my baby bullet.

From what I can gather, it appears that this is a rather early one. Looking foreword to more consistent warmer weather so I can get it cleaned up.

chiz

 

[taumac]

Taumac, Drive is right, there are about a dozen examples of the Wilton Swivel Jaw in the 2088 pages so far.

Drive, I believe he was asking either $495 or $595 iirc. That's out of my price range either way.

VA, I'm sure it's not that rare and there are examples out there. I'm thinking it's the first one and probably last one I'll see in person. That stuff you just don't see down here to often.

 

[mrmiller]

Hi all, I am new to this forum after checking it out for quite sometime. I recently acquired a Parker vise and was wondering if anyone has any information about it? I will post up some pictures of the vise later on. In the meantime on the vise is C. Parker No. 5x. Any information would be appreciated. Thank You.

 

[meatsis]

Hi all, I am new to this forum after checking it out for quite sometime. I recently acquired a Parker vise and was wondering if anyone has any information about it? I will post up some pictures of the vise later on. In the meantime on the vise is C. Parker No. 5x. Any information would be appreciated. Thank You.

welcome mrmiller. the 5X is a pretty hefty vise. I believe those jaws are 6 1/4 or 6 1/2 inches wide. probably weighs a good 150 pounds. I sold one a few years ago. Those have the odd mounting lip underneath. Probably made in the late 1800's to early 1900's. I still have its little brother. no. 4X which weighs around 115 pounds. but that's a 5 1/2 inch jaw. Have any pictures?

 

[mrmiller]

welcome mrmiller. the 5X is a pretty hefty vise. I believe those jaws are 6 1/4 or 6 1/2 inches wide. probably weighs a good 150 pounds. I sold one a few years ago. Those have the odd mounting lip underneath. Probably made in the late 1800's to early 1900's. I still have its little brother. no. 4X which weighs around 115 pounds. but that's a 5 1/2 inch jaw. Have any pictures?

Thanks for the reply. I will post some pictures of it this evening. Do you mind me asking how much you sold the vise for? I'm just curious to see if I over paid for mine or not.