The VISES of Garage Journal

[Rileysan]

sweet .. thats all i needed to know.. i couldnt tell if i was chinesium or not.. i wont even bother with this.. thanks !

Good choice!

Brian

 

[Richard Cranium]

some nice vices here guys, thanks for posting.

 

[GForceJunky]

Picking this one up later today for $30-$35 CAD. Will post more pics/details once I have it in my hands.

Also got a lead on a Parker 272 and another currently unidentified 'antique vise', both in kinda rough condition (rusty, very dirty) but physically pretty much 100% intact besides a missing swivel adjuster rod.

Hello all, I'm completely new to this 'vise addiction' and have always wanted to get some vintage vises and floor jacks to add to my arsenal of tools (have many older/vintage/antique hand tools from my grandfather in addition to plenty of modern stuff) but am a little weary of many that I see for sale within a few hours of me. Many of the 'sought after' brands/styles are listed for outlandish prices in unrestored, often less than desirable condition.

Anyhow, I have found a few decently priced smaller vices that I'm looking into but am still searching for a big mama vice.

I stumbled across an ad for one that looks quite old but it doesn't seem to have any location or date stampings on it. I have an email in to the seller to get more info/pictures if possible but the pictures I do have show what looks like the faint outline of a logo of some sort and so I was hoping some of you vise experts could help me figure out what kind of vise it is/where it's made/etc.

Without further adieu...

If anyone has any info or ideas on what I'm looking at it would be much appreciated! Also, an approximate valuation would be great too!

 

[honza.vosalik]

This 4 inch Craftsman vise appeared on local CG. $100 seems like maybe quite high?

 

[oakundeisen]

Looks nice. I'm a little surprised that the swivel jaw and base only add 13lb vs the 106 that I have.

duh - fat fingered the orig. post - it's 164 according to dayid. Thanks, it has some issues - the slide has been welded- old repair with nickel rod - could be a factory repair- primed over and repainted with original. One ear is broken off as well and there's a small chip out below one jaw insert. But the rest is arrow straight and the jaws line up perfectly and none of that affects the operation. I weld cast but I think I am going to pass on the ear and leave it alone.

VA grouseman - I agree, I have 1C that is my main 'go to' the tolerances are
top drawer. I have a bunch of Reed and Ridge pipe tooling and equip - father -in-law was a 4th gen Penn independent oil and gas producer. I grew up in Erie and worked my way thru school in the mill. My dad grew up a block from the Reed plant - know lots of guys that worked in the foundries and forges in the area. Yost, Holland, Ridge, Reed - the best old arn - IMO. Was at Urick for 'a pour' a couple of yrs. ago. Something to see; induction furnace with 2 crucibles. They normally pour ductile at that location and are a division of Ridge Tool. Good friend (now passed) and lifelong hunting buddy owned Erie Tool.

McGee - Thx - that's the little brother legvise. I have a 5'' with a 45'' leg that is waiting on a new welding table. It's too high for that table. But, I like those little 3 and 4 inchers because they often have nice lines. I picked both of those up together at an Ohio farm auction 20 yrs ago - fifty for the pair.

 

[honza.vosalik]

Another vise on CL (somewhere by LA). Looks pretty beaten up. The guy is asking $60.

 

[slotard]

This 4 inch Craftsman vise appeared on local CG. $100 seems like maybe quite high?

That sounds very expensive to me. I paid $70 for a Reed 204 1/2 in Dixon a few weeks ago and it's head and shoulders above that.

edit: regarding the next one, I'd expect just about anything without a name on it to be China/Taiwan. That's especially true if it has a size and nothing else cast in.

 

[honza.vosalik]

That sounds very expensive to me. I paid $70 for a Reed 204 1/2 in Dixon a few weeks ago and it's head and shoulders above that.

edit: regarding the next one, I'd expect just about anything without a name on it to be China/Taiwan. That's especially true if it has a size and nothing else cast in.

Thanks for the comment!

 

[Outlawmws]

This 4 inch Craftsman vise appeared on local CG. $100 seems like maybe quite high?

Another vise on CL (somewhere by LA). Looks pretty beaten up. The guy is asking $60.

That sounds very expensive to me. I paid $70 for a Reed 204 1/2 in Dixon a few weeks ago and it's head and shoulders above that.

edit: regarding the next one, I'd expect just about anything without a name on it to be China/Taiwan. That's especially true if it has a size and nothing else cast in.

The Craftsman is AT LEAST 2X what it's worth IMO, maybe 3X; and the second one is Asian. Big Number Chrome Plating is almost always Asian.

 

[Outlawmws]

sweet .. thats all i needed to know.. i couldnt tell if i was chinesium or not.. i wont even bother with this.. thanks !

 

[honza.vosalik]

This one is pretty cool too! Just out of my price range.

http://reno.craigslist.org/tls/5479679460.html

 

[ChargerRT]

This one is pretty cool too! Just out of my price range.

http://reno.craigslist.org/tls/5479679460.html

Kinda wish I was out in Reno for that one... pretty cool looking

 

[Rileysan]

This one is pretty cool too! Just out of my price range.

http://reno.craigslist.org/tls/5479679460.html

Now that's a gorgeous vise!

Keep on looking - you'll find a good one in your price range.

Brian

 

[Outlawmws]

That one was posted before. I thought it was sold.

 

[va.grouseman]

Oak, you sure can't tell that any of that is wrong with the #406 just by that one pic.---It looks real good from that one profile.---Still a real nice find, and that foot can be fixed, and might ought to be on a vise of that caliber.

 

[Rileysan]

Honza,

This is the sort of deal you need to look for. Unfortunately, it states it's already sold.

6" Record for $55. Wow!

https://chico.craigslist.org/tls/5496173216.html

Brian

 

[Rileysan]

Here's another one for you - but it might be too far away. English made 5" Paramo for $130 - also a good deal



https://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/tls/5492875659.html

 

[honza.vosalik]

Rileysan: Thank you. I will keep my out there. I just put another ad in local newspaper about wanting to buy an old vise. I'll see if anything comes out of it.

Couple weeks ago I purchased a Craftsman 5196 (in perfect condition) and Hollands 53 1/2 H (stuck, rusted up, without pipe jaws, but otherwise restorable) by putting ad in local newspaper.

 

[slotard]

Here's another one for you - but it might be too far away. English made 5" Paramo for $130 - also a good deal



https://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/tls/5492875659.html

I'm taking a look at that one in the morning.

Then again, I have too many vises... after that I should be done for a while.

If I decide I have too many I'll let him know, although I'm not all that close.

 

[honza.vosalik]

I'm taking a look at that one in the morning.

Then again, I have too many vises... after that I should be done for a while.

If I decide I have too many I'll let him know, although I'm not all that close.

Good luck! Concord is too far away for me.

 

[honza.vosalik]

These are my two vises. The Hollands is under restoration.

 

[mike_paxton]

This one is pretty cool too! Just out of my price range.

http://reno.craigslist.org/tls/5479679460.html

I think the mfg appears to be a "W" instead of an "M".

If that is case, it may be the mfg was Williamson Vise Co of Bradford PA.

Williamson Vise Co was bought out by Yost around 1910.

Mike

 

[bubinga]

These are my two vises. The Hollands is under restoration.

that 2nd one is cool.
I have that first one, but it's a fixed base.
It's been about 20 years already, but I only gave $10.00 for it.
it was clean enough, I didn't even have to paint it.

 

[WhoWhatNow]

This one is pretty cool too! Just out of my price range.

http://reno.craigslist.org/tls/5479679460.html

I think the rear jaw on that vise swivels also. A triple swiveler!

 

[LesserSon]

Cheney, 1879

 

[LesserSon]

Made by Fulton in Detroit. The static jaw is removeable, held by a pin. It would also rotate, but it doesn't really stay in the shaft. Pretty sure the screw is a replacement.

 

[LesserSon]

A Littlestown 112. The lock lever on the base snapped, so it just has a hex nut to lock it down.

 

[LesserSon]

Reverse

 

[LesserSon]

Another Littlestown

 

[LesserSon]

I don't really see the advantages if this design

 

[LesserSon]

But Sears did, and cast it in a lightweight alloy

 

[LesserSon]

A no-name wood vise

EDIT - it is a Craftsman, but the decal is long gone from this one.

 

[va.grouseman]

Honza, it's obvious that you have the bug.---With vises lie those two, it's obvious you don't need vises, you just want vises.---And ain't nothing wrong with that.




Mike-Paxton, I believe you hit the nail on the head with the W instead of M.---And Yost made one that looks almost identical to that rotator.

 

[LesserSon]

A massive solid-chestnut leg vise. The screw is tucked away in a drawer somewhere until I can build a legset worthy of this baby.

 

[LesserSon]

The cheeks have an interesting symmetrical cuttout on both sides. It's not quite a match to anything I have, but it looks like maybe someone did it to sharpen handsaws without removing the handle, or building a jig.
If anyone has a different theory, I'd love to hear it.

 

[joe.striper]

As promised...smallest anvil Ive ever seen. 1.5" jaws...anvil has a Hardy hole for wire that goes through. Beautifully made. Look at the jaw serrations. Vise needs some minor tweaking, but nothing major. I already know what i want to do with it...if someone here has to have it pm me.

Also bought from the same seller these 2 Atlas XY tables. One had a custom vise attached, original perhaps? Also got the metal lathe thing-a-mabob. Pd $280 for the lot.

 

[LesserSon]

And a young worker from overseas. I bought this 6-inch at Grizzly a couple years ago when my uncle worked there. Now they closed it.

 

[joe.striper]

Last of the pics.

 

[LesserSon]

joe.striper, I think I have you beat: 1-3/8" jaws! A bit crude compared to your miniature, but functional, complete with anvil & horn (but no hardy hole).

 

[honza.vosalik]

Honza, it's obvious that you have the bug.---With vises lie those two, it's obvious you don't need vises, you just want vises.---And ain't nothing wrong with that.




Mike-Paxton, I believe you hit the nail on the head with the W instead of M.---And Yost made one that looks almost identical to that rotator.

Yeah, I love old stuff. I used to restore old motorcycles, but am kind of limited now with both time/more/space and restoring vises seems so much simpler and still a lot of fun ;-)
I needed one vise for my garage and it turned out buying an older one is so much better quality and cheaper than a brand new one.