Vise ID?

[G-ManBart]

Hey all,

I saw this vise on Craigslist yesterday and couldn't find any info on who made it, etc. It looks to be pretty solid, and they say it weighs about 75lbs and has 5" jaws, which seemed like a good sign. I already have a nice Yost 8" vise, but I'm moving that out to my barn, and want something a little smaller for my basement shop....so an older quality vise would be perfect.

It looks a lot like some Morgan vises I've seen, and I've seen a few vises listed here that had a star on the side, but those usually have an "N" in the star, so I'm not sure. I don't know where the seller got his price, but I'm thinking it's maybe reasonable if it's a U.S. made vise?

Thoughts?

https://porthuron.craigslist.org/tls/5504688106.html

 

[drivesitfar]

GMan: I have a Morgan 4 inch wide jaw with a star on it so I bet yours is also a Morgan. the jaw style, the vise style and the numbering system all scream Morgan vise so pretty sure it is one.

 

[G-ManBart]

GMan: I have a Morgan 4 inch wide jaw with a star on it so I bet yours is also a Morgan. the jaw style, the vise style and the numbering system all scream Morgan vise so pretty sure it is one.

Thanks...it sure looks like a Morgan to me. I haven't bought it because it's a pretty good drive from where I'm at. Do you think $175 is reasonable?

 

[G-ManBart]

Funny, but I just did another search and found another star vise listed but it has the N in the middle of the star. It's smaller with only 4" jaws:

https://flint.craigslist.org/tls/5498612969.html

 

[bluebolt]

I don't think that's a Morgan, it doesn't say Star and a Morgan Star vise would be marked as a 5, not 150. A 150 is the heavy duty casting, Star's were lower cost medium duty vises. I suspect that vise is made in Japan. Never seen one of the Japan star vises with a 5 pointed star before, wonder if it was earlier and they had to change it to 6 points because of copyright issues.

 

[bluebolt]

And if that is a Japanese vise $175 would be top end. I would pay no where near that for it, I can pick up USA vises for that price.

 

[G-ManBart]

And if that is a Japanese vise $175 would be top end. I would pay no where near that for it, I can pick up USA vises for that price.

That's sort of why I'm asking about it. If it's a USA vise of that size and condition, I think the price is reasonable, but a bit overpriced if it's Japanese. If someone had a little more information it might help me decide if it's worth the trip to go look at.

 

[1982fxr]

never seen feet like that one has...

 

[G-ManBart]

never seen feet like that one has...

Not that different from the feet on this Morgan:

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1365512&postcount=7

I almost want to go look at this vise just to see if there are any other markings on it to help solve the mystery!

 

[drivesitfar]

GMan: not sure if it's worth the $175 in your area, but I wouldn't sell my 5 inch Morgan 50 that I got from a guy that saved mine off a battleship that was getting scrapped. I know mine is US made. BB might be correct in saying it could be a made in Japan vise, but honestly the made in Japan vises I've seen have all been better than average quality and usually not this big.