454ragtop
Well-known member
Here is my recently acquired Craftsman. Not sure of year.
Welcome. Is that a 5216 like the one I posted here earlier today (1 page back)?Don't ever remember seeing one before, now 2 in 1 day.......
Jim
Here is my recently acquired Craftsman. Not sure of year.
Joe
Looking at the nice buff work on those jaws is encouraging me to get a buffer together, you sure do good work on all your vises and grinders you have posted![]()
VERY cool Vise Joe! I'm still thinking for a pattern maker to carve the patterns for sand molds. That one would NEVER leave my shop if I had it!
VERY cool Vise Joe! I'm still thinking for a pattern maker to carve the patterns for sand molds. That one would NEVER leave my shop if I had it!
The stand is cool. I am getting a brake drum from my buddy who owns a large trucking company to bolt it to. Chances are good that this will be a keeper for me. I've already had a number of GJ members reach out to me about it, but this one isn't lined up for resale. It is a very lightly made vise and it isn't designed for heavy work. Upon inspection today I was surprised how lightly it was made. The jaws are VERY tall for their width. The head doesn't rotate 360 degrees because the jaws hit the base, but they still rotate enough.
I made the mistake of selling a 6" Post Leg vise a month ago unrestored in order to gain some capital for my purchases. The buyer reached out to me today all excited because it turns out the 6" vise I sold was made by Peter Wright. It was there under all the rust and dirt. Man was I pissed. If I knew it was a Peter Wright Post Leg Vise I would NEVER have sold it.
From the buyer:
"I hope you are well. When I left your shop you had asked me to send a picture of what the vise looked like after I got it mounted and cleaned up. I took the surface layer of grime off, but did not want to remove everything down to clear metal. In doing this I discovered that it was a Peter Wright vise. From What I can find out on different forums, this can date back to 1863, when the solid box thread was patented by Peter Wright. I am enclosing a few pics of the vise holding my felling saw and a detail of the inscription.
If you can read it,is says:
P. WRIGHT
PATENT
SOLID BOX"
All I can say is I **** (and not the good way).
Oh I included a chart that you guys might not have seen. Pretty useful I do say.
I wish I could have seen a pic. of this post vise before you sold it... If you posted it I missed it. I could have told you from the design it was a PW. There's a FB page just for leg vise's . You should check it out!

CW
Nice ball vice group.
I still need to find one of those.


My Craftsman 05198 Jaw Support
As I was slowly cleaning up the 5198 I found some cracks in the dynamic jaw support. I don't quite know what to make of them.
As I took a closer look at them it seems like they are covered/filled in with paint/primer, especially the one on the right side.
Perhaps some of you can offer your opinions on how serious this is. On the one hand I am of course disappointed to see the cracks. On the other hand, if they have been present from the day the vise left the factory, it may not be so bad.
I am beginning to think that this jaw support area may have been a weak point for this design as I recall seeing other 519X vises with problems there. Perhaps it is susceptible to cracks during the casting process or subsequent cooling.
Any opinions are appreciated.
Well thanks to a kindly GJ Member who gave me a heads-up, I've now got me half a set of Equalizer Jaws.---Now if Outlaw will just get through lovin his half, I'll complete my set.![]()
Say that little jigger is pretty cool! I've never seen one O' dem before? 
My Craftsman 05198 Jaw Support
As I was slowly cleaning up the 5198 I found some cracks in the dynamic jaw support. I don't quite know what to make of them.
![]()
![]()
As I took a closer look at them it seems like they are covered/filled in with paint/primer, especially the one on the right side.
![]()
Perhaps some of you can offer your opinions on how serious this is. On the one hand I am of course disappointed to see the cracks. On the other hand, if they have been present from the day the vise left the factory, it may not be so bad.
I am beginning to think that this jaw support area may have been a weak point for this design as I recall seeing other 519X vises with problems there. Perhaps it is susceptible to cracks during the casting process or subsequent cooling.
Any opinions are appreciated.
My Craftsman 05198 Jaw Support
As I was slowly cleaning up the 5198 I found some cracks in the dynamic jaw support. I don't quite know what to make of them.
![]()
![]()
As I took a closer look at them it seems like they are covered/filled in with paint/primer, especially the one on the right side.
![]()
Perhaps some of you can offer your opinions on how serious this is. On the one hand I am of course disappointed to see the cracks. On the other hand, if they have been present from the day the vise left the factory, it may not be so bad.
I am beginning to think that this jaw support area may have been a weak point for this design as I recall seeing other 519X vises with problems there. Perhaps it is susceptible to cracks during the casting process or subsequent cooling.
Any opinions are appreciated.
Well thanks to a kindly GJ Member who gave me a heads-up, I've now got me half a set of Equalizer Jaws.---Now if Outlaw will just get through lovin his half, I'll complete my set.![]()

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[B said:Outlawmws[/B];3576656]OK, a really cool vise accessory! This thing adjusts to odd shapes, the set screw on the end allows the mini jaws to adjust in and out...
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markings say:
Pat Aug 3 - 1915, Pat. Jan 25 -1916
Universal Equalizer Co.
Cin,O,USA
Makers Trade Mark (An Arm/Fist holding a bar)
And it works great, my son's response was "So they had a solution for irregular objects in a vise for nearly a century???"
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I just assumed this one was yours Outlaw---That's what assuming gets you.





I bought this one off eBay with local pick up for 75 bucks. I wasn't going to post up pictures but I found a date stamp so I figured it might add something to the time line. It was made according to the stamp July of 1968 and was probably inspected by inspector no 5. And the vise has the screw retainer (set screw) on the handle and parker style pinned on jaws. All I did was oil this one up and plan to keep the patina as it's not rusty.
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Can anyone help me ID this Craftsman vise? 4.5" jaws. Maybe made in the 60s?
