The VISES of Garage Journal

[joe.striper]

BCOM: you have skills. WELL DONE and another WELCOME from me to our group of vise(vice) addicts.

Hey I can quit anytime I want to!!!

 

[drivesitfar]

JOE: well i agree with the prices you find these for and the skill you possess it is pretty hard for you to stop completely, but if you are going to post pictures of your vises you need to post all the ones in your 20 foot long carports in the back yard and your scrap pile and not just the starter set.

good luck with the sale of your Craftsman and if we were closer i'd probably trade you something for it because you did an amazing job and they are maybe one of the best built vises ever made.

 

[FMC1959]

454, that looks gorgeous, and I'm betting you made a certain old guy's day with the color selection!!

Wow, can't believe how quiet this thread, usually if I'm gone for a couple hours it on to another page. Anyway, did a quicky restore on the little Heuer. Straightened the handle, wire wheeled and glass bead blasted it, and then blew on a coat of Arrest Me Red. Checkering on the jaws is mint, and it works smooth as butta. Should be good for another 75 years.

Speaking of Oldie, anyone heard from him? Not like him to not comment on an Arrest Me Red.....and it's a non svivelin ******* to boot! Hope he is doing well.

 

[econotrk]

Finished with the Monarch, easy job since all it needed was a cleanup and paint. Black doesn't get much love on here but I wanted to do this one in an old school look. Included a pic beside my #50 Bull Dog.

I asked earlier if anyone was aware of what was the reason the Monarch was an economy priced vise. After stripping this one, I noticed there were a few smallish voids and the casting just wasn't as clean as the other Prentiss vises I have. Wonder if this vise was farmed out or if there just wasn't the care taken during the process to ensure superior results. There was a red filler material under what I believe was the original paint. Not a lot, only enough to smooth things out.

BTW I did take the time to fill the voids and smooth out the casting like original.

 

[IHmachinery]

Finished with the Monarch, easy job since all it needed was a cleanup and paint. Black doesn't get much love on here but I wanted to do this one in an old school look. Included a pic beside my #50 Bull Dog.

I asked earlier if anyone was aware of what was the reason the Monarch was an economy priced vise. After stripping this one, I noticed there were a few smallish voids and the casting just wasn't as clean as the other Prentiss vises I have. Wonder if this vise was farmed out or if there just wasn't the care taken during the process to ensure superior results. There was a red filler material under what I believe was the original paint. Not a lot, only enough to smooth things out.

BTW I did take the time to fill the voids and smooth out the casting like original.

I think it looks great!


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[Bcom]

I WANT a Monarch vise!! Thats what i really want for my table is a Monarch vise. I want one in reasonable shape with a swivel base that i can refurbish myself and id get rid of my bullets and my Parker for one Monarch vise Im so jealous right now of that vise. Theres something about the lions head i just love. The only thing that scares me about the Monarch vises is that theyre made by Prentiss. Ever Prentiss i seem to come across is broken in some way. Like theyre not a real high quality or something.

 

[rusty65]

Alright so I guess you ask and you shall receive so I found another Prentiss 211 on eBay except it's slightly different then mine. So I'm interested in your opinion do you think mine is older or the one from eBay.

The biggest difference is mine has a rigid cast piece behind the jaws.

And the Prentiss from eBay.


Also mine has missing letters


And the one on eBay has all its letters.


And also on the line of missing letters it's like the mold over poured or something.

Also mine has the older setscrew style retainer and the one on eBay appears to have the finger style retainer.

The one from eBay

Also the ledge on the bases are different.

The one from eBay looks like it is just flat and doesn't have the 45 bevel on it.

I know I'm kinda looking into this far but I just wanted to post this up because it's THE ultimate vise thread and I just wanted to add this comparison.
Mine

eBay vise

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[454ragtop]

Rusty65, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I think your vise was broken and welded. I think they added that rib behind the jaw when it was repaired.

 

[bagged89s10]

Made a 2 vise purchase for $100

 

[rusty65]

Rusty65, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I think your vise was broken and welded. I think they added that rib behind the jaw when it was repaired.

Honestly that's what I was kind of thinking at first and not trying to argue because there is no way of really telling. The rib just blends in so well to the rest of the vise and if it was repaired I'm ok with it because someone sure took some time to do it and save a good tool.
Here are some more pictures of it.

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[Craptain]

Honestly that's what I was kind of thinking at first and not trying to argue because there is no way of really telling. The rib just blends in so well to the rest of the vise and if it was repaired I'm ok with it because someone sure took some time to do it and save a good tool.
Here are some more pictures of it.

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Have you taken it down to bare metal? Then you should be able to get a better idea.

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[topop101]

Sadly not all vise can be saved. Even though this was just a open screw vise I hate to just send it to the scrap yard. I was given this vise because it was badly broken. The "D" jaw was busted clean off the solid steel slide bar. I know many years, many decades ago some hard working guy traded a day of his life to make this vise. I didn't want his efforts of that day to be lost. I decided to repurpose the remains of this vise.
I know being ductile iron it doesn't make for the best anvil . So to help it out I slightly beveled the edges to prevent or help prevent chipping . To give it a bit more weight and strength I filled the screw and slide hole with lead. I used a 6" cutoff wheel to remove the jaw then ground it flat. Did a lil file work on it then finished it off with a diamond stone to get a true or flat surface. This might not have been necessary but it felt right to me so what the heck! I hone the sole of all my planes this way so it's no biggy. About 3 hours total time to save / repurpose a broken vise into a handy hobby bench anvil.

 

[rusty65]

Ok just did some sanding with 320 grit sandpaper so what do you guys think weld repair or not? My next question is if it was repaired how would you do such a repair? The rib was rusty so you couldn't have used nickel right? I don't think you could do it with a stick welder? I'm not a welder just curious on this.

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[Outlawmws]

I'm inclined to agree with 454 from what I see in the pics. it really needs to be Etanked to see the details, but I just think i see enough to lean me that way...

If it is repaired, I agree, its really well done!

 

[Outlawmws]

Posts crossed, but yes, more so that ever.

 

[Outlawmws]

Sadly not all vise can be saved. Even though this was just a open screw vise I hate to just send it to the scrap yard. I was given this vise because it was badly broken. The "D" jaw was busted clean off the solid steel slide bar. I know many years, many decades ago some hard working guy traded a day of his life to make this vise. I didn't want his efforts of that day to be lost. I decided to repurpose the remains of this vise.
I know being ductile iron it doesn't make for the best anvil . So to help it out I slightly beveled the edges to prevent or help prevent chipping . To give it a bit more weight and strength I filled the screw and slide hole with lead. I used a 6" cutoff wheel to remove the jaw then ground it flat. Did a lil file work on it then finished it off with a diamond stone to get a true or flat surface. This might not have been necessary but it felt right to me so what the heck! I hone the sole of all my planes this way so it's no biggy. About 3 hours total time to save / repurpose a broken vise into a handy hobby bench anvil.

Top, I think that is a VERY slick repurpose! I'll have to remember that one! Well Done!

 

[Mark in Indiana]

Im new here so i hope im allowed to post what ive done. My hammered copper 400s bullet (sold) and my hammered red Parker 974

Bcom,
Welcome to the group. Awesome restorations!
BTW: Where did you get the soft jaws for your Parker?

 

[topop101]

Top, I think that is a VERY slick repurpose! I'll have to remember that one! Well Done!

Thanks Outlaw. I've had this one over a year refusing to scrap it. I figured I would do something like this with it but didn't really know how it would turn out. I won't look at a broken vise the same way any more...

 

[IHmachinery]

Sadly not all vise can be saved. Even though this was just a open screw vise I hate to just send it to the scrap yard. I was given this vise because it was badly broken. The "D" jaw was busted clean off the solid steel slide bar. I know many years, many decades ago some hard working guy traded a day of his life to make this vise. I didn't want his efforts of that day to be lost. I decided to repurpose the remains of this vise.

I know being ductile iron it doesn't make for the best anvil . So to help it out I slightly beveled the edges to prevent or help prevent chipping . To give it a bit more weight and strength I filled the screw and slide hole with lead. I used a 6" cutoff wheel to remove the jaw then ground it flat. Did a lil file work on it then finished it off with a diamond stone to get a true or flat surface. This might not have been necessary but it felt right to me so what the heck! I hone the sole of all my planes this way so it's no biggy. About 3 hours total time to save / repurpose a broken vise into a handy hobby bench anvil.

Very nice! Great to see an old tool get a new lease on life. Very creative.


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[Mark in Indiana]

Sadly not all vise can be saved. Even though this was just a open screw vise I hate to just send it to the scrap yard. I was given this vise because it was badly broken. The "D" jaw was busted clean off the solid steel slide bar. I know many years, many decades ago some hard working guy traded a day of his life to make this vise. I didn't want his efforts of that day to be lost. I decided to repurpose the remains of this vise.
I know being ductile iron it doesn't make for the best anvil . So to help it out I slightly beveled the edges to prevent or help prevent chipping . To give it a bit more weight and strength I filled the screw and slide hole with lead. I used a 6" cutoff wheel to remove the jaw then ground it flat. Did a lil file work on it then finished it off with a diamond stone to get a true or flat surface. This might not have been necessary but it felt right to me so what the heck! I hone the sole of all my planes this way so it's no biggy. About 3 hours total time to save / repurpose a broken vise into a handy hobby bench anvil.

Topop,
Great idea for repurposing a broken vise. Yours looks good enough to be an ornamental decoration on a bookshelf or fireplace mantel.

 

[topop101]

Topop,
Great idea for repurposing a broken vise. Yours looks good enough to be an ornamental decoration on a bookshelf or fireplace mantel.

Mark I never thought of that! I know you have made bookends out of old vise's . I'll keep that in mind if I can't save another...

 

[Minjin]

I picked up my first decent vise. Reed #31.

Album:
(for some reason the individual pic links below didn't work)

<blockquote class="imgur-embed-pub" lang="en" data-id="a/k5MlX"><a href="//imgur.com/k5MlX">Reed 31</a></blockquote><script async src="//s.imgur.com/min/embed.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

http://imgur.com/a/k5MlX/all

It appears to be is pretty good shape and have nearly everything it is supposed to.

The hardware seems mostly original. All three fasteners have square nuts but only one bolt has a round head that engages with the hole. Not shown (because it is hidden) is the round cast piece that the "bull horns" rotate against. There is also another large square washer and a smaller round washer. Those are more in doubt as to their originality but all is very old.

The number 31 although it looks a lot like a 37. If I hadn't read up on Reed vises on this forum, I would have thought 37. Am I incorrect?

Some casting numbers.

One of the bad parts. Is does have a bit of a bend in the handle. Any idea how to fix this?

The jaws appear to be in good shape. You can see the patented curved profile.

They closeup decently. Slight mismatch to the one side. Top shows the typical wear you get on an old vise.

Here is the other bad part. It looks like I have a crack in the bottom indexing piece.

Any idea how to repair that? It doesn't seem to be affecting functionality at the moment as it is a pretty stout casting.

And here it is in service after I wire wheeled just the outside of the jaws and rubbed some oil over everything. I also opted to replace the fasteners. I set aside all of the old stuff for now. Also, the bull horns from before wouldn't work with my bench design because of the skirt so I had to replace it with a 3/4" nut. Slows down rotation adjustments. No big deal. All in all, very nice, very solid vise. Some day I might refinish it.

 

[volunteers]

I have one vise on bench and another new wilton one still sealed in the box. I wonder when do you guys need multiple vises at the same time? I mean for non-professional home garage users

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[Shiftless]

All:
All of you are posting your beautiful restorations so I figured I had better get to work.
After disassembly and an industrial degreaser wash down aided with a small wire brush, I stripped the cruddy chipped old paint off of my Reed 204 (thank you JZiggy) and found an interesting casting mistake. I wonder how many of them went out of the factory before the boss found this error. Or maybe the team ran out of "R"s and had to make do with a "B" ?

 

[Shiftless]

I have one vise on bench and another new wilton one still sealed in the box. I wonder when do you guys need multiple vises at the same time? I mean for non-professional home garage users

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Thanks for dropping in to this crazy little corner of GJ. Is your avatar a selfie?
You are obviously confusing needs with wants. When pressed, most of us will admit to having quite a few more vises than we actually "need"

I ran a poll a while back...300 people responded with about half of them owning more than 5 vises and a few admitted to owning more than a hundred.
I myself have about a dozen.

 

[topop101]

I have one vise on bench and another new wilton one still sealed in the box. I wonder when do you guys need multiple vises at the same time? I mean for non-professional home garage users

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It's not at the same time they are used but in multiple locations and different vise's have different features !

 

[dutchgray]

View media item 61580Got my first swivel jaw, a Parkinsons No7 based one, 4 1/4" jaw width.
Its rough and the swivel jaw shelf is completely gone but its fully operational, although the locking pin is well stuck. I think this is the first one of these seen by any of us Brits on here and from CW's catalogues its pre WW2

 

[Shiftless]

dutch:
That one isn't quite as "rough" as this one for sale near me... asking $50

 

[Bryan Burns]

Couldn't find any posts showing a MASSEY VISE so I thought I'd share my photos.

It's crude in some respects (note the porosity in the last photo) but it was a good user vise until I replaced it with a Desmond Stephan. Note the dime added for scale in several of the drawings. Vise appears to be from the early 1900's but I can't find anything on this particular model (CLINCHER 12).

free upload

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screen shot pc

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Total weight of the vise is 41 pounds and the the slide sub-assembly weighs
about 22 pounds by itself.

upload an image

Severe porosity:

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[Craptain]

I have one vise on bench and another new wilton one still sealed in the box. I wonder when do you guys need multiple vises at the same time? I mean for non-professional home garage users

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One on metal work bench, one next to drill press, one on main bench, one on electronics bench, one for woodworking, one.......... I have 7 vises in somewhat regular use. I could bring it down to 2 but where's the fun in that?
This home shop thing is not as easy as some think.

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[Craptain]

No pictures bryan.

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[CrotalusAtrox]

Here is a Massy I restored a few weeks back it sold in one day on CL. It was a really well made vise locked up sold on its base and slide to static fit was very good. I kind of wish I would of kept it but I can't keep them all.

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[CwazyWabbit]

View media item 61580Got my first swivel jaw, a Parkinsons No7 based one, 4 1/4" jaw width.
Its rough and the swivel jaw shelf is completely gone but its fully operational, although the locking pin is well stuck. I think this is the first one of these seen by any of us Brits on here and from CW's catalogues its pre WW2

WOW!!! You win rocking horse of the century award there Dutch Where on earth did you find it, I thought they were a myth only to be seen in print.

Guard that!

EDIT: How many ball base vises would that be worth in a trade?

 

[dutchgray]

CW
It was on eBay, got if for under £40 delivered. Seller did not list it as a swivel.
I will take more pictures of I when I eventually take it apart, but I'm just going to apply penetrant to the swivel and leave it a couple months to soak in.
I think it would take a couple of nos ball vices to tempt me.

 

[CwazyWabbit]

I don't blame you Sir, I can't believe I missed it. Well done

Is that a big bolt that it swivels on?

EDIT: Just seen you were the only bidder

 

[drivesitfar]

DUTCH: looks like you found the 3 golden monkey vice on your side of the pond. VERY WELL DONE SIR!!!!!!

please post up more pictures when you get time to show us how that old English swivel jaw works.

TOP: of course i like almost any vise with BLO on it, but that little project you just finished with that busted vise is very cool. WELL DONE

 

[dutchgray]

CW
Yes it appears to be a big bolt that it swivels on, the locking pin has seen plenty of hammer blows in its time and as such is well stuck, slide has a fair depression in it as well but seems to have survived without being cracked.

Drives
Thanks, there will definitely be more pictures in time.

 

[va.grouseman]

Originally posted by Bryan Burns.

Couldn't find any posts showing a MASSEY VISE so I thought I'd share my photos.
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Rusty65 posted a Clincher on page 366.


http://i1268.photobucket.com/albums...2F210C60-308-0000002DEEE74FA0_zps67ee9931.jpg

 

[rusty65]

Nice Massey. I strongly suspect that when Prentiss switched to removable jaws on the bull dog line at the turn of the century. They may have sold there old molds to Massey hence why you don't see very many and the mold quality is usually less then stellar as your photos show. I believe mine was originally japanned black. Also another thought i was having maybe they got the extra molds or something to that effect when Prentiss had a factory fire in 1895ish.

 

[Fordriver6]

Picked up a Columbian 203 1/2 today for $20. It's in really good shape except for three things; missing two of the three pipe jaws, the swivel lever looks like a pretzel, and somebody had enough pressure while bending something held with the pipe jaws to roll metal partially over the set screw for the remaining pipe jaw.

Only owned it for about a half hour before I gave it to a buddy who has been needing a vise.

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