The VISES of Garage Journal

[drivesitfar]

OUTLAW: when i bought it my plan was to set it out in my backyard under a tarp until I looked at it in person and then Carla mentioned what i was thinking that it is older than it the wood looks in the picture. it's not going outside now and still trying to find a spot for it inside. i started a thread about it over in Vintage tools in case you want to add comments over there.'

nope it's still sitting in the back of my Honda so haven't had much time to play with it other than playing with the vise a bit to take pictures. i'm guessing you are correct in your assumption that the vise has the ability to raise up and be used with dogs and hold items on top of the bench.

could this be maybe the first WORKMATE design?

thanks as usual for sharing your wisdom

BTW I've got another small bench i'll use to set my big Dewalt miter saw on unless of course a better option shows up before i start building my fence this spring.

MTN: nice looking pair and probably the only 2 vises any garage would need if the user wasn't a GJ member.

 

[CRSINMICH]

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=307020&highlight=vise

FMC: Thanks! I really should have remembered that or taken the time to look it up. Where would you fall on that scale? I think at the time I was in the 21-30 group. I don't know how many I have now but the number probably hasn't changed much. I have been trying to reduce my inventory and have sold a few but the dang things keep falling into my lap. Ouch! Someone mentioned an all vise garage sale and I'm seriously thinking about doing that next spring.

 

[trijeff]

Not sure if this was reported before, but just saw an interesting tidbit on the unicorn 695 pound RR vise ... appears to use electricity

 

[GETRIDAONE]

I have a clamp-on "baby bison" type vise. It has 1.5" jaws with the front jaw fixed and the rear jaw moving. The main difference between the baby and the larger FPU vises is the large vise has set screw adjustable gibs so you can adjust the dovetail slide fit. The small clamp-on FPU vise has the machined dovetails, but without adjustment. They are a pretty tight fit though. It has no makers mark in the casting, but a "made in Poland" sticker. The finish is more of a metalic grey/silver.

I would post photos but I can not locate it at the moment. I searched Google for a photo of the vise but I cannot find one.

This is a 2" FPU I picked up a few years back. You can see the logo cast into the side of the clamp. I think the gray wrinkle paint looks good on it.

FMC, I am flattered to be mentioned in the company of VA & Zoomie but I am most likely not in the same league. I do have enough to put me in the "Crazy Category" though.

 

[Bcom]

Not sure if this was reported before, but just saw an interesting tidbit on the unicorn 695 pound RR vise ... appears to use electricity

]

 

[kwoswalt99]

We were talking about the peral street Vise shelves pic, not Drives bench.

Oh.. Well those probably aren't either.

 

[Mark in Indiana]

Drives and All,
I'm working on a vise category list. I don't want too few because of how diversified vises are. I also don't want too many categories, to keep it simple.
I'll create a separate thread this week.

Thinking of calling this contest "The Visies".

 

[va.grouseman]

Trijeff, I'm curious as to what part of the Pittsburgh would have been operated by electjuciety.---Must be a motor hooked to the main screw instead of a handle.


GET, that is a class A table vise.---I to love the wrinkle paint look, grey or black.---Puts me in mind of the old Royal Typewriter look, (manual of course).---That's an old school look.

 

[bagged89s10]

I went vise and anvil hunting today at the local swap meet, but came up empty handed. A lot of broken parkers and small exposed screw vises. There was also a fixed based unmarked 4" vise but I passed. Passed on a $75 blacksmith vise.

The biggest vise a saw was this PENN 525-1/2. I've never heard of these. Anyone have info on it. I left it there because it was too rough.

At least I saved my money today.

 

[bagged89s10]

I do not know the number of vises any particular member has, but I know that fellas like VA, Zoomie, and pretty sure Getridaone also, when they get a vise, it is to keep.



KMScott, Autopts, and more recently Joe Striper, Bagged and a few others, come across many vises, but restore and sell many of them. They are vise afficionados and have a "private cellar" collection of ones they want to keep, but my guess (uneducated one at that) would be they don't have anything near the guys that are strictly collectors.



In the past there have been a few others like Bigcaddy, Catalize and a few others I am forgetting; and I could be way off base with this but I would think that the number of people that have more than VA and Zoomie are a small number.

I talked to a collector out in Texas who's not on GJ but knows KMScott. He owns around 300 vises I think. I bet a pic of his collection would be cool to see.

 

[drivesitfar]

GET: not sure if you painted the wrinkle paint on it or if it came that way, but either way i do like it. looks like a great vice. also sounds like you had a nice drive today so did you manage to fit in a vise or tool purchase in there somewhere too?

cheers

Mark: you have my support and sounds like a great name "THE VISIES"

good luck and let us know when you have time to put up the new thread for us to post our favorites.

TJ: whatever that vise is i like it so keep looking for more details and let us know. also looks like you better start getting a flavored hat if you are finding more information about the Pittsburgh. VA has the salesman's sample of it so it has to be out there.

ALL LURKERS: anybody own a 695 pound Pittsburg vise would you make a one time post and show us that it exists and that it was actually made?

cheers all and hope you all had a great weekend.

 

[meatsis]

I talked to a collector out in Texas who's not on GJ but knows KMScott. He owns around 300 vises I think. I bet a pic of his collection would be cool to see.

I spoke to him as well. I hope he doesn't mind me sharing this pic he sent me



I don't know why the pic ended up sideways.

 

[cbacres]

Outlaw, the CM vise I picked up is a 05191 with 4" jaws.
The jaws are in great shape and after a little oil ,just smooth as silk. The only thing I could want more is the model with the Craftsman emblem recessed in the casting, but I'm not complaining.

One thing I like is the ball seat for oiling, similar to a grease zert. A couple shots in there and some on the nut. This vise was moving nicely.

Well, here I go, one won't be enough.

 

[zoomieport]

Zoomie is worried about his friends and family.---I got a wife that can only see the outer crust of 6 big piles and I have enough trouble downplaying that.---If I stretch them all out and start counting, and she sees it, I've got to get a lawyer and start divvying everything up.---Worst of all, I 've got to give her half of my vises.

If you remember the story of old King David, who took a census of how many subjects he had, he paid a terrible toll for that.---When you go to counting, bad things happen.---Bad things!

I agree with G-manBart, The guys with the monster collections, you will never hear from.---They have nothing to prove and a lot to hide.

I got started today, burned this ole boy out... LONG way to go...
Nothing to prove and nothing to hide, LOL!
VA, Drives and Get's turn is next!

I hear stories of a guy near me that has 4,000, he's a ghost...
If I have 1/10 of that, I'll be SHOCKED!

Take care ALL!
ZOOM

P.S. $100 in block and lumber, could have spent that on a vise!

 

[zoomieport]

I spoke to him as well. I hope he doesn't mind me sharing this pic he sent me



I don't know why the pic ended up sideways.

HOLY SHEEP DIP!

fixed the pic...

 

[4Nines]

Here's a better picture for you guys

 

[topop101]

I got started today, burned this ole boy out... LONG way to go...
Nothing to prove and nothing to hide, LOL!
VA, Drives and Get's turn is next!

I hear stories of a guy near me that has 4,000, he's a ghost...
If I have 1/10 of that, I'll be SHOCKED!

Take care ALL!
ZOOM

P.S. $100 in block and lumber, could have spent that on a vise!

That's what I'm talking bout!!!

 

[zoomieport]

That's what I'm talking bout!!!

#1 Top "SMOOTH" Operator!
I almost forgot about you.
You'd better get in the game too Sir...

 

[drivesitfar]

Zoomie: are your arms sore? i like your new avatar and your anvil one looked pretty good, but i think you might have a new one now. WELL DONE SIR!!

BTW Top posted up a few of his last month on a similar type shelving if you take a look or maybe he has the pictures handy.

CB: nice job finding a 5191 and i agree the one with the inset badge looks just a tad cooler. i wanted to ask you and forgot to, but is that a weld on the dynamic jaw just under the jaw on the slide or just welding splatter and crud?

looks like a decent stand too.

 

[topop101]

#1 Top "SMOOTH" Operator!
I almost forgot about you.
You'd better get in the game too Sir...

Here was my last pics. The total then was 127 I think . I've added a few since then and I think I'm at 131. 2 of the ones I added are for my personal collection that will never sell. About 80 are inventory to pay for my tool collection.

 

[Bcom]

HEHEHE these are good collection photos! Im grinning from ear to ear and giggling like a little school girl

 

[zoomieport]

Here was my last pics. The total then was 127 I think . I've added a few since then and I think I'm at 131. 2 of the ones I added are for my personal collection that will never sell. About 80 are inventory to pay for my tool collection.

Well done Sir!
I hope to make a good showing now...?
When I heal, I'll get "back" (pun intended) to it!

Take Care!
ZOOM

 

[zoomieport]

HEHEHE these are good collection photos! Im grinning from ear to ear and giggling like a little school girl

See what you've started...
Haha!

 

[topop101]

HEHEHE these are good collection photos! Im grinning from ear to ear and giggling like a little school girl

It sounds like your collection is about to begin!

 

[joe.striper]

http://boston.craigslist.org/sob/tls/5861629335.html

3" American Scale in Boston. He will ship.

 

[topop101]

Well done Sir!
I hope to make a good showing now...?
When I heal, I'll get "back" (pun intended) to it!

Take Care!
ZOOM

I know the feeling... Believe me. You should see the rest of the room! It's not vise related so I'll refrain from posting... My habit truly has no bounds! I have had a sale for the last 3 Saturdays in a row and cleared out one side...lol time to fill it up again!!!

 

[Bcom]

When i seen Meatsis first photo i thought to myself, " who stacks vises on top of one another and hangs them from the ceiling?!?!" HAHAHA

 

[topop101]

See what you've started...
Haha!

By the way I was given a great photo of an original decal for the American Scale I picked up this week. Joe mat be interested in this as well.... I have my sign people working on it now. Hopefully they can piece it together

 

[Keyblazer]

Ok, excuse me for not wading thru the 2300 + pages...

Got this today, and dont know if I screwed up or not...
Paid about $50 ish, but it was included with a bunch or other stuff, so difficult to apportion..
Comments or advice welcome!!!

Craftsman Vice... Looks to be about 12" long..




Part # 8815181?


Want to use it restore it... was it Red originally?

 

[drivesitfar]

KB: well I and maybe we'll forgive you for not reading everything about vises and this entire thread, but if you do i bet you might learn something other than the fact that most of us have a vice for vises.

how wide are the jaws on your Craftsman cause i don't have that model's #'s memorized? i'm guessing it's a 4 inch wide jaw and for that price even if it was only the vise you did ok. i've seen many many many of those vises on very handy guy's benches doing most of the work in their garages and shops.

of course if you do read a few if not all of the pages of this thread you'll maybe want to get another vise for the other end of your bench maybe a bit old and bigger.

cheers

TOP: 3 garage sales in the last 3 weeks at your house? so they didn't get a chance to buy the GOOD STUFF or did all the anvils head out the door?

 

[Keyblazer]

Looks like its 5" or so..

This one on Ebay looks the same, so I guess I was about on the money... deff no steal!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Craftsman-N...-5-1-8-Jaws-/162266937836?hash=item25c7dcf9ec

Better than the HF junk I have now!

 

[topop101]

TOP: 3 garage sales in the last 3 weeks at your house? so they didn't get a chance to buy the GOOD STUFF or did all the anvils head out the door?[/QUOTE]

Drives No good stuff left! Just mostly stuff from the hoarder house I bought last fall. Plus when I go to auctions I buy lots of boxes of "stuff" . Usually for one or two items then the rest of the box goes to garage sales. I moved about 200 boxes and totes of "stuff" . cleaned out a nice area and put a pile of green backs in my pocket to hit auctions with this winter when garage sales drop off. It's a vicious cycle but I enjoy it too much to quit any time soon.

 

[honza.vosalik]

I spoke to him as well. I hope he doesn't mind me sharing this pic he sent me



I don't know why the pic ended up sideways.

I believe I sold one of my vises to this guy. the shipping was almost as much as the vise itself

 

[DFB]

Ok, excuse me for not wading thru the 2300 + pages...

Got this today, and dont know if I screwed up or not...
Paid about $50 ish, but it was included with a bunch or other stuff, so difficult to apportion..
Comments or advice welcome!!!

Craftsman Vice... Looks to be about 12" long..




Part # 8815181?


Want to use it restore it... was it Red originally?

391.5181

There is a specific thread on Craftsman vises.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=149519&highlight=Craftsman+vise

Was it Red originally?

Hmm???

 

[va.grouseman]

Here was my last pics. The total then was 127 I think . I've added a few since then and I think I'm at 131. 2 of the ones I added are for my personal collection that will never sell. About 80 are inventory to pay for my tool collection.

That's my problem Top.---I don't have anything I consider inventory.---I tell myself, I need to unload some of this stuff, so I start looking around for something to sell and I say, no not that one, no not that one, no not that one, no definitely not that one.---And I find that I haven't stopped loving them yet.---And that makes ROOM a real commodity.

 

[drivesitfar]

Top: if i didn't have storage bills to pay i doubt i'd ever sell anything unless i needed some green to buy something else i liked better. i hear you on those bulk buys and probably should actually have a few storage or garage sales just to remove the bulk i didn't need. of course as soon as i sell those don't need items i usually have a need for one shortly after.

keep up the good work that is sort of like being on a merry go round and i think they call that LIVING THE GOOD LIFE.

cheers

KB: yep you did ok and maybe not a steal, but a lot better vise than an HF or new imported one. is it really 5 inch wide jaws cause it didn't look that big? pretty sure all of those vises were red originally. one guy that like to spend time with a vise like that on his buffer made it look like this before he sold it. (sorry picture of shiny vise is on one of the 2300 pages and in my old laptop so maybe you'll find it).

 

[trijeff]

So here is a journal page from 1907 showing that a few of the Pittsburgh RR vises might have gone to Tennessee

 

[drivesitfar]

TJ: it got awfully quiet when you typed in and posted this with Tennessee as the location of the RR vise. i bet a bunch of members are making plane reservations and calling their friends and relatives in that state as i'm typing this.

for a UNICORN or MYTHICAL VISE this RR VISE sure has a lot of literature written about it doesn't it.

thanks for doing the research.

 

[Bcom]

i think it got quiet because people were trying to read that page. Can anyone even read it? I cant even read it when zooming in on it

 

[FMC1959]

I talked to a collector out in Texas who's not on GJ but knows KMScott. He owns around 300 vises I think. I bet a pic of his collection would be cool to see.

I spoke to him as well. I hope he doesn't mind me sharing this pic he sent me



I don't know why the pic ended up sideways.

Again, my guesses and suspicions could be way off but Kevin stated on the vise poll that he had 88 vises (at that time)
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=5200988&postcount=30

Because as he stated he has a lot ( like Top) that is inventory, that number can go way up or down.

Guys like Demoman, VA, and others that are collectors, buy to keep, not to flip. Just another of my guesses without much basis, just from having read many of the pages on this thread, I would guesstimate VA at 400+. I don't want to put him on the spot, but inquiring minds want to know

Years back I remember Zoomie stating he had counted something like 270 and still had others to count.....and probably has added to his collection.

I am not calling anyone out Most guys on this thread are envious, son don't be shy if you feel like confessing