VISE REPAIR 101 all vise repairs, lubricants, sources for parts and the tricks to fix

[GETRIDAONE]

Kevin & Outlaw,. Thanks for the tips on getting the ball center drilled, I will try them with the handle I have to make.

Bagged,. check page 168 - post #3349 for the info on the place I buy the handle balls from.

Sorry for the delayed reply, I went for a fall drive on the twisting mountain roads of North Carolina.

http://www.photoreflect.com/store/Orderpage.aspx?pi=04RK02UJ022062&po=3147&pc=3700

 

[6PTsocket]

Those brass soft jaws look like the ones Reed makes. We had them on a Reed vise at work. Wilton makes similar ones in copper which I bought because the price was right and they are expensive, especially 6". I like the brass better than the copper. The brass is a little harder but still soft enough to protect the work piece

 

[Developer]

Inspired by the posts here, I decided to make my first attempt at restoring a vintage Reed No304 I inherited from my grandfather. I opted not to fill the imperfections. Attached are the before pictures. I'll add more.

 

[Developer]

A couple more before pics.

 

[Developer]

Finished, but I need to figure out a pin for the swivel back jaw, that was froze solid before I started. Took 3 days, Friday-Sunday. Have to say, I am quite satisfied with it. The project also gave me a greater appreciation for the work all of you put into your restorations! BTW, Outlawmws, what do you think about my make shift handle we discussed briefly in another post?

 

[Developer]

A few more completed pics with the freed up swivel jaw..

 

[drivesitfar]

DEV: great job restoring that old REED 304 and as you might have read i LOVE REED VISES. as far as making a pin you can do so as easily as grinding up a bolt or if you know a machinist or want a nicer one some of the members here make them to sell.

welcome to GJ and i'm guessing this won't be your last vise restoration and happy to hear you saved and kept a family vise to use.

 

[Roberts210]

Great job Developer! Outstanding.

 

[Tomthumb717]

Have the opportunity to purchase what i believe to be a Charles Parker 386 with 6" jaws, double swivel, 174 lbs. If future pics turn out to show no major issues what would a fair price be. Not looking to resell this.

 

[drivesitfar]

TT: where are you located would make a bit of a difference cause if you are in New England or Michigan where vises seem to be a little more plentiful it might be less than say Texas or California?

it's not a common vise and as you know swivel jaw 6 inchers are not light or cheap so if it's in great shape and you like it and want to keep it pay up for it. like i said many times I'm not a huge fan of Parker cause they are not as common in my area and you need to be a machinist to replace the jaws or some of the parts. Parker did make an awesome vise though and if that 6 inch swivel jaw was offered up to me at a fair price i'd probably buy it if the jaws, slide were ok and it didn't have any welds or broken parts.

good luck and PM me if you don't want to say where you live and maybe i can give you a better ballpark price.

 

[EpicLobster]

I bought a vise back in early october at an estate sale for $27 and decided I was going to clean it up and repaint it, but ended up sending it off to a company to have it bead blasted and powder coated. Very happy with the way it came out. This is my first vise so I plan on keeping it for a while and wanted to do it up right. Next step is to build a proper workbench to mount it on. I added pics of how it was when I bought it, after cleaning, and after powder coating.

 

[Developer]

Thanks Drive and Robert!

Drivesitfar: You're right, it won't be my last. My neighbor gave me a Columbian blacksmith vise he's had for a long time, but hasn't used in decades. 6" jaws and 41" tall. He worked at the local utility company, and when they got rid of their blacksmith shop, this vise was tossed into the dumpster! He rescued it and took it home. Not sure when I will start on it though. It's one heavy s.o.b. LOL

 

[Outlawmws]

That's a great score! Blacksmiths that big are't all that common. Most are in the 4" range.

 

[drivesitfar]

DEV: so far you've posted 2 vises and if I owned both of them they would be KEEPERS for me and as you might have seen i own a few vises and not all KEEPERS. great find and story and isn't it sad to hear about all of these cool old working tools were just thrown away or left to rust outside?

since you might not know much about that vise and i can't tell you much yet since i still don't own one here's a thread where you can post up pictures of yours and maybe learn a bit more about your vise.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=311564&highlight=Blacksmith

keep up the good posts and finds and hope you find more cool vises and tools in your travels to post.

ALL: I might like WOODWORKING almost as much as steel and old cast iron and one of the members (JIM REED) agreed to start a WOODWORKING 101 thread in general tools to share his wisdom. if some of you like working with wood and have wisdom to share or want to learn let's have a GJ thread that might be the best on the internet.

 

[Developer]

Thanks, Drive, and Outlaw... I'll post updates when I get started. I'm still working on my garage rehab and setting up, which coincidentally, brought me to GJ to begin with. I think I was searching for "garage organization".

 

[Cope]

That will absolutely clean up well enough to warrant a new handle....no question at all!

With some effort, I turned this:



In to this:



You have a much better starting position!

Looking at your before and working on my failing memory, was black the OEM color for these vises?

 

[G-ManBart]

Looking at your before and working on my failing memory, was black the OEM color for these vises?

I think so, but I'm not 100% certain. This vise appears to have had more than one color over time...I think it was black, then painted yellow, then painted black again.

 

[jimreed2160]

Finally finished this Columbian #402 1/2 swivel jaw. It was in pretty bad shape so I left some of its "war wounds" for a vintage look.

I used some of my favorite purple. Now I just need to smear some white paint on the raised letters.

 

[Bcom]

Anybody need any wilton 9300 parts? I have a whole 9300 im parting out. No swivel base and the static body is cracked but the rest of the vise is in awesome shape.

 

[Developer]

Nice job Cope and Jim!

Cope: What brand and color/shade of red did you use?

Jim: Where did you get that pin for your swivel jaw?

 

[HCNDM]

Quick update on the record no.4 which will be an gift for my dad.

The key for the screw is welded up... fixed... cleaned up and installed.

I ended up going with a split pin for the thrust spring as suggested by Carla and others.



I still need to organize a new handle. Have some cleanup to do on the lettering... and a clear coat for durability..







Color is matched ford blue. My dad likes and owns old ford tractors.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jimreed2160]

Dev--The swivel pin began life as a lag screw. I cut it to length and then rolled it on the grinding wheel until it was tame. I left it proud so it would be easier on my tired fingers.

 

[drivesitfar]

Jim: nice job on that old Columbian and Fretters would be happy to see another member paint a vise his Burgundy colour that he loves painting all his English vices. thanks again for showing how you made a pin out of a simple bolt and bench grinder.

also thanks again for starting and hosting the WOODWORKING 101 thread.

HCN: i don't think i'd do much to the handle so it would have a little patina so to speak, but certainly up to you and you knowing what your DAD will like. Nice gesture BTW and WELL DONE cause that vice pops now with that blue and shined up jaws.

 

[Cope]

Nice job Cope and Jim!

Cope: What brand and color/shade of red did you use?

Jim: Where did you get that pin for your swivel jaw?

That red vise belongs to G-Man Bart.

 

[Developer]

Cope: DOH! I didn't even notice that! I'm going to have to start paying closer attention. LOL

 

[jimreed2160]

The mailman took a holiday yesterday to honor our veterans. But the poor UPS guy did not get a break. He left this on my doorstep.

It is a Brodhead Garrett woodworking vise. Looks to be in great shape and must weigh 30-40 lbs (!). Before I put in in the ww vise stash, I tried to flip up the dog but that was a no-go. I was surprised to see that it had its original dog. Most of these are MIA. Anyway, I could not put away a vise with a problem, so I worked on the dog. How do you work on a dog?, you ask. Why with a stick and a hammer, of course. This applies ONLY to bench dogs.

Some serious tapping raised the sluggish dog. I oiled it. That helped but not much. So then I carefully pulled the pin and extracted the dog. OUCH! It was crusty-rusty. I cleaned it up with a pocketknife and sandpaper and found a surprise when I started cleaning the dog hole (house?). There was a flat spring on the side and it was also crusty-rusty. Here is a picture of it being replaced.

Then Mr Dremel cleaned out the hole which was full of rust dust and saw dust.

So after cleaning, derusting, and oiling, the dog is moving with light finger pressure.

Since many of these dogs are MIA, I thought this posting would help anyone replacing a dog. Even when the dog is present, the spring is probably MIA. If you ever have a problem with a lazy dog, a flat spring is your answer.

 

[Outlawmws]

Nice write up Jim!

 

[CwazyWabbit]

A question for the Wilton experts around here.

Have any of you done any welding on a bullet vise?

Bullet vises aren't common on my side of the pond, but I have a chance to pick one up that has had a repair. I'm not particularly keen on the looks of the repair so would like to redo it, I have the option of brazing or TIG welding, curious as to the quality of the castings and hence their ease of welding.

Thanks in advance for your responses.

 

[Tomthumb717]

What would be a good grease, wax, lubricant to apply to the main screw/nut, between the swivel base and under the dynamic slide rails?

 

[drivesitfar]

TT: you can find some lubricant choices on post #5 (or a post in that area for lubricants) and if one of those doesn't appeal to you just ask again. good luck and almost any one will work that you might have available.

CW: i've seen several methods on this thread both Mig and Tig so until the welders show up you might want to read a few of the old posts.

i have heard if you do BRAZE WELD you need to really heat up the vise first before applying and keep the oven, bbq or other heat source hot and turn down the heat slowly or have a pile of sand close by is maybe another method to stick it in it for cooling down.

good luck

 

[schor]

What would be a good grease, wax, lubricant to apply to the main screw/nut, between the swivel base and under the dynamic slide rails?

Any grease will do on a vise.

 

[Tomthumb717]

Thanks all for the insight

 

[G-ManBart]

A question for the Wilton experts around here.

Have any of you done any welding on a bullet vise?

Bullet vises aren't common on my side of the pond, but I have a chance to pick one up that has had a repair. I'm not particularly keen on the looks of the repair so would like to redo it, I have the option of brazing or TIG welding, curious as to the quality of the castings and hence their ease of welding.

Thanks in advance for your responses.

I've done just a bit of welding on a bullet, but I'm far from an expert (it turned out fine). I only have stick machines, so I used a high nickel rod and ran it on DCEP at a pretty low amperage.

In talking with KMScott he does quite a bit of welding on vises using a TIG setup with a special filler rod that sounds like a far better process. I'd send him a note about it. I checked my notes, and he told me he uses Eutestic 224 filler rod, but it's super expensive!

 

[G-ManBart]

Cope: DOH! I didn't even notice that! I'm going to have to start paying closer attention. LOL

If you were asking about the paint on my Parker 975, it was Rustoleum Hammered Bright Red.

 

[jimreed2160]

The Morgan Vise Company was in Chicago from 1929--1947. My guess is that the model 10x was a later product. The grey paint on these looks later so I would peg these as some of the last post war production in Chicago. At a later date, some shop teacher decided that butter yellow would brighten them up. Now one is stripped and the other is as found. It took awhile to get that paint off the raised letters. Simple Green, Dremel wire wheel, dental pick. So here are the twins.

 

[Outlawmws]

Not sure if the WW vises followed the same pattern, but the early Morgan Mackines vises were grey, and the alter ones were blue in the Chicago era.

 

[jimreed2160]

Not sure if the WW vises followed the same pattern, but the early Morgan Mackines vises were grey, and the alter ones were blue in the Chicago era.

The original paint was definitely gray. Maybe these vises are older than I thought. Perhaps 1930s.

 

[drivesitfar]

Jim: I think Morgan got government contracts after WWII and i've got one that came off the USS Independence that is battleship grey. not sure if they made any grey ones earlier than that, but i'll check a few that i own to see. most were bare metal and maybe Japanned finish that are older if i can recall from the few I own.

of course wood vises could be an entire different ballgame.

here's the Morgan 50 i own that is headed for another member's bench sometime soon and a good example of Battleship grey with a little shop patina on it.

 

[Outlawmws]

Navy contracts would not be applicable to civilian sales and colors Drives. If it's in a Mil Spec or contract Spec, that's it.

 

[drivesitfar]

Outlaw: i'm not a fan of a painted vise either way and just had not seen any grey morgans with Chicago on them (EDIT: I just found a 130 I own that might have been grey originally).

ALL: Doesn't morgan still have government contracts and doesn't really market their vises to the public much?

i suppose if we could find an old guy (or woman) alive that worked at Morgan around WWII we might find out the answer? or maybe a catalog page? Morgan still is in business so maybe they have a file somewhere.

as you can see the other morgans i own with Chicago on them are blue and not sure what is under the yellow one that might have built half a dozen planes in a private hanger where i found it and bought it from the 75 year old son.