The VISES of Garage Journal

[72highboy]

Outlaw,
Looking inside, it's all clean original casting. Grinding marks stop 1/4"-1/2" from the bottom and the bottom of the slide is clean as well.. Seems strange to me but I think it's still solid

Deer hunter,
Nice 105 [emoji106] wanna sell it?[emoji4]

Cheers

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[deerhunter496]

72highboy, Thinking about it. I think I have another in the barn, I cant remember. I got at least 50 vises out there

 

[davevaughn]

FPU is vise made by the Bison Co. in Poland.

 

[KMScott]

Does anyone know how play the nut is supposed have in a Parker vise? Does it fit tight in the dovetail or is it loose and how loose? Can too much movement of the nut in the dovetail be fixed?

If the nut is backed up by a soft pin and the pin is tight to the back of the nut and the collar is fairly tight (should have spring steel washers for backlash gap) and you can grab the dynamic jaw support and move it forward and backwards then you either have a worn out nut or the dove tail channel that captures your nut channel is either broken in the Static jaw support or the dovetail part of the nut is to small. I added pic's of a broken Stat and other ways I have tighten up the nut slop instead of bending the pin forward towards the nut.

It is always good to turn the noise off in your shop, open up the vise slowly and watch how everything works, listen to the workings. Flip it over and just see how everything connected to the opening and closing of your vise. Check the fits, gap settings and the wear of these old vises is always something I do before tearing it down. After you clean it it becomes even more loose. The nut should wiggle max around about 3/16 left to right and about the same up and down. I like to tighten it up more as long as the spindle thread are not binding. This wiggle room allows the misalignment due to casting tolerances. Good luck and share what you found.

 

[454ragtop]

72highboy, I wonder if someone had something clamped in the vise and was using a file or grinder on it vertically, and got into the slide. Thinking like opening up a hole or something.

 

[Joefriday]

Thank you guys.. It's going to take me a while and a lot of money to catch up with your collections.

Best,
Rob

 

[VISEs]

Joe:
Nice starter collection of vises.
You mean to tell us that you got each of those for $50 or less?????

Vises:
Yes, play your cards correctly. The chance to own a Reed 209 is a rare opportunity to say the least. As you know, sometimes it takes more than just throwing a wad of cash into a deal to make it work. Sometimes it takes finesse as well.
We are all rooting for you!

Yes this deal is not about the $$. Trust me I offered a way more than fair price. This is a logistics and relationship type sale.


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[rusty65]

Illinois iron and bolt company vise. I really like the effort to the design they gave the casting of this vise.

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[bobscars]

Can anyone identify the vice in the pics? It does have double locks to tighten the swivel base. Thanks, Bob

 

[jakemac]

Intentional or not, I'm thinking the "A" stands for Asian import.

 

[PghJKB]

Can anyone identify the vice in the pics? It does have double locks to tighten the swivel base. Thanks, Bob

Intentional or not, I'm thinking the "A" stands for Asian import.

There is also the Asian import brand "Allied".

IMHO Asian import.

See more about Allied:
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=216342


JKB

 

[G-ManBart]

Hello all!
I've been building my garage and acquiring stuff at industrial auctions for a couple years. The light is at the end of the tunnel and so I'm gonna start posting some of my acquisitions.
These are two Wilton vises that I got for $225 from an auction in CT. One is a 4" Machinist Vise, the other is a 5 1/2" Tradesman Vise. I'll probably keep the Tradesman and sell the 4" on.

If you don't absolutely need pipe jaws, the 4" Machinist is a better vise than the Tradesman.

 

[Matt XYZ]

I need some help as I know very little about Vises. I got this vise for free in Germany from a Tech School, it's about a 5 inch opening. I don't think it's valuable or rare but it's at least 20 years old so probably made in Europe. I can't find any examples online and I am having a hard time taking it apart to restore it. Has anyone seen a vise with the horizontal bolts through the body? Also, it doesn't seem to have a removeable pin to disassemble the "screw" and handle. I might just clean it up and repaint it as is as I can't get the bolts free. It has the same bolt head on the other side, not a nut. Any help or advice would be appreciated.

It works fine so I think I can get away with sanding it down, repainting and relubing it.

 

[gman007]

I need some help as I know very little about Vises. I got this vise for free in Germany from a Tech School, it's about a 5 inch opening. I don't think it's valuable or rare but it's at least 20 years old so probably made in Europe. I can't find any examples online and I am having a hard time taking it apart to restore it. Has anyone seen a vise with the horizontal bolts through the body? Also, it doesn't seem to have a removeable pin to disassemble the "screw" and handle. I might just clean it up and repaint it as is as I can't get the bolts free. It has the same bolt head on the other side, not a nut. Any help or advice would be appreciated.

It works fine so I think I can get away with sanding it down, repainting and relubing it.

MattXYZ

I am not sure if there is a typo in your statement " it doesn't seem to have a removeable pin to disassemble the screw and handle", did you mean to say "does seem", as in the third photo, you can see a small screw on the retaining ring that is holding spring back and holding the acme/cork screw in place. I would imaging if you loosen this screw, the retaining ring and spring would slide off the screw and then acme/cork screw can be pulled out of the dynamic jaw.

The design of the vise seems rather odd and almost like home made (which is surprising for supposed reputable German Engineering) ! The horizontal bolts seem to be there to hold the rather strange metal piece guide at the top of the static jaw housing which presumable is there to hold draw bar in the center of static jaw assembly which is lob sided and asymmetric (which is again seems strange). Even the acme screw bold seems to be asymmetric and drilled to one side (at leas from the photo)!

Finally, it seem this vise might have had a swivel base that is missing

In my humble opinion this seems to be a rather poorly made vise
007

 

[Matt XYZ]

MattXYZ

I am not sure if there is a typo in your statement " it doesn't seem to have a removeable pin to disassemble the screw and handle", did you mean to say "does seem", as in the third photo, you can see a small screw on the retaining ring that is holding spring back and holding the acme/cork screw in place. I would imaging if you loosen this screw, the retaining ring and spring would slide off the screw and then acme/cork screw can be pulled out of the dynamic jaw.

The design of the vise seems rather odd and almost like home made (which is surprising for supposed reputable German Engineering) ! The horizontal bolts seem to be there to hold the rather strange metal piece guide at the top of the static jaw housing which presumable is there to hold draw bar in the center of static jaw assembly which is lob sided and asymmetric (which is again seems strange). Even the acme screw bold seems to be asymmetric and drilled to one side (at leas from the photo)!

Finally, it seem this vise might have had a swivel base that is missing

In my humble opinion this seems to be a rather poorly made vise
007

I agree and I am a little dumbfounded by the design and why it even has the separate guide piece in the static jaw. I found a somewhat similar design on German Amazon

https://www.amazon.de/dp/B06XGSFWQ2/

It also is lacking the swivel base so maybe it didn't have one originally. As for the spring retaining screw, it is the same on both sides I have tried to loosen it with allen wrenches, small screw drivers and pliers. I will keep messing with it.

This vise will only see light duty and it was free so it will probably work for my needs. I also have a Littco that I got off ebay as a back up. I don't weld or do metal work, just work on cars for fun.

I agree that it probably isn't well made and as an engineer I find the design illogical and overly complicated.

 

[gman007]

I agree and I am a little dumbfounded by the design and why it even has the separate guide piece in the static jaw. I found a somewhat similar design on German Amazon

https://www.amazon.de/dp/B06XGSFWQ2/

It also is lacking the swivel base so maybe it didn't have one originally. As for the spring retaining screw, it is the same on both sides I have tried to loosen it with allen wrenches, small screw drivers and pliers. I will keep messing with it.

This vise will only see light duty and it was free so it will probably work for my needs. I also have a Littco that I got off ebay as a back up. I don't weld or do metal work, just work on cars.

I agree that it probably isn't well made and as an engineer I find the design illogical and overly complicated.

Based on the single good photo on the German Amazon link, it seems that the original cavity in the static dynamic jaw must be trapezoid at least looking from the back end prospective) and therefore symmetric on both sides which makes sense as the draw bar is also trapezoid. It seems some one then rigged the vise possibly because of the damage inside the housing to the left hand corner!

If you notice the top of the hosing cavity at the left hand side is in fact rectangular and that is where the strange "guide" piece is held in place by the bolts. So it is plausible that there was damage in this area and then some of cut up the damage and created the right angle left corner and then used a rigged tapped piece to re-create a tapered and angled edge. This also would explain why the left hand wall is so much thinner than right hand (ie it has been carved up), as well as the strange empty space between the "rigged" "guide" piece and top of the housing and right side of the "guide". Even the bolts holding the "guide" price are super sized when compared to the supposed original (from amazon photo) so again may be in attempt to secure the rigged "guide" piece.
007

 

[454ragtop]

Matt xyz, that's not a roll pin holding the spring on the leadscrew is it by chance? Almost looks like it.

 

[Outlawmws]

I think 454 hit it: the spring retainer is a roll pin. how much room do you have to the sides for it to stick out? if sufficient space you can drive it from one side rotate 180 and have more to grip to pull it. the trick will be gripping it hard enough to do the pulling. can vise grips reach the pin?

You will also want to take the tension off the sprig so a piece of conduit, notched for the roll pin, is needed to put pressure on the spring...

That slide cam is interesting. I suspect the bolts are more like set screes so you can adjust the fit. pretty complex for an inexpensive vise...

 

[Matt XYZ]

Based on the single good photo on the German Amazon link, it seems that the original cavity in the static dynamic jaw must be trapezoid at least looking from the back end prospective) and therefore symmetric on both sides which makes sense as the draw bar is also trapezoid. It seems some one then rigged the vise possibly because of the damage inside the housing to the left hand corner!

If you notice the top of the hosing cavity at the left hand side is in fact rectangular and that is where the strange "guide" piece is held in place by the bolts. So it is plausible that there was damage in this area and then some of cut up the damage and created the right angle left corner and then used a rigged tapped piece to re-create a tapered and angled edge. This also would explain why the left hand wall is so much thinner than right hand (ie it has been carved up), as well as the strange empty space between the "rigged" "guide" piece and top of the housing and right side of the "guide". Even the bolts holding the "guide" price are super sized when compared to the supposed original (from amazon photo) so again may be in attempt to secure the rigged "guide" piece.
007

My curiosity got the better of me and I actually found the same exact vise on German eBay. Apparently is a Matador Record Peddinghaus which is a decent brand.

http://www.ebay.de/itm/Matador-Schr...985685?hash=item1a2d4a2d55:g:PV4AAOSwjL5ZMYbk


I don't know exactly how old the vise is and it could be much older than 20 years. Your home made repair concept is more than plausible but I was wondering why someone would go through so much trouble for an entry level vise. Also, my vise has the fairly intricate stamped covers on the front and back of the static jaw. Both my vise and the eBay one only have the one screw on the left side where the guide is. So it appears that it was produced this way and not modified or repaired. I'm finding several available on eBay. The second picture is from eBay with the label decals, sorry for the screenshot pic. My vise had the remnants of the Record decal on the side but it was unreadable.

I still don't know why it was designed this way but apparently it worked. I found a few newer model Matador vises with a smaller cover plate and hex bolts also on eBay.

 

[Matt XYZ]

I think 454 hit it: the spring retainer is a roll pin. how much room do you have to the sides for it to stick out? if sufficient space you can drive it from one side rotate 180 and have more to grip to pull it. the trick will be gripping it hard enough to do the pulling. can vise grips reach the pin?

You will also want to take the tension off the sprig so a piece of conduit, notched for the roll pin, is needed to put pressure on the spring...

That slide cam is interesting. I suspect the bolts are more like set screes so you can adjust the fit. pretty complex for an inexpensive vise...

Thanks guys. I think it is a roll pin. I'll play with it this weekend to see if I have enough room to get it out. If not then I will just leave it assembled and clean it up. Thanks everyone for the insight and I certainly learned a lot.

 

[Bellaireroad]

Illinois iron and bolt company vise. I really like the effort to the design they gave the casting of this vise.

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Nice looking ... more pics if you have time


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[Outlawmws]

Matt, you mentioned sanding and painting? for these cast pieces you are better off either wire wheeling, using paint remover, or sometimes a soak in simple Green (if you have it over in Germany) will take the old paint off.

 

[Bellaireroad]

Can anyone identify the vice in the pics? It does have double locks to tighten the swivel base. Thanks, Bob

Chinesium


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[454ragtop]

Nice looking ... more pics if you have time


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Weird, says chinesium, I hit quote, comes up completely different. Anyway, doesn't look like an Asian import to me, looks like a pretty old coachmakers non swivel vise, not something likely to be copied in Asia.

 

[Matt XYZ]

Matt, you mentioned sanding and painting? for these cast pieces you are better off either wire wheeling, using paint remover, or sometimes a soak in simple Green (if you have it over in Germany) will take the old paint off.

Thanks, I have Simple Green from the PX on base. I planned on hitting it with a rust and paint remover drill brush then Simple Green, Rustoleum primer and Hammerite (European Rustoleum equivalent) paint. I probably can't get inside the static jaw housing. I'll try the Dremel with brush to get to some of it. I need to review this thread in detail to get all the tips on restoring vices. I'm not looking for a museum quality resto but it is pretty rough. I will spend more time restoring my Littco.

 

[drivesitfar]

454: Bellair was talking about Bobs #5 A vise not the cool coachmaker old vise Rusty posted. i'm guessing you figured that out after you posted. weird the Quote didn't come up Chinesism or whatever work Bellair inventented to say cheap import.

 

[rusty65]

Bellairerailroad: here are a few more pictures of the vise. The vise was made in Carpentersville, IL and the town I picked it up from was about an hour south from there. It's definitely one of my favorites as my main collection is of Illinois vise companies of which there seems to have been quit a few of.

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[compunaut]

Just stumbled across an 8" Record (made in England) being sold on CL in Houston, in case anybody is interested:
Heavy duty bench vise
$700 and 82lb. Seems pretty high to me, but I'm not the one collecting 'big iron'

I'll be down there this weekend, if someone needs a pick up

 

[Outlawmws]

Something ain't right: My 6" Paramo swivel base outweighs a record 8"

And it ain't drop forged either?

 

[Bellaireroad]

Bellairerailroad: here are a few more pictures of the vise. The vise was made in Carpentersville, IL and the town I picked it up from was about an hour south from there. It's definitely one of my favorites as my main collection is of Illinois vise companies of which there seems to have been quit a few of.

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This is classified as artwork


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[jason n]

this came in today for scrap. I haven't really looked it over to close but it seems to be ok other than the paint

 

[Steevo]

Just dragged this beast home today. It sat at $40 for a week, then in the last hour of the auction got jacked up to $140. I had a max bid in at $150, so I ended up with for about $150 after taxes.

Columbian 206 M2:
That's a full size hand truck under it, but that monster vise makes it look like a toy.

Dwarfing my vintage 4-1/2" Craftsman vise:

I know we like beer cans to show size of vises, so here are the requisite beer can pics:

Sorry, I only had one beer can handy . . .

It was a lot more than I have ever paid for a vise, but I had never seen one this big in person, so I had to bid on it.

 

[Provincial]

You ****, Steevo! I have one of those that isn't mounted yet because I have to build an appropriate bench for it.

It looks like the thrust washer for the main screw is damaged. Mine is worn, so I intend to use a roller thrust bearing there.

I'll be the first to point out the missing pipe jaws, but mine is missing one, and I won't be reinstalling it. I have pipe vises, so I don't need these, and they get in the way of parts held in the jaws. I think that this is why so many are missing.

Columbians don't get much love from collectors, so it gave you a chance to steal that one!

 

[Outlawmws]

Nice find Steevo! What's that mother weigh?

 

[Steevo]

Nice find Steevo! What's that mother weigh?

I don't know yet, but when the wife is gone tomorrow, I'll borrow the bathroom scale and go weigh it.

 

[Outlawmws]

Suggestion: weigh the two main sections separately...

 

[Provincial]

Columbian specified 165 lbs. (with both pipe jaws installed) circa 1950.

 

[Shiftless]

Steevo:
Nice one!
Those big vises are a mixed blessing. They look cool and really hold onto work pieces. But moving them around is such a pain...
My Reed 406 weighs in around 160 so I know what you have to deal with. Be careful. Like Outlaw said, take it apart and weigh it in pieces. Don't try to lift the whole assembly at once unless you have a crane.

 

[akasrick]

Jason n

this came in today for scrap. I haven't really looked it over to close but it seems to be ok other than the paint

I paid $20 for one with a cam action swivel base, used it the other day to beat a broken handle off a rake. You may find a number on one of the jaws in the middle picture.
It probably deserves to be mounted and used again. If you decide otherwise I will answer a PM.
akasrick

 

[Tonellin]

Picked up this awesome Walworth for $50. Not a ton on info out there on these vises but it looks like it was made on Congress st in Boston between 1982-1911, which is very cool because my old office building was on the corner of Congress st which is in the financial district of downtown Boston.

Another cool bit on info is that James Walworth introduced steam heat to the United States, installing the first steam heating system into a house in Lowell, MA in the early 1840's. He was also contracted to redo the heating system in the White House in 1853 for president Franklin Pierce

I know open screw vises don't get a ton of love around these parts but the screw on this thing is absolutely massive for it's size. The screw has a diameter of 1 3/8" and I think the vise weighs around 70-75lbs. I have it sitting next to a Reed 104 1/2 which weighs 60lbs and the Walworth is substantially heavier.

Jaws are 4 3/4", they open 8 1/2" and it has a massive 16 3/4" handle which has a threaded end





Interesting jaw insert







Only downside is that it was missing the base lock to mount the vise. Since I doubt I'll ever come across a replacement I'll probably have to find a bolt in order to mount it.