The VISES of Garage Journal

[Provincial]

Twertsy, that little vise could be first clamped to the work and then held in a larger vise crosswise. That way the wing nut would not interfere. It looks like the casting isn't flat enough to clamp just one side in the larger vise allowing removing/replacing the work while held stationary. It really is sort of a hand vise.

 

[twertsy]

Twertsy, that little vise could be first clamped to the work and then held in a larger vise crosswise. That way the wing nut would not interfere. It looks like the casting isn't flat enough to clamp just one side in the larger vise allowing removing/replacing the work while held stationary. It really is sort of a hand vise.

Yup, except it doesn't have a handle. The 3 notches indicate some special function?

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[Outlawmws]

Yup, except it doesn't have a handle. The 3 notches indicate some special function?

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Holding 3 different sizes of rod? are they smooth? possibly threaded?

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Yup, except it doesn't have a handle. The 3 notches indicate some special function?

Looks like for different size pins. I have a pair of pliers with similar jaws, and that's what they're for. That's a cool find, Todd.

EDIT: X-posted with you, Outlaw.

 

[Fretters]

I know its the dreaded Anvil Vise but I picked it up for $15.
Its not too far gone and I am going to let Joe have a go at this and make it the nicest Cheney #30 out there.

Seems a shame to go & ruin a nice vice.

 

[seber]

twertsy, I believe that vise has been modified. It should have had a post at the bottom that might have been removed. Same for the notches.

 

[KMScott]

I know its the dreaded Anvil Vise but I picked it up for $15.
Its not too far gone and I am going to let Joe have a go at this and make it the nicest Cheney #30 out there.

That is a pretty cool vise. The collar is different I can not see it as a quick release. It looks like a swivel jaw also. Worth every penny you paid for it NJ Marty. Nice find.

 

[Druder]

Found a cheap Wilton for my HF box, this will not get worked super hard but it will be a nice addition for what I do.

 

[twertsy]

twertsy, I believe that vise has been modified. It should have had a post at the bottom that might have been removed. Same for the notches.

I don't believe so. No sign of any mods.

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[mikeswrenches]

Nice find Twerst.---Wonder if it's the same Stevens Co. that made the ratchet vise?

The company that made your vise was the Stephens Patent Vise Co.

Mike

 

[va.grouseman]

Here's a couple of recent acquisitions and the Lowville with a star I mentioned in an earlier post.---The first is one of those Military Grand's without the quick release.---The second is what I think is a handsaw or crosscut saw stump vise.---Maybe not.

 

[gman007]

Hi All
Does anyone know anything about this vise? The only description is "Vintage, Palm Swivel Vise ". It almost looks like a hybrid machine vise and honestly I can not even tell if it is necessarily vintage or not.
Thx

 

[va.grouseman]

Couple more pics of the stump vise and the Lowville with the star.

The Grand weighs 7.8 lbs., opens 3 3/4'', and has 3'' jaws.

The Lowville weighs 23.8 lbs., opens 5 1/2'', and has 3'' jaws.

I call it a Lowville but I guess it's really Fulton.

 

[va.grouseman]

Gman, that looks like a Millhoff vise or a school project.

 

[gman007]

Couple more pics of the stump vise and the Lowville with the star.

The Grand weighs 7.8 lbs., opens 3 3/4'', and has 3'' jaws.

The Lowville weighs 23.8 lbs., opens 5 1/2'', and has 3'' jaws.

I call it a Lowville but I guess it's really Fulton.

VA, What does "F.M. &V.Co." Stand for? Fulton something??

PS
That is a nice vise!

 

[gman007]

Gman, that looks like a Millhoff vise or a school project.

If it is a millhoff what is the background on this company? And what is the primary usage of such vise? as it does not seem at all stout, I can see it may be used as a drill press vise or for machining etc but nothing serious
Cheers

 

[CRSINMICH]

gman: Pipe down for goodness sake! Don't let Joe catch you bad mouthing Milhoffs! There's already one GJ member who's dead to him

 

[gman007]

gman: Pipe down for goodness sake! Don't let Joe catch you bad mouthing Milhoffs!

CRS I did not know talking about vises can be dangerous to ones health
We have PC for everything these days and it seems even vises have PC police ��

 

[va.grouseman]

Yea that's right Gman, the Millhoff is Joe's primary user and he swares by them. His vise has a rotating head.

Here's a post by Joe that Jreb10 reposted.---It has a link to the man who invented the Millhoff.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Quote:
Originally Posted by joe.striper
http://m.ebay.com/itm?itemId=1819309...=BIN&kmsi=true

Which GJ jerkoff bought my Millhoff vise before I could! I am sure whoever bought it knew what it is.
I guess the Milhoff vise goodness is getting spread around. I like mine very much, and I know you like yours.

Funny story. It turns out I met the guy who invented the Milhoff vise. His name was Bob Hofmeister, and that is where the "hoff" part of the company name comes from.

After retiring from Milhoff, he opened a Harley dealership in Faribault, MN. I met him there a few times and spoke with him a little bit, unfortunately not about vises as I did not know his background then.

Here is a link to his obit which is an interesting read:
http://www.startribune.com/biker-bob...s-89/27078964/
__________________

 

[Fretters]

Yea that's right Gman, the Millhoff is Joe's primary user and he swares by them. His has a rotting head.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The vice or Joe?

 

[gman007]

Va Thanks for the post! I edited my original post which was in jest after reading about Bob Hofmeister as he seems to have been quite a genius and good man. May he Rest In Peace

 

[gman007]

The vice or Joe?

Fret I hand it to you, You English are such cheeky devils and do not miss a beat, do you? That was very funny and right on the money. I can not help but keep chuckling

 

[va.grouseman]

VA, What does "F.M. &V.Co." Stand for? Fulton something??

PS
That is a nice vise!

I think Fulton Machine & Vise Co., but that is just a guess.

 

[va.grouseman]

Fretters, I had to go back and edit post 61572, but I have to admit, it was funnier the way I misspelled it.---I don't edit my postings near enough.---I do edit but always manage to miss something.---But I take comfort in knowing that I'm not alone in this short coming.---I'm in good company.

 

[Outlawmws]

 

[old__man]

Finally mounted the vise I had bought a few months ago. Record 35. I had wanted to refinish it before putting it to use but refinish my car first is more important and I need a vise for that. It can wait. I had to file a bit of the back to get it to open and close fully. It seems one of the previous owners used the back end as an avil. The quick release works flawlessly. Maybe some day I will get a swivel base for it.

 

[CRSINMICH]

old man: Congrats on getting your Record mounted and on having your priorities straight. You'll need a functional auto much more than a shiny vise although the vise looks pretty good the way it is. Btw, my wife and I enjoyed our visit to Halifax a few years ago. Lovely city with very polite drivers.

gman: You were asking about Fulton Machine & Vise. Here's a bit of information about Edwin Fulton and one of his vise patent drawings. That vise looks suspiciously like the Chinese Wonder Vise.

 

[va.grouseman]

CRS, I've seen that article before but it's awfully good to have it brought up again once in a while as I forget all the details.---Question, some of those NuTyp rotating vises had Oswego Tool Corporation on them and some had Sawyer tool Co. on them, so when did it convert to the Sawyer Tool Co?

 

[gman007]

old man: Congrats on getting your Record mounted and on having your priorities straight. You'll need a functional auto much more than a shiny vise although the vise looks pretty good the way it is. Btw, my wife and I enjoyed our visit to Halifax a few years ago. Lovely city with very polite drivers.

gman: You were asking about Fulton Machine & Vise. Here's a bit of information about Edwin Fulton and one of his vise patent drawings. That vise looks suspiciously like the Chinese Wonder Vise.

CRS Thank you for the article and diagram! Mr Edwin Fulton was quite an interesting and resilient man. $22k In 1907 is equivalent to just under $600k today, so it seems vise making was a modest operation.

As for the copy and theft of intellectual property by Asian countries, well putting it mildly, it is one of my pet peeves in life and a constant source of irritation which riles and boils my blood to no end!

 

[BeardedOne]

There's an estate sale about 220 miles west of me in Princeton, Ky.

Picture 480 of 663 shows a green vise that may still be there but I have no idea what they're asking for it or if it's still available.

Someone here may find it for a good price.

https://www.estatesales.net/KY/Princeton/42445/1773930

 

[CRSINMICH]

va: I have posted that information at least once before. Twertsy has the same article on his site. I don't know when or even if Oswego melded into Sawyer. If I had to guess I'd say early 1930's. Here is a link to Sawyer information on twertsy's site
http://www.toolarchives.com/node/3569

 

[twertsy]

And $5 at an estate sale today.

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[twertsy]

Guys, no marks but 6B......any ideas? Worth $10

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[Shiftless]

Somebody will recognize that rather unique handle arrangement.

 

[Outlawmws]

Definitely worth 10 or more as long as no hidden breakage...

 

[twertsy]

Definitely worth 10 or more as long as no hidden breakage...

Nope, she's strong. It appears it may have a QR mechanism/release underneath. All bolts are square head. Gonna take some research to track down the maker, unless the layers of grease are hiding it.

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[twertsy]

va: I have posted that information at least once before. Twertsy has the same article on his site. I don't know when or even if Oswego melded into Sawyer. If I had to guess I'd say early 1930's. Here is a link to Sawyer information on twertsy's site
http://www.toolarchives.com/node/3569

Actually, I think the Fulton page has more info.

http://toolarchives.com/node/617

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[CRSINMICH]

"Actually, I think the Fulton page has more info."

twertsy: Thanks for the extra information. I actually saw that page but I didn't scroll down far enough.

This might be a starting point to identifying your woodworking vise. The main castings are nearly identical to a Sheldon but the works are different. Sheldon's don't have a screw. At least the one I have doesn't. Instead there is a long rack on the dynamic jaw and a short one on the static jaw. They are tightened against each other by means of a cam on the handle. It's a type of quick adjust. Look closely at the rear of the static jaw (the short one). There are two numbers on it 3B and 10B. Coincidence? I think not.

 

[twertsy]

"Actually, I think the Fulton page has more info."

twertsy: Thanks for the extra information. I actually saw that page but I didn't scroll down far enough.

This might be a starting point to identifying your woodworking vise. The main casting are nearly identical to a Sheldon but the works are different. Sheldon's don't have a screw. At least the one I have doesn't. Instead there is a long rack on the dynamic jaw and a short one on the static jaw. They are tightened against each other by means of a cam on the handle. It's a type of quick adjust. Look closely at the rear of the static jaw (the short one). There are two numbers on it 3B and 10B. Coincidence? I think not.

That doe look awfully familiar. Thanks for the lead!

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[gman007]

* What a Bummer!!!*
For a split second there, my heart skipped a beat when I saw this CL listing (even though it would have been a 3 hour round trip for me)

"Huge Vice 6" Jaws - Rock Island 577 - $150".

I do not have any RIs and specially a 6" 145 lb one for $150 was a no brainer!

And then at a closer look at the photos and huge braze job made me nauseous. Here is what seller says

"This is a Rock Island 577 vice made by the Birtman Electric Company.
It weights 145 lbs.
As you can see in the pics, it broke at some point and has been braised.
I have used it and clamped it as hard as humanly possible without a cheater on the handle and it shows no weakness. You can do the same before you buy it."

The odd thing is the handle bar is straight, so probably the damage is not due to tightening using a cheater bar but most likely some fxxxing gorilla took a sledge hammer or something to the piece that was held in the vise and in the process broke the dynamic jaw. I mean how else do you break a 145 lb RI?