The VISES of Garage Journal

[gman007]

Get: so far she hasn't run into my 350 pound shelf with about a ton of vises on it, but you're right the Reed would win the fight if her Honda CRV got near it. hell a dog ran into me while driving home from dropping my son off at swim practice maybe 10 years ago and the bumper caved and the dog kept running.

if you've been reading my organizing thread and watching my barely survive inching into my bride's side of our 2 car garage i think i only have a unistrut loft to build left above her car that i'm probably going to have do maybe 50 HONEY DO'S to get that approved.

isn't it better to build it and apologize than asking permission and getting denied?

Drives God forbid should she really bump into the shelf, there could be serious risk of injury. I would have the vises on the lowest shelf or at least well below CRV window level.

On a lighter note, please enlighten us as to the wisdom of having a large number of pretty hefty vises right in the face of one's better half as a constant reminder that one already has too many vises and doing so multiple times a day (ie every time she gets in and out of the garage)

 

[drivesitfar]

007: first of all i enjoy your sense of humor and you need to get on my (GJ's) GET HEALTHY thread in FREE PARKING SECTION and of course my new Getting Organized thread cause as i'm not buying up as much as my wallet will allow now and i'm cutting back i need a good laugh.

I only told ALL OF YOU that you could take apart the bigger vises cause as of today i'm 62 and i've yet to find or buy a vise bigger than i can carry, but a few of the stands included have had me breathing hard. I actually started the get healthy (or weight loss or better lifestyle) thread a couple years ago when i thought i could carry an old style radial arm saw with it's cast iron and wooden base a few hundred feet to my other garage. i almost passed out and had to wonder why i didn't die. of course some of the guys that move their stuff around with hydraulics, gantry cranes and the lucky ones that have a bridge crane don't get enough exercise in my opinion.

my REED 106 is far out of my bride's area at the moment, and the stout rack full of vises wouldn't have went over so well maybe 10 years ago, but it's a process and she's actually been on vacation with me when i've picked up a vise or two or three.

hope you are all having a great day cause I think it might be 60 degrees and sunny here in the PNW today and I had to mow the grass.

cheers

 

[gman007]

Drives thank you for the tip, I will check your get healthy thread for sure.

Meanwhile as you are enjoying the 60 degree weather, I have been getting healthy shoveling and blowing white shxt no less 4 times just over this weekend alone!

As part of further winter entertainment, last Friday (we had a big winter storm going) I narrowly missed being part of 16 semi and a couple dozen car pile up. As a result I know my heart is healthy otherwise I should have rightfully had a heart attack. I have been telling my wife that moving and lifting all those vises has prooven to be quite beneficial and I need to get some more but for some reason she does not believe me

 

[hitthewall79]

Been practicing, and got some newer paint, think I did a much better time this time around. Next up are the reeds. I've never restored a Reed before, does anyone have any tips for these? 205 (left) and 404 1/2 (right)

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[va.grouseman]

Drive, I was just thinking how it would be if your wife just bumped your shelves and a 1000 lbs. of vises came down on her car hood and then Dennis Haysbert says, (" At Farmers, we’ve seen almost everything, so we know how to cover almost anything").---You could be famous Drive.

 

[Outlawmws]

Drive, I was just thinking how it would be if your wife just bumped your shelves and a 1000 lbs. of vises came down on her car hood and then Dennis Haysbert says, (" At Farmers, we’ve seen almost everything, so we know how to cover almost anything").---You could be famous Drive.

 

[Outlawmws]

Night and day Hit!

 

[gman007]

Been practicing, and got some newer paint, think I did a much better time this time around. Next up are the reeds. I've never restored a Reed before, does anyone have any tips for these? 205 (left) and 404 1/2 (right)

We
Hit Very nice lettering job!

As for 205, I have restored a 204 and apart from the main swivel bolt giving me hard time (it is not a hex bolt) there was nothing special about it as compared to other vises (the newer R series have some other challenges but your 205 is the older model)

Have you tried to take the 404 1/2 swivel jaw apart (chances are the pin is frozen) ? From what I have read here while a number of members have had success with removing the pin, generally it put up a good fight and needed more persuasion than the usual soaking in kroil and possibly involving heat. I am sure the experts here can help you should you need it.

BTW here is my two cents on painting the vises.
Obviously you have to first remove any rust or paint with your favorite method. I would then leave all the parts such as swivel bolt and handle, main handle, main screw and nose, draw bar, jaw face and jaw top and sides (since the vises have cast in jaws you have to arbitrarily using your discretion determine how much of the jaw top and side area not to paint) unpainted. Use wire brush and then buffing wheel to shine these parts. Then mask those parts and paint the vise (prime and paint)

 

[va.grouseman]

Here's a baby Wilton that's doing fairly well.---Couple more years and you can get an 800 cheaper than an 820.


https://www.ebay.com/itm/Wilton-bul...920979?hash=item56a9cc3953:g:3IEAAOSwjytaenW6

 

[Craptain]

I came across this in a machinist forum. And I want one.

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[drivesitfar]

Cap: that vise from Finland is COOL and it looks like it comes in a baby version on a sort of power arm too. thanks for sharing.

007: yep a few hundred conversations letting your bride know how good vises (vices) are for you and you might get a shelf full of them in her full view. keep working on it (her). it also doesn't hurt to be a little handy and do a few Honey do's now and then either. good to know you are getting your exercise with the snow and yes it normally is snowing here this time of year and looks like we've got another sunny day in store cause at sunrise i can see the mountains 50 miles away already that are normally full of rain or snow clouds. keep EXERCISING and you won't have to pull apart those big vises to carry them around unless you are checking out flaws or working on them.

VA: Might be famous, but if that happened and she survived she'd get herself a new car and I'D BE DEAD. did i mention that she is part IRISH and more like the BELFAST IRISH GALS that strapped machine guns to their hips? BTW i do love those Allstate commercials and if you think that guy is funny there you should see him in his board meeting in the movie "Thank you for not smoking" and he's got some pretty good comments.

Hit: nice job on the little Columbian and best of luck on those two big Reeds.

 

[chrisnazzy]

Been practicing, and got some newer paint, think I did a much better time this time around. Next up are the reeds. I've never restored a Reed before, does anyone have any tips for these? 205 (left) and 404 1/2 (right)

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Big improvement on the lettering Hit. I've done a couple with a paint marker myself but now once I'm ready to paint the letters I kind of cheat. My 16 year old daughter is quite the artist and I've had her hand paint the lettering on several of my vises now. It's not that I can't do it. She just likes getting involved at that point and she is very good at it.

BTW.....what exactly do you have sitting on your bench there is the far left of the pics. Are you holding out on us?

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[hitthewall79]

Big improvement on the lettering Hit. I've done a couple with a paint marker myself but now once I'm ready to paint the letters I kind of cheat. My 16 year old daughter is quite the artist and I've had her hand paint the lettering on several of my vises now. It's not that I can't do it. She just likes getting involved at that point and she is very good at it.

BTW.....what exactly do you have sitting on your bench there is the far left of the pics. Are you holding out on us?

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Good eye man, Im eventually going to do a huge write up on it, but here's what it is. It's a 3d printed bench vise that I made myself. Right now it's made out of plastic, but eventually I want to cast it in aluminum myself, for nothing more than the simple fact that I can say I made one, plus I can control the size of this, so I could make something as small as an inch, or as big as a 6 inchs.

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[drivesitfar]

Chris: i love that your daughter is getting involved in your lettering!!

HIT: i'd say the smaller the better in your little aluminum 3D wilton bullet vises cause if you need to sell them i'm sure you'd have more than a few takers.

ALL: i learned a slick way to do lettering i'm going to try once I even paint a vise that I thought i'd pass on to those of you that hadn't heard it yet. tape up the sides of your vise good, hit with a belt sander to clean the tape off the top of the lettering you want to paint and you can spray paint your letters.

I've seen the results of this that a member did on a very old compressor and his lettering POPS.

 

[lis2323]

Does anyone have experience with a Made in Canada Terrier vise? I could only find a similar request for info on GJ (2016).

This ad just popped up this morning. It's only 5-10 minutes away depending on traffic so I MIGHT have a look. Maybe not.....

 

[chrisnazzy]

Good eye man, Im eventually going to do a huge write up on it, but here's what it is. It's a 3d printed bench vise that I made myself. Right now it's made out of plastic, but eventually I want to cast it in aluminum myself, for nothing more than the simple fact that I can say I made one, plus I can control the size of this, so I could make something as small as an inch, or as big as a 6 inchs.

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Wow Hit. That is too cool!! I'll be PM'ing you because I would love to have you make me a couple of those. My mind is racing with all the cool ways to use one of those.

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[hitthewall79]

Wow Hit. That is too cool!! I'll be PM'ing you because I would love to have you make me a couple of those. My mind is racing with all the cool ways to use one of those.

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That's fine, I'll try and do my best, just know that it took me about a week to make that one, my 3d printer isn't fast by any means.

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[drivesitfar]

Lis: If it was me i'd offer a $100 for both and get them. it's almost funny that almost all the MADE IN CANADA vices look like a RECORD. those don't look Asian and i've never seen those 2 names or markings so even if you don't want to keep them they might come in handy for a trade for a good US made vise that might make it's way up across the border.

HIT: just an FYI there was a few YouTube videos of a guy making a baby bullet from scratch you might want to watch if you haven't seen them yet or built a vise yet.

good luck and yep sounds like a great idea.

 

[va.grouseman]

Hitt, what do you want to print a plastic one for, when for no more than $600.00 to $650.00, you can own the real thing.


https://www.ebay.com/itm/Wilton-bul...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649

 

[va.grouseman]

Previously posted by Drivesitfar.


VA: Might be famous, but if that happened and she survived she'd get herself a new car and I'D BE DEAD. did i mention that she is part IRISH and more like the BELFAST IRISH GALS that strapped machine guns to their hips? BTW i do love those Allstate commercials and if you think that guy is funny there you should see him in his board meeting in the movie "Thank you for not smoking" and he's got some pretty good comments.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Drive, if it ever did happen, RUN!!!!!!!!!

 

[hitthewall79]

Hitt, what do you want to print a plastic one for, when for no more than $600.00 to $650.00, you can own the real thing.


https://www.ebay.com/itm/Wilton-bul...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649

Yeah, that's cool or whatever, but his is just plane old metal... Mine flammable, and red!


How I'm looking at it, I can make a forge for around 100, I have pretty much unlimited access to aluminum cans for free (family members) so for around 200, I can have as many wiltons as I want. Now I just to figure a way to stamp that wilton logo on them, and I'll be a rolling in vise money, lol

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[lis2323]

Drives: Thanks for the opinion. I was thinking the same about the offer for both vises. Not really in a "spend money for ho-hum stuff" ATM.

Heading to the gym. I'll see how I feel after my workout

 

[garagelogician]

Is $525 a good price for a Wilton 8400 bullet vise?

https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/csw/tls/d/wilton-bullet-vise-8400/6489727903.html

 

[rusty65]

Is $525 a good price for a Wilton 8400 bullet vise?

https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/csw/tls/d/wilton-bullet-vise-8400/6489727903.html

Yeah you can pretty much buy a new Wilton for only 50 bucks more so in my thoughts that’s way to much imo. https://m.northerntool.com/products...Clamps > Bench Vises&utm_source=Google_PLA


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[garagelogician]

Yeah you can pretty much buy a new Wilton for only 50 bucks more so in my thoughts that’s way to much imo. https://m.northerntool.com/products...Clamps > Bench Vises&utm_source=Google_PLA


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How about $385 for this one? 4-1/2" jaws with pipe jaws.

 

[BMR24]

How about $385 for this one? 4-1/2" jaws with pipe jaws.

I try not to spend any more than $100 on a vise unless it's been fully restored properly. Not just painted. The Wilton's demand a lot more money than the other brands of vintage USA vises. My opinion is that some of those other brands are better than Wilton too.

 

[drivesitfar]

GL: the Wilton C1 is worth a lot more than $100 and probably closer to what the guy is asking even in it's as in condition, especially if you need a vise. saying that i'm assuming there isn't any cracks, missing parts or breaks we can't see in the picture.

BMR is right though that if you are PATIENT, CAN AFFORD TO WAIT MAYBE MONTHS, HAVE GOOD COMPUTER SKILLS and are quicker than other vise buyers in your area you might find a good old Reed, Rock Island, Parker, Starrett, Record (English made), Craftsman 519x series or some other quality vise for less.

VA: THANKS!!

speaking of brides and them understanding a few extra vises hanging around what is your SAGE ADVICE to keeping yours hidden or what do you say to your AWESOME BRIDE when you are heading to go pick up another one? I know i don't say it's HOOKERS OR TOOLS cause for sure i'd be running then.

 

[gman007]

I try not to spend any more than $100 on a vise unless it's been fully restored properly. Not just painted. The Wilton's demand a lot more money than the other brands of vintage USA vises. My opinion is that some of those other brands are better than Wilton too.

BMR While it one might get really lucky and end up buying a C1 for less $100, it is not very likely. New a C1 costs around $800+ and while $385 might not be "you ****" price, in my books it is a fair (even though I would say it is in the retail price territory for a used C1) price. The other thing to consider is that while Wilton prices are high, they also maintain their price and frankly are like the liquid currency of the vise world and will sell quickly (should one want to resell them), which is not necessarily true of other vises.

 

[lis2323]

drives: IF you ever (inadvertently of course) blurt out "HOOKERS or TOOLS" please let us know how it works out for you.

Assuming of course you live to tell the tale, include your hospital address in case some of the guys decide to chip in and send you a "store bought nurse". [emoji4]

Edit: Just an afterthought. "****** O Toole". Didn't you mention your bride was IRISH??

 

[BMR24]

BMR While it one might get really lucky and end up buying a C1 for less $100, it is not very likely. New a C1 costs around $800+ and while $385 might not be "you ****" price, in my books it is a fair (even though I would say it is in the retail price territory for a used C1) price. The other thing to consider is that while Wilton prices are high, they also maintain their price and frankly are like the liquid currency of the vise world and will sell quickly (should one want to resell them), which is not necessarily true of other vises.

I'm not saying that the wiltons aren't worth the investment, what I am saying is that there are better options financially out there for someone who just needs a good vise. My $100 rule has prevented me from ever buying a Wilton, i can't justify buying one when I can get a better vise at 1/2 or less price

 

[gman007]

drives: IF you ever (inadvertently of course) blurt out "HOOKERS or TOOLS" please let us know how it works out for you.

Assuming of course you live to tell the tale, include your hospital address in case some of the guys decide to chip in and send you a "store bought nurse". [emoji4]

Edit: Just an afterthought. "****** O Toole". Didn't you mention your bride was IRISH??

"****** O Toole". ROFLMAO

Lis and Drives: A safer bet which I have jokingly have used is gambling and drinking (but never use womanizing, gambling, and drinking, not even as a joke )

 

[chrisnazzy]

if you are PATIENT, CAN AFFORD TO WAIT MAYBE MONTHS, HAVE GOOD COMPUTER SKILLS and are quicker than other vise buyers in your area you might find a good old Reed, Rock Island, Parker, Starrett, Record (English made), Craftsman 519x series or some other quality vise for less.

There goes Drives again, speaking like a true connoisseur of old vises. It's almost as if he's been at this for awhile.

Obviously great advise. I'll share my story with the hope that it might help or inspire someone wanting to get their vise vice started. I only got involved in collecting and restoring old vises about a year ago and I really wanted to get a feel for the little differences and nuances of the major brands. By being patient and regularly checking FB, CL, Ebay and Offerup I've been able to purchase quite a few great old American vises and I haven't spent as much on all of them as that C-1 is listed for.

$30 Columbian D45 w/ stand (CL Local)
$40 Rock Island 853 (Coworker)
$67 Rock Island 571 (eBay)
$75 Athol 624N (FB Marketplace CA)
$80 Parker 433 1/2 (CL Vegas)
$40 Prentiss 53 (OfferUp CA)
$00 Athol 614 (from CrotalusAtrox)
$50 Wilton 600N (FB Marketplace local)

I've certainly spent some additional coin on tools, chemicals, abrasives, paint and supplies to work on these vises plus the obligatory vintage grinders and buffers that seem to go hand in hand. It's all just a ton of fun though and as I've posted about previously, I've even gotten my 9 year old and 16 year old daughters involved all while only ******* my wife off a half dozen times or so.

Currently, I'm on the hunt for the right deal on my first Reed, Stanley SW and mini Athol vise but I've got patience and time on my side!



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[mgmlvks]

Reed 104-1/2B appears destined to be a bumper mounted vise on a shop truck. I had hoped to sidetrack that and clean-up and take a close look at it - but not to be. Still hope to get it cleaned-up though. Any words of wisdom on what to know before this happens (other than a cheater bar is a bad thing, and a vise is not an anvil)

 

[txlonghorn1989]

There goes Drives again, speaking like a true connoisseur of old vises. It's almost as if he's been at this for awhile.

Obviously great advise. I'll share my story with the hope that it might help or inspire someone wanting to get their vise vice started. I only got involved in collecting and restoring old vises about a year ago and I really wanted to get a feel for the little differences and nuances of the major brands. By being patient and regularly checking FB, CL, Ebay and Offerup I've been able to purchase quite a few great old American vises and I haven't spent as much on all of them as that C-1 is listed for.

$30 Columbian D45 w/ stand (CL Local)
$40 Rock Island 853 (Coworker)
$67 Rock Island 571 (eBay)
$75 Athol 624N (FB Marketplace CA)
$80 Parker 433 1/2 (CL Vegas)
$40 Prentiss 53 (OfferUp CA)
$00 Athol 614 (from CrotalusAtrox)
$50 Wilton 600N (FB Marketplace local)

I've certainly spent some additional coin on tools, chemicals, abrasives, paint and supplies to work on these vises plus the obligatory vintage grinders and buffers that seem to go hand in hand. It's all just a ton of fun though and as I've posted about previously, I've even gotten my 9 year old and 16 year old daughters involved all while only ******* my wife off a half dozen times or so.

Currently, I'm on the hunt for the right deal on my first Reed, Stanley SW and mini Athol vise but I've got patience and time on my side!



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Chris,
You give me hope!
Mike

 

[RG Rude]

Can anyone tell me what this is? It's not a Snap On is it?

 

[tool_scrounge]

Can anyone tell me what this is? It's not a Snap On is it?

Wilton 745 mechanics vise, 5" jaws, good homeowner's vise.

 

[drivesitfar]

MGM: of course you can make that old Reed 104.5 a vise mounted on your bumper or hitch, but you might consider keeping it for a parts vise to maybe rescue another sad soul if you have another vise to use. your call and if it was mine and i needed a bumper vise I bet that one would come to the front of the class and be nominated especially if that was a good braze job which it does look like from my chair.

Lis: at the moment my bride and I are on the same page, but a couple days ago building a Murphy bed that she bought with SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED there were a few words said. still i wouldn't probably end up in the hospital cause she could hide me in one of my storage units and keep paying rent cause i gave her a set of keys. she's tougher than any cast iron I know of.

007: I bet you don't use that phrase often or at all with your bride either, but it's fun to joke about it isn't it. I know you are very close to VISE HEAVEN, but you'll need to be quick cause there are several non members that scoop up vises in your area at an amazing rate and maybe make Joe (THE VICEMAN) Striper look like he barely gets any. good luck and keep keeping us smile.

Chris: it only seems like i've been at this a long time cause i post so much on this thread. i started lurking on this thread maybe in 2010 and learning about vises and didn't join GJ until 2013 when this thread was maybe 8 years old and it had maybe 10,000 posts and vises were still fairly unknown. now we've got 60,000 posts and i think i have about 3,400 of those posts so even though it's only been less than 5 years on here it's sort of like DOG YEARS when you look for, buy, buy, look for and buy some more while passing on a lot of them beat up ones that aren't even good enough to use as a parts vise maybe i'm like 100 year old now in my vise knowledge and still learning more every day.

RG: it's a cheaper wilton and BTW Wilton makes vises for Snap on and Snap on buys the Tradesman models.

 

[garagelogician]

GL: the Wilton C1 is worth a lot more than $100 and probably closer to what the guy is asking even in it's as in condition, especially if you need a vise. saying that i'm assuming there isn't any cracks, missing parts or breaks we can't see in the picture.

BMR is right though that if you are PATIENT, CAN AFFORD TO WAIT MAYBE MONTHS, HAVE GOOD COMPUTER SKILLS and are quicker than other vise buyers in your area you might find a good old Reed, Rock Island, Parker, Starrett, Record (English made), Craftsman 519x series or some other quality vise for less.

VA: THANKS!!

speaking of brides and them understanding a few extra vises hanging around what is your SAGE ADVICE to keeping yours hidden or what do you say to your AWESOME BRIDE when you are heading to go pick up another one? I know i don't say it's HOOKERS OR TOOLS cause for sure i'd be running then.

Yeah I'm going to try to gauge how much he knows about it. The CL listing seems vague, so he might just be spitballing the value. I might try the old "well I only have this much cash on me" trick and see what his real price is.

As for brides, this is my first vise purchase...so she will likely notice it. I have better luck bringing in other tools, because she has no idea what is actually out in the garage. Then I just invoke the 48 hour rule AKA "you had your chance." She gets 48 hours to notice any tool or other purchase (has to be in plain sight)...but after 48 hours I'm home free.

Too frequently though, I'm a victim of the "Three Prices You Pay Syndrome."
1) The price you paid for the item.
2) The price you tell her you paid for the item.
3) The price you pay when she finds out the price you paid.

http://www.1500espn.com/shows/garage-logic/the-gl-lexicon/

 

[RG Rude]

Too frequently though, I'm a victim of the "Three Prices You Pay Syndrome."
1) The price you paid for the item.
2) The price you tell her you paid for the item.
3) The price you pay when she finds out the price you paid.

That sums it up pretty well. My wife just thinks they are another stupid tool. She has not seen the Reed 4C.

 

[txlonghorn1989]

Is anyone aware of any vise primer that a vise newby can maybe get up to speed a little quicker? Something that details how vises operate, details that are maybe shared across quality vises, and what some of the good quality old reliable vise brands and even models are?

I'm asking a lot I know. This is my vise. It was made in Japan. I'm not sure how old it is but it is a HUGE improvement over the little clamp-on Brinks & Cotton POS I used for about 20 years when my workbench was the table top of my 40 year-old Craftsman RAS. I'm hoping to get a real vise one of these days. Not talking about a collector's vise but a user.

Thanks!
Mike