chrisnazzy
Well-known member
Spotted a fresh FB Marketplace listing on Sunday about an hour away in Kingman, AZ. Only one pic (1st pic) but I recognized it as a Prentiss swivel jaw of unknown size. I messaged the seller and asked for a couple more pics but let him know that I would buy it for his $30 asking price as long as it wasn't broken or repaired. I figured as long as it didn't have any ugly welds it was worth that much just as an antique shelf piece.
Once he sent me a couple more pics and let me know the jaws measured over 5" I knew it was a very old 100+ lb. Prentiss 21 that looked to be in good shape. I passed on a similar vise a few weeks ago because the slide was cracked badly as so many Prentiss seem to be. The slide on this one was intact and besides a chip out of the front nose it looked free of any other damage or repairs.
I was all set to hop in the truck and take a little drive but he insisted he had a friend who was coming to my town the following morning for work and he would just throw it in his service truck. I was leary because I've been burnt before by sellers who've committed to a sale only to sell a vise to someone else who offers them more than their asking price, but I took his word and he marked the item as sold and then took the ad down completely without me asking him to do so. Well, it all worked out and I got the vise. I gave his buddy $40 instead and thanked him for delivering it.
It's quite a bit bigger than I thought it would be. What are the chances of being able to easily pull the pin and move the swivel jaw with virtually no effort. I was sure it was going to be my first really challenging vise but it's in remarkable shape for its age.
The one secret the vise did have was at some point in its life someone apparently wanted to shorten its travel. The vise is supposed to open 8" but the screw has been shortened by a couple inches. Then there was a piece of metal hex stock about 2" long slid into the nuts dovetail to space the nut back further into the static making the screw come out of the nut even sooner than it had to. I can't for the life of me figure out why anyone would want to do this. Either way though, with the nut re-installed properly the vise works great, it just doesn't quite open the whole 8". Some serious stripping and sanding and a BLO finish are in this vises future!
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Once he sent me a couple more pics and let me know the jaws measured over 5" I knew it was a very old 100+ lb. Prentiss 21 that looked to be in good shape. I passed on a similar vise a few weeks ago because the slide was cracked badly as so many Prentiss seem to be. The slide on this one was intact and besides a chip out of the front nose it looked free of any other damage or repairs.
I was all set to hop in the truck and take a little drive but he insisted he had a friend who was coming to my town the following morning for work and he would just throw it in his service truck. I was leary because I've been burnt before by sellers who've committed to a sale only to sell a vise to someone else who offers them more than their asking price, but I took his word and he marked the item as sold and then took the ad down completely without me asking him to do so. Well, it all worked out and I got the vise. I gave his buddy $40 instead and thanked him for delivering it.
It's quite a bit bigger than I thought it would be. What are the chances of being able to easily pull the pin and move the swivel jaw with virtually no effort. I was sure it was going to be my first really challenging vise but it's in remarkable shape for its age.
The one secret the vise did have was at some point in its life someone apparently wanted to shorten its travel. The vise is supposed to open 8" but the screw has been shortened by a couple inches. Then there was a piece of metal hex stock about 2" long slid into the nuts dovetail to space the nut back further into the static making the screw come out of the nut even sooner than it had to. I can't for the life of me figure out why anyone would want to do this. Either way though, with the nut re-installed properly the vise works great, it just doesn't quite open the whole 8". Some serious stripping and sanding and a BLO finish are in this vises future!
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I concur with Tex! And both your find and your story hands down are more impressive than my recent vise find 
. But seriously welcome to the vise world (polite way of saying vise addict club 
and you did a fantastic job on all of them, truly first class! 
