The VISES of Garage Journal

[hammerit]

hammerit: Here's a link to the Vise company manufacturing thread. Post #113 has a Versa-Vise pamphlet from the original Wil-Burt company. One of the accessories that was offered was a TILT-ADAPTER. The DRILL PRESS ADAPTER looks like it could be handy too.
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=283430&highlight=vise+manufacturers&page=6

Thanks for the link.

I found the sales brochure/ad somewhere earlier and saved a copy. I posted it to the Workbench forum at Gunboards. I think I even mentioned the tilt-adapter and the drill press mount looked like they would be very handy and the drill press mount could be fabricated fairly easily.

 

[hammerit]

"That would also be a simple one to make!"

That was my thought too the first time I saw it. A friend of mine does some fabricating and I'm going to show it to him and see what he says. At least, I will when he gets back on his feet. He just had a knee replacement!

 

[hammerit]

Dodge: i think you need to post a few more of your gems if that's the kind of stuff you buy at auctions. hard to find a baby with a swivel base much less two at the same auction. well done!!

Hammer: thanks for the link and I like the original adapters look better than the machined one, but looks like it should work.

CRS: thanks for posting the link. I think a member or two had machined some that look like originals. I'm guessing most of the originals didn't get picked up at sales when buyers bought the vise or maybe it wasn't a common item?

ALL: here's another catalog page of the versa vises just because i'm posting and mentioning them in case any of they new members want to see it. also check YouTube for a versa vise video where an old guy showed me how useful it is and got me hooked on buying them.

have a great weekend!!

Thanks for the info!

I had seen the last four images before (and saved them) but the first two are new

Going to check out the guy on Youtube.

 

[Outlawmws]

"That would also be a simple one to make!"

That was my thought to the first time I saw it. A friend of mine does some fabricating and I'm going to show it to him and see what he says. At least, I will when he gets back on his feet. He just had a knee replacement!

3-4" of 1.5" round stock, (finished not rough...) drill and tap a suitable hole for a bolt that fits your DP table slots. done.

It could be steel or aluminum, if a hard grade of aluminum. (like 6061-T6).

 

[Outlawmws]

Krash, just so you know, that Bessy is an import. being that Bessy imported it certainly a long cut above the typical HF MIC stuff. Bessy would insist on higher quality. It may even be made in Taiwan or Japan depending on how old it is.

 

[Outlawmws]

Drives and others: here are the last 4 versa vise catalog pages enhanced a bit. The 4th was a pain and isn't as good as I would have liked.

 

[Krash Kadillak]

Krash, just so you know, that Bessy is an import. being that Bessy imported it certainly a long cut above the typical HF MIC stuff. Bessy would insist on higher quality. It may even be made in Taiwan or Japan depending on how old it is.

Thanks for the information. I just appreciate that it will do the lightweight work I need it to do, and it didn't break the bank. Even at HF, the one I would have wanted there was $60 w/o a coupon, and it would NOT be as versatile.

 

[lowdowndodge]

Dodge: i think you need to post a few more of your gems if that's the kind of stuff you buy at auctions. hard to find a baby with a swivel base much less two at the same auction. well done!!

Hammer: thanks for the link and I like the original adapters look better than the machined one, but looks like it should work.

CRS: thanks for posting the link. I think a member or two had machined some that look like originals. I'm guessing most of the originals didn't get picked up at sales when buyers bought the vise or maybe it wasn't a common item?

ALL: here's another catalog page of the versa vises just because i'm posting and mentioning them in case any of they new members want to see it. also check YouTube for a versa vise video where an old guy showed me how useful it is and got me hooked on buying them.

have a great weekend!!

Yes I need to post more I buy the same stuff as you guys but I am more of a lurker than poster...
Dodge

 

[mgmlvks]

Been a while since I posted on this 4.5" Wilton 11-83 101162. Handle was rusted tight. Heat, PB Blaster, Hammer, bigger Hammer and success. Soaked in citric. Sanded smoother. Next step is soaking the rest of the vise in heated citric and another clean, and then some sort of coating - paint, BLO, etc.

 

[lowdowndodge]

Guess I will stay with the small theme again tonight. The gold one is what I believe is a Prentis Jewelers vise still mounted on the swing out board. The very small black one is not marked but seems well made.

 

[Outlawmws]

LDD, That small black one is a Colton patent vise. 1"? I have one that size configuration and several more larger


George A. Colton patent holder, No. 320,224. Patented June 16, 1885. H&B, Inmarks, Phoenix and unmarked examples exist. "Mfg by Moore & Barnes Manufacturing Co. of Phoenix, N. Y.": According to patent info: http://www.datamp.org/patents/displayPatent.php?id=7259

 

[Shiftless]

Here is a pic of that Wilton Shop King that I picked up with the help of CRS and the ********* tool picker mysteriously known this week as #8.
I also include the Desmond Stephan I picked up at the same estate sale in Bloomfield Hills MI.
$20 each.

 

[Shiftless]

While in town, we visited the Henry Ford museum and the adjacent Greenfield village. While there, we spotted a big Parker sitting on a monster steel table in a steam locomotive roundhouse. The work area was off limits so you guys will have to settle for a long distance shot.

 

[lowdowndodge]

Thanks Outlaw

 

[CRSINMICH]

ROUNDHOUSE​

Here's a picture of another engine that had been worked on in the machine shop. It's on a turntable that is so well balanced that it would rotate the entire engine with only two guys pushing on the handles. For good measure, I included a picture of a radial arm drill press in the corner. The main column is about 10 feet high and the sweep is about 4 feet. The 3/8" bit in the chuck seemed out of scale.

 

[CRSINMICH]

STUDEBAKER HYDRAULIC VISE​

I got up early this morning to watch mrpete222' s latest video. He tours a guy's barn workshop. At the 7:30 mark they show the vise. At 15:45 there's a row of post vises. Here's a link.

 

[va.grouseman]

CRS, he needs to be featured on American Pickers.

 

[gman007]

STUDEBAKER HYDRAULIC VISE​

I got up early this morning to watch mrpete222' s latest video. He tours a guy's barn workshop. At the 7:30 mark they show the vise. At 15:45 there's a row of post vises. Here's a link.

CRS Thanks for posting this, the hydraulic Studebaker vise is very neat and it seems to be in great shape too. It is too bad he could not demo it but he did say that he had it working before.

 

[gman007]

Here is a pic of that Wilton Shop King that I picked up with the help of CRS and the ********* tool picker mysteriously known this week as #8.
I also include the Desmond Stephan I picked up at the same estate sale in Bloomfield Hills MI.
$20 each.

Shift Congrats on finding the Shop King. I believe you had been looking for a good one for while.

 

[BKF]

Chas Parker 886 MASSIVE

I am the new owner of a MASSIVE Parker 886.

I've been unable to find any information on an 886, and would like some help.

The only letters I've found are:
Parker 886

Features:
6 inch jaws
Swivel
Swivel Jaw

All functions properly, though the swivel jaw only moves an inch in either direction.

Thanks for any help you can provide. I'll post photos as soon as I figure out how.

 

[honza.vosalik]

I finally took some nice pics of the Reed "family". And here's my first picture with a can too.

So what do you think - leave them as they are or restore?

 

[Outlawmws]

Re: Chas Parker 886 MASSIVE

Are you sure thats not a 386?

I am the new owner of a MASSIVE Parker 886.

I've been unable to find any information on an 886, and would like some help.

The only letters I've found are:
Parker 886

Features:
6 inch jaws
Swivel
Swivel Jaw

All functions properly, though the swivel jaw only moves an inch in either direction.

Thanks for any help you can provide. I'll post photos as soon as I figure out how.

 

[gman007]

Re: Chas Parker 886 MASSIVE

I am the new owner of a MASSIVE Parker 886.

I've been unable to find any information on an 886, and would like some help.

The only letters I've found are:
Parker 886

Features:
6 inch jaws
Swivel
Swivel Jaw

All functions properly, though the swivel jaw only moves an inch in either direction.

Thanks for any help you can provide. I'll post photos as soon as I figure out how.

Are you sure thats not a 386?

BKF
I believe as Outlaw has pointed what you have most likely is 386 which fits all the descriptions that you have given and weighs 174 lb. Does yours look like the attached photo?

 

[gman007]

I finally took some nice pics of the Reed "family". And here's my first picture with a can too.

So what do you think - leave them as they are or restore?

Honza
Those are both great looking vises.

If Shakespeare was into vises he would have said "To restore or not to restore, that is the question" but really that is a matter of personal taste.

Many like their vises with the original age patina and say it shows the its character. Some will clean the vise but not paint it and use BLO etc to keep the naked look and others like to paint it and try to make it as much as possible look like when it was new. And all opinions are equally valid and there is no right or wrong way here. Personally I fall in the completely restore the vise camp but I also see the points that other make.

These are your vises and you know best what to do with them.

 

[RG Rude]

STUDEBAKER HYDRAULIC VISE​

I got up early this morning to watch mrpete222' s latest video. He tours a guy's barn workshop. At the 7:30 mark they show the vise. At 15:45 there's a row of post vises. Here's a link.

Thanks. Good video. I'm looking for a drill press myself. I also want one of those steam whistles converted to use compressed air.

 

[BKF]

Re: Chas Parker 886 MASSIVE

Are you sure thats not a 386?

You are 100% correct. After spending the afternoon getting to know the thing, I was able to see that the 8 was a 3.

Parker 386. Massive.

 

[BKF]

Re: Chas Parker 886 MASSIVE

All of you guys are spot on. It is a 386, and looks exactly like your photo.

I spent some time with it this afternoon after posting and discovered that the 8 is actually a 3.

174 pounds sounds about right - It is tough to move it around. It actually broke the spare tire cover in my trunk.

It has spent its life in Moore Tech here in Memphis. A student picked it up when they were "upgrading", and I bought it from him for $120.

Thanks all for the quick response. I'll get some photos in here as I work on it.

 

[hammerit]

Outlaw, thanks for the enhanced images. Much better. I saved those too.

 

[gman007]

Re: Chas Parker 886 MASSIVE

All of you guys are spot on. It is a 386, and looks exactly like your photo.

I spent some time with it this afternoon after posting and discovered that the 8 is actually a 3.

174 pounds sounds about right - It is tough to move it around. It actually broke the spare tire cover in my trunk.

It has spent its life in Moore Tech here in Memphis. A student picked it up when they were "upgrading", and I bought it from him for $120.

BFK
At $120 you did really well, congrats
Ps
The bad news is that if this is the first or one of the first American vises that you have acquired, it is a hard act to follow as you have set a vey high bar for a first vise

 

[dangod]

I just bought an old Howard Iron Works #3, 4-1/2" vise and was wondering if anyone has spare parts for it. The following image is NOT my vise, but it shows the piece I'm looking for.

... anyone ?

I found a doner vise with the collar, but, like shown in the image above, the bolt hole in the doner collar is off center whereas mine is centered. When I try to match up the doner collar to my own vise, the screw obviously won't thread in. So my question is, would you guys fill the hole with JBweld and tap a new one or would you use a cast iron welding rod and fill it that way, then tap ?

 

[KMScott]

I found a doner vise with the collar, but, like shown in the image above, the bolt hole in the doner collar is off center whereas mine is centered. When I try to match up the doner collar to my own vise, the screw obviously won't thread in. So my question is, would you guys fill the hole with JBweld and tap a new one or would you use a cast iron welding rod and fill it that way, then tap ?

Don't have enough information or at least a picture of your collar top where the threads are. What I see is a couple ways to fix this.

1) Slot the screw hole in the vise and use a washer to hid the off set hole.

2) Cut out a pocket on your collar and add a steel insert where you can transfer the casting hole, maybe the insert could have a shoulder on it and come up from the collar inside so you do not have to weld anything.

3) Build your own collar.

Welding the hole shut and re tapping is not a good idea, JBweld I do not know about but I am guessing it is a part A and part B mixture of stuff to fill dings and voids on cast that is not supporting anything or strength areas like a thread.

 

[chrisnazzy]

Re: Chas Parker 886 MASSIVE

All of you guys are spot on. It is a 386, and looks exactly like your photo.

I spent some time with it this afternoon after posting and discovered that the 8 is actually a 3.

174 pounds sounds about right - It is tough to move it around. It actually broke the spare tire cover in my trunk.

It has spent its life in Moore Tech here in Memphis. A student picked it up when they were "upgrading", and I bought it from him for $120.

Thanks all for the quick response. I'll get some photos in here as I work on it.

Nice big Parker BKF and welcome to Garage Journal. You will be able to discover and learn just about anything you want to know about vintage American vises here. As you fix up your 386 if you have any questions or inquiries on repair or restoration ask them over in the Vise Repair 101 thread. Here is an old catalog page that shows your vise and its specs.

BTW, keep in mind if you get into collecting vintage vises, transporting them loose in your trunk is as much a hazard to your spare tire cover as it could potentially be to you in an accident. I doubt you would have to be traveling very fast to be seriously hurt or worse by a 174lb. hunk of iron and your backseat certainly wouldn't slow it down much. Passenger side floor board may be safer if it can't be secured.

Oh yeah, I'm sure I can speak for most here: we need to see some pics of your new vise!

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

 

[dangod]

Don't have enough information or at least a picture of your collar top where the threads are. What I see is a couple ways to fix this.

1) Slot the screw hole in the vise and use a washer to hid the off set hole.

2) Cut out a pocket on your collar and add a steel insert where you can transfer the casting hole, maybe the insert could have a shoulder on it and come up from the collar inside so you do not have to weld anything.

3) Build your own collar.

Welding the hole shut and re tapping is not a good idea, JBweld I do not know about but I am guessing it is a part A and part B mixture of stuff to fill dings and voids on cast that is not supporting anything or strength areas like a thread.

Is the following image what you were looking for ? "Don't have enough information" - I'm not sure what other information you want me to put, other than the holes don't line up ?

As this is just the collar, I didn't think there would be a significant amount of stress put on it, hence my thinking a cast iron rod/weld or JBweld would suffice. Cutting a pocket or making my own requires tools, know how and time that I don't have. I may look into having a cast iron copy made of the collar ?

 

[Provincial]

I found a Record #5 (5") vise at a yard sale today. It has a little welding dribble on each jaw, but is otherwise in pretty decent shape. I didn't try to dicker on her price of $20.00. She said she had already sold two smaller vises, so I'm left with wondering what they were that the buyers left the Record behind.

 

[KMScott]

Is the following image what you were looking for ? "Don't have enough information" - I'm not sure what other information you want me to put, other than the holes don't line up ?

As this is just the collar, I didn't think there would be a significant amount of stress put on it, hence my thinking a cast iron rod/weld or JBweld would suffice. Cutting a pocket or making my own requires tools, know how and time that I don't have. I may look into having a cast iron copy made of the collar ?

Sounds like you got it figured out. Good luck.

 

[Fretters]

Tap the hole in the collar, put a mild steel threaded plug in there, cut/filed to length to fill the original hole, and then drill a new hole.

 

[dangod]

Thanks Fretters, I think that's what I'll do.

 

[Outlawmws]

Tap the hole in the collar, put a mild steel threaded plug in there, cut/filed to length to fill the original hole, and then drill a new hole.

This method used to be commonly used to repair cracked CI heads..

 

[drivesitfar]

Fretters: nice idea and I agree that would probably be the easiest way to fix that off centered hole.

Dan: good luck and hope it works

Shift: just curious what that wood structure was in the background of your locomotive shop picture? sounds like a fun trip and are you still on the road or back in Sunny California now.

Provi: those old English Record vices don't get much respect so good for you for grabbing it. does it say MADE IN ENGLAND on the other side or just Sheffield England? the consensus is that if it doesn't say made in on the vice that the parts were probably imported from their factory in China. for the price you paid for it you got a great vice either way.

Honza: either clean those nice Reeds up down to bare cast and put on BLO or leave the original paint and put BLO on it I'm thinking would be a good way to shine them up if you don't want to paint them. here's a couple of my big Reeds that had that done to them 2 and 4 years ago.

LowDownDodge: i love all the anvils and vises and the sign that says I DON'T LOAN MY TOOLS. keep posting more of your stuff as you have time and wish to cause it looks like you DO BUY THE SAME STUFF WE DO.

ALL: I moved the big Reed 2c off the top shelf in this oak cabinet cause that shelf is only sitting on a couple pins and even though the middle solid shelf is holding my big Reed 4c nicely i'm moving it to the shelf that's sitting on the floor so the Reed 2c can fit on that shelf.

have a great rest day everybody!!

 

[Millwrong]

Finished cleaning up the two old RAEs this morning...












This included making a set of smooth jaws for the No. 5 with some 1018 CR bar. Unfortunately my current gig doesn't allow me access to proper machine tools, so this was a home jobby with the drill press being the most sophisticated machine at my disposal....





























Thanks for looking guys!