The VISES of Garage Journal

[JohnnyRocket]

Rusty:
Count me in on your list of admirers.
Frequent contributors here like to put something into the picture to show scale. A beer can or bottle is often used.



JR:
Looking great so far. Is that Rustoleum brown specialty primer textured?
I have used a Rustoleum primer designed for rusty metal that is that same color but it wasn’t textured.

No, it's not textured. Let's face it --- Wilton's castings are textured enough.

 

[JohnnyRocket]

JR, just funning with you, but in all seriousness you did two things right.---No. 1 is the primer.---I unfortunately have been lazy in the past and just painted naked metal in a rush job.---It looks good for a while but won't last, the elements start to take a toll.---No. 2 is taping the proper areas of exposed metal.---I can't tolerate a 100% painted vise because I know if it gets used, that high use areas are going to look horrible in a short time plus it inhibits the slide and causes drag, and like the fellows have said, you never know what is hiding under there.---Look forward to seeing the finished product.---And welcome to the GJ.

I spent two hours filing down the anvil so it was perfectly flat, and pure metal. Same with the jaw areas. I also polished the entire sliding jaw cylinder so smooth you can feel the original machining from Wilton.

The primer is a requirement on any job like this. The prep is too. Primer won't stick properly to iron unless it's prepped properly. Will post photos once color is applied today. Gunmetal with metallic.

I thought this was in better shape than it was. When I look at the original photos it was pretty terrible, aside from being fully functional. The jaws measure out only one or two thousandths clearance difference from one side to the other.

 

[Henning]

Found a Columbia 204 1/5 vice for sale in Norway of all places. Long way from home. Is this a real one? Or a aftermarket one? He is asking 2800,- NOK/326USD.

https://www.finn.no/bap/forsale/ad.html?finnkode=124946369

Just want to add (since I’m in Norway...) that that one is a non- sparking one, made from Bronze of some kind. If someone is interested ( I’ve looked at it myself a few times, but have no use for a non-spark vise) I’d be happy to help. Be advised though, shipping from Norway is expensive as [insert expletive here]

 

[JohnnyRocket]

Couple more photos of the base and sliding jaw primed.

 

[GETRIDAONE]

Johnny, You might want to clean off the primer on the inside of the tube and the key way slot. It could cause a drag on the slide as it it moves in and out.
The paint prep looks good !!

 

[JohnnyRocket]

Johnny, You might want to clean off the primer on the inside of the tube and the key way slot. It could cause a drag on the slide as it it moves in and out.
The paint prep looks good !!

Yep, I'm going to sand that down once I finish the paint. I just wanted to be able to control where the edge line will be myself, and there's no good way to do that.

 

[GETRIDAONE]

Plastic caps work pretty well for me. I have a bag full of various sizes to plug holes that I don't want paint to get in.

 

[gman007]

I guess I'm confused: earlier you said this:

"Got the new collar/washer from autopts, had time today to assemble and see what I have. Slop/backlash is same - 1/2 turn each way (no surprise). Putting the washer in the pocket didn't change it much. Now that the spindle is riding against the new collar, up/down play is really evident, so slop forward/back, and up/down."

Exactly what do you mean by "up/down play"?

If its straight, and the threads are not sloppy in the main nut, I wouldn't worry about end movement up down at 10-12" away from the nut. If the nut is worn, that could cause backlash, or if the screw threads are worn in a section heavily used that could also (Lathe and Mill lead screws commonly wear at center for instance)

Get the main nut out and thread in =t on the main screw. Make sure both are clean. try to see if there is linear movement as the nut is positioned on different parts of the screw. if any lateral movement is minimal and even, wear should not be an issue.

I'd hate to see you spend a lot on a main screw and discover that isn't the issue...

Lone
IIRC, the main nut was a replacement part and supposedly new that you got form seller and it had not been even been drilled to accommodate the retaining pin holes. If this is indeed new but not the exact replacement, it could a problem.

Additionally did you drill the holes for the pin properly at the correct location and the correct size. In other words, is the nut held tight and straight and there is no play in the nut itself?

 

[gman007]

I found this Prentiss no. 182 1/2 it has 5” jaws and weighs in at 115 lbs. The good news is that the vise is in pretty good condition. The bad news is I had to drive two hundred miles round trip to get it.

Smitty
I am just catching up with the weekend posts not that it matters because at the dizzying rate that you are scoring vises, we can not even catch up with your posts to congratulate you

Anyway delayed congrats, you have netted yet another very nice specimen.

 

[JohnnyRocket]

Plastic caps work pretty well for me. I have a bag full of various sizes to plug holes that I don't want paint to get in.

In this case I'm just not sure how far in cosmetically I want the line. Easier to strip the paint off after.

 

[Maui]

I've got the whole set but I ain't giving these away either.

Kevin, what specific paint did you use? I have a York 150 that I am painting, and ordered the Rustoleum hammered red. I like the color you used, and may switch to that instead.

Maui

 

[MayerMR]

Kevin, what specific paint did you use? I have a York 150 that I am painting, and ordered the Rustoleum hammered red. I like the color you used, and may switch to that instead.

Maui

Maui,

I have a little ~3" York that isn't isn't restored and the original red isn't hammered. I was intending to repaint using Rustoleum Professional Performance Enamel in red. I think that'd be a pretty close match.

 

[va.grouseman]

I've got the whole set but I ain't giving these away either.

KM, as I have said before, that's a handsome family you have there.---Did you get your York stickers off eBay?---I saw where someone is selling them pretty cheap per sticker.---I love the Yorks, they remind me of fat little pigs.---But the 150 you have to say is a stout little hog.

 

[KMScott]

Kevin, what specific paint did you use? I have a York 150 that I am painting, and ordered the Rustoleum hammered red. I like the color you used, and may switch to that instead.
Maui

Painted with Rust-Oleum Self Etching Primer and Satin Poppy Red. It is not a shiny paint and matched the original as close as I could find.

KM, as I have said before, that's a handsome family you have there.---Did you get your York stickers off eBay?---I saw where someone is selling them pretty cheap per sticker.---I love the Yorks, they remind me of fat little pigs.---But the 150 you have to say is a stout little hog.

The Yorks are nice vises, had to redo the swivel bases since they would not rotate very easy. I added a center plug like a large dowel in each York so the swivel base could rotate on center. Made a big difference.
The two large stickers I bought off e-bay like you mentioned, the 4 smaller ones I made myself and had my local print shop print sheets of them on sticky vinyl. I offer them for free if anyone would send a self addressed envelope to me. My address is on my websites in the contact us tab.

 

[honza.vosalik]

I've never seen those York stickers on Yorks in Czech. Must be something for the US market?

 

[JohnnyRocket]

I’ll take some better photos once it’s done. I’m just letting the color cure. You can’t really see the color or the metallic properly.

 

[va.grouseman]

KM, how did you size the sticker down relative to the little fellow.---I'm assuming that Mr. Winstonjefferson sells just the one size on eBay.

 

[Shiftless]

JR:
Nice work! What color is that again??? I like it.

KMS:
That is certainly a fine looking York family!
I’m on the lookout for one of the smaller ones myself.
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[JohnnyRocket]

JR:
Nice work! What color is that again??? I like it.

KMS:
That is certainly a fine looking York family!
I’m on the lookout for one of the smaller ones myself.
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I’m not entirely sure what the color is. It actually doesn’t say on the can.

 

[chrisnazzy]

Hey there guys, I’m messaging in hopes of getting some assistance/guidance on what to do in a “Vise Situation [emoji16]” regarding a purchase. Have a seller who has a Prentiss 22 and it has a couple issues need help with. (Second time this has been my situation and you guys rescued me before!) 1- Mounting ear broken and gone- not for me a total walk away just a bummer but your thoughts? And the big one 2- The slide looks like someone cut into it a ways. Maybe it’s cracked but looks like a cut- Your thoughts? Thanks in advance- the sellers waiting’s on me.

As I read your original post about this Prentiss 22 and corresponding replys by you and others, there were a couple things I could add.

I had to go back and look at your original pics again and unfortunately it does appear this vise has cast-in jaws. I say unfortunately because I just acquired one of the saddest broken and crudely repaired vises I've ever seen and it is a Prentiss 22. The entire dynamic is actually one of the only good parts and it's in real decent shape. It does have the removable jaws though so short of having some kmscott-esque machine shop work done and new jaws made, it's not a donor match.

As far as the age of the vise in question, it would have been manufactured between 1877 and 1910. I have a Prentiss 21 with that style swivel plunger and cast in jaws and I've learned that the swivel mechanism was patented in 1877 and they patented and began using removable jaws in 1911.

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[KMScott]

KM, how did you size the sticker down relative to the little fellow.---I'm assuming that Mr. Winstonjefferson sells just the one size on eBay.

va, I just used a ratio and proportion on the 4 sizes I made. It took me a long time to create the image using Photoshop. Once I had the image made I just shrunk it to match the vise. The ratio was the jaw width. I admit I used the several York vinyl stickers I bought off of e-bay as the Master Size for the 150 York hoping it was right. On another note. I use ratio and proportion all the time if I see something in a image. As long as you know one dimension then the rest of the unknown dimensions can be figured out pretty close. It is actually a simple algebra equation. By the way I flunked two years of math in High School, they just gave me the last year since my math was so bad. Now I use math everyday in my work. Happy to show my calculations if anyone is interested.

 

[va.grouseman]

KM, Math and Algebra were my worst also because I had so many other things that I wanted to do as a teenager I just couldn't focus on something as stupid as math.---Little does one know just how much your life is going to be effected by and exposed to something that seemed so worthless.---I can crunch numbers around in my head pretty good now just because I had to in my work.


Yea they kinda pushed me on through the grades too.---Get's to a point that they feel sorry for a person I think.

 

[Smitty]

Thanks gman007

 

[Smitty]

Vintage vises in their original habitat.


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[va.grouseman]

Smitty, how about those Poor-boy Jack Stands.---You work with you got.

 

[oldldh]

Everybody's interested in Reverend Scott's paint color...

I think he's discovered....

ARREST-ME-RED!!!

It would be most shiny with a few coats of clear on top!!!

 

[Smitty]

Smitty, how about those Poor-boy Jack Stands.---You work with you got.

American ingenuity at its finest.

 

[honza.vosalik]

Anyone know what this is?

 

[KMScott]

Everybody's interested in Reverend Scott's paint color...

I think he's discovered....

ARREST-ME-RED!!!

It would be most shiny with a few coats of clear on top!!!

Oldie, I painted this vise with you in mind, I used Rust-Oleum Sunrise Red. My thought on Arrest-Me-Red. I miss Bigcaddy's input, I seem to remember he had the color nailed.

 

[MayerMR]

Anyone know what this is?

I think it's a vise.

jkjk, I've seen one of those on one of the foreign eBay sites when I was doing an image search before. I'm pretty sure it's a German or Polish vise, but I can't remember the name or COO. That said, the one I saw had more/better pictures and I remember thinking it looked like a nice, well-made vise. I'd like to find one, one day.

 

[MayerMR]

Speaking of unique vises; I received that Chinese vise that was posted the other day by another member, last night. I gotta say fellas, this is a nicely made little sucker and I think it's pretty old. I didn't play with it too much last night, but I think that knob on the side is for a quick release mechanism, possibly? All the grease is dried up, so it's gummy, plus it isn't mounted, so it's kind of hard to try to fully fiddle with the mechanism. It seems to me to be a kind of amalgamation of US-design aesthetics of the older vises from the turn of the century, but with some British-esque design cues, like the possibly quick release mech?

Jaw faces:

Quick release?

Check out the cool, angled threads on the main screw:

Underside:

Different type of retaining nut at the end of main screw? It looks to be brass or bronze.

Talking to my buddy with the Chinese wife again, to clarify, he says,

"So remember, IF there is pinyin on the vise it's the English letters.

The Chinese characters on there are legit and say "metal wares for use on ships at sea" with a slight bit of wiggle room for meaning through translation. Probably more like "steel goods for ships" or "steel tools for ship use" something like that."​

I dunno what I have, and I don't know how to do better research on it, but it sure is a cool little sucker, imo.

So, anyone out there have any kind of ideas about how I could better date this thing? Or how I could do some better research on its history? I'm all ears!

 

[Thistle2592]

I dunno what I have, and I don't know how to do better research on it, but it sure is a cool little sucker, imo.

So, anyone out there have any kind of ideas about how I could better date this thing? Or how I could do some better research on its history? I'm all ears![/QUOTE]

Based on the label, my Chinese co-worker feels that it is old and made in USA or England because of the English letters to be used in the workshop of a Chinese ship. The mystery continues...

 

[honza.vosalik]

I think it's a vise.

jkjk, I've seen one of those on one of the foreign eBay sites when I was doing an image search before. I'm pretty sure it's a German or Polish vise, but I can't remember the name or COO. That said, the one I saw had more/better pictures and I remember thinking it looked like a nice, well-made vise. I'd like to find one, one day.

Here's more pictures. From an auction site.

 

[IdahoMan]

This a good deal? ($90)

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

It looks like the back of the slide is split. I'd be worried about what else that black paint is hiding.

 

[454ragtop]

MayerMR, thanks for posting more pics of that vise, looking forward to hearing how that quick release or whatever it is works. The thread on the screw is called a buttress thread, very strong in 1 direction.

 

[Smitty]

My dream come true and my worst nightmare all rolled into one photo.


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[Negen]

My dream come true and my worst nightmare all rolled into one photo.


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I do not understand your dream and nightmare. Vise a 1/4 size of your house or a cone equal size of your house.

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[chrisnazzy]

My dream come true and my worst nightmare all rolled into one photo.


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Is it your worst nightmare because someone just dropped that off at a recycling place?

Do you know what size it is yet? Or should I say, are you on your way to get it?

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[454ragtop]

My dream come true and my worst nightmare all rolled into one photo.


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If you bring home the vise, is your wife going to make you move into that house?