The VISES of Garage Journal

[KMScott]

I was looking for a challenge so I seen this brazed up Rock Island #75 swivel base in my to do cabinet all rusty and well abused so I decided to see what I could come up with. I am building two sets of Parker jaws but they are not much of a challenge any more but this Rock Island looked challenging. I just started chopping away till I had good clean casting. Filled in the empty spot with Tool Steel and it should come out OK. Look forward to seeing how this guy finishes up. You guys think I am wasting my time on this one?

 

[royce]

I was looking for a challenge so I seen this brazed up Rock Island #75 swivel base in my to do cabinet all rusty and well abused so I decided to see what I could come up with. I am building two sets of Parker jaws but they are not much of a challenge any more but this Rock Island looked challenging. I just started chopping away till I had good clean casting. Filled in the empty spot with Tool Steel and it should come out OK. Look forward to seeing how this guy finishes up. You guys think I am wasting my time on this one?

Kevin,
Never a waste of time when a man enjoys what he is doing.
It will be a great vise for some lucky man.
Always a pleasure seeing your work.

Royce

 

[wrenchguy]

"Square'en up" is good 4 those messed up towers. I got a couple that need it done. Nice

 

[Outlawmws]

I don't think so. It will probably be better than new when you get done! The rest of the vise looks to be in decent shape!

 

[Outlawmws]

RB, Try some Simple Green on a test spot and see if it will take the black and leaf the green. I've had good luck with SG on rattle can paint.

 

[Ryan_340]

Nice one Ryan.---Perfect size, excellent condition as far as I can tell.---A real keeper.

Thanks! It is in real nice shape, the jaws look almost brand new. I really like these Morgan vises, I also have a 140 & 145 model Morgan. So when this 150 model came up for sale locally I just had to have it.

 

[gman007]

Thanks Gman, as usual you're too kind! I've seen the thoroughness and quality of work yourself and some others here use and it's a step above my clean ups.

This afternoon I finished off this American Scale 4-1/2"-er. I must say I am quite impressed with the quality of American Scale vises.

I think my Morgan 145 may have to make way for this guy to be my daily driver.

Ken
Yet another outstanding restoration. Nice job on the lettering too. And the vise is in great shape. It should serve you well for a long time

 

[gman007]

You must be living right to have it come out that easy. After I spent several weeks spraying and two days freeing one up, I now pull the pin in and out of my Reed bench vise (that I use in my workshop) about once a month - just to make sure it is not sticking. Your saving grace also might have been that since that does not look to be the original pin, it is probably not as "tight" a fit. Maintenance = OIL in the hole!

RB
I routinely smother the lower half the pin that goes in the hole with the Mobil 1 synthetic red grease to avoid rusting and seizing.

 

[gman007]

Just bought this Morgan 150 this morning

Ryan
Nice find, it looks to be in great shape.

 

[gman007]

Cleaned up and painted the Yost 104 I got from eBay earlier this week. Went to my local paint shop and had them make me a spray can of the closest thing we could come up with for VA Tech Maroon and a touch up bottle of burnt orange.

Depending on the light it either looks exactly like Tech maroon or it looks way too bright.

Gonna try to find a Tech sticker to put on the dynamic jaw before I give it to my boss for his new shop.

Ford
Looks good, your boss will appreciate it.

 

[RBarnes]

I was looking for a challenge so I seen this brazed up Rock Island #75 swivel base in my to do cabinet all rusty and well abused so I decided to see what I could come up with. I am building two sets of Parker jaws but they are not much of a challenge any more but this Rock Island looked challenging. I just started chopping away till I had good clean casting. Filled in the empty spot with Tool Steel and it should come out OK. Look forward to seeing how this guy finishes up. You guys think I am wasting my time on this one?

The way I look at it, I learn a little something from just about everything I work on so for me working on something you enjoy is never a waste of time.

 

[gman007]

I was looking for a challenge so I seen this brazed up Rock Island #75 swivel base in my to do cabinet all rusty and well abused so I decided to see what I could come up with. I am building two sets of Parker jaws but they are not much of a challenge any more but this Rock Island looked challenging. I just started chopping away till I had good clean casting. Filled in the empty spot with Tool Steel and it should come out OK. Look forward to seeing how this guy finishes up. You guys think I am wasting my time on this one?

Dr Scott
Well this is what happens when someone (in this case you) is too good at something, they start runing out of challenges but it is still definitely not a waste of time as you are once again resurrecting a dead vise. Those jaws look fantastic and better than new!

 

[gman007]

Added a Wilton cadet to my collection today. I did a welding job for a buddy this morning and him knowing my vise addiction the cadet was partial payment for the job. It’s in great condition jaws are 3 1/2”

Loydski
It is always nice to see a good deed get rewared. The cadet looks to be in good shape. Well done!

 

[Loydski29]

[QUOTE=gman007;7698736]Loydski
It is always nice to see a good deed get rewared. The cadet looks to be in good shape. Well done![/QUOTE]

Thanks gman

 

[Shiftless]

RBarnes:
What a coincidence you brought this up.
I just today dropped off a Chicago era Wilton Bullet (date coded Guar exp 1962) at my paint supplier to get a color match.
I was able to carefully wipe off some dark blue and some red paint layers using acetone soaked rags. I got down to that grayish sage color that many early bullets had.

Stay tuned for final results

 

[lafester]

Looks good to me, and you are saving a vise almost everyone else would give up on. Is that the one you had started last week? Look forward to seeing the finished product.

I was looking for a challenge so I seen this brazed up Rock Island #75 swivel base in my to do cabinet all rusty and well abused so I decided to see what I could come up with. I am building two sets of Parker jaws but they are not much of a challenge any more but this Rock Island looked challenging. I just started chopping away till I had good clean casting. Filled in the empty spot with Tool Steel and it should come out OK. Look forward to seeing how this guy finishes up. You guys think I am wasting my time on this one?

 

[kenc184]

I was looking for a challenge so I seen this brazed up Rock Island #75 swivel base in my to do cabinet all rusty and well abused so I decided to see what I could come up with. I am building two sets of Parker jaws but they are not much of a challenge any more but this Rock Island looked challenging. I just started chopping away till I had good clean casting. Filled in the empty spot with Tool Steel and it should come out OK. Look forward to seeing how this guy finishes up. You guys think I am wasting my time on this one?

Sows ear becomes silk purse. Nicely done!

 

[KMScott]

Thanks guys, I thought that if I can get a scrap vise back in service then I should. Thanks for all your comments.

 

[kenc184]

KMS, if you d on't mind sharing a little bit of your trade secrets, how do you go about heat treating your tool steel? Do you do it in house or send it out?

 

[KMScott]

KMS, if you d on't mind sharing a little bit of your trade secrets, how do you go about heat treating your tool steel? Do you do it in house or send it out?

I send it out to a Heat Treating shop. this steel is air hardened, around 1850 degrees. I used to heat treat years ago but I do not have the oven size they use. I take down 110lbs every three weeks, It cost me around $225-$250. He then draws back the A2 Tool Steel to 54/56 Rockwell in his vacuum furnace in Nitrogen to give the colorful pattern that I like. The draw back temperature is around 1000 degrees. Most shops like the clean look and for that he draws back the temper using Argon.

 

[FMC1959]

Charles Parker 1073 1/2

**** I just posted this in the Vise Info Thread and thought I should post it here.....although I am way behind on this thread about 35 pages back. Some of you may have seen this before as I posted a link back in 2014, or you may have seen it somewhere on the web. A pretty cool one-off to have in your collection

*******************
Kevin, don't know if you saw this previously, I had posted this in the main vise thread back in 2014. But the link I had posted no longer has the vise or story behind it so I will post pictures plus the story the OP had on this vise.

This vise has some really cool mods and enhancements to it; definitely done by someone with machining skills.Whether you would like to add it to the spreadsheet, that is up to you but according to the author of the article, it was either Parker that modified it for the Marines or The USMC themselves modified it.

I think that is where the author made a mistake, he forgot to mention that the mods could have been made by KMS also

Pics, full story + a link to the story.











With the 1073 1/2 Badge





http://kesterhouse.com/etct/shop.html

"The Chas. Parker Co. № 1073½ "Eclipse" Machinist's Vise

The first thing I found was this goofy looking vise with a long quick-release handle thing sticking off the front of it. I remember when I found this vise originally back in "the Shoe" and it was rusted to the point where nothing turned. Since I had the electrolytic rust removal tank up and running in the shed, I figured I'd toss this thing for a few days and see what came out. While it sat in the tank for a week, I started some tool research on the web to see what the story was with The Chas. Parker Co. cast in the side of the vise. I was familiar with Wilton (there's a 4 or 5 inch "bullet" machinist's vise somewhere in that storage unit too) and of course the Emmert patternmaker's vise that I'd love to get my hands on some day. I'd never heard of Parker though.

It didn't take long to find The Garage Journal with a very active section on tools new and old, as well as a huge thread in the discussion forum specifically about vises . It became very clear, very quickly, that I had stumbled onto something quite unique...

While I've spent a good deal of time learning about and collecting old Stanley tools, reading The Garage Journal has opened up a whole new subject of old tool stuff I can now obsess about, starting with the seemingly simple bench vise. I might be new to the field, but it seems clear to me that The Chas. Parker Co. made the best vises on the planet from the late 1800s until 1957, when the Union Mfg. Co. bought out the company. They offered a huge selection of vises with everything from incredibly heavy, non-swivel "Superior" Machinist's vises to what I consider a more "normal" bench vise with a swivel base and anvil back that they referred to as the "Service Station and Garage" vise. After looking over every old Parker vise ad and catalog I could get a glimpse at, no where could I find a reference to the 1073½, or anything that even remotely resembled the quick release thing I had sitting out in the rust removal tank. I was able to determine that this vise, like all Parker 97x series vises, was made sometime between 1930 based on the patent date on the casting (which refers to the "Clamping Element for Vises" US patent #1778576 for the swivel base clamp bolt), and 1957, when Union Mfg. took over production and changed the logo design on the side (although they kept the Parker name in the new logo).

After seeing how gorgeous some of these old vises looked while perusing the vises at The Garage Journal , I knew I was going to have to do a full blown restoration on this thing, and not just slather a little grey paint on it and call it good. The vise came out of the tank and everything was moving freely, so I set about dis-assembly and paint prep. I found the swivel base section had the number 973½ cast into it, and there was also evidence of that model number having been originally cast into the side of the static jaw unit before it had been ground off and replaced with a brass tag with the number 1073½ stamped on it. Evidently this thing began life as a Parker 973½ "Eclipse" Machinist's vise, with 3½ wide jaws and a weight of just over 47 lbs. (a little heavier than a 973½ due to the quick-release handle stuff). It was then either modified by Parker and sold to USM Co. as the 1073½, or modified by the folks at USM Co. (they had their own foundry and the place was a huge machine shop, after all) for their specific in-house needs and then re-tagged with the 1073½ model number for their own records.

How it came to be may forever remain a mystery, but it appears to be either unique or extremely rare. It really doesn't matter - I needed to get a working vise back on the bench and this was going to be the one. I hit all the big pieces with a wire brush in the 4-inch angle grinder, and the smaller stuff was cleaned up with the wire wheel in the bench grinder. I then masked off some bits and painted the jaws and base with two coats of Rust-oleum® #7250 Black Night Metallic enamel, and used their #7770 Gloss Black enamel on the handle, handle retainer, handle stop, and swivel wrench. After everything dried over night, I grabbed a little brush and did all the lettering on the sides with a few coats of White enamel, then gave it all two coats of #7701 Crystal Clear enamel as the final finish. The next day I removed all the tape and polished the bare metal parts to a nice lustre, then gave all the bare metal parts, including the parts inside the swivel base, a few coats of Renaissance Wax to prevent corrosion. The main screw and dynamic jaw slides received a liberal coat of Permatex® anti-seize lube, while the working parts of the quick-release cam and handle got a dab of Valvoline® Multi-Purpose grease.

One thing I'd noticed while looking at information for other Parkers is that the swivel bolt wrench was missing when I brought the vise home. After seeing what it was supposed to look like, it seemed awfully familiar to me... while waiting for paint to dry I took another trip to the storage locker and after digging through a couple boxes, there it was. The Parker No. 2 wrench, along with an unused set of 3½ inch replacement jaws. There was even a pair of bronze jaw protectors with USMC stamped on them in the same box! All that's left to do now is bolt this beauty to the bench."

 

[gman007]

Charles Parker 1073 1/2

**** I just posted this in the Vise Info Thread and thought I should post it here

FMC
Thank you for posting this! Interesting vise with an intriguing story.

 

[trijeff]

So Smitty, we know you didn't get to take the Lombardi home, but how about the Prentiss 23?

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

 

[Wrench80]

So yesterday my father gave me his grandfathers Athol Vise...ill take pics when i get home...it pretty damn heavy duty, everything works fine just needs cleaning and paint and lube...has a small ledge for mounting on the edge of a work bench. cant wait to clean it up, my first real antique tool. My father is 75 so you know this thing is OLD if it was his grandfathers lol

 

[RagTopTA]

Picked up a Wilton 4 inch bullet the other day. Not one of those incredible $$$ west coast deals, but just a good honest vise. I has a 1947 date code.

My question for everyone. The vise has been over painted black, but it seems to have most of the original green paint underneath. I have a fantasy of finding something that would release the newer paint and leave the green original. Tried mineral spirits, acetone, and lacquer thinner which really did not do anything. Steel wood removes the black, but a lot of work to steel wool the whole vise and it does also effect the green underneath. I am guessing this is enamel paint? I do wonder if they baked on the color at the factory so, like a car, it might be tougher than the newer paint?

Any recommendations of something I might try to remove the newer outer paint and leave the original underneath? Anyone know what the best current paint match for the 1947 Wilton green is - not sure I would go that route, but I appreciate vises with the original color.

I have had great luck with Acetone and a wire hand brush. The factory paint is way harder to get off. I found an old Wilton C clamp last week someone spray painted at one point. squirted acetone on it, let sit about 3 seconds and wiped about 80% of the spray paint off with a paper towel. Left behind the original paint. I have done this with many many vises as well.

 

[gman007]

So Smitty, we know you didn't get to take the Lombardi home, but how about the Prentiss 23?

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

With what some of those seats cost, one could buy an entire collection of Prentiss

 

[txlonghorn1989]

I have had great luck with Acetone and a wire hand brush. The factory paint is way harder to get off. I found an old Wilton C clamp last week someone spray painted at one point. squirted acetone on it, let sit about 3 seconds and wiped about 80% of the spray paint off with a paper towel. Left behind the original paint. I have done this with many many vises as well.

I'm going to try this on a Stanley #7 plane I've got that has a couple of red letters "TS" painted on the japanning. This better work RT!

 

[Smitty]

So Smitty, we know you didn't get to take the Lombardi home, but how about the Prentiss 23?

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

Unfortunately the vise looks like it’s in southern Alabama so there wasn’t enough time for that. Atlanta is a great city though and they put on one hell of a party.



Sent from my iPad using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[Nfenimore]

I mounted the old Columbian on the secondary workbench and used it a bit last night....

 

[greg86z28]

Finally got around to working on my Wilton I picked up over the summer. It's a November 1950 date (11-50, no EXP or GAUR marking). Model is 950. From some of the left over paint marks I thought it was a grey one, but when I went to the store and compared with some blue/greys, there was actually a lot of green in the original color, leading me to believe that it was actually that "hospital green" color and that my eyes and basement lighting are awful

Anyways, here's a before and after. It's got some dents and gouges but that's Ok with me - it's going to get used (but not abused). The color is Rustoleum Sage (satin finish - not gloss sage which is another option).

Few follow ups. First, I was planning on using some standard automotive synthetic grease when reassembling. I would assume that's OK? I cleaned out all the old grease/grime the best I could.

Second, I need jaws. The original jaws were worn down. They are 3/4" tall, and the screws look like 1/4". The holes are slightly offset (vertically). Center to center they measure 2-3/8". I took some pictures. The vertical offset is something like 1/32 or 1/16" - so it's hard to see with the tape measure. Few pictures of the jaws:

Measuring from top down EDIT: This picture is upside down, but I'm measuring from the opposite sides in the following two pictures (looks like roughly 3/8"):

Measuring from bottom up (looks like roughly 1/32" over 3/8" or so):

Here is the 1/4" screw:

 

[Shiftless]

greg:
Looks like you and I are running side by side on this Wilton green color question.

Here on the left is a section of a 9350 I painted last week. It is Rustoleum Satin Sage.

The Sage is a little brighter than the old Wilton color. The Wilton color is more grayish.

The second pic is my 9400 where I was able to wipe off enough of the bright blue paint to reveal the bottom layer which certainly seems to be the original factory paint.

My local Benjamin Moore store did an excellent color match in DTM..
I have used their DTM, direct to metal acrylic paint in the past for structural steel in a fully exposed outdoor environment. It is great paint...cures nice and hard. It is also available in “oil base” but that is not as flexible.

 

[RBarnes]

greg:
Looks like you and I are running side by side on this Wilton green color question.

Here on the left is a section of a 9350 I painted last week. It is Rustoleum Satin Sage.

The Sage is a little brighter than the old Wilton color. The Wilton color is more grayish.

The second pic is my 9400 where I was able to wipe off enough of the bright blue paint to reveal the bottom layer which certainly seems to be the original factory paint.

My local Benjamin Moore store did an excellent color match in DTM..
I have used their DTM, direct to metal acrylic paint in the past for structural steel in a fully exposed outdoor environment. It is great paint...cures nice and hard. It is also available in “oil base” but that is not as flexible.

Looks to me like Wilton changed their vise colors quite a bit. Maybe the same as new automobiles being painted different colors every year or so? I had a 1946 baby bullet that was original paint green and a later baby bullet with original paint blue (I think it was dated early 1960's). Someone out there probably knows the right colors for the right time periods...

 

[kenc184]

In my experience, even DTM topcoats do better over a coat of epoxy primer.

 

[RagTopTA]

I'm going to try this on a Stanley #7 plane I've got that has a couple of red letters "TS" painted on the japanning. This better work RT!

Check out the shop king I did a week or two ago, It was spray painted solid black. I used Acetone in a squirt bottle and a wire brush on small areas then wiped it off real quick as it dries very fast. Youll get the hang of it. works good. Revealed what was left of the original paint under that mess of black slop.
Look here:

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=7681149&postcount=69244

 

[Shiftless]

Check out the shop king I did a week or two ago, It was spray painted solid black. I used Acetone in a squirt bottle and a wire brush on small areas then wiped it off real quick as it dries very fast. Youll get the hang of it. works good. Revealed what was left of the original paint under that mess of black slop.
Look here:

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=7681149&postcount=69244

You did good cleaning off that black paint to reveal the old patina.

I use acetone too. It works very quickly but you have to be careful. It’s extremely flammable and you better either use it outdoors or have excellent ventilation like maybe working right inside an open garage door or inside a garage with doors open and a fan. Here is a quote from part of the MSDS for

ACETONE

INHALATION: Harmful by inhalation. Vapours may cause drowsiness and dizziness. Inhalation of high vapour concentrations can cause CNS-depression and narcosis. Severe overexposure may produce more serious symptoms, including coma and risk of kidney damage.

Add to that list blowing up your garage and setting your house on fire.

 

[Ryan_340]

Looks to me like Wilton changed their vise colors quite a bit. Maybe the same as new automobiles being painted different colors every year or so? I had a 1946 baby bullet that was original paint green and a later baby bullet with original paint blue (I think it was dated early 1960's). Someone out there probably knows the right colors for the right time periods...

I agree I have one with a 1966 date on it and has been in the family since new. It was painted machine gray over the original color and then brown over the gray. When I started stripping it down I found the original color to be more blue/green.

 

[Ryan_340]

greg:
Looks like you and I are running side by side on this Wilton green color question.

Here on the left is a section of a 9350 I painted last week. It is Rustoleum Satin Sage.

The Sage is a little brighter than the old Wilton color. The Wilton color is more grayish.

The second pic is my 9400 where I was able to wipe off enough of the bright blue paint to reveal the bottom layer which certainly seems to be the original factory paint.

My local Benjamin Moore store did an excellent color match in DTM..
I have used their DTM, direct to metal acrylic paint in the past for structural steel in a fully exposed outdoor environment. It is great paint...cures nice and hard. It is also available in “oil base” but that is not as flexible.

I have a 1962 stamped 9400 that was painted that same exact blue over a grayish color

 

[Shiftless]

The 9400 I’m working on is stamped Guar Exp. 12/31/62

 

[Ryan_340]

The 9400 I’m working on is stamped Guar Exp. 12/31/62

Here is my 9400, appears to be the same blue over gray.

 

[MayerMR]

greg:
Looks like you and I are running side by side on this Wilton green color question.

Here on the left is a section of a 9350 I painted last week. It is Rustoleum Satin Sage.

The Sage is a little brighter than the old Wilton color. The Wilton color is more grayish.

The second pic is my 9400 where I was able to wipe off enough of the bright blue paint to reveal the bottom layer which certainly seems to be the original factory paint.

My local Benjamin Moore store did an excellent color match in DTM..
I have used their DTM, direct to metal acrylic paint in the past for structural steel in a fully exposed outdoor environment. It is great paint...cures nice and hard. It is also available in “oil base” but that is not as flexible.

Hey Shift, you got a paint code for the custom mix you can throw up? I'm getting ready to paint up a Wilton C0 and would like to use that color. If it's too much trouble, not big deal as I was just planning on using the Rustoleum Sage green, which is what I used on my 6" Walker-Turner jointer - it's a really nice color. Shame it seems the Home Depot's in the DFW discontinued carrying it.