The VISES of Garage Journal

[Eric827]

Here's a little Karas Electric branded vise from eBay. I know I've seen others pictured that looked exactly the same (maybe Keystone?)

It had some jaw damage and one side had to be filed to clean them up. A little bit of JBWeld filler on the backside of the dynamic jaw also. 2 1/4" Smooth Jaws (a little narrower now), Opens 3", 6 Lb. Those letters are very small and so flat which means I'm not super happy with the way silver lettering highlights turned out.

Next in the rehab pipeline, a 1941 Reed 103 with a riveted tag showing "ACCO Vise Manufactured for Manley Manufacturing Division" tag and then a Reed 104 (unknown date due to a coat of green house paint).

 

[bastel]

Saw this on the classifieds for 230 € (=).
Brevete vise (saw some uk auctions for these when googled)

 

[Shiftless]

Eric:
Your Karas Electric looks great!
That was a good find. It shows that not everything on eBay is overpriced.
You’re right that it closely resembles a Keystone.
Here is a pic of my little Hollands Keystone B for comparison.

I bought it knowing about the braze repair (formerly covered in paint) but it was only $8

Bastel:
That might be a fair price for such an unusual vise. Thanks for posting.

 

[dkroth]

I picked up this Wilton bullet vise in LeRoy, NY this past week for $60. It was built in February, 1952. The jaws aren’t original, and will need to be replaced. It’s been a long time since I found a Wilton bullet this size locally for such a reasonable price.

Maui

Garage sale? Auction?

Had I known about it I would have tried to beat you to the punch!








.

 

[kenc184]

fortunate to pick up another 6" today- this one a 124 lb. Prentiss 518. Looks to be in very good shape but needs to be cleaned up to be sure.

Hey Bob,
I've got one of those! Nice vise.
ken

 

[Productbob]

Smitty- thanks, it came out of a welding shop and used as a backup vise. their front line users were beat to hell but working so this Prentiss was lucky.

Ken- i remembered you own one as well! looking forward to cleaning this up

Eric- nice little Karas vise!

 

[Smitty]

Bob, you really got lucky, welding shops are not kind to vises. This Prentiss 518 was my very first 6” vise, it’s still one of my favorites to this day. This was also my first brass emblem Prentiss.


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[redragoon]

Picked up this Wilton wood vise to clean up and repaint.








Someone tried to open it farther than needed and bent the rear alignment plate into a V shape. The rolled pin then began to wear into the plate. Had gotten about halfway through the thickness of this 10 gauge steel. Friend at work filled it with weld so I could flatten it out.

 

[redragoon]

Cleaned up most of the outermost layer of paint and glue. Factory Wilson paint would budge in some areas so I just scuffed it to apply primer. Painted it a dark Hunter Green to match my father's old truck. I'll give it to him for his birthday this week.








Added a washer behind the roll pin to stop the previous wear and fill the gap.

 

[nutjob]

I'll add finished pictures here after the repair and repaint.

I refurb'd a Columbian wood vise like this. I very carefully ground off the pin head that holds the handle to the main screw. This allowed full disassemble of the vise. No way I would be able to replace this pin with a correct rivet head pin with the tools I have.

When I put it back together I used a heavy duty split pin. McMaster Carr part number 95755A473 Also, had to add some shims to take up the backlash part number 91124A040

Kevin

 

[Eric827]

Redragoon, dang nice work. Very well done with the adaptations. Much like Nutjob's, I have an old Columbian undermount that might just get the full treatment after seeing your restore.

 

[Productbob]

Smitty that's a sharp looking 518 and sure my new one will become a favorite of mine too.

 

[cmccoy]

fortunate to pick up another 6" today- this one a 124 lb. Prentiss 518. Looks to be in very good shape but needs to be cleaned up to be sure.

Wow that looks stellar! Very nice condition.

 

[cmccoy]

Check out this restoration of my Columbian 503. It came out amazing! I did this resto for my 3 daughters. I don't have a picture but this link is a YouTube video of me restoring it. I did a very unusual color (bright yellow) but I surprised myself in how much I actually liked it!

 

[nimrag]

Ive had this one for over 30 years. I got it from my neighbor, it belonged to his grandfather.

 

[Maui]

Garage sale? Auction?

Had I known about it I would have tried to beat you to the punch!








.

I found it on Craigslist an hour or two after it had been listed. Apparently I was the first one to call him. By the time I made it to his house he had received several more calls. Once in a while I get lucky.

We should meet up at some point. PM me if you’d like to grab a beer some time.

Maui

 

[kenc184]

Smitty, Bob,

I don't want to be left out

 

[Fierljeppen]

Bastel's Brevete vise has an uncanny resemblance of the American Wilder All-Shapes vise.

Who copied who?

 

[KMScott]

Here is a Prentiss I finished. 209/210 with 2-1/2" jaws that opens to 3" and weights 12lbs. Repaired the broken foot, replaced the jaws and handle. Tightened the backlash and got this little vise back in shape.

 

[rusty65]

Here is a Prentiss I finished. 209/210 with 2-1/2" jaws that opens to 3" and weights 12lbs. Repaired the broken foot, replaced the jaws and handle. Tightened the backlash and got this little vise back in shape.

As always fantastic restoration and that foot repair looks very good.


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[Old Radar]

Outstanding repair on the foot! You should be a podiatrist!

 

[Smitty]

Smitty, Bob,

I don't want to be left out

Ken, That’s a beautiful vise, the color really suits it. Outstanding work.

 

[Smitty]

KMS
That’s a rare vise indeed, it’s great to see it it looking better than new. I must say that foot repair goes above and beyond. Nice work.

 

[Serrat Yasargil]

Wow KMScott! Has it found a home already?

 

[Outlawmws]

Outstanding repair on the foot! You should be a podiatrist!

There is a reason I call him Dr. Scott!

 

[KMScott]

Thanks guys. Had fun with this one.

 

[PghJKB]

Bastel's Brevete vise has an uncanny resemblance of the American Wilder All-Shapes vise.

Who copied who?

Yours is an interesting question.

12 Mar 1935 Marcel Gullifax of Saint-Chamend, France, was granted Patent # 1994217 for what appears to be a this jaw system. In France, on 15 Aug, 1933, he was granted Patent # 685210.

29 March 1960 Carl S. Carlstrom of Waltham, Massachusetts, was granted Design Patent # D187553 for what appears to be a slightly modified version of Gullifax's jaws. Carlstrom assigned rights to his patent to R.S. Wilder Inc of Waltham Massachusetts.

Carlstrom cites Gullifax's work

French guy, by 25 years and Carlstrom admits to the prior work.

URLS:
1994217
https://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageN...1=1994217.PN.%26OS=pn/1994217%26RS=PN/1994217

D187553
https://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageN...1=D187553.PN.%26OS=pn/D187553%26RS=PN/D187553

JKB

 

[Productbob]

CMC Thanks! Your yellow vise is a nice gift to your daughters

Ken Very sharp 518, very well done!

Km Excellent work on the 210. Passed on many vises because they needed a foot; you make the repair look effortless!

 

[kenc184]

Bob,
Maybe you, Smitty and I should form a 518 club?

 

[Z3K3Y]

Saw this craftsman vise tie clip on facebook market place. Thought you guys would appreciate it. From the seller "This was a Sears gift given to employees some years ago."

 

[Vise]

Nice work KMS! That vise is sweet!

 

[Fierljeppen]

PghJKB...Interesting and informative information, as usual. You are the King of patent information, thanks!

I was thinking about adding the Wilder All-Shapes vise to my bucket list until I did a completed price search. Yikes!!! Maybe not.

 

[Smitty]

Well it’s that time of year when I start finding orange vises. I just picked up this Rock Island 577, it has 6” jaws and weighs in at 150 lbs. I’ve been looking for one of these for a while but they just don’t come up in my area.


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[rusty65]

PghJKB...Interesting and informative information, as usual. You are the King of patent information, thanks!

I was thinking about adding the Wilder All-Shapes vise to my bucket list until I did a completed price search. Yikes!!! Maybe not.

Just keep your eyes open on eBay I’ve got two different examples in my collection and one is absolutely mint and I paid less then $140 a piece. They are interesting vises but are pretty much worthless to use if I’m being honest. The design is really only good for odd shaped stuff. The original design shows a stiff detent to lock the vise jaws parallel but neither one of my examples have this feature. These wilder vises were expensive new and I bet more then a few were returned or just thrown away over the years.


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[Old Radar]

Calling the brain trust!

Can anyone ID this vise? The owner selling it for $50 says it has no name on it. It has 5" jaws and the head rotates.

 

[Shiftless]

O.R.:
That’s a rather common vise (Asian manufacture) sold under quite a few names.
You can get a new one at Harbor Freight for $70 before coupon.

Many guys have one as a user and are satisfied.

 

[Old Radar]

Thanks for the quick reply! I was afraid that was probably the case. Oh well, if he still has it next week I'll see how serious he is about getting it out from under his feet...

 

[kenc184]

Well it’s that time of year when I start finding orange vises. I just picked up this Rock Island 577, it has 6” jaws and weighs in at 150 lbs. I’ve been looking for one of these for a while but they just don’t come up in my area.[

I know you have bigger Smitty, but that's a great vise. Biggest one I have. Maybe we can form a 577 club as well as a 518 one?

 

[Smitty]

Thanks Ken, I see yours in your avatar. I’m surprised at how stout this vise is, the bottom of the slide sits 4 1/2” off of the bench and the meatball is as big as a baseball. If you can post a full size pic of yours I’d like to see it. I’m still trying to figure out the date stamp on mine but I think it reads 6 51


I refuse to join any club that would accept me as a member

~Groucho Marx

 

[bastel]

You guys seen this? https://www.ebay.com/itm/173958424333 umm yeah, a chance!
That said a 150 kg one sells for 1300€ in germany... (yes I once saw one for 85 €)