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dutchgray

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 28, 2014
Messages
6,468
Location
Dorset. England.
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

The British Fortis version is between those dates I think, well at least I don't think it was before 1933
 

Loydski29

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 17, 2015
Messages
233
Location
Victorville,CA
Smittyhere’s a pic of my 577 it’s date is 8-44. Yours looks very nice they are great vises!047cb1aa69595310b8beaca18b9324ba.jpg


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va.grouseman

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Joined
Mar 26, 2011
Messages
4,965
Location
Southern-Central VA.
Previously posted by 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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Smitty, 577s don't come up in anybody's area much.---I love the 577s.---They are the perfect size over-all and as you say, really stout.---I'd buy another if they weren't so darn pricy.---Count your Thanksgiving blessings on that one my friend.:thumbup:
 
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Productbob

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Joined
Dec 10, 2018
Messages
414
Location
ny
Smitty you are on a big roll the last week! heavy vise, 6", in a interesting color-nice pickup :thumbup:

Ken, Loyd congrats to you guys as well on your great looking 577s.
 
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Smitty

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Joined
Sep 4, 2018
Messages
2,409
Location
USA
Loydski, beautiful vise, the edges on the slide look really crisp. Ken and I are starting a club, I’m going to propose you for membership.
 

Smitty

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Sep 4, 2018
Messages
2,409
Location
USA
Va, I woke up at 5:30 this morning and drive an hour and a half in the rain to get there. I paid $200 for the vise but it has a couple of issues.the screw that bolts the swivel base to the body is missing and the handle (which I believe to be original) looks like it was repaired by a high school welding class. All things considered I’m pretty happy today.
 

Smitty

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Sep 4, 2018
Messages
2,409
Location
USA
Smitty you are on a big roll the last week! heavy vise, 6", in a interesting color-nice pickup [emoji106]

Ken, Loyd congrats to you guys as well on your great looking 577s.



Thanks Bob, Orange vises seem to always come my way this time of year, I can’t explain it.697a226f12c616e9af7cb10c66a327ca.jpg


This happened to me in the fall of 2018
4505505cce88a59aacb72cc000a3b885.jpg


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Vise

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Apr 16, 2019
Messages
575
Location
NE
Smitty- nice pick up on the 577. When you get a chance, look at the bottom and see if there’s a “phantom plate” in the casting. Older 577s don’t have it, but the theory is that they broke the mold for the swivel plate and bolted it back together, leaving the imprint in future castings.

I picked up this 577 for $75. Jaws were a mess, so I bought a beautiful set from KMScott. Gonna be good as new:

4ba272db6adea99c1c6aaa80039dda2c.jpg

92814bb2ae0798d22b9596e3306c0c5f.jpg

Here it is with my other 577, which was...more than $75, but it’s exceptionally clean.

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Smitty

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Sep 4, 2018
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Location
USA
Thanks vise, I seem to remember reading about that phantom casting issue a while back here, I’ll check it out and report back. Those new jaws look pretty hefty and I can’t imagine they were easy to make, KMS must have had his hands full with those.. The two 577’s would look badass on the corners of a bench.
 
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KMScott

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Joined
Feb 14, 2012
Messages
4,643
Location
Daufuskie Island, South Carolina
Thanks vise, I seem to remember reading about that phantom casting issue a while back here, I’ll check it out and report back. Those new jaws look pretty hefty and I can’t imagine they were easy to make, KMS must have had his hands full with those.. The two 577’s would look badass on the corners of a bench.

Nice grab Smitty, 6" Rock Islands are a hefty vise and yours looks nice. The jaws are not hard to make, jaws in my trade are simple since they are a rectangle block with a couple holes and a channel cut. The serrations might be a issue for some but any good Machinist would figure a way to cut them. I have repaired a 6" base for a RI and added a picture, can't remember seeing anything out of the ordinary except for the rectangle casting pad. This RI 544B came from the Coors Plant in Golden CO.
 

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Vise

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Apr 16, 2019
Messages
575
Location
NE
Nice grab Smitty, 6" Rock Islands are a hefty vise and yours looks nice. The jaws are not hard to make, jaws in my trade are simple since they are a rectangle block with a couple holes and a channel cut. The serrations might be a issue for some but any good Machinist would figure a way to cut them. I have repaired a 6" base for a RI and added a picture, can't remember seeing anything out of the ordinary except for the rectangle casting pad. This RI 544B came from the Coors Plant in Golden CO.

KMS - the picture you posted has the phantom plate.
 

Vise

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Joined
Apr 16, 2019
Messages
575
Location
NE
Here’s a better picture of another one:

9ea4ed73fc02c92470a3f1c228d70cc9.jpg


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Smitty

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Sep 4, 2018
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USA
Thanks KMS. I took the jaws off and they seem like a handful to me, you just make it look easy.

Vise, I’ll check for that rectangle on the base but I don’t recall seeing it initially.
 

kenc184

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 25, 2012
Messages
718
Location
Nor Cal
Here you go Smitty:

Club membership must be up to 5 at this point?

rock-island-577.jpg


That's a great price you got, if I sold mine I'd want double what you paid.
 
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Shiftless

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Joined
Mar 9, 2014
Messages
14,557
Location
East Bay SFO
ken:
You did a great job on that 577. :thumbup:
Was the Birtman tag in such a great condition when you picked that one up or did you clean it? I have a R.I. with a Birtman tag but I haven’t touched it.
 

rusty65

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Joined
Mar 20, 2012
Messages
2,279
Location
Pekin,IL
Happy thanksgiving everyone
Did one of my regular wash and wax jobs on my little salesman sample French post vise and wanted to show some pictures. IMG_5946.jpgIMG_5947.jpgIMG_5948.jpgIMG_5949.jpgH]IMG_5951.jpgIMG_5956.jpgIMG_5957.jpgIMG_5959.jpg


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Vise

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Apr 16, 2019
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575
Location
NE
Rusty - that’s a very cool setup for that little post vise. Nice work.


Speaking of Rusty, I think I bought this from you, maybe? Arrived yesterday: Athol 728 double swivel ratchet handle vise. It’s a beauty.

18b83251a4180af244e81bd639e94aae.jpg6344b49709d0977bf1b99cf21f715b1c.jpgcda1fd671c6ac2b0b7767de01a59fb01.jpgf73cb24b35ad805a24921aff3ac2ed78.jpg8451256a976b3c225515878692ad9f3f.jpg


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rusty65

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Mar 20, 2012
Messages
2,279
Location
Pekin,IL
Rusty - that’s a very cool setup for that little post vise. Nice work.


Speaking of Rusty, I think I bought this from you, maybe? Arrived yesterday: Athol 728 double swivel ratchet handle vise. It’s a beauty.

18b83251a4180af244e81bd639e94aae.jpg6344b49709d0977bf1b99cf21f715b1c.jpgcda1fd671c6ac2b0b7767de01a59fb01.jpgf73cb24b35ad805a24921aff3ac2ed78.jpg8451256a976b3c225515878692ad9f3f.jpg


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Yes. That was my Athol. I’m glad to see it arrived intact and that you are happy with it.


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kenc184

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Joined
Feb 25, 2012
Messages
718
Location
Nor Cal
ken:
You did a great job on that 577. :thumbup:
Was the Birtman tag in such a great condition when you picked that one up or did you clean it? I have a R.I. with a Birtman tag but I haven’t touched it.

Thanks Shift. the Birtman tag was grubby but it cleaned up really well.
 

Vise

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Joined
Apr 16, 2019
Messages
575
Location
NE
Thanks, KMS. Once I mill the jaws of that RI 577 a bit it’s going to be like brand new with your beautiful replacement jaws.
 

Smitty

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Joined
Sep 4, 2018
Messages
2,409
Location
USA
Here you go Smitty:

Club membership must be up to 5 at this point?

rock-island-577.jpg


That's a great price you got, if I sold mine I'd want double what you paid.
Ken, that 577 is a beauty. You can tell somebody took care of that vise and your restoration really made it look like new. Nice work.
 

TailGunner3000

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 5, 2019
Messages
363
Location
New Jersey
Happy thanksgiving everyone
Did one of my regular wash and wax jobs on my little salesman sample French post vise and wanted to show some pictures. IMG_5946.jpgIMG_5947.jpgIMG_5948.jpgIMG_5949.jpgH]IMG_5951.jpgIMG_5956.jpgIMG_5957.jpgIMG_5959.jpg


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Love the display. Not sure it's a salesman's sample though. Based on the design and specific features, it's more likely an individual's unique project.
 

rusty65

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Mar 20, 2012
Messages
2,279
Location
Pekin,IL
Love the display. Not sure it's a salesman's sample though. Based on the design and specific features, it's more likely an individual's unique project.



Honestly it doesn’t matter to me if it’s a real sample or not the most interesting thing about it to me is the all the hand finishing work that would be involved in creating this vise.
IMG_4794.jpg


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jonshonda

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Joined
Jul 17, 2017
Messages
4,749
Location
Wisconsin
Added some more vise real estate.

<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/154822526@N03/49143755033/in/dateposted-public/" title="20191129_190548"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49143755033_a4f6dea496_c.jpg" width="800" height="570" alt="20191129_190548"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 

STS2112

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Nov 27, 2019
Messages
3
Location
Michigan
I have a Rock Island 571 that I've had for years, and I'm wondering if anyone has seen the date code with different size lettering? It looks like mine could be from 10_1946. Just wondering if I'm correct. What's weird is that it doesn't look as though it ever had a Birtman Electric tag. Also, does anyone know what the 168 numbers represent? Thanks!
 

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Productbob

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Joined
Dec 10, 2018
Messages
414
Location
ny
Rusty -unique and very cool looking Post Vise setup!
Smitty - Go Bills!
CM - nice pickup on the Parker
honda adding more vise space is always a good sign :)
Vise Athol is a great addition to your collection :thumbup:
 

jrobb316

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Joined
May 18, 2014
Messages
1,377
Location
WI
577 club, only vise on my bench currently
 

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Mark in Indiana

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Aug 11, 2010
Messages
3,057
Location
Southern Indiana
My latest restoration: Craftsman 5160 machinist's vise. Manufacture date; Sept. 1946. Not sure who made it for Sears-Roebuck. I thought Reed, but someone told me Rock Island. Interesting repair by a previous owner. Looks like the nut was replaced by a ready-rod connector nut and the spindle was replaced by a length of ready-rod. Spring loading was also added. Still seems to be a good holding tool. I may mount it to my Kennedy Versa-Cart as a back up vise.

Thanks to Smitty for the guidance on the proper jaw face screws and the date code.
 

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Vise

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Apr 16, 2019
Messages
575
Location
NE
A lot of 577s coming out of the woodwork. Love it!

Mark - interesting repair. That vise is definitely made by Rock Island.
 

Smitty

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Joined
Sep 4, 2018
Messages
2,409
Location
USA
Jrobb, another nice 577, you couldn’t ask for a better user.

Mark in Indiana, glad I could help, that’s a first class restoration.

Vise, the base on my 577 has the anomaly you were talking about.
.eb415ca1970ea82f4c133911703aa89d.jpg
 

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Smitty

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USA
Added some more vise real estate.

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Nice job on the shelves, all that extra space is a great motivator to shop till you drop. It looks like you’ve got some pretty heavy vises so a center support structure might be a good idea.
 

jrobb316

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Joined
May 18, 2014
Messages
1,377
Location
WI
I also just sold my other 577, I gentleman on another board(not sure if hes on here), lives in ND and was traveling to IL somewhere. Met him in WI and sold him a 577, nice Prentiss, and a beater (maybe a little better than that) Morgan. Slim pickings up in the plains from what I hear so he was happy to get some nice iron!
 
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