The VISES of Garage Journal

[kenc184]

That thing is mint Smitty.

 

[kenc184]

Made my little mounting/sliding block. Sure improves my drill press!

 

[sgtgeo]

Wilton C3

Picked this beast up earlier this afternoon.

Keyway has 11 then another 1 on its side and then 79 the 79 is hard to make out.

I've only wiped off the slide to see the date stamp looks like it needs a good clean up, paint strip and some verde green. and the missing pipe jaw and swivel base

 

[Productbob]

sgt a beast indeed, nice grab

ken nice addition to the drill press and like the ballast on the stand base

smitty amazing that little guy didn't take a ding or two along the trip

 

[Smitty]

Sgtgeo
I was wondering if you got the vise all day. Congratulations on a great vise at a great price, you did well.

Bob
Thanks, the vise has seen light duty at best. The jaws are still sticky sharp.
Your Wilton 450 looks really clean, those jaw tower sides look factory fresh. That vise is going to clean up really well.

Ken
Thanks, it was worth the wait. Your drill press looks way too clean btw.

 

[Fierljeppen]

Sgtgeo...Your C3 vise may have a shipping date stamp of 79, but the model looks much earlier to me. Sometime in 1971, Wilton changed their machinist and combo models to a different style, with a much larger anvil and differently shaped jaw towers like the photo below.

Either way, she's a beast and a very nice find!

 

[kenc184]

Smitty: Yes, it's my woodworking drill press, it doesn't get too much use. It'll be getting a little more now it has a decent vise.

Bob: That's all that p.o.s HF "anvil" is worth - drill press ballast.

Sgtgeo: How much?

 

[sgtgeo]

smitty: yes, it's my woodworking drill press, it doesn't get too much use. It'll be getting a little more now it has a decent vise.

bob: that's all that p.o.s hf "anvil" is worth - drill press ballast.

sgtgeo: How much?

$350

 

[bastel]

bastel...The triangle "C" Columbian vises were advertised from about (1915-1919). The round meatball spindle would indicate it's an early version.

I'd pay premium for that Columbian no. 505 vise, based on it's age, condition and rarity. Grab it, if you can! The catalog scan below is from 1918.

Thanks for the info. I am not into american vises, though. Asked for a friend who might pop up here some day. He is into them. He missed out on a nice Rock Island (you know how sellers are sometimes), but he got the old style C3 (albeit the Wilton logo has been sanded of, and the seller misplaced the thingis that hold it in the swivel base) I asked about before and now he got this one.

 

[Maui]

Ok, fess up- who bought this cute little vise?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-Mi...=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Maui

 

[kenc184]

$350

Well done! I would've jumped on it.

 

[Outlawmws]

Near as I can tell no one, as I believe it was relisted a few days later?

 

[Shiftless]

Near as I can tell no one, as I believe it was relisted a few days later?

Mysterious...
I see this screen when I look for “relisted”

I doubt that if it didn’t sell for $1400 the guy would have relisted it at such a low starting price.
Final winning bid only 71 bucks?

.

 

[Outlawmws]

Yep! Compared:

 

[kenc184]

$71 is more like it!

 

[Smitty]

This is an Athol quick release coach-makers vise no.424 1/2. The vise has 4 1/2” jaws, opens a full 10 1/2” and weighs in at 82 lbs. All of the quick release parts are original and fully functional. This vise is ultra rare.


Sent from my iPad using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[Shiftless]

Smitty:
It’s totally amazing how you unearth all of those treasures!

 

[Loydski29]

Smitty that Athol is awesome! Congrats that’s a trophy piece!

 

[Smitty]

Thanks Shift and Loydski. This is the first one I’ve ever seen.

 

[sgtgeo]

Sgtgeo...Your C3 vise may have a shipping date stamp of 79, but the model looks much earlier to me. Sometime in 1971, Wilton changed their machinist and combo models to a different style, with a much larger anvil and differently shaped jaw towers like the photo below.

Either way, she's a beast and a very nice find!

I’m most curious about the change in jaw attachment methods. Mine has a hex head cap bolt coming in from the back of the jaw threaded into the jaw. I was able to easily remove these bolts without penetrating oil, impact drivers or any drama.

If these got stuck or stripped you could just drill out the bolt head and pull off the jaw. Worst case the threaded hole in the jaw gets screwed up and you buy new jaws. Way better than the threaded hole in a regular vise getting screwed up and having to figure out how to repair without damage. Also no screw heads to get messed up while clamping things in the vise.

Obviously there is a downside to this or they would not have went away from the design.

Thanks.

 

[unbehagen]

What do you guys believe hold old is this columbian?
Has a nice price attached to it.
Worth it?

Hi guys, I am a fellow vise enthusiast, collector and restorer and the reason Bastel asked so many questions lately The Columbian 505 he found was reasonable close to where I live so I picked it up today while delivering another vise I sold recently.

The fact alone that this vise is orperational after 100 years is absolutely stunning to me. I'll give a clean in the next days but here are some pictures how I got it today. The guy that sold it told me that it might be from a german railroad workshop because the guy he got it from used to work there.

It moves, no real rust, just a few battle scars and no cracks as far as I can see. Let me know if you have information about this one or idea what to do with it.

Cheers, Hannes

 

[kenc184]

Smitty,

I just don't know where you find them, I haven't seen a vise worth buying in a couple months up here (other than ultra cheapies). That is one I would've jumped on.

 

[Fierljeppen]

Smitty...That's probably my favorite vise in your collection. The only information I could dig up on it shows that it had a very short production life, late 1920's - early 1930's.

Oh yeah, the back drop of your much nicer than Chicago weather adds a few points as well.

unbehagen...Really nice Columbian triangle "C" vise!

 

[Outlawmws]

Hannes, Just my opinion, but for a RR shop 5" vises would be ultra light duty?

 

[Smitty]

Ken
Thanks, I was lucky to find it.
Jeppen
It’s really interesting how the vise works. The main screw inside of the slide is fixed in two places so there’s no slop in it. The front lever raises and lowers the split main nut to engage or pull free of the screw. I can press the front lever and simply pull the draw bar out of the vise.


Sent from my iPad using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[Outlawmws]

Smitty, Great find on the Athol! I was very surprised to see that vice listed for wood working - I was sure with that steep and constant angle it would be a Filers vise!

 

[rusty65]

This is an Athol quick release coach-makers vise no.424 1/2. The vise has 4 1/2” jaws, opens a full 10 1/2” and weighs in at 82 lbs. All of the quick release parts are original and fully functional. This vise is ultra rare.


Sent from my iPad using The Garage Journal mobile app

Very nice vise. I’ve got a small 3in with that quick release mechanism. That was LeRoy starretts final patent before passing away. That quick release was a optional upgrade in the athol vise catalog for the pattern makers vise and also other models of the vise line up. I believe most athol vises with the quick release were most often used in a production type factory and that may lead to the reason why so few are seen now.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[royce]

This is an Athol quick release coach-makers vise no.424 1/2. The vise has 4 1/2” jaws, opens a full 10 1/2” and weighs in at 82 lbs. All of the quick release parts are original and fully functional. This vise is ultra rare.

Not only ultra rare, it's ultra cool.
I really dig the flat profile of the jaw towers.
What a catch

Royce

 

[Smitty]

Outlaw
Thanks, it does have a filers profile now that you mention it.
Rusty
Thanks for posting a pic of the disassembled mechanism. I was apprehensive to take is apart thinking that if it ain’t broke don’t fix it but that takes the mystery out of it.
Royce
Thanks, I cleaned it up and gave is a BLO finish. The clean lines of the vise really photograph well.

 

[Vise]

Smitty- that’s a fantastic QR Athol. Local find?

Sgt - great price on the C3. If I were you, I would invest in a factory swivel base: https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/402031985773

 

[va.grouseman]

Smitty, the Crème De La Crème for sure.

 

[davethorik]

I love the flat front on that Athol.

 

[Smitty]

Vise, thanks

VA, thanks . The vise is in great shape for being 90 years old. I posted the closeup of the inventory tag in hopes that somebody would recognize the company where or resided.

Dave, it really has a unique profile.

 

[unbehagen]

Hannes, Just my opinion, but for a RR shop 5" vises would be ultra light duty?

I guess so too but it is the only information I have about the history of this vise. It is quite unusual to find stuff like this in germany. Maybe german RR shops where different.

 

[Dan8906]

Found this little Japan #5177 4” vise today at the flea market.

 

[Shiftless]

Dan:
Not a bad homeowner grade vise. It’s a craftsman. I see it’s missing the swivel base. The BF foundry in Japan made some decent vises back in the day. (Marked on the underneath side?) I had one way back when I only owned one vise! It did everything I asked it to do. It’s gone now.

 

[Dan8906]

Dan:
Not a bad homeowner grade vise. It’s a craftsman. I see it’s missing the swivel base. The BF foundry in Japan made some decent vises back in the day. (Marked on the underneath side?) I had one way back when I only owned one vise! It did everything I asked it to do. It’s gone now.

The swivel base is soaking, had some rust on it. The base cracked at one point and was repaired.

I picked it up for $5

 

[Dlavallee22]

Big thanks to Lyodski and Chrisnazzy. Both are great guys. Made a trade with Lyodski for his Colombian 603 as Iv been working on collecting 3” swivel base vises. Then I came across an opportunity to make a trade with Chrisnazzy. The Colombian 603 caught his eye and was then traded with him for one of his beautiful already restored Rock Island 571’s as I seem to come across Columbians but never find any Rock Islands in my area. Here is my RI 571! Chrisnazzy did a great job and even did a fresh coat of paint before mailing off to me which was above and beyond!

 

[Shiftless]

Looks like I made it to 5000 posts. 6 years on GJ. Lots of great people here. Most of the regulars here back then don’t contribute anymore but lots of new vise enthusiasts more than make up for those losses.

.

 

[Outlawmws]

Looks like I made it to 5000 posts.

tat calls for a SPEACH! or at least a big Post about what you think got you this deep in this... ummmm. This far in this forum!