The VISES of Garage Journal

[pelletman]

www.caswellplating.com I've done a bunch of stuff over the years. I got tired of the prep

 

[va.grouseman]

Originally posted by Dkroth.
Inside and eBay seller's mind: "This 40 lb vise will ship in this box, no problem. No packing material needed."




Dk, just be thankful that your Derby is a good stout vise and could take the abuse of shipping exacerbated by slip-shod packaging.---I bought 2 Wilton Shop Kings from 2 different sellers and both times the bases arrived with a chunk busted out.---Shop Kings bases are practically made of paper anyway so they really needed to be packed like a carton of eggs.---At least 1/10th of the stuff I bought off eBay came busted or bent.---They think a cardboard box will hold anything.---I bought a real good deal in a Swordfish-roofers tool like the one in the link below, a pair of Vise-grips, and a 12'' Diamond flat file for $13.00, all a package deal, and when the package arrived the corner was busted open and the package was empty.---Turned it in to USPS, never heard anything.---That was 2 years ago.---You can't get good help these days.



https://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-SW...309622?hash=item3b438bdb76:g:1BgAAOSwX99d8Py9

 

[sqyards]

gave a guy a work 10. bucks was real nasty looking. this is my first attempt at redoing one.

 

[Shiftless]

gave a guy a work 10. bucks was real nasty looking. this is my first attempt at redoing one.

Ten bucks for a Craftsman made in the USA by Columbian is an excellent deal.
Personally, I like it better when the anvil and the jaws are not painted but rather left as naked steel and wire brushed or sanded or even polished bare metal. Did you paint the slide too?
That looks like a piece of all thread twisted through the nut. I suppose that is a good way to mask off the screw threads from your spray can or spray gun.
You did a good job on highlighting the lettering. Did you use a tiny brush or paint pen or ???

.

 

[Vise]

Great score on that tiny Prentiss Smitty. Those are very hard to find!

 

[nutjob]

Smitty, if I had found that, it would be a candidate for new Nickel plating by a buddy of mine that does table top Nickle plating (He's actually done this in a campsite for small lantern parts! I'm wanting to make a setup of my own!)

Will he do my Prentiss 22?

I found an old Snap-On ratchet that I wanted to refurb and used a plating shop to strip the old finish and plate it in Nickel when I was done with clean up.

Here is the finished part as a reference what new plating looks like:



Kevin

 

[Shiftless]

nutjob:
That old ratchet came out great!
Would your local plating shop do a baby bullet? That would produce an amazingly good looking shelf decoration or even a user for a jeweler or other similar craft person.

How do they charge? By the square inch or ???

Smitty: Another score for the Prentiss master.

 

[edward472]

I went with a buddy of mine to help load up some stuff he bought at a house auction. I see a rusted Wilton sitting on a work table outside. I asked the auction company rep if it had sold in the auction. He says that it had been sitting outside for who knows how long and was so rusted that they didn't think it was worth putting it up for sale. I give it the once over, jaws move put the pin in the end cap is broken. I asked how much. Guy says "Is it worth $10 to you?". My buddy comes up, hands the guy $10, and tells me I did $10 worth of work. Enjoy the vise. Wilton C0. Just need some swivel nuts, a new pin, and a dust cap

She cleaned up nice. New jaws, new swivel handles, end cap needed to be welded, new pins, new dust cap

 

[Shiftless]

Wow!
A C zero, especially an early one in such great shape (under the surface rust) for only $10 (as a bonus, you got your buddy to pay the ten bucks for whatever labor you did)

YOU ****!

.

 

[edward472]

Thank you. It was a labor of love though. Previous owner had welded nuts to the base bolts. Every screw had to be cut out or drilled out. The entire dynamic jaw body was filled with epoxy for reasons I will never understand. It isn't going to win any beauty contests, but solid and functional. This one is a gift for my son when he's old enough.

 

[Smitty]

Thanks Vise and Shift.

 

[lardy1]

I got this little vise along with some old Craftsman stationary tools. It was cheap so I wasn't expecting much. The nut stopping pin was missing so I jerry rigged one out of a bolt. There is some damage to the swivel base also but I've got it working alright.

I scoured Outlaws Craftsman vise thread but can't find an example of this model.

 

[Mslund1]

Finished up the 43S I’ve been working on.
New soft jaws, new handle, strip and left bare.




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[Reversepolarity]

Nice


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[Outlawmws]

I got this little vise along with some old Craftsman stationary tools. It was cheap so I wasn't expecting much. The nut stopping pin was missing so I jerry rigged one out of a bolt. There is some damage to the swivel base also but I've got it working alright.

I scoured Outlaws Craftsman vise thread but can't find an example of this model.

Almost certainly mid 50's or so with the pointed main screw head,, but yeah, MIA...

Maybe one of the guy's with the CD of the catalogs can find it?

 

[Shiftless]

I’ve got a 5176 up on the shelf awaiting restoration. Camera angle makes my shelves look WAY crooked...they aren’t)

Jaws are 3 3/8 inches wide

.

 

[Fierljeppen]

I got this little vise along with some old Craftsman stationary tools. It was cheap so I wasn't expecting much. The nut stopping pin was missing so I jerry rigged one out of a bolt. There is some damage to the swivel base also but I've got it working alright.

I scoured Outlaws Craftsman vise thread but can't find an example of this model.

Yeah, that's the first place I would've look as well. Found your Craftsman model no.5170 vise in a 1957 Craftsman Hand Tools catalog.

 

[lardy1]

The difference I'm seeing is there is no badge on mine. The Craftsman name is forged in.

 

[Burn1]

Cleaned up a Craftsman, but left its original paint.
Need to mount on a vise stand.

 

[Shiftless]

Cleaned up a Craftsman, but left its original paint.
Need to mount on a vise stand.

Nice original 5195
Looks extra good next to your baby bullet.

Here’s a pic of my restored 5195

 

[dannyr]

Got an odd duck today. It's been languishing on Craigslist for a few months, one small crappy pic. I dismissed it at first, thinking frankenvise. Until I stumbled across a Google books of an old industrial supply type place, listing this Massey Vise Co. Riley patent "Lightning Grip" quick set vise.

https://patents.google.com/patent/US227582A/en

I also found this ad from 1896, and it looks like they could be had as fixed base or thru-bench swivel base. These appear to be swivel base. If so, that would make my 3.5" a #11.

The vise weighs in at 43 lbs and opens 4". Attached is a pic of the cam on the end of the spindle that actuates the smaller rack, pushing it up into the large rack in the top half of the vise body to tighten. It only takes 1/4 turn of the heavy cast iron handle to accomplish this. As a side note, this looks like the same handle found on Massey's quick release woodworking vise.

For the bad, the wing nut has both ends snapped off, but it's there. I'm not sure if the swivel base is original, but it's been with the vise long enough to get the same crappy orange paint. I don't know about the stud, guessing stack-o-washers isn't original
There is also a chip under the dynamic jaw pad. For some reason the two halves of the body are bolted together backwards.

I've never seen one before. I think it's pretty cool. Looks like Massey was around 1890s-1920s. I'm just assuming here, the vise has no markings I can see yet. Maybe Fierljeppen knows more.

Here's mine, as I mentioned - if the attachments have come thru OK you should see the Entwisle & Kenyon 4in sitting on my woodwork bench above the Syers (woodworking version) mounted into the bench (the Syers was patented just before the E&K - both rack and cam but different 'solutions'.

I think this type of quick release works really well for a woodwork vice, but only for certain jobs for metal -- you can see the handle has had the s--- beaten out of it - it's not a good 6 ton vise.

Pic 2 shows the end of the straight rack and the short rack section (the cam is below this) - on the Syers the cam itself has a worm thread section to meet the angle tooth rack - no small part to lose.

Pic 3 also has a very small bench vice size 00, possibly by Samuel Lewis of Anglo works Dudley UK - I also have other sizes, one of which (version with anvil) has a registered design UK 94546 - anyone know anything about these - which I guess date from about 1890??? These have the same design of 3 main castings as the E&K and very early Parkinson's bench buses.

I do wonder whether Dave Thorik's 'odd duck' on p3906 and DaveT's woodworking vice on p3897 are not in fact 'made in England' as Massey, the US licensee later cast his name large on the front casting - could have been stock to get him going before US production kicked in.

 

[dct55]

Can any of you gurus identify this vise?

 

[va.grouseman]

YOST, I think.

 

[dct55]

Thanks va.

 

[1NRO]

Danny, it's nice to see those vises and hear the manufacturer, I have the exact same vises and didn't know anything about them.
The E&K, it's drilled in the base for a central bolt/clamp? You know anything about what the setup was?

 

[Smitty]

This is a very rare Prentiss vise no. 34 1/2 with nickel plating. It has 2” jaws, opens 2” and weighs in at 2 lbs. The vise is shown in as found condition and it’s heavily tarnished. I have every reason to believe that 80% of the nickel plating is still intact after 120 years. This vise doesn’t have a hammer mark on it and the slide edges are as crisp as the day it was made. If you look closely at the last photo you can see the stamp.
PRENTISS
VISE CO
NY

I have a muddy scan of this but Jeppen posted a really clean one that I can’t seem to find.


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[davethorik]

Here's mine, as I mentioned - if the attachments have come thru OK you should see the Entwisle & Kenyon 4in sitting on my woodwork bench above the Syers (woodworking version) mounted into the bench (the Syers was patented just before the E&K - both rack and cam but different 'solutions'.

I think this type of quick release works really well for a woodwork vice, but only for certain jobs for metal -- you can see the handle has had the s--- beaten out of it - it's not a good 6 ton vise.

Pic 2 shows the end of the straight rack and the short rack section (the cam is below this) - on the Syers the cam itself has a worm thread section to meet the angle tooth rack - no small part to lose.

Pic 3 also has a very small bench vice size 00, possibly by Samuel Lewis of Anglo works Dudley UK - I also have other sizes, one of which (version with anvil) has a registered design UK 94546 - anyone know anything about these - which I guess date from about 1890??? These have the same design of 3 main castings as the E&K and very early Parkinson's bench buses.

I do wonder whether Dave Thorik's 'odd duck' on p3906 and DaveT's woodworking vice on p3897 are not in fact 'made in England' as Massey, the US licensee later cast his name large on the front casting - could have been stock to get him going before US production kicked in.

Your example is in a lot nicer shape than mine, it was beaten on behind the jaw and there is a crack in the top half of the body into the cut-out area the rack gear is in. Luckily it only extends from the end of the vise into the first screw hole for the rack.

I still have to clean it up, but I see no markings. I had a similar thought, assuming it is Massey but no way to know for certain. I wonder if the bolts holding the halves together would tell anything. Not sure if they would be Whitworth thread or not.

 

[Loydski29]

This is a very rare Prentiss vise no. 34 1/2 with nickel plating. It has 2” jaws, opens 2” and weighs in at 2 lbs. The vise is shown in as found condition and it’s heavily tarnished. I have every reason to believe that 80% of the nickel plating is still intact after 120 years. This vise doesn’t have a hammer mark on it and the slide edges are as crisp as the day it was made. If you look closely at the last photo you can see the stamp.
PRENTISS
VISE CO
NY

I have a muddy scan of this but Jeppen posted a really clean one that I can’t seem to find.


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Smitty is that the one that was bolted to a piece of wood? It looks very clean.

 

[Productbob]

Burn and Shift very nice looking 5195's!

Smitty cool little Prentiss and looks really well cared for

 

[mc4life27]

This is a very rare Prentiss vise no. 34 1/2 with nickel plating. It has 2” jaws, opens 2” and weighs in at 2 lbs. The vise is shown in as found condition and it’s heavily tarnished. I have every reason to believe that 80% of the nickel plating is still intact after 120 years. This vise doesn’t have a hammer mark on it and the slide edges are as crisp as the day it was made. If you look closely at the last photo you can see the stamp.
PRENTISS
VISE CO
NY

I have a muddy scan of this but Jeppen posted a really clean one that I can’t seem to find.


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Ok I want one I really want one


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[Smitty]

Thanks guys, I’m in polishing mode right now.


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[harley jim]

I saw this today and thought you guys may like to see it.[emoji106]

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[Burn1]

Nice original 5195
Looks extra good next to your baby bullet.

Here’s a pic of my restored 5195

Shiftless, what paint color or paint spec did you use?
Super color! I have an older Craftsman tool box that would look great in that color.

 

[Shiftless]

Thanks guys, I’m in polishing mode right now.

I see you’re using Blue Magic. I recently changed to that brand too. I like it better than others I’ve tried.

 

[sqyards]

Ten bucks for a Craftsman made in the USA by Columbian is an excellent deal.
Personally, I like it better when the anvil and the jaws are not painted but rather left as naked steel and wire brushed or sanded or even polished bare metal. Did you paint the slide too?
That looks like a piece of all thread twisted through the nut. I suppose that is a good way to mask off the screw threads from your spray can or spray gun.
You did a good job on highlighting the lettering. Did you use a tiny brush or paint pen or ???

.

i should have taped off the anvil next one i will for sure I have a old scout that was my grandfathers im gonna try. but yes a threaded rod kept paint off and made it easy to move while still wet/tacky. tje letters/numbers small paint brush and a Q-tip to clean up (pain in the a#% im not a good painter). it was fun tho i think it looks ok

 

[Smitty]

I see you’re using Blue Magic. I recently changed to that brand too. I like it better than others I’ve tried.

I used the Blue Magic to bring back the 39 1/2 but it might take a zen master to bring back the 34 1/2


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[KMScott]

I used the Blue Magic to bring back the 39 1/2 but it might take a zen master to bring back the 34 1/2

OK I am confused, it is a 34-1/2? I never seen a catalog page with that model number. I thought you had a mistake in your first posting. Another nice one Smitty.

 

[Smitty]

KMS, the 1/2 sizes designated nickel plating.

Scan courtesy of Jeppen.

This is he muddy old scan I had from a 1902 catalog.

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[sqyards]

very cool vises

 

[sqyards]

Ten bucks for a Craftsman made in the USA by Columbian is an excellent deal.
Personally, I like it better when the anvil and the jaws are not painted but rather left as naked steel and wire brushed or sanded or even polished bare metal. Did you paint the slide too?
That looks like a piece of all thread twisted through the nut. I suppose that is a good way to mask off the screw threads from your spray can or spray gun.
You did a good job on highlighting the lettering. Did you use a tiny brush or paint pen or ???

.

i should have taped off the anvil, i will when i do another one. the threaded rod worked out goid and it gave me a way to move it around. the letters and numbers I painted with a little brush (the best my shaky hands could. it was a fun project gonna do a scout sometime in the near. gotta finsh a bicycle project first