The VISES of Garage Journal

[Smitty]

Have you seen this?

URL:

https://archive.org/details/IronAgeVol54Nov291894/page/n59/mode/2up



They are consecutive pages from the 29 Nov, 1894 issue of Iron Age. Prentiss and Lewis are listed at the same NYC address. If Prentiss bought out Lewis, when??



There may be other "forces" at work here.



JKB

Thanks for the ad, I haven’t seen it before.


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[Vise]

Thanks for the ad, I haven’t seen it before.


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Yes, all signs point to Prentiss acquiring Lewis (and Lewis brands) at some point (or in theory, Lewis could have acquired Prentiss and continued on as Prentiss). When did this happen? Unclear. But certainly the fact that Prentiss kept Lewis on as a standalone brand for some period of time (as demonstrated in those ads) is not surprising or uncommon. There are many reasons an acquiring company would continue the legacy lines of an acquired company (e.g., customer brand loyalty to that company, warding off competitors in that legacy product space, excess inventory of the legacy product etc).

 

[Fierljeppen]

Well, it seems that Mortimer G. Lewis, John R. Mulford (Prentiss) and Edwin H. Mulford (Prentiss) were all stockholders of The Lewis Tool Co. Although, "The Lewis Tool Co." and "The Prentiss Vise Co." used different factories, they shared their respective company headquarters at 44 Barclay St. in New York City.

In 1904, The Lewis Tool Co. moved it's headquarters from 44 Barclay St. NY, to the factory in Bridgeport CT. It was soon after this, that they stopped showing up in the vise mfg. directories.

By 1909, most of the Mortimer G. Lewis patents had expired and it appears that Emmert had purchased one of his patents for their "Tiger" machinist vise line.

This is just a tidbit of information, but I encourage anyone interested in more information to concentrate their searches on the principals and not the company names.

That Lewis Tool Co. no.55 vise is really sweet!

 

[Vise]

Great info, as always, Fierljeppen. As in the axe world, the vises manufacturers seem quite incestuous.

 

[Smitty]

So I finally put the 9pc Wilton vise set together. 2”, 2 1/2”, 3”, 3 1/2”, 4”, 4 1/2”, 5”, 6” and 8”.


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[Outlawmws]

So I finally put the 9pc Wilton vise set together. 2”, 2 1/2”, 3”, 3 1/2”, 4”, 4 1/2”, 5”, 6” and 8”.


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One of them kids had a different father!


Great Collection Smitty!

 

[va.grouseman]

Just a brother by another mother.

 

[Smitty]

There’s one in every crowd


Edit: I just got it, you meant the chrome one. Lol

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[Vise]

Nice line up Smitty! Nice to see them all together.

 

[Smitty]

Thanks Vise, I was actually pretty excited lining them all up.

 

[Jeffcmz]

Alright guys, I had some Parker part sent out to be casted and they’re finally done. I have wrenches and collars available. No.1-No.4 and the baby wrench for Parker 492.5. I also have Parker collars that range from 2”-8”. I’m running out of stock on Parker collars so get your order in quick. Pics will be sent to each customer of the parts they are receiving before they are shipped to make sure they approve. If you’re interested in one, send me an email at [email protected]

 

[Shiftless]

Nice looking lineup, Smitty.
If that chrome 3 1/2 inch one looks too out of place for you, I have a really nice 3 1/2 in the normal finish that I would be happy trade.

 

[Smitty]

Alright guys, I had some Parker part sent out to be casted and they’re finally done. I have wrenches and collars available. No.1-No.4 and the baby wrench for Parker 492.5. I also have Parker collars that range from 2”-8”. I’m running out of stock on Parker collars so get your order in quick. Pics will be sent to each customer of the parts they are receiving before they are shipped to make sure they approve. If you’re interested in one, send me an email at [email protected]

I need a collar and a wrench, I’ll message you.

 

[Smitty]

Nice looking lineup, Smitty.
If that chrome 3 1/2 inch one looks too out of place for you, I have a really nice 3 1/2 in the normal finish that I would be happy trade.

Thanks Shift. If I remember correctly you weren’t so willing to part with that 3 1/2 last month.

 

[Productbob]

Smitty great looking lineup, lots of time and effort required to pull them all together
Outlaw the chrome child may have the recessive family gene that pops up every so often!?

 

[Shiftless]

Smitty:
It’s only logical. I have but one 3 1/2.

My family includes 2 babies, a toddler, 2 threes, a single 3 1/2, 2 fours, and a single 5. I stopped at 5” due to my swearing off vises that weighed over 100#. I have two C-ones to top off my bullet collection. Size 4 1/2 but combo rather than machinist form.

Does a Cadet count as a bullet? I have one of those. And another bullet like vise in the form of one of those Wilton Cadet imposters from India that all came to the US wearing orange paint.

But nothing in chrome. And no model SJ’s either .........

BTW, what’s a nice 400SJ worth these days?

.

 

[Dandy Dave]

Dave, I can give you hints and drawings for cutting meatballs with out a radius cutter. I use to make the cones on the nose of high flying jet's for N.C.A.R. in Boulder. As for the thread pitch, most spindles 7/8 and larger are in the 3 TPI range so it might not work with your lathe's. Years ago the vise makers spindles were threaded with a Geometric Die Head, you can tell by seeing 4 stopping points on a spindle thread. Those screwmachines were big and powerful years ago. Imagine cutting a large Acme thread in seconds. You put the word out there that you have lathe work for hire then I am sure some guys here will be getting a hold of you.

Three threads to the inch. I'm giving that some thought. Yes, You would need some type of die to do that. An adjustable one that one could change the cutters in would be best. Something along the lines of a pipe threader design. I've roughed out stuff and then finished it with a file while spinning it in the lathe to get a nice one off radius on something. None of my machines are CNC. I do everything old school. A radius cutter would be a real time saver for making meat balls and not that big of a deal to make one up for the task at hand. I see cheap ones on line but I could build a better one with more adjustments that would do a better job and have a greater range.

 

[Vise]

Smitty:
It’s only logical. I have but one 3 1/2.


BTW, what’s a nice 400SJ worth these days?

.

”My only regret is that I have but one 3 1/2 Wilton bullet to give for Smitty’s vise collection.”

A 450SJ sold for around $900 recently, nicely restored.

 

[Smitty]

Thanks Bob

Shift, I’m still waiting for a SJ as well. I’ve never even seen one come up around here

 

[Shiftless]

Thanks for the reference Vise.
Someday we may look back and say that $900 was a bargain price for an SJ but for now, I wouldn’t pay nearly that.

 

[cclfn]

Smitty:
It’s only logical. I have but one 3 1/2.

My family includes 2 babies, a toddler, 2 threes, a single 3 1/2, 2 fours, and a single 5. I stopped at 5” due to my swearing off vises that weighed over 100#. I have two C-ones to top off my bullet collection. Size 4 1/2 but combo rather than machinist form.

Does a Cadet count as a bullet? I have one of those. And another bullet like vise in the form of one of those Wilton Cadet imposters from India that all came to the US wearing orange paint.

But nothing in chrome. And no model SJ’s either .........

BTW, what’s a nice 400SJ worth these days?

.

Great set of bullets you have there. If you linked those together would that be considered belted ammo

+1 on 100 pound vises - BE CAREFUL I just herniated a disc and I was moving three 100+ pound vises the day before which I am pretty sure was the cause

 

[Smitty]

Thanks cclfn. Yeah, an ammo belt for the Incredible Hulk.

 

[Shiftless]

cclfn:
Thanks for sharing. Sorry to hear about your injury. That’s exactly why I swore off 100+ pound vises. I don’t have space for the proper equipment to manipulate the big guys so I sold off a few bigguns and stopped buying them.

More power to those of you with big collections of 6-8 inch vises. I hope you’re careful in lifting and moving them around and use lift tables, cherry pickers, chain falls, whatever in order to save your body from injury. Many of you are younger, bigger, and stronger than I so this rant is just a warning. Make your own decisions. I am 71 years old and weigh 170 pounds.

Here is an illustration of what can happen when things go wrong.

 

[Mslund1]

I had some free time this week so I put together the Reed 204R I picked up a few weeks ago.

Gave it a deep scrub with simple green and multiple stiff bristle brushes and was surprised to find this much original paint underneath all the dirt/grime.

“It’s only original once” as they say, so after cleaning I just gave it a light clear coat to protect it. Wire wheeled the hardware and put it back together

Factory smooth jaws on this one, which is pretty neat to me. Date stamped 11/58

y


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[va.grouseman]

Cclfn, I feel your pain.---I've had one back operation 3 years ago and I'm feeling like there might be another one in my near future.---I don't want to go now because of the virus floating around.---I'm like Shift, I'm buying mostly small vises I can handle now and I'm dreading the day when I run across an absolute deal on a quality 8''er.---The back won't stand the strain, and there is no way I can pass it up.---I'll be in a real pickle.

I'm already dreading a mounting job I have coming up.---Going to put a Starrett 326 on a chunk of I-beam pretty soon.---Even taken apart the parts are pretty heavy, but I'm going to retire my old Yost 6'' stationary.


A few pics of the I-beam stand before cemented.---Took 3/4 of a yard to fill the hole.---No it's not a Royce or a KMS or a Joe.striper but it will serve the purpose.---The grease rack and the vise stand have been my quarantine projects.---Did all the batching for the grease rack columns and the vise stand with an old mixer I've had for 40 years.---This is why my back is hurting.

 

[davethorik]

Had a good day yesterday.

Picked up this Veit & Young (Huntingdon Valley, PA) 2.5" clamp-on vise. It has never been used. It has 3 guide rods arranged in a triangle around the main screw, which i thought was unique. Not much info on this company out there, they did make bigger vises too.

Also picked up a 5" Dropfo, to go with the 3" I already have.

Last but not least, this Erie Tool Works 00C. 2.5" jaw combo vise. Smallest combo I've ever seen.

 

[KMScott]

Cclfn, I feel your pain.---I've had one back operation 3 years ago and I'm feeling like there might be another one in my near future.---I don't want to go now because of the virus floating around.---I'm like Shift, I'm buying mostly small vises I can handle now and I'm dreading the day when I run across an absolute deal on a quality 8''er.---The back won't stand the strain, and there is no way I can pass it up.---I'll be in a real pickle.

I'm already dreading a mounting job I have coming up.---Going to put a Starrett 326 on a chunk of I-beam pretty soon.---Even taken apart the parts are pretty heavy, but I'm going to retire my old Yost 6'' stationary.


A few pics of the I-beam stand before cemented.---Took 3/4 of a yard to fill the hole.---No it's not a Royce or a KMS or a Joe.striper but it will serve the purpose.---The grease rack and the vise stand have been my quarantine projects.---Did all the batching for the grease rack columns and the vise stand with an old mixer I've had for 40 years.---This is why my back is hurting.

va, I love that I-Beam stand. Gonna keep the 326 outside? I guess you have it figured out. What rust preservative do you use.

Speaking of backs. Working on this big guy. my back is Ok but my knees are shot, need to replace my right one. Losing my shop in a week or two and had to finish up this Prentiss 58. It was used without jaws it's whole life. Off center holes were not even tapped. Recut the jaw support after I flattened the bottom. Bore the meatball out and replaced it with a sleeve and made a new 1-1/2" handle. I'll weld the channel tomorrow after it cools and I get a couple of 3/8 cap screws buried to pull the .060 split back to where it belongs. I have done this a couple times and know it will be almost as good as new.

 

[Smitty]

Va
That a serious chunk of I beam that you have there. The 326 is going to look awesome on it. At first glance it looked like you were building a home made rollercoaster in your backyard for the grandkids but a grease rack makes more sense.

KMS
I can’t wait to see that Prentiss when it’s done.

 

[davethorik]

Just traded off my Starrett 923 for this "Awyer" Tool Co. Oswego no. 23, the "Awyer" is in great shape. Very nice little vise.

 

[Dandy Dave]

Haven't thought about this in a while but seeing one listed in one of the Vise booklets jogged my memory. The Columbian pipe vice. Made in Cleveland, Ohio. It's bigger than most I've seen.

 

[va.grouseman]

Previously posted by KMScott.
Gonna keep the 326 outside? I guess you have it figured out. What rust preservative do you use.



Yep, the 326 is going to be my outside workhorse.---I have 2 of them, I'm 65 and I'm going to enjoy one of them for a while.---Three 7/8'' x 4'' stainless steel bolts with 7/8'' nylocs plus some other goodies will hopefully keep it in place for many years.---But getting 7/8'' holes in 1 1/2' plate ain't no walk in the park.

For my outside vises, I just keep a heavy grade grease like rear-end grease creeped all over it and then covered with a large plastic container.---My old York has never rusted using that combo and it's been there almost 20 years.


It just amazes me what you can do with that lathe.---You bring life to an old relic that most would look at and say, yep, scrapyard.---Carbide tools are a game changer ain't they.---before that it was forge, hammer and anvil.


Take it easy on that back and knee.---Wouldn't it be nice if they could be fixed on a lathe.---If they could, I'd be on the next flight to Colorado.

 

[davethorik]

Here is a better pic of the "Awyer Tool Co." from a few posts up.

 

[wrenchguy]

Did all the batching for the grease rack columns and the vise stand with an old mixer I've had for 40 years.---This is why my back is hurting.

Nice mixer, tough job 4sure. You have help? Is the a difference between a mortar mixer and concrete mixer?

 

[Old Radar]

Va
That a serious chunk of I beam that you have there. The 326 is going to look awesome on it. At first glance it looked like you were building a home made rollercoaster in your backyard for the grandkids but a grease rack makes more sense.

And I just thought it was a bridge he is living under...

 

[Tostal]

I got this old 6 inch 'Dawn' vice (Australian made) recently

Tostal~

 

[AngryBeaver]

I had some free time this week so I put together the Reed 204R I picked up a few weeks ago.

Gave it a deep scrub with simple green and multiple stiff bristle brushes and was surprised to find this much original paint underneath all the dirt/grime.

“It’s only original once” as they say, so after cleaning I just gave it a light clear coat to protect it. Wire wheeled the hardware and put it back together

Factory smooth jaws on this one, which is pretty neat to me. Date stamped 11/58




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Thats pretty neat. in over 130 reeds I've never seen a smooth jaw R. I'm not too far from you and if you ever decide to part with it, let me know.

 

[Ww7573]

Vise question for the experts on this thread...
Any idea if a swivel base from a Reed 205 will fit on a Reed 3c vise? Or is only the 205r cross compatible?

 

[Vise]

VA - That will be an awesome setup! Any pics of the 326(s)?

Vise question for the experts on this thread...
Any idea if a swivel base from a Reed 205 will fit on a Reed 3c vise? Or is only the 205r cross compatible?

Although not certain, I've assumed you could interchange them. Reed in general used the same bases for multiple lines (e.g., my 406 has a 4C base). Here's a couple measurements someone sent me awhile back of the width of their 3C base, if it helps.

 

[Fretters]

More power to those of you with big collections of 6-8 inch vises. I hope you’re careful in lifting and moving them around and use lift tables, cherry pickers, chain falls, whatever in order to save your body from injury. Many of you are younger, bigger, and stronger than I so this rant is just a warning. Make your own decisions. I am 71 years old and weigh 170 pounds.

Not pulled owt yet, but after the amount of my gear I've had to move over the last year, I have sworn that if I ever get another hobby, it won't involve cast iron.

 

[AngryBeaver]

Vise question for the experts on this thread...
Any idea if a swivel base from a Reed 205 will fit on a Reed 3c vise? Or is only the 205r cross compatible?

yes. on the top side of the base it will be marked 3C-5 in the round support pocket. (have to remove the base to see it). and its on the side that touches the bottom on the static jaw.

My 205R base fits on the 3C.

Like wise a 204-1/2, 214 1/2, 404-1/2 and 2C all interchange

the 4C, 206R, 406 R all interchange.

I'm not positive on the 1C, but i'd take a gander that the 203-1/2, 403-1/2 would also interchange.

a 4" base will not fit a 2C. has to be a 4-1/2R