The VISES of Garage Journal

[Mr. Wonderful]

OK - VISE SIGHTING ALERT:

Current Farmer's Insurance Add on TV - the old guy is in a garage grinding (on a smart phone supposedly) and its held by:

A VINTAGE CRAFTSMAN VISE

Pretty sure it's this one (with a rust patina):

Seen watching MLB the last couple of nights...

LOL, I knew I wasn't the only one that saw that!

 

[va.grouseman]

Mostly because you keep buying them, and they are all over the floor!

That would describe a LOT of the folks on this thread!

I wished it were so Outlaw, tripping over them wouldn't be too bad, but in certain parts of the shop, I'm climbing over them.---Not good.


Saw that Craftsman on the Farmers comercial 2 days ago and had to back it up to verify what I saw.---They were careful not to show a logo but one could clearly see the make of it.---Also looked like an insert shelf was broken on 1 corner.---It appears he didn't like the large dimensions of his smart phone and was taking it down to a more pocket friendly size.

 

[txlonghorn1989]

I finally bought my first vise. oh no what did I get myself into lmao.

Well, let's have a look at it! Post pics!

 

[Shiftless]

Well, let's have a look at it! Post pics!

Absolutely!

 

[hautpot]

 

[Shiftless]

Nice looking Chick you just picked up.

Thanks for posting.

You do CNC machining?

 

[hautpot]

Not anymore!

Used this same Chick vise in school and fell in love with them compared to the popular Kurt. Been hunting for this 38kg (83 pound) cast iron version for a few years since they discontinued them around 2017.

This will be going a manual mill. I wanna pick up the new aluminium version and mount it to my Snap-on toolbox as a bench vise.

 

[hautpot]

First cuts, on the new vise. Never using a regular machine vise again LOL

 

[exmaxima1]

Anyone hear of a Vanderman?

Local listing for a William Vanderman vise for $500. I thought the price was ludicrous, but found one had sold on eprey for close to that. What makes them so valuable?

https://offerup.com/item/detail/923538047/

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

Re: Anyone hear of a Vanderman?

Local listing for a William Vanderman vise for $500. I thought the price was ludicrous, but found one had sold on eprey for close to that. What makes them so valuable?

https://offerup.com/item/detail/923538047/

I let one of those sit for weeks on offerup near me for $200 and I really regret not getting it. I don't know anything about them but it looks like a beast!

 

[Shiftless]

Yeah, if anybody tells you that ALL exposed screw vises are wimpy little homeowner tools, show them one of those.

 

[va.grouseman]

Re: Anyone hear of a Vanderman?

Local listing for a William Vanderman vise for $500. I thought the price was ludicrous, but found one had sold on eprey for close to that. What makes them so valuable?

https://offerup.com/item/detail/923538047/

The usual.---Not many of them around as compared to other USA vises that old, kind of novel in shape, a good addition to a collectors stash, and pretty versatile if one wanted to actually put it to use.---It's like Seinfeld said about the Wizard Tip Calculator,("it does other things").---The Vanderman don't just hold things.

 

[Shiftless]

The Vanderman... I got it from a guy on the street...it was like 50 bucks!

(Continuing va’s obscure Seinfeld reference)

 

[Fierljeppen]

The Vanderman vise that sold on eBay was a No.3, weighing in at 160 lbs, but I think the kicker was that it still had the handle, which is never the case.

Other than that particular Vanderman vise, I don't see them moving much, even priced much lower. They are definitely a working man's vise though.

 

[RTM]

ID this vise for a friend

Hey gang, I am hoping those of you who know vises can do better than those of us who know spreadsheets. I downloaded a copy of the vise sheet, and tried to filter it down to force it to spit out some choices that might fit this mostly unmarked vise that a friend just asked me about.

The only mark is 4 1/8 IN - 54 (on the swivel plate, note the fancy 4s w open top)

What he told me
Vise jaw width 4-1/8"
Jaw opening 8"
Weight 55#

So I have filtered the data in the every which way, using obvious things from the pictures, hoping they will force the data to tell me what he has, but I have failed. Swivel vise, covered screw, non replaceable jaws, width anything with a 4, model 54, weight 55, jaw opening anything with 8, quick release no, machinist category, swivel release under the bench....... Nothing kicked free. Closest thing looked like an Athol 82 I think. The swivel lock under the bench, single bolt mounting makes me think its fairly old.

So, now that the data side has been beat, I am hoping those of you who actually know vises can save me. Please see the 4 pic he sent me below.

Thanks in advance.

 

[MayerMR]

I finally bought my first vise. oh no what did I get myself into lmao.

Lol, you (soon to be...) poor fool. Like drugs, the first one didn't seem too bad, but then the rush from the second is amazing. Well then a third feels great too, but then there was that one you saw in the Vises thread...it'd be pretty cool to have one of those...you can quit anytime you want, but just a few more won't hurt anything...

 

[Fierljeppen]

Re: ID this vise for a friend

Hey gang, I am hoping those of you who know vises can do better than those of us who know spreadsheets. I downloaded a copy of the vise sheet, and tried to filter it down to force it to spit out some choices that might fit this mostly unmarked vise that a friend just asked me about.

The only mark is 4 1/8 IN - 54 (on the swivel plate, note the fancy 4s w open top)

What he told me
Vise jaw width 4-1/8"
Jaw opening 8"
Weight 55#

Thanks in advance.

That's a 1st generation Columbian no.74 machinist vise, complete with handle!

You need to make sure you get that vise, it's as rare as rocking horse ****.

 

[rusty65]

Re: ID this vise for a friend

That's a 1st generation Columbian no.74 machinist vise, complete with handle!

You need to make sure you get that vise, it's as rare as rocking horse ****.

That’s exactly what I was thinking. First vise that popped into my head you definitely nailed it.


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[va.grouseman]

RTM, that vise looks to be in excellent shape and if it helps you decide to buy or not to buy, I've seen those underneath spanner wrenches go for $85.00 just by themselves.

 

[RTM]

That's a 1st generation Columbian no.74 machinist vise, complete with handle!

You need to make sure you get that vise, it's as rare as rocking horse ****.

That’s exactly what I was thinking. First vise that popped into my head you definitely nailed it.

RTM, that vise looks to be in excellent shape and if it helps you decide to buy or not to buy, I've seen those underneath spanner wrenches go for $85.00 just by themselves.

Wow!
Thanks guys for the quick and definitive reply. My friend will be quite pleased to hear the age, and its apparent rarity. He has a knack for picking up oddball stuff at almost stolen prices. He hasn't mounted it in the 15 years he's had it, nothing thick enough to mount it to, needs about a 3"+ thick work surface for the screw to tighten down. Will check in with him soon.

 

[M635_Guy]

This thread has me obsessed.

You're not alone

 

[Outlawmws]

Wow!
Thanks guys for the quick and definitive reply. My friend will be quite pleased to hear the age, and its apparent rarity. He has a knack for picking up oddball stuff at almost stolen prices. He hasn't mounted it in the 15 years he's had it, nothing thick enough to mount it to, needs about a 3"+ thick work surface for the screw to tighten down. Will check in with him soon.

Buy it from him on those grounds, then, on your bench, just add a spacer block for the "thicker" bench...

 

[Shiftless]

Good advice.

BTW, is this little one of mine possibly another early Columbian?
This is the only vise of mine that has the handle to tighten at the bottom.
The dynamic support shelf was broken off when I bought it. There is a good chance that the horseshoe shaped washer in back of the nose is not stock.

 

[hautpot]

Lol, you (soon to be...) poor fool. Like drugs, the first one didn't seem too bad, but then the rush from the second is amazing. Well then a third feels great too, but then there was that one you saw in the Vises thread...it'd be pretty cool to have one of those...you can quit anytime you want, but just a few more won't hurt anything...

I don't even do much mechanical work anymore and now I want MORE!!!!!

MUST RESIST AND SAVE MONIES.

 

[Fierljeppen]

Good advice.

BTW, is this little one of mine possibly another early Columbian?
This is the only vise of mine that has the handle to tighten at the bottom.
The dynamic support shelf was broken off when I bought it. There is a good chance that the horseshoe shaped washer in back of the nose is not stock.

I recall you asking about this vise a couple of years ago. I still strongly believe it's a Parker no.20, missing the horn in the anvil. The collar is not original, nor is the modified screw in the side of the anvil, probably added to keep the loose, now missing horn in place. The slide shelf is broken, which is very common on the old Parker's.

I'm very confident about the model and mfg. of your vise, but would love to hear any other ideas someone may have.

 

[KMScott]

That is a Parker #20, I have worked on a couple. A little older then this one.

 

[Shiftless]

Thank you Fierljeppen and KMScott:

You’re right, I HAVE posted pics on these pages a couple of times in the past. I’m glad that you guys were tuned in this time around.

I bought it not knowing what it was but I recognized it as being quite old and very unusual.

I wonder why Parker didn’t put their name on the side?


.

 

[davethorik]

Got this funky little 2.5" Stanley today. Pictured with the slightly older clamp-on version.

 

[ShaunTheToolMan]

These are some vises I've picked up at the local flea market for my shop.
Fulton Machine and Vise No. 21:

Prentiss No. 622:

 

[MayerMR]

These are some vises I've picked up at the local flea market for my shop.
Fulton Machine and Vise No. 21:

Prentiss No. 622:

I was getting no images, so I wanted to offer a little helping hand:

Fulton Machine and Vise No. 21:

Prentiss No. 622:

 

[va.grouseman]

Shaun, I wouldn't do too much serious work with the 622 as it's more of a novelty vise with a light weight design that could easily be cracked or broken with minimal torque.---It is however a real collectable and pretty rare.---The end results would be like the Crown Royal comercial where you see a smashed bottle of Crown with the caption, ("Have you ever seen a grown man cry").

 

[ShaunTheToolMan]

Thank you, @va.grouseman. I'm not planning on using it. After buying it for $35, I went online and saw where one had sold for ~$400 dollars. I'm keeping it unused as an antique investment.

Thank you @MayerMR for fixing the issue. I'm not sure what's going on with my links.

 

[Smitty]

I found a new Wilton baby bullet vise to add to the nursery. I normally like original paint but the seller said it couldn’t be saved. He did a great job cleaning it up and it blended in rather well.


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[zendriver]

I picked this up at an auction yesterday. Looking for information on about how old it is.



I might mount it on my workbench instead of a littlestown I had setting around

Thanks


Sent from my iPhone using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[txlonghorn1989]

I found a new Wilton baby bullet vise to add to the nursery. I normally like original paint but the seller said it couldn’t be saved. He did a great job cleaning it up and it blended in rather well....

Nice Smitty! A lot of us would love to have just one! Hoping my day will come.

 

[Outlawmws]

Adding luster to the Smitty reputation!

 

[Shiftless]

Smitty scores another baby! Nice find.

 

[Smitty]

Thanks guys. Tex, I hope one comes your way soon.

 

[GETRIDAONE]

I picked this up at an auction yesterday. Looking for information on about how old it is.

I might mount it on my workbench instead of a littlestown I had setting around

Thanks

It would be from the 60's and is a better vise than the Littlestown which always seem to seperate at the bar and front jaw. That causes the jaws to have a gap when the front jaw is pushed forward.

 

[squeak12]

I posted this a few weeks ago just before the episode of vanishing posts. I was able to purchase this 1929 Reed 405 from a guy that got it from his job. He said that a customer brought it in with a pile of scrap. I haven't completed restoring it yet, but it has cleaned up pretty easily thus far.