The VISES of Garage Journal

[Private Lugnutz]

You know that can backfire. I once took my significant other to a garage sale where the multi million dollar house was condemned by the fire department due to his extreme tool collection. Said significant other took this as to what my future would look like. Tread carefully!

Haha. True that.

...and he said 'here are SOME of my vises". Wow.

Right? Incredible.

 

[Shiftless]

You know that can backfire. I once took my significant other to a garage sale where the multi million dollar house was condemned by the fire department due to his extreme tool collection. Said significant other took this as to what my future would look like. Tread carefully!

Did you take any pics? That would be an amazing sight!

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

I feel pretty lucky right now. Brand new C3 for me at work! I would normally say I prefer the older vises that I have restored. There is something to be said for this being pristine coming out of the box. This is also the first time seeing a C3 in person. The scale is understated to say the least!

 

[Shiftless]

Mr. W.:
You’re lucky to have an employer who cares enough to buy the best stuff for his guys. More than a few of us have access to quite a few vises and have chosen one of the Wilton C series combo vises as their daily user. (C1 here)

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

I will let you guys in on the secret. Get your boss into vises. No joke. This would have gotten shot down immediately a year ago. I refurbished a vise for my boss as a favor. It was his first one. He is a very good supervisor so I was happy to do it. Now he's hooked and could definitely appreciate the quality of what we were getting.

 

[davethorik]

The $25 mystery vise on marketplace turned out to be a Monarch no. 218 in very nice shape.
4.5" jaws, opens 5", weight 48 lbs. Been looking for a nice example for a while, so I am beyond thrilled with this!!

 

[Shiftless]

dave:
A nice Monarch with straight handles, not too many dings, sharp looking lion head, all for just $25 ???

YOU ****!

 

[Vise]

Dave - That looks very clean. Great score for $25.

 

[AceofSpad3s]

Is there any particular reasoning for the European type pattern vises with rear jaw being the dynamic one, while the front one is bolted to the work surface?

 

[GForceJunky]

Mr. W, not sure what you do, but that's a nice vise to have around even if you're sitting at a computer all day with it as a paper weight. Enjoy! Can't say I've ever seen the box for one - seeing it on the pump truck/forks put it into scale for me. Not a tiny box!

Dave, I agree with the 'suckage' bestowed upon you above. Great find! She's a beauty!

 

[Smitty]

Dave, that monarch is a beauty, nice find.

Mr. W, those newer Wilton C3’s are crazy big and a lot of fun to use.

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

Mr. W, not sure what you do, but that's a nice vise to have around even if you're sitting at a computer all day with it as a paper weight. Enjoy! Can't say I've ever seen the box for one - seeing it on the pump truck/forks put it into scale for me. Not a tiny box!

Dave, I agree with the 'suckage' bestowed upon you above. Great find! She's a beauty!

That's funny, I did have it on my computer desk for a little while as a joke. You know you have a problem when you would be just fine bolting it down there.

 

[Andy FitzGibbon]

The $25 mystery vise on marketplace turned out to be a Monarch no. 218 in very nice shape.

4.5" jaws, opens 5", weight 48 lbs. Been looking for a nice example for a while, so I am beyond thrilled with this!!

Wow. All I can find on Marketplace in my area is broken Asian double swivels with the static jaw MIG welded back on for $75...

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Is there any particular reasoning for the European type pattern vises with rear jaw being the dynamic one, while the front one is bolted to the work surface?

I can't and won't even pretend to present the rationale for the entire pattern or even for FPU/Bison-Bial, which is the vise of the type you're asking about that I have on my bench, but I can tell you why I like it. The dynamic jaw and slide is never stressed. It is supported by the bench at all times. Maybe it's just my experience, or even my imagination, but having the screw 'pull' the moving jaw instead of 'push' it seems much smoother and more stable than other bench vises, to me. Last, but not least, the vise never encroaches on my free space in front of the bench, and I am in cramped quarters. One obvious disadvantage is the severe limitation on a vertical workpiece.

 

[tig]

Figured I'd share my 'completed' refurbishment and hitch mount...

 

[Shiftless]

Nice job, tig. That set up will be very useful and the vise can be easily removed when you need the extra bench space.

All:
Does anybody know something about the JSB company? This one is clearly marked “JAPAN”
I got this vise from the proverbial “widow lady” who needed help clearing out and organizing her garage.
I found some Japanese companies with that name but they seem either newer companies or completely unrelated to vises.

I’ll clean it up and repaint soon.

 

[GForceJunky]

That's funny, I did have it on my computer desk for a little while as a joke. You know you have a problem when you would be just fine bolting it down there.

Haha funny coincidence indeed. Make sure to post some pics of it in action! I have to say, we don't get enough action pics in this thread, not that I mind looking at all the 'vanilla' vise ****.

Wow. All I can find on Marketplace in my area is broken Asian double swivels with the static jaw MIG welded back on for $75...

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

Sounds like you live the same place I do

 

[rikyric]

Anyone know where I can can get pipe jaws like these for my Columbian 205?

 

[emeraldcoupe]

picked this up off fb marketplace this morning. metro no.4

from what i've seen posted, morgan may be the maker? anyone have any info about them? it's got 4" jaws and is in great shape, pretty heavy little vise.

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

Anyone know where I can can get pipe jaws like these for my Columbian 205?

If you find out PLEASE let me know! I need one too. Someone posted a few weeks back that they bought some from Wilton that fit. I checked everywhere and couldn't find anything even remotely similar.

 

[Andy FitzGibbon]

If you find out PLEASE let me know! I need one too. Someone posted a few weeks back that they bought some from Wilton that fit. I checked everywhere and couldn't find anything even remotely similar.

This is my Columbian 205 with Wilton 10405S46 pipe jaws. They fit perfectly. Not cheap, but cheaper than me making them myself.



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[Mr. Wonderful]

Andy,

Thanks! You aren't kidding on the expense! I cant do $200 when I only need one. Thats double what I paid for the whole vise! Any other members want to split a set???? I only want one.

 

[Andy FitzGibbon]

Andy,

Thanks! You aren't kidding on the expense! I cant do $200 when I only need one. Thats double what I paid for the whole vise! Any other members want to split a set???? I only want one.

I think you'll find that the $200 is for EACH jaw. I found them significantly cheaper from a 3rd party seller on eBay, but they were still expensive. I got the vise for nothing, so figured I could invest a little in it.

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[Smitty]

Rikyric
Check out Yost vises on the web, these are the least expensive pipe jaws that I’ve found. They are hardened steel at a great price.


I have this vise so I can measure the jaws if you need me to so you’re sure they fit.

Sent from my iPad using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

If anyone has the dimensions on those yost jaws I would love to see them!

 

[GForceJunky]

Andy,

Thanks! You aren't kidding on the expense! I cant do $200 when I only need one. Thats double what I paid for the whole vise! Any other members want to split a set???? I only want one.

https://www.zoro.com/wilton-pipe-jaws-for-stock-number-10405-10405s46/i/G4206828/?q=10405S46

$129.19 at Zoro before any discount and I'm 99% certain that price is for a pair. Zoro has some REALLY good prices on a lot of Wilton parts and Wilton is not on the discount exclusion list. All the other pipe jaws/regular jaws I've seen for sale are for sets of 2, so I'd be super surprised if this is for a single jaw.

Zoro has free returns to easy enough to do a return if needed.

 

[gearhead1960]

https://www.zoro.com/wilton-pipe-jaws-for-stock-number-10405-10405s46/i/G4206828/?q=10405S46

$129.19 at Zoro before any discount and I'm 99% certain that price is for a pair. Zoro has some REALLY good prices on a lot of Wilton parts and Wilton is not on the discount exclusion list. All the other pipe jaws/regular jaws I've seen for sale are for sets of 2, so I'd be super surprised if this is for a single jaw.

Zoro has free returns to easy enough to do a return if needed.

Looks like to me, it's only for one jaw. Read the one review and it states as such....

 

[GForceJunky]

Looks like to me, it's only for one jaw. Read the one review and it states as such....

Ahh, well glad you caught that. The majority of their jaw listings - in fact, all of the others I've looked at - are for pairs of jaws, though they normally do state 'pair'.

This one did say "Pipe Jaws for Stock Number 10405" so figured there was a chance. Oh well!

 

[davethorik]

Thanks for the kind words shift, vise, gforce, smitty, and andy. Still grinning from ear to ear!

Wow. All I can find on
Marketplace in my area is broken Asian double swivels with the static jaw MIG welded back on for $75...

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I am lucky to live in OH where it seems there a lot of vises around. However, cheap/popular vises (Wilton, Reed) go super quick because there are a lot of collectors and flippers in the area. So you need luck and speed. The seller said 15 or 16 others had messaged him between 10pm when he listed it, and 7am when he responded to me, as I was the first to message.

Also, guy was a stand up seller. A lot of times if someone posts something for sale for too low of a price, then they get bombarded with messages and it can cause a bidding war, or the seller pulls the ad and relists it later for 6x the original price.

Grass is always greener, and all that.

 

[Shiftless]

Thanks for the kind words shift, vise, gforce, smitty, and andy. Still grinning from ear to ear!


Also, guy was a stand up seller. A lot of times if someone posts something for sale for too low of a price, then they get bombarded with messages and it can cause a bidding war, or the seller pulls the ad and relists it later for 6x the original price.

Grass is always greener, and all that.

Most of us have seen that happen more than once...each way. There are still many stand up sellers out there who honor previous commitments. And there are more than a few who promise one thing and then when the promise of more money comes up, all bets are off.
Once or twice I have benefitted from the first situation and added some $$ to the price depending on circumstances.

 

[davethorik]

Most of us have seen that happen more than once...each way. There are still many stand up sellers out there who honor previous commitments. And there are more than a few who promise one thing and then when the promise of more money comes up, all bets are off.
Once or twice I have benefitted from the first situation and added some $$ to the price depending on circumstances.

Just recently, there was a real clean Reed 206 for sale online in Cleveland for $200, two guys got in a bidding war over it. Then **** ad was gone, seller stopped responding to the bidders. About a week later, same seller relists it for $700. it's been gone so I'm guessing someone got it. Luckily it wasn't me bidding, so I wasn't personally invested, one was a guy i know.

A handful of vises I got last year other ppl attempted to buy out from under me, never in person though. I've honestly had above average luck with sellers being cool that way.

 

[mckay3d]

I have a Yost 204 machinist's vise. I know not to pound on the anvil, then, what is its function?

 

[Shiftless]

I have a Yost 204 machinist's vise. I know not to pound on the anvil, then, what is its function?

Excellent question!
Many of us who haven’t spent big money on a real anvil have a short piece of railroad track to use for heavy pounding.
IMHO, those “anvil” sections on vises are OK to use for light tapping kind of work. Of course anything like that might leave dings. A “user” vise will get scratches, chipped paint, dirt, etc.
I suppose there are some with show garages where everything is museum quality and the vise has a color sanded clear coat paint job and a mirror finish anvil section that gets waxed once a week.

 

[nutjob]

Anyone recognize this one?

Kevin

 

[Shiftless]

nutjob:
That one is certainly new to me. It looks like it would be very handy in a very few special circumstances.

My latest:
This Little Giant is odd so I thought it deserved an hour or 2 of work before I set it on a shelf. The rear dynamic is unusual. There is no hole in the middle of the underside so it never had a base I suppose.

Thanks to my friend and fellow GJ member CRSINMICH for sending it west.

 

[CRSINMICH]

Shift: You are welcome. That one cleaned up nicely. I found a small oddball for myself last week. 3" Grand Quickcet. There don't seem to be too many quick adjust clamp-ons out there.

 

[16again]

Excellent question!
Many of us who haven’t spent big money on a real anvil have a short piece of railroad track to use for heavy pounding.

Where can I find a length of railroad track?

 

[CRSINMICH]

emeraldcoupe: Yes, your Metro is a Morgan. They seemed to like names that started with M. In addition to Metro they also made Mercury and Majestic. There was at least one other one whose name (that I don't remember) didn't start with M.

 

[tool_scrounge]

Where can I find a length of railroad track?

Usually Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, etc.

I ran into a bunch of it a year or so back from a Community College machine shop program who was selling 18" pieces of it to help pay for consumables. At $20 each it was a pretty good deal. Usually it sells for more.

 

[Shiftless]

Where can I find a length of railroad track?

There is a guy on eBay (no connection to me) selling 12 inch long pieces for $25 with $15 more for shipping. He sells a lot of them. That would put you at about $40 to your door.

I got my chunk from a Craigslist deal for $20 but that was after a lot of time checking ads every day and being able to drop everything and drive out to pick it up. Considering everything, if you’re happy with $40 do it that way.