The VISES of Garage Journal

[Smitty]

Vetteguy: you did a beautiful job on the Parker, well done.

 

[Smitty]

I finally got my Starrett vise collection together all in one place with the help of some heavy duty shelving. The 926 stole the show, it’s crazy big for a 6” vise.


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[Indexmill]

I finally got my Starrett vise collection together all in one place with the help of some heavy duty shelving. The 926 stole the show, it’s crazy big for a 6” vise.
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Hi Smitty, I have a beautiful Starrett 624. But, the jaws are exactly 4.000" wide, not 4-1/16" like listed on Dr. Scott's (Mary's) website. I pinged Mary and she confirmed that the print says 4-1/16" wide. I want to get a new set of jaws but mine are exactly 4.000" and Mary's are 4.062". I don't want the extra slop on the ends.

If you have a 624, can you please reply with the exact width of your jaws for me. Many thanks. John.

 

[va.grouseman]

Smitty, that is one big pile of quality.---It don't get any better than that.---And a 926 is on my Christmas list too.---I'm going to be good this year, Santa better be too.

 

[Shiftless]

Smitty:
You’re display looks great. I see a lot of original paint too for bonus points!

Looks to me like about half a ton of fun.

 

[txlonghorn1989]

Just completed this restoration on this Chas. Parker 23x Vise (4.25 inch jaws, 70 pound). Had to make a new "T" handle to lock the swivel base. Rustoleum paint. I believe that it is pre 1912 since it has doesn't have the "brake shoe locking swivel cam" that Parkers are noted for. Project took me about 16 hours.

I'm not usually a paint guy for old vises but that looks good 67vg! What Rustoleum color did you use for the green and was it spray paint or no?

 

[Andy FitzGibbon]

I finally got my Starrett vise collection together all in one place with the help of some heavy duty shelving. The 926 stole the show, it’s crazy big for a 6” vise.


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I use my 926 almost every day. They are indeed massive... almost disproportionate, when compared to other makers 6" offerings. I suppose they kept then area around the jaws slender to give better working access, in a move away from the "heavy chipping" patterns of earlier times.

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[Smitty]

Index: I’ll confirm the exact measurements and get back to you.

VA: Starrett vises are top quality for sure

Shift: Thanks, I’m a big original paint fan.

 

[Smitty]

Andy: I had the 926 on my main bench for a year and you’re right they make great users. I found another Reed 4C so I’m going to clean it up and mount it in it’s place. I’ve always wanted to have a 4C on each corner.


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[Shiftless]

A 4C on each corner...very effective matching bookends!

 

[txlonghorn1989]

Andy: I had the 926 on my main bench for a year and you’re right they make great users. I found another Reed 4C so I’m going to clean it up and mount it in it’s place. I’ve always wanted to have a 4C on each corner.

Smitty Is that workbench attached to the wall? I might almost be concerned about it tipping forward with two Reed 4Cs attached and depending what kind of work you might be focused on using one of them.

 

[67vetteguy]

Thanks Smitty for your remarks on my restored Parker 23X. It means much coming from a man of your vise stature!

 

[Outlawmws]

Smitty Is that workbench attached to the wall? I might almost be concerned about it tipping forward with two Reed 4Cs attached and depending what kind of work you might be focused on using one of them.

Especially in SoCal!

That will be a nice setup Smitty! I always had a goal of a longer bench and a matched pair of vise's on each corner for those really long pieces! I have 2 104-1/2's as a possibility,

 

[Smitty]

Those 104-1/2’s would look great on the corners. This bench has a 2-1/4” thick top and is 32” deep. I made it strong enough to handle heavy duty vises and yes it’s thouroughly bolted to the wall.

 

[propmaker]

I came across an Athol 614 this weekend, first smooth jaw vise this novice has come across. Price was right, so I grabbed it.

 

[Andy FitzGibbon]

Andy: I had the 926 on my main bench for a year and you’re right they make great users. I found another Reed 4C so I’m going to clean it up and mount it in it’s place. I’ve always wanted to have a 4C on each corner.


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I have my 926 bolted to an old four-legged machine base from the Karl Keifer company (some sort of grape processing equipment) that weighs about 400 lbs. Puts it at about the right height for heavier work, but it could stand to have some more weight. I may end up building a heavier base for it.

Never ran across a Reed combination, but have always admired them. I have a Reed 205 180 degrees from the 926, set higher, that I use for finer work.

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[67vetteguy]

Txlonghorn1989: thanks for the compliment on the Parker 23X restoration. I used Hunter Green and School Bus Yellow out of the can. I use foam sponge for the green body and a tiny brush for the yellow lettering. It took 2 coats of yellow to provide enough color.

 

[PierceA]

The last couple of weeks have been busy. Between working in the shop on antique cars, and finding a few vises I liked and then fixed up.

I found a American Scale No. 64. Or American Red Seal, No. 64, depending on which side of the vise you read..
It needed jaws. one was missing, with a broken off mounting screw, flush to jaw support. The other jaw was about 1/3 missing.
I made some new steel Jaws for it. Right now they are smooth faced, I've got to get my little horizontal mill up and running to run the cross-hatching on the faces.

And early last Monday I got a call from a fellow GJ vise collector telling me a Columbian Pattern Maker's vise just showed up on CL and only about 25 miles from me! .. I searched and searched for it and couldn't find it,, So I got a link sent to me and called the seller, and asked If I could come right over to look at the vise.. He said yes..
So 40 minutes later I was looking at the Columbian Number 224-1/2. It was in good to very good condition. I bought it. I think this Columbian is a very well made vise. Much better than another smaller Columbian vise I have.

Once I got the Columbian cleaned up the next day, I was trying to figure out where to put it. I ended reorganizing the cart with my Pattern Maker's vises.

The cart has a Reed 106-s and a Yost 206, each on a corner, and my collection of Pattern Maker's vises along the front edge.

Pattern Maker vises Left to Right: Prentiss, Yost, Reed, American Scale, Columbian and Rock Island. All are 4-1/2" wide jaws.

PierceA

 

[Eddie H]

Picked up a few.vises Saturday at a flea market, Morgan 145, and a couple of small vises. The Morgan needs some attention but works great.

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[Shiftless]

Speaking of Columbian vises, here is the final product of my quick rehab of a 43 1/2 I bought for $25 at the first estate sale I’ve been to in over a year.
I had some help from my grandson with reattaching the jaw inserts.

 

[11b30b4]

Smitty, amazing collection and I love the look of the tandem Reeds. Be careful or you will develop the Tandem Dysfunctional Syndrome (TDS).

TDS is a costly syndrome where the affected person is inexplicably driven to have acquire and possess two of everything they collect.


Good morning gentlemen, the Autocrat refresh has been completed.
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[Jayman17]

Smitty, amazing collection and I love the look of the tandem Reeds. Be careful or you will develop the Tandem Dysfunctional Syndrome (TDS).

TDS is a costly syndrome where the affected person is inexplicably driven to have acquire and possess two of everything they collect.


Good morning gentlemen, the Autocrat refresh has been completed.
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Very nice job, looks great!

Jay

 

[LesserSon]

Has anyone tried Rustoleum 2X satin Slate Blue as a match for Craftsman vises of a certain age? (Heritage era)
Is it too light? Too blue? I shook up a can of Charcoal Gray, but decided it just wasn’t going to look right.

Answer: yes, too light.

 

[11b30b4]

Jayman17, thank you.

LesserSon, I am not sure the exact shade of gray you are looking for but I did find that Krylon Industrial Tough Coat Rust Preventative Spray Paint in Gloss Machinery Blue/Gray, was a very close match to my 1974ish Craftsman 113.213780 drill press. Check out the link to that build in my signature and see post 11. Perhaps it is what you are looking for.

 

[Smitty]

11b30b4: Thanks, now that I know that TDS exists I’m sure I’ll catch it.

 

[M635_Guy]

"Autocrat" is a pretty funny name for a product...

 

[11b30b4]

M635_Guy, I agree and the fact that Columbian put a name on a vise was one of the reasons I was drawn to it. Without further proof, I believe it is a contraction of Auto Mechanic Craftsman. The vise is obviously geared towards the home craftsman hobiest.

Smitty, unfortunately I contracted this debilitating diseases during my gun collecting phase and it cost me greatly. Luckly, the wife stuck with me through this period and now understands why I have 4 drill presses and am always looking for more.

 

[Shiftless]

"Autocrat" is a pretty funny name for a product...

That’s what I was thinking.

One of my vises has cast in lettering saying “PERFECT”

Another is labeled “Fine”

(I doubt that there is a vise labeled “ADEQUATE”)...

 

[tool_scrounge]

Found this at a local machinery sale. I have owned 4-B Cardinal speed vises in the past, but I had never see the 5-B "stretch version" before. Both have 4" wide jaws, but the 4-B had 4" of capacity and the 5-B has 6" capacity. from what I have observed, the 4-B seems a lot more common, even though the 5-B cost only ~10% more. Now to find a set of the optional jaws.

 

[va.grouseman]

Smitty, if the bench starts to tip over, quickly jump down and break its fall.---I just don't think I could bare seeing a beautiful 4C get damaged when it could be avoided.

 

[va.grouseman]

Pierce, really nice collection of hard to finds.---I'm partial to those Pattern Makers too.---Nice catch on the Red Seal also.

 

[va.grouseman]

11b30b4, speaking of hard to finds, those Autocrats only pop up about once a year, leaving me to believe there weren't too many of them made.---They really dress out nice to and you did an excellent job on that one.

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

After
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11b, What did you use to get the final finish on your vise handle? I'm currently refreshing a Columbian D45 M5. I've wire wheeled mine and it looks dramatically better than it did but it does not have as consistent a finish as yours. Advice appreciated.

PS: Yours looks great!

 

[11b30b4]

va.grouseman, thank you for you comments and I agree, if Smitty’s bench starts to tip, he needs to take a hit for the vises.

Dan in Pasadena, Actually, I made a new handle. I purchased 1 foot of 1144 ½” cold rolled carbon steel from McMaster-Carr for $3.69 plus shipping. I cut the rod to length then used some left over 5/8” 1144 to make the end balls. I machined the end balls and welded them to the rod then cleaned everything up.

More details and pics in my thread located in my signature.

 

[11b30b4]

Good morning GJ,

I am attempting to plan out the next few estate sales I am hoping to hit. I have “bad” pictures of two different vises at sales and I am hoping someone here can possibly identify either of these vises so that I can decide if they are worth taking off from work to try to grab them.

The first, it is only a front view but I am hoping that the spindle face, the end balls on the handle, and/or the horizontal emboss on the casting can help identify the vise. I realize there is not a lot to go on but it’s the only picture for this sale.
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The second is an even worse of a picture of a side view of a vise that appears to be somewhat disassembled. I can not make out a spindle and it looks like there is a handle lay on the bench to the left of the vise. One thing I can make out is that the vise body and/or anvil looks to come up fairly high to rear jaw.
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Anyway, if anyone has any ideas, I welcome the recommendations.

 

[txlonghorn1989]

PierceA That is one heckuva cart o' vises!

 

[hitthewall79]

My holy grail find, emmert 10a. It's the rarest one I own

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[PierceA]

And a rare on it is INDEED! It's an interesting design.
I have the little 2" one.

PierceA.

 

[PierceA]

Va, and TxLonghorn, Thanks! I do like the Pattern maker vises.. I just have not found a PARKER one yet.. LOL.
Parkers are my passion, Reed's next favorite. BUT any good quality American made vise is interesting and collectible.

Today my first 7" vise joined the collection. A Yost 107. Around 200#. I'm still cleaning it up.

PierceA

 

[Smitty]

VA: umm...I’m pretty dedicated but that’s like getting run over by a Sherman tank. I’ll through bolt the bench.