The VISES of Garage Journal

[drivesitfar]

Fier: when I quit drinking beer like it was water I actually care what kind I buy now even though I drink very little and i'll have to buy and try some of those when I go to that huge TOTAL WINE STORE (glad they didn't have it when I was younger).

anyway I thought maybe you slept at a HOLIDAY INN at the outside and nice call.

ALL: I've been picking up a vise here and there the last year or so but i'm almost to the point that it really has to be somewhat rare now cause i've discovered other things to spend any extra cash on. that said this little REED 403.5 showed up and even with the handle that looks like a horseshoe it followed me home.

anybody else have other ways of straightening a little handle other than in a vise or a press do tell otherwise I'll figure it out cause i'm not going to cut it off and replace it AND i'm not in a hurry to fix it either.

hope you all are enjoying this great spring weather.

 

[454ragtop]

Drives, I'd straighten that handle in about 5 minutes with a hammer and an anvil or other solid surface. Just keep whacking the high spots, when it gets close I roll it along looking for the high spots and knocking them down. Be surprised how straight I can get them.

 

[txlonghorn1989]

Drives, I'd straighten that handle in about 5 minutes with a hammer and an anvil or other solid surface. Just keep whacking the high spots, when it gets close I roll it along looking for the high spots and knocking them down. Be surprised how straight I can get them.

454 Do you apply any heat to the handle or just beat it into submission?

 

[txlonghorn1989]

...

ALL: I've been picking up a vise here and there the last year or so but i'm almost to the point that it really has to be somewhat rare now cause i've discovered other things to spend any extra cash on. that said this little REED 403.5 showed up and even with the handle that looks like a horseshoe it followed me home.

anybody else have other ways of straightening a little handle other than in a vise or a press do tell otherwise I'll figure it out cause i'm not going to cut it off and replace it AND i'm not in a hurry to fix it either.

hope you all are enjoying this great spring weather.

Drives Nice find! I'm still waiting to see my first swivel jaw vise in the wild! Would LOVE for it to be a Reed! How do you like Parker vises? I am sure impressed with my 975. Spring has been wonderful here. Hope likewise for you as well.

 

[ncgun99]

Fier: when I quit drinking beer like it was water I actually care what kind I buy now even though I drink very little and i'll have to buy and try some of those when I go to that huge TOTAL WINE STORE (glad they didn't have it when I was younger).



anyway I thought maybe you slept at a HOLIDAY INN at the outside and nice call.



ALL: I've been picking up a vise here and there the last year or so but i'm almost to the point that it really has to be somewhat rare now cause i've discovered other things to spend any extra cash on. that said this little REED 403.5 showed up and even with the handle that looks like a horseshoe it followed me home.



anybody else have other ways of straightening a little handle other than in a vise or a press do tell otherwise I'll figure it out cause i'm not going to cut it off and replace it AND i'm not in a hurry to fix it either.



hope you all are enjoying this great spring weather.

Drives,

Can’t wait to see this one done!


Sent from my iPhone using Garage Journal

 

[txlonghorn1989]

Finishing up another craftsman, this a 3-1/2" 5161, dated 1-41.

ed4b Wow! That's nice! I've got a 5160. No I don't. Just remembered I gave it to the son-in-law last year. I know he appreciates it about as much as I do. It was dated 4-46.

 

[Miller72]

Broadhead & Garrett
500 V
7X4 Jaws
28lbs

A beast and barely used, if at all really.













I know nothing about this vice other than it is solid, heavy, well built and absolutely in excellent condition.

To bad its not a quick release/slide...

Thanks for looking

 

[1982fxr]

The Parker I got last week. Exterior of slide slathered in grease. The oddity on back is just some little landscape rock the grease picked up when I was moving it.

 

[ejot]

The picture shows a disassembled #765.
In the upper left hand corner is a partial parts list for these style vises. I'd say that, that spring is original knowing the aggravation removing one. The piece of metal is a spacer, nut to stop pin, picture shows what I believe to be factory original metal spacer. Possibly the grove is that long to run a tool to clean up after the cast.

The spring, washer and circle clip are factory a change made by Stanley around 1948 if I remember correctly..

This seems like the arrangement in J.G. Baker’s 1915 “lost motion take-up” patent

Great info...helpful, interesting... appreciate it.

 

[Smitty]

Drives: I use a block of 1018 for straightening handles. I don’t heat the handles because it weakens the steel and dents very easily. I just hit them cold with a 3 lb hammer and it works really well. For the swivel lock handles I use a wrist pin form a big old Cummins diesel. I’ll use a smaller hammer and hit them cold as well. That Reed is a beauty, I can’t wait to see it cleaned up.


Sent from my iPad using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[Dlavallee22]

Hey guys, haven’t posted in awhile but had to post one of my latest finds as I don’t think you see one of these every day. This is a Leavens Mfg Co Jersey vise No. 22! One of the coolest little vises Iv owned and is atleast 110 years old! It has 2” jaws, 2” max opening, and weighs 4 lbs.

 

[va.grouseman]

Fierl, all you lack is a couple nights stay at a Holliday Inn.---And agreed, this new normal, (cancel culture) is a testimony to just how stupid America has allowed itself to become.---And we call it all progress.

 

[PierceA]

I do not hammer on a bent handle. Hammering leaves flat spots or hammer-marks that are difficult to polish out.
To straighten a handle I almost always use the H-frame 20 ton press. With a press, there is no impact to dent the surface of the handle. Placement of supports and the location of press ram allow for straightening of odd bends and 'S' curves.

PierceA

 

[Shiftless]

Like PierceA says, hammering leaves dings.
If you have the space, get a big hydraulic press.

 

[NYCone]

How often do folks like to leave vises at bare metal? If so, what do folks use to protect them. A friend recommended LPS 3, but there are a lot of other ways to protect them at metal.

 

[MJOPE]

Hey guys, haven’t posted in awhile but had to post one of my latest finds as I don’t think you see one of these every day. This is a Leavens Mfg Co Jersey vise No. 22! One of the coolest little vises Iv owned and is atleast 110 years old! It has 2” jaws, 2” max opening, and weighs 4 lbs. This one isn’t on the spreadsheet yet either

Nice find... and very cool silver quarter.

 

[11b30b4]

Finally got around to snaping a pic of the second Float Lock Vise I have. Its an AMF and all I need now it so locate/ fabricate the lock down screw and the removable corner mount.

View media item 111619

 

[txlonghorn1989]

How often do folks like to leave vises at bare metal? If so, what do folks use to protect them. A friend recommended LPS 3, but there are a lot of other ways to protect them at metal.

drivesitfar introduced me to using BLO (Boiled Linseed Oil). I personally very much like the look it leaves on old vintage cast iron. I haven't been collecting vises long enough to be able to discuss it's merits as a rust preventative long term but there are plenty of guys here who can.

 

[tool_scrounge]

How often do folks like to leave vises at bare metal? If so, what do folks use to protect them. A friend recommended LPS 3, but there are a lot of other ways to protect them at metal.

For an outdoor user vise I have seen folks use LPS3 on unpainted surfaces. It seemed to work well though it is not very pretty.

 

[Shiftless]

drivesitfar introduced me to using BLO (Boiled Linseed Oil). I personally very much like the look it leaves on old vintage cast iron. I haven't been collecting vises long enough to be able to discuss it's merits as a rust preventative long term but there are plenty of guys here who can.

I’ve been collecting and restoring vises for about 6 years. That’s not as long as a few of the guys here but long enough I think to have some experience with rust.
I use BLO on bare cast iron because it looks great and it works well as a rust preventative. It mellows over time to a handsome blackish brownish vintage looking finish.
For bare steel parts like handles, like many others, I use Fluid Film.
I don’t have any experience with vises kept outdoors though.

BTW, Boiled linseed oil is also great on garden tools. Shovels, wooden handles... all of mine get an occasional thorough cleaning and wipe down with BLO. I keep them in a corner of the garage, but I have a few yard tools that are over 40 years old and still have their original wooden handles that are in great shape and safely useable bare handed. BLO is a great wood preservative too. I think that would work on stuff kept in outdoor sheds.
I don’t have a picture handy, but there is a very old redwood sign post in my yard that I coat with BLO once in a while. It looks great.

Here is a before and after pair of photos showing what BLO looks like on bare cast iron.
I took the after pic immediately after coating with BLO. It looks pretty shiny here but after a while, that mellows to a soft sheen and becomes darker.
By “bare cast iron” I’m not referring to surfaces stripped by sand blasting or wire wheel. Those techniques will take off paint quite well but will remove the patina of age that I like to preserve when appropriate.
I used chemical stripper, 0000 steel wool, and rags on this Prentiss.

 

[Jayman17]

Ed4banger, that vise looks great, you really do justice to those old vises you restore.

Jay

 

[Mark in Indiana]

Broadhead & Garrett
500 V
7X4 Jaws
28lbs

A beast and barely used, if at all really.


I know nothing about this vice other than it is solid, heavy, well built and absolutely in excellent condition.

To bad its not a quick release/slide...

Thanks for looking

Nice one! I'm in the process of restoring one myself.
B-G was a manufacture of woodworking machines for school industrial arts classes. They made top shelf stuff. I've found very little information bout them.

My guess is the vise was manufactured for B-G by Columbian.

Here's a picture of my vise before disassembly and a picture of a B-G J26 scroll saw I had for a few years.

 

[Smitty]

Dlavallee22: nice find on that Jersey vise no.22, that’s a rarely seen model

 

[Onator]

Just picked up this Morgan No-4 Bench Vise for what I think was a fair price. I just wiped it down, greased the screw/slide and it's very smooth and tightens well. I'm personally a fan of leaving them in as-is condition.

I can't seem to locate much of anything on this model. Anyone have any info to share? Thx!

 

[RTM]

Nice one! I'm in the process of restoring one myself.
B-G was a manufacture of woodworking machines for school industrial arts classes. They made top shelf stuff. I've found very little information bout them.

My guess is the vise was manufactured for B-G by Columbian.

Actually, correcting the spelling to Brodhead makes a big difference in the search results.

They are actually still in business.
https://store.schoolspecialty.com/OA_HTML/xxssi_ibeBrandPage.jsp?docName=V700807&minisite=10206

There is a catalog from 1936 showing a similar vise, look quick, I will add an image here in a minute or 5. But it says Columbian on it. (actually 2 now)

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-19...upply-Catalog-36-Cleveland-Ohio-/233311876218

 

[Mark in Indiana]

Actually, correcting the spelling to Brodhead makes a big difference in the search results.

They are actually still in business.
https://store.schoolspecialty.com/OA_HTML/xxssi_ibeBrandPage.jsp?docName=V700807&minisite=10206

There is a catalog from 1936 showing a similar vise, look quick, I will add an image here in a minute or 5. But it says Columbian on it. (actually 2 now)

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-19...upply-Catalog-36-Cleveland-Ohio-/233311876218

Thanks for sharing that information. Back when dinosaurs roamed Earth, I probably learned on many B-G and Powermatic machines.

 

[NYCone]

I’ve been collecting and restoring vises for about 6 years. That’s not as long as a few of the guys here but long enough I think to have some experience with rust.
I use BLO on bare cast iron because it looks great and it works well as a rust preventative. It mellows over time to a handsome blackish brownish vintage looking finish.
For bare steel parts like handles, like many others, I use Fluid Film.
I don’t have any experience with vises kept outdoors though.

BTW, Boiled linseed oil is also great on garden tools. Shovels, wooden handles... all of mine get an occasional thorough cleaning and wipe down with BLO. I keep them in a corner of the garage, but I have a few yard tools that are over 40 years old and still have their original wooden handles that are in great shape and safely useable bare handed. BLO is a great wood preservative too. I think that would work on stuff kept in outdoor sheds.
I don’t have a picture handy, but there is a very old redwood sign post in my yard that I coat with BLO once in a while. It looks great.

Here is a before and after pair of photos showing what BLO looks like on bare cast iron.
I took the after pic immediately after coating with BLO. It looks pretty shiny here but after a while, that mellows to a soft sheen and becomes darker.
By “bare cast iron” I’m not referring to surfaces stripped by sand blasting or wire wheel. Those techniques will take off paint quite well but will remove the patina of age that I like to preserve when appropriate.
I used chemical stripper, 0000 steel wool, and rags on this Prentiss.

Perfect! Especially since I have a lot of it laying around from my knife handle work.

I'll give it a try.

 

[lucasd2002]

I am not a Wilton guy. I found this one for sale locally. Is this just a standard bullet? 3"? What is that text under the jaw? "3RD"? Something else?

 

[1982fxr]

Shiftless, what chemical stripper do you like?

 

[Shiftless]

I am not a Wilton guy. I found this one for sale locally. Is this just a standard bullet? 3"? What is that text under the jaw? "3RD"? Something else?

That says 3 HD as in Heavy Duty
When comparing with a standard Wilton 300, you can see that the body is bigger and heavier even though the jaws are the same width.

1982fxr:
On that one I used acetone.
I have a stash of the now outlawed methylene chloride based stripper that I use on ********* problems.
Most of the time I soak parts in undiluted Simple Green that gets heated up in an old crock pot I got free at the recycling center.
You can use it at room temperature but that takes longer.

 

[lucasd2002]

That says 3 HD as in Heavy Duty
When comparing with a standard Wilton 300, you can see that the body is bigger and heavier even though the jaws are the same width.

Thanks very much Shiftless.
If anyone reads this and is curious about the difference between the normal bullets and the HD versions (like I was), this thread has some information and a 1950 catalog with specs for 4" and 4.5" bullets in normal and HD flavor. Interestingly, those are the only HD versions listed in that 1950 catalog. I guess the 3" was not available in HD until later. Please correct me if I am wrong.

 

[dannyr]

I'm definitely not a health and safety freak but take care with the meth chlor -- new research shows reduced life expectancy of people who work with it

link didn't seem to work but seen on sciencedaily.com -- a good resource if you like science

 

[CRSINMICH]

Onator: You have a Morgan Utility Streamliner which has more than a passing resemblance to this Jordan No.4 Special.

 

[11b30b4]

Lucasd2002, congrats on snagging that Wilton. Did you pay the asking price? it was still a good deal if you did. I was seriously considering that deal but I did not jump on it.

So pull the front jaw completely out of the vise body and on the underside of the "ram, slide, or tube" (whatever you want to call it) there is an attached key that maintains orientation and alignment. Stamped on the key is the date.

There is competing arguments that the key date is the manufacturer date or the warranty expiration date. The standard warranty was for 5 years.

Personally, I believe the date is the manufacturer date. Everything I own from motors to body armor with warranty ending dates, the manufacture date is affixed to the time and the warranty date must be calculated. Honestly this makes more sense and allows for the warranty period to be flexible due to law suites and other external factors that may cause it to go from 1 year to 5 years to 10 years etc...


Anyway, great snag on that Wilton.

 

[Andy FitzGibbon]

I'm definitely not a health and safety freak but take care with the meth chlor -- new research shows reduced life expectancy of people who work with it

link didn't seem to work but seen on sciencedaily.com -- a good resource if you like science

Yep, it is nasty stuff. I'm surprised it took as long as it did for the government to outlaw it.

Many engine and heavy equipment rebuild shops have a hot pressure washing cabinet. The heated solution (caustic soda based, as I recall) blasted at high pressure will remove most paints, along with any grease, oil, ect., but doesn't effect steel or iron surfaces. My local place would charge me $20 to run a load... whatever I could fit in the cabinet. Well worth it to avoid the mess and health risks of using stripper.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[RBarnes]

I'm definitely not a health and safety freak but take care with the meth chlor -- new research shows reduced life expectancy of people who work with it

link didn't seem to work but seen on sciencedaily.com -- a good resource if you like science

Guess that means this will be my last posting?
I would imagine they were talking more about people who are exposed to it in a prolonged business environment, as opposed to a hobbyist who uses a little to remove paint on a vise etc. I have used it sporadically over the years and I am the healthiest one in my extended family. Of course I do not smoke or have other co dependent morbidities. I also do not wear a double or triple mask so it is doubtful that I will make it through the week. Oh well, I have enjoyed the ride. The good news is that I do not have a giant vise collection that will flood the market when my wife sells off all this junk.

By the way, any time you spray paint or do anything in your shop you can smell, are not those fumes potentially effecting your health by polluting the air you are breathing?

My serious point is to be careful with all paints/solvents/fumes/etc.

 

[dannyr]

stay well Mr Barnes (I also have used it, and at work).

So --- on to today's haul - this one has to arouse some envy/*****/whatever

--- nice sunny day, lockdown is lifting here in UK so off to visit fleamarket/antique emporium where I pay a total of $10 for these 4 vises - add another $5 for the 8 mile round trip


so why would anyone pay good money for old English American (POlish, German) vises when you could buy something like these, new?

 

[11b30b4]

Shiftless and 1982fxr, I also use undiluted Simple Green (at room temp) for a 24-72 hours soak, and it pulls a lot of paint and crud off. The wire wheel does the rest.

I have and have used methylene chloride based stripper, but to be honest, whatever the simple green does not pull off will come off with the wire wheel so I have stopped using the other strippers. The only issue for the simple green is the preservation of any decals or painted scale markings but for vises, that is not a big issue.

In this same vain, for rust removal I had been using EvapoRust and that stuff is amazing. However, it is also expensive. Frank Lee turned me on to Citric Acid and I am sold on this method.

A 5lbs bag of powder Citric Acid (food grade) is $15.00 on Amazon. I mix about 1.5 to 2 shoot glasses per gallon of cold water in a plastic bin and let the time soak for 24-48 hours then rinse in cold water. The CA attacks the rust and most of the time preservers the paint if that is what you are wanting.

The CA solution can be poured down the drain after use and is very safe to use. The only negative to using it is that it converts the oxide to hydrogen so you will have a rotten egg smell when using it, but I sit my bin outside for the 24 hours and its not an issue.

 

[txlonghorn1989]

Guess that means this will be my last posting?
I would imagine they were talking more about people who are exposed to it in a prolonged business environment, as opposed to a hobbyist who uses a little to remove paint on a vise etc. I have used it sporadically over the years and I am the healthiest one in my extended family. Of course I do not smoke or have other co dependent morbidities. I also do not wear a double or triple mask so it is doubtful that I will make it through the week. Oh well, I have enjoyed the ride. The good news is that I do not have a giant vise collection that will flood the market when my wife sells off all this junk.

By the way, any time you spray paint or do anything in your shop you can smell, are not those fumes potentially effecting your health by polluting the air you are breathing?

My serious point is to be careful with all paints/solvents/fumes/etc.

RB Can you make sure your wife has my name and phone number just in case she needs "help" getting rid of your toys?

 

[RBarnes]

RB Can you make sure your wife has my name and phone number just in case she needs "help" getting rid of your toys?

I am afraid to, she might sell them off next time I am out of town and get back a day or two later than expected!