Original Craftsman vise color

[EsotericMike]

I have my grandfather's 5197 vise which I just started taking apart to clean up/restore and would like to find out what the original color was.
He painted the vise, workbench, woodworking vise and a slew of metal coffee with this dark green paint. The vise is the swivel base, with the inset oval metal CRAFTSMAN label. I haven't measured the jaw width but it's either 4 1/2 or 5.
Anybody know the original color?

 

[Maui]

Your jaw width should be 4 1/2”, and the vise weighs in the neighborhood of 75 lbs. The original color is most likely a light blue or bluish gray color.

 

[thehorse13]

Welcome. The original color isn't made anymore but if you hop over to this thread you can see some of the original paint vises owned by other members.

Craftsman 5197 AND 5198 registry

Craftsman 5197 AND 5198 registry All, I have been asked to keep score of all of the found 5197's and 5198's on GJ. Please post a picture or two as well as your month and year of manufacture and we'll see how the numbers stack up. Here's mine with a 4/48 date.

www.garagejournal.com

 

[Snoopy2x]

The original paint color on my 5197 vise was close to what’s now generically called Industrial Gray or Battleship Gray. It was a bluish medium-gray color.

 

[drivesitfar]

Your grand dad was a wise man and sounds like you’ll get to use it for another 50 years and hand it to your grandson.

there is also another thread that has good information on your vises in vintage tools that is “who made the Craftsman 5198 vise”

Post pics of yours when you are able to.

 

[Shiftless]

IMHO, the 519x vises look good in light blue. Here is my 5191

 

[Snoopy2x]

That blue does look good! I went with a darker gray on mine...

 

[Snoopy2x]

I have my grandfather's 5197 vise which I just started taking apart to clean up/restore and would like to find out what the original color was.
He painted the vise, workbench, woodworking vise and a slew of metal coffee with this dark green paint. The vise is the swivel base, with the inset oval metal CRAFTSMAN label. I haven't measured the jaw width but it's either 4 1/2 or 5.
Anybody know the original color?

The unrestored Craftsman 5170 vise pictured below dates from the late 1950's. It’s similar in color to the original paint that was on my 5197, which was manufactured in 1956. I don't know if any spray paint manufacturers currently make this color, but Duplicolor DA1612 Machinery Gray is fairly close (though it’s somewhat lighter).

 

[Snoopy2x]

Here's a 5196 on eBay that was made in 1957. Most of the original blue-gray paint on this vise is still present.










A 5195 with original paint:

 

[Snoopy2x]

For what it's worth, here's a color swatch of the Duplicolor DA1612 Machinery Gray noted above. This helps to give some idea of what it looks like, though when applied, the actual paint color is a bit lighter than this swatch makes it appear (at least on my monitor).

 

[Jonny Rotten]

The unrestored Craftsman 5170 vise pictured below dates from the late 1950's. It’s similar in color to the original paint that was on my 5197, which was manufactured in 1956. I don't know if any spray paint manufacturers currently make this color, but Duplicolor DA1612 Machinery Gray is fairly close (though it’s somewhat lighter).

I just picked up this same vise. Do you think the main bar for lack of correct term was painted originally? They never are on all the other vises I've seem on the forum. Seems odd as that's the part that slides

 

[Snoopy2x]

I just picked up this same vise. Do you think the main bar for lack of correct term was painted originally? They never are on all the other vises I've seem on the forum. Seems odd as that's the part that slides

The beam (the part that slides through the body) was only partially painted on my 5169 vise, which is in the same family as the 5170 vise. Just the ends of the beam were originally painted, and the portion that was concealed in the body when the jaws were closed was left unpainted.