Recent content by Grandpasaurus

Thanks. After looking more closely, the name appears to be ATHATOOL. Old tool maker, had a good reputation.

I found some blacksmith tongs in an auction lot today. One nice one is stamped THATOOL Co. and SOLID STEEL. Can't find anything online yet, thought I 'd ask youse guys. I'm betting they're solid steel. All I need now is a forge and I can start thinking about beating on steel.

https://boston.craigslist.org/sob/for/d/hanson-original-vintage-blue-print/7668641241.html

OK, I seem to have developed an addiction to old bench vises. Got the Reed 204 today at the estate sale. The swivel base was there. Tag said $35 and they were firm. Gave them the $35 for it. Needs a good cleaning, but it turns over and runs. The only thing that looks out of place is the nut on...

Speaking of Reed vises, I came across this picture on an auction/estate sale site in my area. I'm going to head down Saturday and see what they want for it. I asked if it was seized and was told it moves freely.

A long time ago I had a friend convinced that a Johnson bar was the bar that went between the bottom of a car and the drive shaft that kept the drive shaft from spinning. He was a bright guy, but had zero mechanical knowledge. Good times.

Last thing: the hole on the screw that keeps that sleeve in place is not bored all the way through. It was mushroomed over a bit, but it came right out with some Kroil and some light tapping.

Wanna hear a coincidence? HB Smith company eventually became Smith Cast Iron Boilers, which is in Westfield, Mass, which is where I was born. I drive past the company every time I visit my sister. I'm attaching pictures. There's a few, cuz, why not? I smalled the file size so they should fit...

How the hell do you get those things moving enough to be stable?

Nonno had a shoe repair shop in the 20's-60's. He and his wife owned a house and raised 7 kids. Aside from a few shoe repair tools, this is the only thing my wife has from him, so this is a treasure to her. Sorry. It's going next to my great-grandfather's scythe, garden rake, axe, sledgehammer...

Thanks to all for all the help. I went down the rabbit hole of trying to find the maker and almost got trapped. I'll get more photos and the measurements. I think I'll just give Louis a good hosing and a blow dry. Any advice on anything further I should do for cleanup? Maybe an Evaporust bath?

Thanks. My pic doesn't show it well, but the bottom is more elongated, like it fits into a slot on another machine. I tried to attach another pic, but it was too big.

Thanks. That gives me a starting point to poke around the Intarwebs. The bottom looks dovetail-ish, but no swivel base in sight. I think I'm going to call this vise Louis, which was my wife's Nano's name.

Hi folks. I inherited a vise that used to belong to my wife's grandfather. It's about the only thing of his that we have. It needs a cleanup, but it looks good with no obvious cracks. Interesting that the piece with the anvil is the part that moves. No numbers or markings on it. Any ideas?

It's a pipefitters vise. I don't know how they used them. My No. 1 only has the logo and letters on one side. This one looks like they're on both?