Recent content by Southern Forester

In the case of these designs, there would be no change in dies or re-tooling. Training wouldn't be a significant issue as the process for assembly would require no new steps. Supply to assemblers would be changed in that an additional part would be included in construction. All the companies...

The thing is, they manufacture all sorts of niche tools. This kind would be an easy one to manufacture as it requires no specialized parts, only an additional step in assembly. Obviously the demand is not great enough for them to manufacture them (since it appears they do not). Otherwise...

I did somewhat the same with a Williams 3/8" ratchet and, with the few Taiwanese versions, am in good shape with them. They are such useful ratchets I kind of expected them to be available in ready-made form from the big guys (Mac, Snapon, Matco, Cornwell, etc) particularly since they would...

Well, the price of the one I showed is way too high. I spent something like $15 each for the Stanley or Husky ones. Here's a photograph showing what I am talking about. It's about like the Menards/Pittsburgh, but not the same.

twenty years ago, I came across a Stanley 3/8 inch double-flexing ratchet that was not that different from the one in the link below. At the time, it was made by Popular Mechanics, which was Walmart's Stanley line, and soon it became simply Stanley, and as a result could also be had as a Husky...

Yeah, that was what I was looking for. The more I looked, the more I saw Western Forge elements on the wrenches I have.

Right, I knew that NAPA didn't make anything, so if the Allen and NAPA wrench were the same, they came out of the same forge.

The NAPA and Allen are definitely US made.

The Proto wrench discussion over on the vintage side led me to wonder. In the world of AR-15's, the lowers might have any number of manufacturer names but in reality, only about 4 companies actually manufacture the forgings. Those guys generally recommend looking for the animal mascot you like...

Read that link through and through before I even joined :)

Outlaw, that's what I did. And that jaw was heavy. It was as heavy, or almost as heavy, as my entire Prentiss 6". I tried to get the swivel jaw off, but it wouldn't (and still doesn't) budge (at least the pin won't come out). That's a work in progress. But as I had the vise at tail-gate...

I just have my 12 year old son, who is eager but still skinny, to help move it. I went all sorts of Egyptian-building-the-pyramids on moving it.

I have an anvil I already use for hammering on. The guy I bought it from loaded it with a tractor. I moved it in pieces at home (the dynamic jaw alone was just about too heavy to move). The main body I moved by sliding it up a length of 2x12 from the tailgate of my truck to the bench. Even...

I re-posted on the other link. Thanks. I thought I had a big vise with the 6" Prentiss Bulldog but this things dwarfs it. It'll come in handy as I restore a set of David Bradley tractor discs.

Here are photos of the giant Reed 408 I picked up recently. Right in front of it, for scale, is an Athol 114 4" vise. Other than the swivel jaw pin, which is frozen in place and is getting the penetrating oil twice a day, everything is smooth and easy to operate. As big as it is, I can open and...