Recent content by Stevettt

I do not use tools all day every day like mechanic or tradesman. I am a process operator, though, so I regularly do PM, maintenance and minor repair work on industrial equipment. For many years I worked in a refinery, they bought only top-shelf truck tools and equivalent. Retired and went to a...

I have not a single tool from my father, who was a journeyman machine repairman at Ford. Before that he did did plumbing, installed furnaces and did mechanical work on heavy equipment. At home he did nothing mechanical and his few tools were cheap, bunged into a cardboard box in the basement...

Or perhaps just to clean the filter more frequently

I'm a patina fan, just like my surfaces smooth to the touch and sans red rust. Otherwise I pretty much just let things tell their story. I'd probably wet sand until smooth (basically feather out the painted edges to the bare spots). Then maybe Penetrol as a coating.

I agree with the consensus: use the vises you like. Wilton bullets are pretty and they operate nicely, but I'll take a vintage Reed or Columbian any day. At my old work (oil refinery) the shops had 1950s Reeds, used hard daily with no signs of ever wearing out. Early 2000's they added some shop...

Ideal Toy Company made a lot of tiny die cast tools as well as their Powermite toy power tools. They were around when I was a kid, so probably circa 1960s to early 70s. All of them were functional, i.e., the pliers opened and close, clamps and vises clamped and so on. The power tools plugged...

I don't reduce it to "best I can buy new" vs. "vintage that I really want." Buying vises (or vintage tools of any kind) is largely a matter of persistence and patience, so I use Harbor Freight as a stopgap. If I needed a vise quickly and struck out on finding a used USA vise locally I'd probably...

I love flea markets and junk stores and consequently stock up on random items. For example, I was at garage sale, digging through a giant tub of sandpaper looking for some wet/dry. I pulled out about a few sheets and asked the guy. "How much?" He says ten bucks for the whole mess, tub included...

I commend you on your very cool transformation of a basic vise into a thing of beauty. I especially like the incorporation of wood into the design. The weighted base is a cool idea as well, take the vise to the work. Frankly. I find it more interesting than another baby bullet or whatever...

Interesting, I would have thought that heating would have the opposite effect if any. Thanks for the info.

I started using Benjamin Moore 35 years ago when I bought my first house and have pretty much stuck with it with great results. Part of the reason I use it is because I have stuck with the same paint store (and its successor) as well. I like dealing with pros and they are very good. Great at...

Hide glue is also water-soluble and therefore more easily reversible.

I actually like a nicely executed repair, because I get to admire craftsmanship twice: once for the guys who made the vise and once for the guy who brought it back to life. Part of the charm of old things is that they have a history. The repair adds another chapter. Enjoy your vise.

This thread has been a lot of fun for me. I worked 35+ years in an oil refinery where pipe wrench and Ridgid were synonymous. I've also seen the basic Stillson pattern wrenches but had no clue that so many variants of the pipe wrench existed. Live and learn, thanks to all for sharing.

Neat find and an unusual design. I've seen quite a few right angle wrenches but never the 4-way, which is intriguing. I wonder in what situation one would want the opening of the jaw pointed back toward the handle (i.e., the user? At first I thought clearance, but the unused "front" fixed jaws...