The VISES of Garage Journal

[Outlawmws]

Thought this idea was more beneficial for shins.

No Tailgate on the VW van.

 

[Beerhippie]

Thought this idea was more beneficial for shins.

I don't have a tailgate.

I saw a truck one day with a bumper sticker that read "Guns don't cripple people. Receiver hitches do."

When not in use, I'll stow it.

Not an uncommon adaptation. since the hitch is wasted anyway, maybe consider adding a post to it for a bit more height?

I realize it's nothing ground-breaking.

I'm trying to keep the weight/bulk down. I'm not all that tall, after all.

I'm also considering making a folding camp table to go in the receiver. That, too, would be right handy. There's one available that mounts in the jack points of the Vanagons: $175, because Vanagon.

 

[Outlawmws]

I don't have a tailgate.

Trying to keep the weight/bulk down. I'm not all that tall, after all.

We're also not getting any younger.

Not talking about ground to waist high, just maybe a 6" spacer so to speak.

 

[TheRealZeus]

No Tailgate on the VW van.

Sounds like a challenge in your wheelhouse.

 

[TheRealZeus]

Maybe not put it in the wheelhouse, neither, actually.

 

[Beerhippie]

Sounds like a challenge in your wheelhouse.

Maybe someday I'll fab a fold-out table for the rear hatch area. It's challenging to add anything there, as that's where the engine access is.

 

[M.Brane]

Not an uncommon adaptation. since the hitch is wasted anyway, maybe consider adding a post to it for a bit more height?

We did just that at work for sharpening chainsaws in the field. Works great.

 

[Beerhippie]

We did just that at work for sharpening chainsaws in the field. Works great.

Hadn't thought of that one! Perfect!

 

[Itinerant]

I picked up this Athol 614 1/2 today. I has at least 3 coats of paint on it but I couldn’t find any evidence of damage and the price was low enough to take a chance. I’ll start stripping the paint off of it this weekend.

 

[harris.jasonm]

FINISHED! Update, with the new Jaws from Logan and mounted.

 

[Outlawmws]

FINISHED

That's an awesome rat rod retro pinstripe job!

 

[royce]

Wrapped up a couple of vises this week for a good friend on the island. George and his son. Got a couple Columbians to work on so I built a couple Bronze wear plates with my manual CNC. Back in the 70’s we didn’t have CNC’s instead we had Rotary Tables with a Cross Slide or a Volstro Head, a rotary cutter head attached to a Bridgeport. Really awesome tool, you can cut radius’s tangent to an angle just like the CNC’s.

Now on to a 5-1/2” Bonney for my good friend in Alaska.

Hey Kevin,
I looked at your set up and wondered how you cut those wear plates without a rotary table.
That is too cool

 

[Beerhippie]

I wasn't kidding:



The vise is secured with thumbbolts and captive nuts, so carrying it is easier. Two fairly heavy objects instead of one heavier one. It'll also be easier to stow.

 

[Andy FitzGibbon]

I was pleased to find this Parker 474 locally. It's rusty from sitting in an outbuilding, but everything is free, it has no broken or missing parts, and from what I can tell it's never been painted or even used very much.

 

[Patrickm82]

That’s a hell of a find @Andy FitzGibbon that will clean up great!

 

[ChefRex]

I was pleased to find this Parker 474 locally. It's rusty from sitting in an outbuilding, but everything is free, it has no broken or missing parts, and from what I can tell it's never been painted or even used very much.

I think a "You ****" is appropriate.

 

[Outlawmws]

I was pleased to find this Parker 474 locally.

I would be too! Bucket list vise!

 

[Tom Graham]

Sourcing a No.1 wrench for a small Charles Parker vise (9/16” or 19/32”)?

Was the original No.1 wrench for a small Charles Parker vise (e.g., 973) a 9/16” (as I thought) or 19/32” (or 5/8”)? And if it was originally soft cast, how can we know?

If you need but are unable to source an original No.1 wrench for a small Charles Parker vise, (as I have been for months!) one of these vintage lathe (tool post) wrenches may serve as an alternative until you do:

• Williams USA No. 802 19/32" Lathe Wrench - 6 Point Hex Box End, Single End

The real trick for me has been to finally give up searching for a 9/16” alternative, and be willing to allow a 19/32” be close enough.

(There are several of these currently for sale on that auction site for less than $20, all-in.)

I appreciate GJ member, Private Lugnutz for answering the question that member larry_g had posed in this thread: “Looking for a unicorn wrench 9/16 6pt box single ended”.

In that post, Lugnutz drew attention to the Williams, Armstrong and Billings & Spencer SBE machine wrenches. He said Armstrong used the same part number, whereas Billings & Spencer used part number 1902 early, then 802-A.

Edit: CAUTION: In retrospect, and without a larger sample size, I cannot recommend 19/32” on a “user”. In my case, this 19/32“ may be added to the small vise for aethsetics, but only with a warning: The measured head (on the swivel brake bolt) on my 973 is tapered from 0.558-0.573. And since even 0.005”–0.010” slop is noticeable and 0.03125” is excessive, a 19/32” won’t get solid engagement, will be “spongy” or loose and likely to slip before reaching proper torque. A quality wrench will likely round the corners on the bolt head.


[image credit: Private Lugnutz ]

 

[Itinerant]

Working on cleaning up the Athol 614 I picked up last week. Disassembled and scraping out the dried up and dirty grease.

 

[PeterPeter]

Hey there. Got me a Prentiss No. 26 with a swivel jaw that needs a pin. Does anybody make them, or have an original to sell?



The existing pin was a hand tapered bit of motor shaft. Had to drill it out.
Thank you in advance, Peter, Peter.

Edit: turns out, the taper is the same as MT2. I have an old taper for a chuck that I can sacrifice.

 

[Andy FitzGibbon]

I was pleased to find this Parker 474 locally. It's rusty from sitting in an outbuilding, but everything is free, it has no broken or missing parts, and from what I can tell it's never been painted or even used very much.

I started in on cleaning this one up. Never had a Parker apart before... behind the meatball was a stack of four steel shims. Original, or user added?

Thanks.

 

[Andy FitzGibbon]

I think a "You ****" is appropriate.

It wasn't a "you ****" price, but due to its condition and rarity I decided to go for it anyway.

 

[Beerhippie]

I started in on cleaning this one up. Never had a Parker apart before... behind the meatball was a stack of four steel shims. Original, or user added?

Thanks.

I suspect user-added to take up slack. I used a sintered bronze thrust bearing for the same purpose on my Chas. Parker. I also added a shim between the nut and the pin that retains it. Very little play in the screw now.

 

[Outlawmws]

I suspect user-added to take up slack.

I agree.

 

[Andy FitzGibbon]

I suspect user-added to take up slack. I used a sintered bronze thrust bearing for the same purpose on my Chas. Parker. I also added a shim between the nut and the pin that retains it. Very little play in the screw now.

Thanks, I'll likely do the same.

 

[PeterPeter]

I started in on cleaning this one up. Never had a Parker apart before... behind the meatball was a stack of four steel shims. Original, or user added?

I have seen shims in most of the Parker’s I’ve worked on. Not sure what, if any, are OEM. My last one, a 945 1/2 was super sloppy, and full of shims. So sloppy, I was able to press a shouldered bronze bearing into the face of the dynamic jaw. Just had to grind down the shoulder of the bearing a bit. Now, it’s the smoothest, tightest Parker I own.

peter, peter

 

[ChefRex]

It wasn't a "you ****" price, but due to its condition and rarity I decided to go for it anyway.

I guess I misunderstood "Free" LOL

 

[Andy FitzGibbon]

I guess I misunderstood "Free" LOL

All movements are free... the vise was not

 

[colmal]

This starts with 14mins of German vise repairs, then a lot of information on German brands.

It's quite interesting

 

[akasrick]

I started in on cleaning this one up. Never had a Parker apart before... behind the meatball was a stack of four steel shims. Original, or user added?

Thanks.

A wrt. washer shows in a 1912 catalog, my Parker has only one washer and could probably use a second.
*** edit mine is steel same as yours. ***

akasrick

 

[PeterPeter]

Anybody recognize me?
Looks a little square, and plain, like an Asian casting, but I don’t know. Also looks too old to have come from there. I don’t recognize the swivel lock…


Thank you for the help, Peter, Peter

 

[Outlawmws]

Head of the main screw has an American Scale vibe to it. The swivel lock more Prentiss?

 

[PeterPeter]

Head of the main screw has an American Scale vibe to it. The swivel lock more Prentiss?

The meatball and jaw pads are both American Scale like. It’s three-toed like a Prentiss, and lock seems to be Prentiss-ish, in that it looks like it is pulled up to reset, but the knurled knob is not at all Prentiss like.
PP

 

[micahd1997]

Anybody recognize me?
Looks a little square, and plain, like an Asian casting, but I don’t know. Also looks too old to have come from there. I don’t recognize the swivel lock…


Thank you for the help, Peter, Peter

My first thought is a Prentiss with an after-market swivel base lock, thicker jaw caps, and a replaced spindle. That said, that’s a lot of seemingly unnecessary after-market adaptation for what appears to be an excellent condition vise. Please keep us updated!

 

[PeterPeter]

My first thought is a Prentiss with an after-market swivel base lock, thicker jaw caps, and a replaced spindle. That said, that’s a lot of seemingly unnecessary after-market adaptation for what appears to be an excellent condition vise. Please keep us updated!

Well, the only update I can give is that it sold to somebody else. I get the feeling it was a good one; priced at $100, it went in less than a day. Hope a member got it.
winsome, losesome, peter, peter.

 

[micahd1997]

Well, the only update I can give is that it sold to somebody else. I get the feeling it was a good one; priced at $100, it went in less than a day. Hope a member got it.
winsome, losesome, peter, peter.

I appreciate the update, Peter! Just so happens I somehow know of the guy who purchased it. He posted pictures of a vise he just bought, and I though “boy, why does that look so familiar…”

Mystery Solved - it’s a school vise. It looks to’ve been modeled after a Prentiss. I’ve seen several vises made by other institutions that have appeared to be modeled after the general Prentiss design, and it’s always fun to compare. In great condition and a pretty neat school-made vise, but not exceptionally valuable among collectors.

 

[682bear]

My better half came home from work yesterday with this...





-Bear

 

[Andy FitzGibbon]

Cleaned up the 474. It's in excellent condition, and was never painted. At first I planned to preserve what was left of the original paint, but with about 99% of it being gone I ended up just removing it. Will probably do linseed oil eventually, but at the moment I'm busy with other things.

Unfortunately, Parker bored the counterbore that the screw shoulder sits in out-of-square with the slide, to the point that the end of the screw hits the inside of the slide before the shoulder makes full contact with the bottom of the counterbore. When I have time, I'll put it in the mill and square the bottom surface, then make a bronze wear washer to replace the steel shims that came out of it.

 

[harris.jasonm]

Got the new jaws from Logan at antique vises. He really does some nice work!

 

[Patrickm82]

Grabbed this power arm yesterday from market place. The guy said he’s had it for 40years and never used it. It has a ****** paint job on it not sure if original.