Age of a Columbian 206m3

[skippy88]

Hi everyone, new member and first post.
For awhile I've been meaning to get a vise for the garage and sporadically watching listings online. Ideally wanted something older and made here, rather then something brand new and made overseas.
This week I came across this Columbian 206m3 right near me for sale. Not knowing a lot of in depth knowledge on vises, it seemed a good deal. Looked to be in great condition with what appeared minimal wear so I bought it today.
I'm curious of the age of it and if anyone knows if there would be any type of date code on it or it's rough age?
From the reaserch I did today looking at old product catalogs, Warren tool group that previously owned Columbian shows the older M2 version in there late 70's catalog. In their 1993 catalog they show this vise exactly how it looks, with only "Columbian" written on one side. I believe I saw Wilton acquired Warren tool group in "94, in Wilton's 2009 catalog in shows the same model vise but there now seems to be 2 rows of wording where previously only "Columbian" was. Makes me think it would be older, near the Warren owned era then the Wilton Era?
Thanks for any information to get a closer age.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

The funny L in your columbians logo would suggest older.

 

[Fierljeppen]

First off, welcome to the the garagejournal. Secondly, it's nice to see a new member doing their due diligence, with regard to searching on their own, before asking questions.

I love "vise puzzles" and experience has taught me to use the vise advertisements and catalog scans as a guide and not the rule. I don't believe Columbian ever put a date-stamp on any of their vises, so the best we can do is get a general era for your vise. It seems that we can use the catalogs to determine the lifespan of the Columbian 206M3, which seems to be around (1990-2015).

I found some Wilton / Columbian 206M3 vises and they appeared to have different casting than your vise. The "Columbian" is cast bottom-up, while your vise has the "Columbian" top-down. The swivel hardware is also clearly different. I would say based on those two features alone, there's a really good chance that your vise is very close, if not from the Warren Tool era, just as you and @Oldtuleguy suspected.



Congratulations on getting a really top quality and versatile vise! Columbian machinist and combo vises are probably the most underrated vises out there, which really helps them to be acquired affordably. I believe you can still get parts from JPW for your vise. Here's a parts-list for your records.

 

[tool_scrounge]

First off, welcome to the the garagejournal. Secondly, it's nice to see a new member doing their due diligence, with regard to searching on their own, before asking questions.

I love "vise puzzles" and experience has taught me to use the vise advertisements and catalog scans as a guide and not the rule. I don't believe Columbian ever put a date-stamp on any of their vises, so the best we can do is get a general era for your vise. It seems that we can use the catalogs to determine the lifespan of the Columbian 206M3, which seems to be around (1990-2015).

I found some Wilton / Columbian 206M3 vises and they appeared to have different casting than your vise. The "Columbian" is cast bottom-up, while your vise has the "Columbian" top-down. The swivel hardware is also clearly different. I would say based on those two features alone, there's a really good chance that your vise is very close, if not from the Warren Tool era, just as you and @Oldtuleguy suspected.

@Fierljeppen
Amazing timing of your Columbian dating post. I recently picked up a rusty but not abused Columbian 506. Being flat (not T) jaws made me believe it was outside the 1925-1990 time window. Being the model number was stamped 506, not 506Mx made me wonder if it was an early model. But the swaged ends of the handle puzzled me. All the ones I see the the early catalogs and pictures show the swaged round handle ends. This one had swaged barrel like ends.

But the 2 photos you posted of the Wilton / Columbian 206M3 vises clearly show the same handle barrel ends. So it makes me wonder if this is a Wilton era 506M3 but was not stamped as such.

Similarly, the "Columbian" logo on this 506 is cast bottom-up.

Sadly, I cannot find any of my Wilton catalogs of the 1995-2015 to see if this is early or late in the Wilton owning Columbia era. I suspect earlier, if only by the amount of rust on this one. Any thoughts?

Thanks

 

[Fierljeppen]

@Fierljeppen
Amazing timing of your Columbian dating post. I recently picked up a rusty but not abused Columbian 506. Being flat (not T) jaws made me believe it was outside the 1925-1990 time window. Being the model number was stamped 506, not 506Mx made me wonder if it was an early model. But the swaged ends of the handle puzzled me. All the ones I see the the early catalogs and pictures show the swaged round handle ends. This one had swaged barrel like ends.

But the 2 photos you posted of the Wilton / Columbian 206M3 vises clearly show the same handle barrel ends. So it makes me wonder if this is a Wilton era 506M3 but was not stamped as such.

Similarly, the "Columbian" logo on this 506 is cast bottom-up.

Sadly, I cannot find any of my Wilton catalogs of the 1995-2015 to see if this is early or late in the Wilton owning Columbia era. I suspect earlier, if only by the amount of rust on this one. Any thoughts?

Thanks

It's definitely a Columbian 506M3 and probably a Wilton version, based on the bottom-up "Columbian". The Columbian 6" machinist vise was the only size that never adapted the newer casting style that originated in 1960. Here's a photo of a Columbian 506M3 with the perceived older top-down "Columbian".



My outside vise is an older Columbian 506M that gets used all the time. It replaced a Wilton 450S, with no regrets. The larger jaws and taller jaw towers really made for a better vise experience for myself.

 

[tool_scrounge]

It's definitely a Columbian 506M3 and probably a Wilton version, based on the bottom-up "Columbian". The Columbian 6" machinist vise was the only size that never adapted the newer casting style that originated in 1960. Here's a photo of a Columbian 506M3 with the perceived older top-down "Columbian".



My outside vise is an older Columbian 506M that gets used all the time. It replaced a Wilton 450S, with no regrets. The larger jaws and taller jaw towers really made for a better vise experience for myself.

In regard to your comment on the 506/606 not being updated to the new casting style in 1960 - I wondered why the 506 has a raised boss where the swivel base clamps would be located (as shown in you green 506 photo) and the other newer style Columbian machinist vises (like the 206M) did not.

I am also a fan of the under appreciated Columbian 506 vises. The prices are also more reasonable compared to other 6" vises. I do wish it had a a finer leadscrew pitch than 3tpi for easier tightening. But it is always a design tradeoff of force vs. speed.

 

[swe13]

Just ran across this, know it is old. Purchased this off of Amazon quite a while ago, but it was the best deal ever. This thing is a monster. Shipping had to be over $100 probably much more... took 2 guys to unload it from the truck.