Anyone ever heard of an Olympia vise? I might have a line on one
- Thread starter Steve V.
- Start date
Uncle Buck
Banned
Approach with caution, I seem to recall the name as sending up the chicom cheap flag in my brain! 
Steve in Mi
Well-known member
If it has "O" rings on the slide handle it should run quietly
Lmao!!
Yea, I just found some of them on Northern Tools website. The guy only wanted $29 for it and it looked like a hoss from the picture but I'll pass.
Thanks
No "O" rings on this one. It would fit right in in my garage but I don't fault anyone for wanting them. We all have our ways of doing things.
Steve
Approach with caution, I seem to recall the name as sending up the chicom cheap flag in my brain!
Yea, I just found some of them on Northern Tools website. The guy only wanted $29 for it and it looked like a hoss from the picture but I'll pass.
Thanks
If it has "O" rings on the slide handle it should run quietly
No "O" rings on this one. It would fit right in in my garage but I don't fault anyone for wanting them. We all have our ways of doing things.
Steve
eschoendorff
Well-known member
probably good that you passed on this one. I have a cheap ($50) Wilton from HD that is nice because it has pipe jaws, swivels, etc... but the paint flakes off and the anvil is really soft. As long as you use it or what it is, then it works just fine.
I would hold out for an older USA made vise.
I would hold out for an older USA made vise.
Yes, it appears I have an Olympia model 13-004, four inch swivel base vise (and was looking on here to see if it was common, yet no real records of them are online). So it has been in the family a while... occasionally used in the garage for sawing, filing, drilling, and some pounding (hadn't bothered to bolt it down), but now that I have a new vise properly situated in there for heavier duty occasions, I decided to take this old one apart, brush out the cobwebs, and put some gear lube wherever necessary (to make it stop sounding like a donkey), then bolt it to a grinder stand for houshold portability. I may sand the surface rust off and repaint it later, but it still clamps tightly and once again operates smoothly.
Well, looks like their new model this size is still selling for around $30 shipped, as it was when this topic was started, so I wouldn't call whatever prior version a vintage vise (or maybe it cost more before these widely competetive deals), but it doesn't seem cheaply made either. Reading reviews of other low end ones that break if you look at them wrong, I'd guess the Olympias are typically better than those.
Well, looks like their new model this size is still selling for around $30 shipped, as it was when this topic was started, so I wouldn't call whatever prior version a vintage vise (or maybe it cost more before these widely competetive deals), but it doesn't seem cheaply made either. Reading reviews of other low end ones that break if you look at them wrong, I'd guess the Olympias are typically better than those.
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Rileysan
Well-known member
I bought a new Olympia vise ~25 years ago and it served me well (I upgraded to a newer vise and traded my Olympia for hand tools). I think it was made overseas (Japan or Taiwan). The newer models are made in China and should be avoided at all costs.
Brian
Brian
Hmm, the one I mentioned says made in china... seems like a bad word (gets around though). I don't know, at least it's stronger than fine china. The new one I bought is branded by a US company (heard it was manufactured in China).
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Yeah lots of things get mixed reviews. For example, looking at sets of steel quick coupler pneumatic plugs at Harbor Freight, I had to take every one off the shelf to find a few out of a hundred in which all of the package contents were evenly tooled, so I guess there are a few vises that turn out better than others too.
It was a funny scene that day, they're piping in Spandau Ballet singing "I know this much is true", as I'm looking at these things, then I find out the manager had me under surveillence the whole time, since he walked up and asked why I looked at every box... at least he didn't ask me to dance.
I don't know about that place, thought there was a seven foot tall transvestite in there another time I was looking at air tools (tried not to follow my peripheral vision)... no matter what though there's always someone who just has to stand within my personal space as I'm checking out a shelf (and then I'm wandering around aimlessly to avoid being ambushed, but find some interesting stuff that way too).
It was a funny scene that day, they're piping in Spandau Ballet singing "I know this much is true", as I'm looking at these things, then I find out the manager had me under surveillence the whole time, since he walked up and asked why I looked at every box... at least he didn't ask me to dance.
I don't know about that place, thought there was a seven foot tall transvestite in there another time I was looking at air tools (tried not to follow my peripheral vision)... no matter what though there's always someone who just has to stand within my personal space as I'm checking out a shelf (and then I'm wandering around aimlessly to avoid being ambushed, but find some interesting stuff that way too).
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Old thread I know but I have an Olympia Swivel 3.5" Vise/Anvil my grandfather used in both his gas stations/garages that he bought new in the 80's and works great to this day. No donkey sounds, tightens just fine, anvil smooth and not worn though used, vise is great, swivel base still locks down tight, I guess it just depends what you use them for whether you need to actually "stay away" from them or not.