So the Comet isn't common from what I've come across, fairly rare, only seen my Rapier thou and you would have to say the Comet and Rapier had the same tooling, (made by same company ?)Here is my one, I recall someone had a screwdriver made by comet, definitely English tool maker around 50 an 60s copying the imp in this case, might of been wrong with Woden, however that weren’t that many foundaries around then
Thank you for this! Mine has 1901 cast into it but looks like a mix of both designs.mk1finks: Here are two Mortimer Lewis patents. The 1901 patent is the date on Emmert Presto vises. The 1904 Lewis patent was specifically assigned to Emmert Manufacturing. The drawings may be helpful when you restore yours. Nice find!
nice -- it's a whole collecting field (your Rapier is a rarity, also look out for a large Parkinson and a couple of older large Records of this type - scarce) -- eg look up 'Dronfield', 'Univice' brands - and more out there --- btw have to disagree w 'not that many foundries' -- I worked in that field (iron, steel castings) in UK starting 1980s - still many more foundries then, independent plus in-house, than the work available justified -- I think this is one reason so many went into making tools such as vices/vises in the '40-70s ---- and of course Marples, Sorby and Rededa made a clone of the widespread Millers Falls type for many years.Here is my one, I recall someone had a screwdriver made by comet, definitely English tool maker around 50 an 60s copying the imp in this case, might of been wrong with Woden, however that weren’t that many foundaries around then
Thanks for posting. It seems like a fair price for the right kind of guy. Not me. If it’s still for sale after 5 days, it must be overpriced. Plus it’s 700+ miles away so I’m out.
I have a Hollands 56, an older and non-swivel version of the vise you bought. You can see it in this discussion:Anyone know much about Hollands vises? I picked up this 26H today. I found a couple catalogs online, but can’t find any references to a 26H. Only a model 26. Anyone know what the H means?
Also, it has a 46 stamped on the underside of the jaw. Guessing that might be the manufacture date? If so, the latest catalog I can find is from 1940, so maybe the H is an updated version of the 26?
www.garagejournal.com
I saw the 56 in a catalog I came across. Hollands definitely seemed to build some great vises.
www.garagejournal.com
Yes nothing like the record imp, I would say a very cheap copy
Just came across this again, Thankyou @CRSINMICH , the second 74 I picked up this week I thought was a late 40's-to late 50's version, just wasn't sure when the 2 valve holding holes were deleted.colmal: Here's a snippet from a 1953 catalogue showing Auto Vice. The only information about pipe grips is that they are 'hardened'.
I purposefully left the #75 in the picture to give you something else to lust after. I also added the #74 information from a 1963 catalogue showing the new streamlined look.
Thankyou, something to aspire to ( no, not really, I'm finished now), vice number 100 was this weekends Record 74, 101 another Record last night,(clamp on woodworkers with removable pipe jaws plate, unusual )-couldn't resist
, 99 is arriving today a South African made Record.Darkish Blue, the colour on it looks close/may be original paint, send it to me and I'll do a thorough check/research on itFirst vice I’ve picked up in a long time, 6 inch all steel Dawn, Colmal what colour would this originally of been ? Red or blue
Says the guy who's done collecting vises!send it to me and I'll do a thorough check/research on it
Thanks for that, it’s painted blue over a red/brown primer, I’ve sold over a 100 vices in the last year however couldn’t pass this by for $50, looks a nice viceDarkish Blue, the colour on it looks close/may be original paint, send it to me and I'll do a thorough check/research on it
Nice vice, uncommon that size in steel
Definitely pre 1978- fairly sure it's a 1970- 77 example.-
Another anomaly- the Cast vices have Australia on them from 1970, but not the steel from what I can find, pre 1970, steel had a different rounder base, can't be 1978-on as Dawn changed to metric.That's a 1970's handle as well. Have a idea they didn't make steel vices till sometime after the 50's
I have a 5 1/4" HD, and 4" SP- and with yours 3 different steel bases.
Oh Yeah, that didn't last long,
Yeah wasn't sure if the primer was rust, not original, close top colour thou.
When I cleaned up and painted the old rotary Chinesium Roughneck in the shop here, the boss started giving me grief for spending money on a new vise. Took some doing to convince him it had occupied the same corner of the bench for over twenty years.
Do you have the blurry pic?I hope y'all will overlook the excess photos I took instead of just posting one. It's not everyday I come across a big one. My last big/rare one was a Wilton SJ-60 I saved in Virginia a few years back.
A few weeks back I found a blurry photo on Facebook Marketplace of this vise with an asking price of $200. I couldn't tell the make or the model, but I knew it was big and old. I managed to narrow it down to being a Prentiss, and a large one, but I wasn't sure of the model yet and didn't want to spook the seller into looking into its value.
Since they were one town over at about 22 minutes away, I asked if she would hold it for me until I got back on the weekend. I offered to pay an extra $50 if she would. She agreed and after I trucked back in state it was time to go pick it up.
It used to belong to her ex-husbands grandfather who was an electrical engineer for G.E. up in the northeast. After the divorce he didn't want it anymore and told her to keep it. It was in her garage for a few years before she decided to sell it.
While it is not the 295 pound Prentiss Model 58 that I was hoping it was, it turned out to be the little sister to it at 210 pounds for this pre-1948 Prentiss Model 57 Railroad Chipping Vise. She's a beast!
