The VISES of Garage Journal

bagged89s10 · Oct 24, 2015

vintage nut said:
Damn, that emmert is quite the vise!
One of those or one of the parkers are definitely on my wish list!
I'm not sure why, but I've never really been a fan of that other one.... Just doesn't look good to my eye for some reason. I'm sure it's a very good vise, just not to my taste.

Sent from my C1904 using Tapatalk

Funny story about the Milhoff. I contacted the seller of the one Joe bought before he did. I got the pictures and I thought it was a homemade vise so I passed. I agree as it gets a 0 for style points. I've seen it in person at Joe's shop and it's a 10 for usability.

drivesitfar · Oct 24, 2015

ALL: here's the only picture i have of the bottom of the quick release Record i owned. sadly it left my shop with an English anvil a couple years ago and wish i had them back. they did fund a few other purchases so i guess that it's all good and just wish another one would pop up for sale.

switchman · Oct 24, 2015

hi
i have one,it was my wife's grandfather's

zkling · Oct 24, 2015

vintage nut said:
I've noticed a lot of knifemakers use those cheap chinese rotating combination vises. I can definitely see how it could be useful for holding things at different angles.

Does anyone have suggestions for quality old vises that would serve the same purpose?
One idea I had is mounting a swivel base vise vertically on a heavy angle plate. Not quite the same rotation, but it would still be really useful.
If only I could find one of those parkers with the rotating barrel....

Sent from my C1904 using Tapatalk

With all the knife making you do I'm amazed you don't have a standard tube in tube knife making vise. :headscrat

There really is no replacement to get the same axis rotations especially for delicate handle work. A few variations depending on what you are doing ie. sen scraping, draw filing, hand polishing where you need a rigid backing or mostly handle work.

S4cruiser · Oct 24, 2015

Finished my first Wilton bullet refresh today. This one is getting mounted to my workbench :bounce:

!

Before

After - in Hammerite green

Lugnutz · Oct 24, 2015

Hey Veeps,
I just want to compliment you on all the fine work you do on those vises! I thought I was pretty sick in the head with some of my stunts until I saw those polished jaws you did, that's just sick.

It's always nice to see somebody worse off to help restore your own resemblances of sanity. :lol:

As you're probably realizing, you can't slick those vise jaws up much at all without removing that patina that you like so much. I'm telling you, you're a prime candidate for rust blueing! :evil:

What you're really trying to do is just carefully control nature's natural oxidation process, only "slightly" accelerated. It's a great look IMO.

To everyone else,
Great job on all the great pictures, vise info, killer yard sale scores and restorations!

Lugnutz · Oct 24, 2015

S4cruiser said:
Finished my first Wilton bullet refresh today. This one is getting mounted to my workbench !

THAT'S A BEAUTY!!

..about as close to a factory fresh finish as I've ever seen. Great job!

Mr_P · Oct 24, 2015

Lugnutz: I'm telling you, you're a prime candidate for rust blueing! What you're really trying to do is just carefully control nature's natural oxidation process, only "slightly" accelerated. It's a great look IMO.

I have heard you talk about Rust blueing before please elaborate on the how to?

zkling · Oct 24, 2015

S4cruiser said:
Finished my first Wilton bullet refresh today. This one is getting mounted to my workbench !

Before

That looks great; simple, clean and crisp. :thumbup:

vintage nut · Oct 24, 2015

zkling said:
With all the knife making you do I'm amazed you don't have a standard tube in tube knife making vise. There really is no replacement to get the same axis rotations especially for delicate handle work. A few variations depending on what you are doing ie. sen scraping, draw filing, hand polishing where you need a rigid backing or mostly handle work.

I've been meaning to make one for a while, I just haven't gotten around to it yet. I do probably 99% of my handle work on the belt grinders between the platten, contact wheel, small wheel, and the slack belt. I have a Kalamazoo 1x42 in addition to my big one, and it really saves a ton of time on handles.
For my use, the rotating vise would be more for holding guards at a more comfortable hight and angle for squaring up the corners, and holding blades at a more useful angle while fitting hidden tangs.
Sorta tasks that my normal vises will do, only in a more comfortable position to work in.
Still want one of the normal knifemakers kind though...

Sent from my C1904 using Tapatalk

va.grouseman · Oct 24, 2015

Joe,---What came first, the chicken or the egg.---The Sawyer or the Parker. :headscrat

I'm going to go with Chicken and Parker.

Lugnutz · Oct 24, 2015

Mr_P said:
I have heard you talk about Rust blueing before please elaborate on the how to?

My time is limited, but I'll give you guys a quick crash course.

Though there are many home brewed recipes, the fastest and easiest is to get you a bottle of Pilkington's from Brownells and follow the directions. The beauty of that method is you don't need a hot/damp box.

To save time, and keep some "character", you don't have to refinish the metal like you would on a fine set of doubles. Just knock the big stuff off and lightly sand/prep the metal. The reason those old Colt's looked the way they did was partly due to all the fine polishing they did to the metal. Cleanliness is critical to this process. You want to thoroughly degrease your parts with a good hydrocarbon solvent like acetone or brake cleaner/gun scrubber etc. followed by a strong detergent cleaning in hot soapy water. Use rubber gloves from then on because hand oil is the chief cause of spotty/inconsistent finish. They make special "carding wheels" just for this process but you can use 000/0000 steel wool. BUT, here's a trick/tip, you want OIL FREE steel wool. Most steel wool has oil in it to prevent rusting. Oil is your enemy to getting a good finish. As crazy as it sounds, you are just simply rusting the metal, in a very controlled, accelerated fashion. That's plenty to get you started, it's NOT hard to do!

bagged89s10 · Oct 24, 2015

Lugnutz said:
Hey Veeps,

I just want to compliment you on all the fine work you do on those vises! I thought I was pretty sick in the head with some of my stunts until I saw those polished jaws you did, that's just sick.

It's always nice to see somebody worse off to help restore your own resemblances of sanity.

As you're probably realizing, you can't slick those vise jaws up much at all without removing that patina that you like so much. I'm telling you, you're a prime candidate for rust blueing! What you're really trying to do is just carefully control nature's natural oxidation process, only "slightly" accelerated. It's a great look IMO.

To everyone else,

Great job on all the great pictures, vise info, killer yard sale scores and restorations!

Thanks lugnutz. I really appreciate the compliments, It means a lot. I really enjoy it. I like to take my time, and sometimes even have to redo my work if I don't like it. The last Parker I restored, I ended up sanding everything by hand. It took longer but the finish was better. I also learned, and will pass this along to everyone, buy high quality sandpaper. It will save you a lot of aggravation.

I just googled rust bluing and that seems to be exactly what I need to do. Seems similar to what fretters suggested. Thanks.

bagged89s10 · Oct 24, 2015

S4cruiser said:
Finished my first Wilton bullet refresh today. This one is getting mounted to my workbench !

Before

After - in Hammerite green

Excellent and very clean restoration! :thumbup:

SweetD · Oct 24, 2015

S4cruiser said:
Finished my first Wilton bullet refresh today. This one is getting mounted to my workbench !

Very, very nice. Great job!

:beer:

Dave

sandman54 · Oct 24, 2015

Beautiful! I do like green.

FMC1959 · Oct 24, 2015

drivesitfar said:
ALL: here's the only picture i have of the bottom of the quick release Record i owned. sadly it left my shop with an English anvil a couple years ago and wish i had them back. they did fund a few other purchases so i guess that it's all good and just wish another one would pop up for sale.

Drives, is that your vise on Balane's stump?

3200fps · Oct 24, 2015

S4cruiser said:
Finished my first Wilton bullet refresh today. This one is getting mounted to my workbench !

Before

After - in Hammerite green

WOW! I really envy people for being able to find those bullets cheap on classifieds, practically zero up here in Canada. Anyone on this board care to send a restorable one my way for not an insane amount of money? :evil:

joe.striper · Oct 24, 2015

va.grouseman said:
Joe,---What came first, the chicken or the egg.---The Sawyer or the Parker.

I'm going to go with Chicken and Parker.

VA, I go with egg, Parker. General consensus is lizards lay eggs and birds descend from lizards. If one were a Creationist then it would be chicke, then egg followed closely by Colonel Sanders the followed by me :lol_hitti

PARKER before Sawyer BUT the Emmert predates BOTH I believe

2oolhound · Oct 24, 2015

I'm not sure if these have been posted before. They are screen grabs off ebay of a Record Catalog, 1968 and 1981. Also there are a few random ones.

Outlawmws · Oct 24, 2015

S4cruiser said:
Finished my first Wilton bullet refresh today. This one is getting mounted to my workbench !

Before

Nice job S4, but that before pic; It almost looks like the PO camo'ed the vise! which would be a cool thing to do done cleanly!

Fretters · Oct 24, 2015

2oolhound said:
I'm not sure if these have been posted before. They are screen grabs off ebay of a Record Catalog, 1968 and 1981. Also there are a few random ones.

Why do I get the feeling that someones Record wishlist is growing?

Btw, you do realise that if you expand your search out of the single digit model series, you'll also have quick release to enjoy?

3200fps · Oct 24, 2015

Fretters said:
Why do I get the feeling that someones Record wishlist is growing? Btw, you do realise that if you expand your search out of the single digit model series, you'll also have quick release to enjoy?

Seems like some of those models in those papers are QR but the vise I posted in the previous page is not listed. I wonder when mine was made, any way of telling the mfg date on Records?

I just came back from the garage and decided to re-finish the Irwin Record no 6. The Irwin is far inferior in finish it seems as well as metal. I can tell it rusts easier and the paint lifts off so I decided to help it out and lift it ALL off. It's sitting there with paint stripper on it as we speak. Keep in mind this was bought from someone new in box and I cleaned up the cosmoline on it myself. Didn't help much with the rust. However it's a huge f-ing vise so I'm going to keep it as my rough use piece. The English Record on the other hand cleaned up extremely nice and the surface rust is gone. Whatever they used to paint it it's not lifting off and the metal underneath isn't rusting. Also, it's a nicer and deeper blue but that's nitpicking. I hope the Irwin is ready to turn red because that's the finish it's getting!

Fretters · Oct 24, 2015

With the later Records, it's hard to know exactly with dates, but I'm guessing that one of yours would probably be late 80's or 90's.

drivesitfar · Oct 25, 2015

FMC: yes that is Balane's stump and it was his Record before we did a little swapping a couple years ago. he only lives about 30 minutes from me and i've had him do his magic to a few of my vises. unfortunately i don't have enough vise funds always available to buy all the shiny ones i'd like that have sat on his stump.

S4: nice job on the Wilton. IMHO that Craftsman is of similar quality if you happened to see it in person, but you can't really go wrong with an old Wilton bullet vise.

VA & Joe: maybe Swinden should be put in the mix. personally any of the 3 or all of them could make a home on my bench.

ALL: i think we were talking about Browning a vise sort of a similar method to Blueing over on the vise thread and Carla had some great input. thanks Lugnutz for the post too. McB was in that conversation talking about Japanning as another option for a finish.

2oolhound · Oct 25, 2015

Fretters said:
Why do I get the feeling that someones Record wishlist is growing? Btw, you do realise that if you expand your search out of the single digit model series, you'll also have quick release to enjoy?

Don't worry, I don't have deep enough pockets to start shipping these things around but just let one of them show it's face right in front of me. I even passed up a really nice made in England #5 for $45 this spring. I wouldn't pass on a QR at a reasonable price. I guess the reason I started collecting the low #'ed ones is I've been getting them for under $20 so I grab them. I paid serious coin for my #6 swivel but that was because it matched my very 1st one that was stolen in the 80's. With it in hand I'd definitely prefer some of these others for my next one.

slomatt · Oct 25, 2015

Today I bought a Morgan 300A woodworkers vise that I saw on Craigslist, and while I was there the seller gave me what seemed like a good deal on a Prentiss. I was completely unfamiliar with Prentiss vises, but after doing some reading I believe this is an early model 20. The vise has 4.5" jaws and the fixed jaw is on a swivel. The entire vise is on a swivel plate with a pin you pull up to rotate the vise. The only markings I can see are "Prentiss N.Y." which is behind the swivel jaw. There are no apparent cracks and the screw turns smoothly.

I'm very interested in finding out more about both vises. My plan was to restore the 300A and use it for woodworking. Since the Prentiss was an impulse purchase I'm not sure what I want to do with it, but I could use a larger bench vise so I will probably clean it up and put it to work.

Here are some pictures. Any information is much appreciated.

- Matt

AmericanMechanic · Oct 25, 2015

slomatt said:
- Matt

Nice! Is there a weld repair on the swivel jaw? I ask because I bought a #21 (5" jaws) broken in the same place. I'm going to try and repair it with brazing.

drivesitfar · Oct 25, 2015

AM: i dont see any weld or repair on Matt's Prentiss. Can you post some pics of yours here or maybe on the vise repair 101 thread in vintage section?

Matt: best way to find a great vise is on the bench while buying another tool. That is probably a 1920's Prentiis but it might be older. Nice find

I hope you are able to get the swivel jaw pin out that doesnt look like a factory one. Some owners threaded their pins but since yours has a round head i doubt its threaded. Good luck.

vintage nut · Oct 25, 2015

I think I'm going to start looking for a nice wood vise for when I build my next bench.
Although the quick release records are commom here, I think I'd rather have an old Canadian or American one... Something like one of those old wiltons, the morgan just posted, or ideally an emmert or yost patternmaker.

Sent from my C1904 using Tapatalk

Lu-Max · Oct 25, 2015

For the first time in >6 weeks I finally had a chance to log onto GJ and try to get caught up. I failed. Do you guys think you could hold off posting interesting and valuable information until my schedule lightens up a bit? Please?

>50 followed threads and >6 weeks of posting? Ain't no one got time for that!

On the bright side my last 3 paychecks have been the largest of my entire life, and November will set a new personal record. Meanwhile my stack of 'vises to be restored' continues to gather dust out in my all but deserted shop.

Oh, I also found a better house to buy, I close in ~2 weeks. :thumbup:

scooternut · Oct 25, 2015

Sweet score on the Prentiss slomatt.

A few us just posted up that same vise a few days, or hundred pages or so ago :thumbup:

Thrumcap · Oct 25, 2015

Thrumcap: All this talk about Emmert Tigers has me wondering something. I noticed that the spindle nut for an Emmert pattern maker's vise looks identical to the one on the Emmert machinist's vise I'm restoring. I've run into a problem which involves the nut so it's possible that I may need a replacement. If the nut on Tigers are the same as on the other two types then I'll have more possible replacement sources. From the pictures you posted it looks like the Tiger nut (no off color jokes please) is probably similar to the usual bench vise nut and not the other two Emmerts. Those nuts are circular with a threaded portion in the middle. Am I correct that the Tiger has the more common nut?[/QUOTE]

Yep, here's a picture from a 47 1/2, which also shows the welding from where it had broken before, and a stack of hacksaw blade segments keeping it tight in the base.

Thrumcap

Shiftless · Oct 25, 2015

Lu-Max said:
For the first time in >6 weeks I finally had a chance to log onto GJ and try to get caught up. I failed. Do you guys think you could hold off posting interesting and valuable information until my schedule lightens up a bit? Please?

>50 followed threads and >6 weeks of posting? Ain't no one got time for that!

On the bright side my last 3 paychecks have been the largest of my entire life, and November will set a new personal record. Meanwhile my stack of 'vises to be restored' continues to gather dust out in my all but deserted shop.

Oh, I also found a better house to buy, I close in ~2 weeks.

Lu-Max:

Welcome back!
A lot has happened here while you were busy earning a living. :thumbup:

Congrats on your successes and good luck with your new house purchase. All of us are curious...does it have a bigger garage/shop?

Others:

Beautiful restorations, all of you!

slomatt · Oct 25, 2015

AmericanMechanic said:
Nice! Is there a weld repair on the swivel jaw? I ask because I bought a #21 (5" jaws) broken in the same place. I'm going to try and repair it with brazing.

There are no repairs or cracks that I have found (yet), everything is in very good condition considering that the vise is 100+ years old.

Good luck with the repairs on your #21.

- Matt

AmericanMechanic · Oct 25, 2015

slomatt said:
There are no repairs or cracks that I have found (yet), everything is in very good condition considering that the vise is 100+ years old.

Good luck with the repairs on your #21.

- Matt

Thanks - I thought there was a weld bead behind the dynamic jaw (in front of the swivel pin). About the 10th time I looked at it, I realized that's a trick of the eye - its light on the dynamic jaw riser.

You vice is very nice and clean looking!

CRSINMICH · Oct 25, 2015

Anyone interested in this 5 inch anvil/vise combo? It's on CL in Brownstown, Mi. That's between Detroit and Toledo, Ohio. It was just listed today - $75. He says it's cash and carry only. If you're really interested contact me about getting it for you. It's a bit of a drive for me, but I've done worse for a vise. Here's the link: https://detroit.craigslist.org/wyn/tls/5284798755.html

Rileysan · Oct 25, 2015

Seattle folks - here's an unusual Athol for $75. The ad states he thinks it might be missing parts. What is this?

Brian

https://seattle.craigslist.org/see/tls/5284091580.html

Outlawmws · Oct 25, 2015

All its missing is a big "T" bolt, (Square head bolt?) and a giant wingnut to pull the bolt and vise down to the bench tight. I think its a great deal.

Fretters · Oct 25, 2015

vintage nut said:
I'm not sure how relevant it is, but my 7.25" blacksmith vise is about 175# (or at least it will be once I make the missing bits for it...)
Those big post vises are absolute beasts! Considering a 4" post vise will comfortably take a beating that would hurt a 6" machinists vise, I'm not sure there is anything stronger than a 6"+ blacksmith vise....

Just to emphasise that point, I took a photo of the two frames side by side today. I thought the 4" was a big thing when I got it, but as you say, the 6"+ ones are just beasts. This 6" makes the 4" look almost petite.

The dimensions don't seem to scale gradually like with other vices. They just seem to go straight from beefy to massive.

The VISES of Garage Journal

Well-known member

Well-known member

Attachments

Member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Active member

Active member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Active member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Attachments

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Attachments

Well-known member

Attachments

Well-known member

Well-known member