Needing a Prentiss Vise Swivel Jaw Pin

Catalyze · Apr 29, 2011

Greetings again from America's Dust Bowl!
I have been hunting for a nice old Prentiss vise and found one. It is rusty and greasy so it is in perfect condition. It has a swiveling rear jaw that I have managed to free up and remove from the main body. It is, however, missing the tapered locking pin that sets the jaw in a parallel position. I do not have the equipment to make one. If anyone here can tell me what to measure and would like to make one for me, just post up here with what I need to do and a rough guestimate on cost. I have a similar Parker that has the tapered pin and once the body is out of the electro bath, I can see if it's size would work. Thanks for any replies or help!
Craig (clueless and dusty)

SweetD · Apr 29, 2011

I'm sorry Craig, but your post is invalid without pictures.

Seriously - I do have a guy that does great custom machining. He has made four sets of hardened steel jaw inserts for me (two for my Stanley Sweet Heart vise, and two for my Prentiss # 515, still in progress)...

Only thing is, he's really busy right now with rod and reel repair / servicing for the impending salt water fishing season (which is his main secondary business): www.beavertailrodandreel.com if you're curious...I know he could make what you need, but it might take a while...let's see some pictures and I could at least pass it along for opinion. He's SUPER reasonable with prices too.

I'm jealous of your swiveling-jaw vise, what model is it? 19, 20, maybe a huge 22?

Dave

Dale B · Apr 29, 2011

What diameter is the pin ? They once were a common hdwe item , and prolly still are avaliable from McMaster Carr, MSC or Grainger . I remember seeing a box of 1/4 inch at a shop I was in years ago......

Catalyze · Apr 29, 2011

As per Rule Number 1.47 (no photo = no hints), here are some bad photos of the Prentiss.
View media item 9259
and here she is torn apart for a nice long "****** bath" with battery charger...the laundry soap makes the shop smell so fresh too.....LOL
View media item 9258
Since the wind is still blowing 45 mph, I refuse to go out in my Thor pajamas to check the Parker pin size. Thor does not like dust storms. I will go measure it tomorrow and see how it fits in the Prentiss. Thanks for the tips so far!!
Craig

SweetD · Apr 30, 2011

I'm totally jealous. That is a true diamond in the rough!

larry_g · Apr 30, 2011

With luck you will have a standard taper pin in there. Standard taper pins taper at a rate of 1/4" per foot. If you can determine that then go here to order, or at least look at what is avaiable. http://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/NNPDFF?PMPAGE=2071&PMITEM=67552281&PMCTLG=00

If you have a machinerys hand book avaiable then you can look up taper pins to determine what you may need.

lg
no neat sig line

Catalyze · May 1, 2011

Thanks for the link! I went and wire wheeled the parts that are out of the ****** bath (the dynamic jaw is still half in.....and half out). The Parker pin is too small. The Prentiss starts out with a hole of .70" and drops down to about .55" at the very bottom (about
1 3/4"). I need to get the jaw swiveling smoothly so that I can figure out the pin better. It's amazing what 90 years will do to moving parts. Wait.....my parts don't move so well and I am about half that old. LOL
Craig

Catalyze · May 1, 2011

Success! Since the weather went from 90 degrees to 52 degrees today, it was a perfect day to spend in the shop. My pin hole was .70" at the top of the taper so I went and bought a 3/4" bolt. I cut it to 1.5" in length and broke out the machinist dye bottle. I just kept marking and grinding the taper. 2 1/2 hours later it was done. I chucked the tapered bolt in the drill press to sand the head smooth after grinding off the flats. I wll give it some time on the buffing rig this week and polish it to a mirror finish. Thanks to all who offered suggestions! After measuring the taper in the vise, it didn't match any sort of standard. It was just a wild Prentiss taper.....go figure.
Craig
View media item 9265

Even 11 · May 2, 2011

Nice work Craig!! Looks like that one will be a beaut!

-Dane

hofferwood · May 2, 2011

Great Job

And that is a ******* taper, I had to do the same thing

I left the small ridge for easy withdrawal
Again great job
If ya click on this thumb you can see mine (trying NOT to hi-jack, just share)

Catalyze · May 2, 2011

Even 11 - Thanks! I now undestand why folks have lathes.....or friends who have a lathe....next project is to make friends with a lathe owner in my town

Hofferwood - I already had your Photobucket vise photos in my Favorites....for almost a month now...LOL.....I patterned my pin after yours truth be known.....yours is a 19 and mine is a 19 1/2 size

Gots to love this Forum!
Craig

hofferwood · May 3, 2011

Craig,
Glad to be of help :beer:

Chuck

Low Friction · Mar 3, 2012

I have a Prentiss 20 I'm cleaning up. I was fortunate the original rear jaw pin was not lost. Here's a picture.

Mike F · May 21, 2012

I have a Prentiss 19 that I am trying to remove the pin from. I have hit it with Kroil for several days, tried heat, and no luck so far. I also tried a large pipe wrench to try to break it loose by turning it, but the wrench really started to dig in and mess up the pin. Any suggestions on how to get that pin out? I have been thinking of ways I could use a slide hammer, but do not know how I would get it to grab under the small lip of the pin.

454ragtop · May 21, 2012

I've removed the sliding jaw and punched them out from the bottom, after a few heat, Kroil cycles. Kind of a pain, bent a piece of rod at a slight angle to get a better shot at it, but it came out.
HTH, Jim

Low Friction · May 21, 2012

Same here. The pin taper bore in the main casting body is accessible from below.

Mike F · May 22, 2012

Great. I did not think of that. I guess I'll unbolt it, flip it over and have a shot at that. Will still heat/kroil a couple of more times first, just to make it easier and increase my odds of success.

Chris98006 · Jun 7, 2013

I have the same vise and its welded up so no pin is needed. Does the pin allow the jaws to swivel? Don't get it?

Catalyze said:
As per Rule Number 1.47 (no photo = no hints), here are some bad photos of the Prentiss.
View media item 9259
and here she is torn apart for a nice long "****** bath" with battery charger...the laundry soap makes the shop smell so fresh too.....LOL
View media item 9258
Since the wind is still blowing 45 mph, I refuse to go out in my Thor pajamas to check the Parker pin size. Thor does not like dust storms. I will go measure it tomorrow and see how it fits in the Prentiss. Thanks for the tips so far!!
Craig

fullthrottle24 · Jun 7, 2013

Chris98006 said:
I have the same vise and its welded up so no pin is needed. Does the pin allow the jaws to swivel? Don't get it?

The original intent is to remove the pin and swivel the rear jaw to hold irregularly shaped objects. If you look at pictures you can see how it arcs in rear.
Too bad yours is welded.

buckmays · Jan 27, 2014

Dear Sir: I am needing a part for a Prentiss vise #21. I saw a post of yours telling how you had bought one and had the misfortunate of loosing part of it by UPS. I need the back jaw only (the jaw that swivels). I saw in one of your post that you needed a pin for the Prentiss vise you are now using. I am a machinist and could make one for you. If the pin is the same as the pin I have it would be no problem. Maybe we can work out a deal. Thanks Buck Mays

Needing a Prentiss Vise Swivel Jaw Pin

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