1940's vise restoration and stand - lots of pics!

Finally got around to restoring this 6" 1941 Simplex machinists vise I picked up at the thrift store for $8. Honestly, the dang thing was like brand new once I got to looking at it closely. It looked sort of bad as at some time it was gunked with brown paint over it's original green. The pads are hardly even scratched up!

I also built a stand from part of a factory guard rail I got at the scrap yard for $7.

Here we go...

As found...



Apart and after much scraping and sanding. I had to really scrape around the lettering so it would look good.....



Painting. Colors were chosen by what excess paint I had. Ends up I had a lot of John Deere green. I'm kind of tired of JD green, so I mixed it with some black to make a darker green. I also had two cans of new "sunshine yellow" I bought at Walmart on clearance. So I used these. The red is actually Duplicolor brake caliper paint. It's the hardest, smoothest brush paint I've ever used. Just awesome stuff.



Welding up stand (basically just welding a mounting plate to the top). It's upside down here. The big base was already there, as was the yellow paint. I filled the tube with sand to add weight.



Finally getting some decent welds done. I was pretty rusty. Buzz box (see above photo) w/ estate sale 6013 rods. Again, using what I had...



Welding on threaded studs (more on that later)...



Painting the base...



Final...(some of the lettering is goofy as the letters weren't fully cast)...












And what were those threaded studs for? For extra weight at the base, I mounted two John Deere 50lb rear wheel weights I had. I always needed a good place to store these anyway! This thing is very stable, even with a heavy object clamped in the vise. All total the whole deal weighs 200+ lbs. I may mount it to the floor one day.





Hope you enjoyed the ride! Now she's ready for another 70 years of clamping and bashing!

Hokie

Very nice. Great idea on the weights always wondered how people keep those stands stable when they are not bolted down.

Outstanding job, Hokie. Outstanding!

Beautiful old vise. I just love restoration threads more than anything else on here.

Kudos! I think you did a wonderful job.

Adam

Great job hokie! How did you do the lettering so nicely?

That is an outstanding job!!! I have driven through Urbana,Ohio it is a nice place. Maybe on my next visit I should look for those vises...

cruiser808 said:

Great job hokie! How did you do the lettering so nicely?

Click to expand...

I used the side of a sponge brush dipped in paint. Then just carefully touch it across the "high points". If there is enough paint on the sponge, you don't have to make much contact. I goofed in a few places, so some green on a small brush went over those spots.

Thanks for all the positive comments folks!

VERY nice. I think that's the most colorful vise I've seen. In particular, I like the little yellow strip on the back of the slide. I think I'll do that on my next one. Good job!!

if you're going to use that vise for more than just looking at, you better bolt it down. I have my vise bolted to a 1,500lb table, and i've moved the table (just a little, but still moved it) while manhandling something clamped in the vise.

nice resto! i have grown to love my simplex, they are great vises. The stand is a nice touch.

Nice, 5 out of 5 stars. !

Very colorful, good job on the resto!!

-Dane

Beautiful job, especially the stand. How much does the actual vise weigh? 50? I forsee it being bolted to the ground some day

Nice job,at some point and time everything has a use.

great job!!!

Great restore.