Prentiss Vise Resto

DavidB · May 5, 2010

Everyone else seemed to be restoring a vise so I decided to get in on the fun. I found a Prentiss Bulldog 525 on Craigslist and was able to pick it up yesterday. It weighs in at 63 pounds has 4.5" wide jaws, and opens to 6". It's pretty ugly right now but that'll be getting changed soon. The person I bought it from said he bought it surplus from Pensacola Naval Air Station when he worked there. If so thats neat history but if not it doesn't bother me. The only problem I've found so far is a crack on the back of the slide. It's just a hairline one and is in a low stress area so I'm not concerned.

Here are some pics of the vise as it was yesterday.

Here's a close up on the crack...

This evening I worked on getting it apart. It turned out that I could not completely remove the dynamic jaw and slide from the vise's body. I painted the end of the slide in machinist's blue and filed a little where it was catching. This was repeated multiple times but finally I succeeded in getting it apart. The retaining nut for the screw was also fun to remove. In the end I was able to get it apart and ready to be cleaned up.

I'm going to see how well electrolysis does on it first. If it turns out poorly then I'll probably try to media blast it.

I do want to give a big thank you to mjozefow who answered multiple questions before I went to pick up the vise! You Rock!!

mjozefow · May 5, 2010

DavidB said:
I do want to give a big thank you to mjozefow who answered multiple questions before I went to pick up the vise! You Rock!!

No worries! She's gonna clean up great!

I'm not going to lie, I'm a bit jealous of your Prentiss. :beer:

06wt · May 5, 2010

i like the idea of how the swivel locks, but how well does it work?

Zrexxer · May 5, 2010

DavidB said:
The person I bought it from said he bought it surplus from Pensacola Naval Air Station when he worked there.

That explains the 1/4" thick paint... the Navy's big on painting things.

I'd wager that crack resulted from someone using the back of the slide as a makeshift anvil. The good part is, that's just about a zero stress area as long as it doesn't propagate further. You should be just fine without doing anything about that.

BanjoSavesTheDay · May 5, 2010

That thing looks hideous! :lol:

It's really going to look fantastic when you're done with the restoration, though. Excellent aquisition!

One thing I might suggest is to hit it with a wire wheel to knock off a lot of that paint before you electrolysize it.

What would be REALLY cool is if you painted both the circles the same color, then masked them off and painted the rest of the vise another color, then highlighted the letters in either the same color as the rest of the vise or even a third color. :thumbup:

DavidB · May 5, 2010

I did wire wheel it a little bit but then though that the paint might have lead in it and I want to try to keep a minimal amount of it in my garage. Turns out it does have lead in it according to one of those tests you buy at the store. Luckily the electrolysis worked well on the paint. I left it in over night and all day. When I pulled it out the paint had bubbled up and peeled off easily with a scraper. There are still a few spots on there but I'll take care of those with the wire brush.

Here's a pic of the results. Its not rusty though it looks that way a little in the pic.

Currently I have the slide in the "tank"

mjozefow · May 6, 2010

Blast it!!!!!

DavidB · May 6, 2010

mjozefow said:
Blast it!!!!!

Let me guess...I can just send the vise up to you and you'll blast it and paint it. Then...eventually you'd return it....someday. :bounce:

Boiler · May 6, 2010

How does the slide on that come out, just crank away and it falls apart? If so, I think the inside of the end of my slide on my "new" vise is jamming on the nut, right at the end of the stroke.

DavidB · May 6, 2010

Yes, on this one you open the jaws as much as possible until the screw disengages. Then you can pull the slide out. At first mine could not be removed because the end of the slide had been hammered on and deformed causing it to jam. After some careful filing, I was able to remove it.

For the folks who have restored vises before, do you use primer before shooting your top coat?

mjozefow · May 6, 2010

DavidB said:
Let me guess...I can just send the vise up to you and you'll blast it and paint it. Then...eventually you'd return it....someday.

Exactly!

You've got me figured out.

I like to have a cleaner vise to start the electrolysis, but it doesn't matter that much. I always seem to have to remore the vise from the bath 6-7 times when I don;t strip the paint first. Chemical stripper and a pressure washer is an old standby. Or a garden hose if the stripper is good! (take that one out of context, go ahead).

BanjoSavesTheDay · May 6, 2010

DavidB said:
For the folks who have restored vises before, do you use primer before shooting your top coat?

Yes I do. I bought some super thick marine/industrial primer at sherwin williams and that stuff really does the trick. Not only is it nice and strong, but it fills in a lot of the casting imperfections really well and makes the vise look better. I'll try to find the number on the can later.

BanjoSavesTheDay · May 6, 2010

Oh and the vise is looking very nice! I never even would have thought about the paint having lead in it. Good call. Can't wait to see the slide clean.

bsakal · May 6, 2010

I can't wait to see the finished product! Good luck...

mjozefow · May 6, 2010

BanjoSavesTheDay said:
Oh and the vise is looking very nice! I never even would have thought about the paint having lead in it. Good call. Can't wait to see the slide clean.

Nooooo, you knew that... You been eating paint chips Kole? :lol_hitti

DavidB · May 6, 2010

Any suggestions on how to remove the jaw inserts? They seem to be of the "U" design that is held on with screws. The screws were gone when I got vise. There is a pin in the middle of the face of the pad though.

mjozefow · May 6, 2010

Close ups?

DavidB · May 7, 2010

Nevermind. I managed to get them apart I just had to get a little rough with it but it turned out well. I just kept alternating from side to side wedging it off slowly. I got a couple coats of primer on the body, dynamic jaw/slide, screw cap, and nut tonight. The base is in the tank currently being cleaned.

mjozefow · May 7, 2010

Glad it worked out. Don't paint anything that slides. It will gum up the vise, and inevitably scrape off in contact areas.

DavidB · May 8, 2010

It's an exciting time in the restoration of the vise as I get to sit around and watch paint...well primer dry. If it's a sliding surface it's been masked to avoid the problems mjozefow spoke of.

Here, I'll let you share in the excitement.

On to the jaw inserts. Is there a source out there for jaw inserts that will fit this vise? Here is a pic of the back of the insert to give an idea of it's size.

Thanks,
David

mjozefow · May 8, 2010

DavidB said:
On to the jaw inserts. Is there a source out there for jaw inserts that will fit this vise? Here is a pic of the back of the insert to give an idea of it's size.

Thanks,
David

You are going to be on your own with that, I have not heard of a place that sells them. A local machine shop is likely the best bet.

It is looking AWESOME!

arkangel06 · May 8, 2010

Looking real good there!

BanjoSavesTheDay · May 9, 2010

That thing is looking great! It's going to look so good when it's done.

Isn't there somebody on this forum who will make jaws for members? I thought I saw that somewhere but I can't remember who...

DavidB · May 13, 2010

Finally got the paint on it! I used Rustoleum "professional" primer and Hammered Black. Hopefully it'll hold up...but I'm not so sure since it scuffed through the paint in a couple areas already. Anyways here are some pics!

Here's the labeled side. I thought the silver would look nice and make the lettering stand out some.

A front perspective view.

Other side.

Close up on the labeling.

A couple of random shots of it apart.

A picture of the collar that originally linked the screw to the slide and the new set screw collar I replaced it with.

Pic of the Prentiss and the Babco vise I've been borrowing from a friend.

In the future I'll probably replace the jaw inserts as they're very well worn but for now they're back in. All in all I think it turned out well. I expect to get many years of good service out of it. This probably won't be the last vise I restore as it was fun and pretty quick to complete.

I can post more pics if anyone wants to see anything specific.

Thanks!
David
Yes, the Babco comes from China.

BanjoSavesTheDay · May 13, 2010

That looks great! I want a Prentiss! :drool:

You really did a good job on that. Out of curiousity, what did you use to grease everything up with?

Adam McLaughlin · May 13, 2010

Now that is a museum piece!

Adam

DavidB · May 13, 2010

BanjoSavesTheDay said:
That looks great! I want a Prentiss!

You really did a good job on that. Out of curiousity, what did you use to grease everything up with?

Any bare surface has Johnson's Paste floor wax on it. The screw and base have some synthetic wheel bearing grease on them. I had it on hand and figured I'd give it a try. Besides it's red and goes well with the black. :bounce:

BanjoSavesTheDay · May 14, 2010

DavidB said:
Any bare surface has Johnson's Paste floor wax on it. The screw and base have some synthetic wheel bearing grease on them. I had it on hand and figured I'd give it a try. Besides it's red and goes well with the black.

Floor wax! That's a great idea. I bet it is a lot tougher than the stuff I used on my Reed. I will definitely use that next time though.

DavidB · May 14, 2010

BanjoSavesTheDay said:
Floor wax! That's a great idea. I bet it is a lot tougher than the stuff I used on my Reed. I will definitely use that next time though.

I use it on my tablesaw top and jointer bed. With regular applications (once a month) it works well keeping the surface smooth and rust free.

mjozefow · May 14, 2010

Nice work!

Boiler · May 14, 2010

Do they make synthetic sealants similar to paint sealants for bare metal that lasts longer than wax? Or has anyone tried paint sealant?

pfbz · Jul 13, 2010

What technique did you use to highlight the raised lettering? Just careful hand brushing of the silver paint?

DavidB · Jul 13, 2010

pfbz said:
What technique did you use to highlight the raised lettering? Just careful hand brushing of the silver paint?

Yes, some silver paint and a small plastic model sized brush.

arkangel06 · Jul 13, 2010

Very nice!

Motown 454 · Jul 26, 2010

The vise looks great. I just bought a 515 Prentiss bull dog. Heven't got it in yet. Nice work.

DavidB · Jul 26, 2010

Thanks! I appreciate the complements. Theres nothing complicated about doing it and I think anyone's could turn out like mine did.

Hooks · Oct 7, 2012

I know this is an old thread, but thanks for the pics!....I was able to get this same vise from my fathers wood shop just recently as we cleaned it out to sell the property....I'm holding on to it to give to my son one day...

gilbo · Oct 7, 2012

Hooks said:
I know this is an old thread, but thanks for the pics!....I was able to get this same vise from my fathers wood shop just recently as we cleaned it out to sell the property....I'm holding on to it to give to my son one day...

coolreed · Oct 7, 2012

Awesome job. I love it when someone restore something that was almost ruined to a fine tool again. Excellent Work. :thumbup:

Tourabout · May 21, 2014

Did anyone ever find a supplier for the jaw inserts on the prentiss bull dog vise? Mine is a 5 inch wide jaw and I am missing one.
Thanks

Prentiss Vise Resto

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

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Banned

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

Banned

Well-known member

Well-known member

Member

Well-known member

Well-known member

New member