New CL find. Reed 6" vise!

Finally got the 6" I've been looking for. A Reed 406A. $100 off of CL. It's a behemoth! It'll be used solely for welding and fab work. I've got my Wilton 4" for general purpose work.

What exactly is the pin for at the top of the vise? It looks like if you pull the pin the top portion of the dynamic jaw is removeable. Why?



12" tall, 24" long closed, 36" long open and 145 lbs.



Jaws open a solid foot! Even wide open there's not a millimeter of play in them!



Opens and closes smooth and firmly yet only need 1 finger on the handle. The handle is straight as an arrow, too!



The jaw teeth aren't the best but I think some of that might be the thick paint. Irregardless, teeth condition aren't that important to me for what I'm gonna use it for.

Moveable jaw.



Dynamic jaw.



Rear, bottom of bar and base.







The beast seems to have been well taken care of. There's some hammer blows on the tops of the jaws but that's typical for monster vises. Some have said it's supposed to have a swivel base. Not sure. There's only 1 hole on the side and I assume that's for the tension screw that keeps it from turning. I'm probably going to just drill a hole on the other side so I can bolt it to my welding table.

Anyone know where a date code might be?

Good score. that there my friend is a monster, hope you had a friend help you move it from point a to point b.

wow that is NICE

that thing is a beast! I like the tiny Craftsman, That's what I want

Great vise...nice find!

That pinned jaw is supposed to be movable, so you can hold oddly shaped or angular pieces. Looks like it's painted over pretty good.

evintho said:

What exactly is the pin for at the top of the vise? It looks like if you pull the pin the top portion of the dynamic jaw is removeable. Why?

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You can swivel the fixed jaw for holding non-square work.

Nice vise. How much did you have to pay for that beauty?

spongerich said:

Nice vise. How much did you have to pay for that beauty?

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Thanks! $100 off of craigslist.

Cool! Just a heads up, the end of the travel of the slide is when the back of the slide reaches the housing. I think this is how you were showing it, but it was hard to tell.

A swivel base is available at viseparts,com they arn't cheap. The only disadvantage is see is that you don't have the back hole that is always behind a stationary vise set up to stabilize the vise so it won't tip foward. Even with a hole drilled on the other side, I don't know if one could trust it when fully extended holding something heavy. I'm sure you'll figure something out. One nice big vise for the price!!

I'd drill a hole and bolt it right through the center. Then bolt down the lock down hole. The stresses should be the same as if it were on a swivel base. You might want to beef up the table a bit though.

You could also drill a few holes in an arc, then if you want to turn the vise, just unbolt one bolt and turn. Basically approximate your own swivel.

That really was a good score btw.