Another Vise Resto

[59apachegail]

Hello All,

I dug through all the vise threads and was inspired to do my own. Thanks all for the inspiration and for the awesome vise info threads.

I really wanted a Prentiss, lucky for me I found one at a yard sale. I picked up this 52-91 fixed Prentiss Bulldog machinist vise for less than lunch money.

The issues:
The tail end of the dynamic jaw is cracked
Someone tried replacing the jaws but quit after the first screw
Screw collar set screw was poorly improvised
Screw washer was missing
Slight surface rust and a movement was stiff

I was pretty excited to start digging in so I forgot to take before shots and I sprayed it down with PB blaster almost immediately regretting it. I dismantled and bathed it in engine degreaser, let it all sit for about an hour (4x longer than recommended). I hosed it all down, stuck it into a warm bath of dish soap and scrubbed with a scouring pad. I pulled it out and repeated once more only this time I soaked in 1:8 CLR after the degreaser bath. There was still a lot of rust left so I polished with a drill and wire wheel. I soaked one last time in cool water and pulled it all out and dried in a homemade heat box. Sadly it flash rusted and I suspect it was the CLR. I wiped it all up with some denatured alcohol removing the flash rust and applied some Rustoleum primer. After the primer dried a bit I stuck it in the heat box again.
I didn’t have a screw washer and couldn’t find one big enough so I made one. I cut a piece of copper pipe, cut it open, pounded it flat, cut it into a circle then drilled out to fit around the screw. It is not perfect but will definitely fit and get the job done.
The improvised collar set screw was a machine screw cut down and then a slot was cut into it so it could be tightened with a screw driver. The problem was it was very loose and didn’t do a good job of holding the collar on. I found a hex set screw and lucky for me it fit and the threads were perfect.


Now for my questions:
This vise had traces of black paint on it, is that what color it would have been new?
This vise has the curly font not the block font; does anyone know when Prentiss stopped using this font?

*Heat box:
A large cardboard box with a hole cut in it large enough to fit a space heater fan.

 

[nine4gmc]

That's my favorite font style on a vise, though I can't help you with a date. Looking good so far!

 

[drivesitfar]

59: glad you decided to join and welcome to the Journal. looks like maybe you read a few posts on the vise thread or other threads on vises. i'd say yes your Prentiss was originally black. also not certain when Prentiss quit with their names cast on the side of their vises, but i'd say they put their name on their own vises until they sold to Parker vise company in the early 40's.

some Prentiss vises were made by them for other companies so those vises probably had labels or were shipped in boxes with those company's names on them.

now as far as your vise's age let me take a guess at the 1920's and somebody with a catalog or that remember some other feature on your vise.

have fun and nice job making that new spacer and i hope it works for you.

 

[59apachegail]

Thanks 94 hope to have some more pics up soon. I like this font over the block as well, they really added style to an otherwise plain tool.

Thanks Drive, your thread is a great source of info! I am about half way through it. I started on the Everything you wanted to know about vises and then found your thread. Thanks a lot for the info.

I need to find some black paint and figure out an accent color for the lettering. I have some cobalt blue kicking around, free option and might be a good contrast to the black.

 

[drivesitfar]

you are welcome. if you are reading the vise repair 101 thread McBrownie is actually doing a Japanning on his old Prentiss which you might consider. Japanning is what they did to old cast iron pans and a lot of the cast iron stoves back in the day and maybe Prentiss did that process on some of their vises too that we think is just black.

also your vise your color is my motto so black and blue, red and white or whatever color makes you smile when you glance over at the vise sitting on your bench.

 

[59apachegail]

Thanks Drive, I wound up reading your last post too late as I had already shot the color. I did finish reading the rest of your repair thread and the Japanning sounds like a cool idea.

I got to work very early this morning before leaving for work. I heated the parts a bit in my heat box and shot a coat of rustoleum Carbon Mist Metallic (it was nearly a full can leftover from a very small project). I left the parts bake in the sun all day and just pulled them in. Not sure if you can tell by the pics but it is sort of a brownish color. I will shoot one more coat of this color then do the cobalt blue accents.

I have an Oswego Tool Company #87 - Looks just like a Parker. I would definitely like to give Japanning a try on that one.

 

[SweetD]

Nice vise. I'm a huge Prentiss guy.

I'm not sure exactly what year your vise was made. I have the #92 which is the swivel version and a bit larger than yours. 51-91 means stationary (51) vs. swivel (91). Mine says 52-92.

Anyway, I have this old Prentiss catalog with no date marked on it. But the artwork looks like art-deco period, which I think is about 1920s. The vises shown in the catalog are not with the cursive-type lettering in the casting, they are block lettering.

So I think our vises pre-date that. Probably turn of the century or late 1800s.





Dave

 

[59apachegail]

Dave you have good taste! Eventually I'd like to find a swivel. Thanks for the upload, you are the second person so far to say it could be that early. I also spoke to some one who has a model with block lettering from 1925 with a receipt and the upload confirms it.

 

[59apachegail]

I am still in paint; with the high humidity and lack of sunny days painting progress has been slow. I shot a second coat Sunday and did accents and detailing today. I decided to go with the cobalt because I already had it and I think it is a good contrast color. Next step is coats of clear update when I am done with that.

 

[59apachegail]

I just wanted to close the loop on this one. Not a perfect restoration because it will be used. There are some damaged spots already in the paint from reassembly. Not only is it heavy but I had to bang in the tail end with a mallet because it is split. I lubed it up with bearing grease and completed reassembly. I may polish the handle, jaws and sides but I definitely need to add some rubber bumpers to the handle.