Baker Bench Vise

[pcar964]

My dad picked this up at a garage sale and I have never heard of a Baker brand vise. It says Made In USA, so I assume it is a quality light duty vise but I don't know what year it was made. Can anybody tell me about this vise brand? Maybe it's another American company's product that was rebranded? I'm about to strip it down and clean it up. Here are some pictures.

 

[jon72vega]

That looks just like the Sears vise I am fixing up.

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[drivesitfar]

PC: i don't think BAKER was a vise company per se, but it could have been. i do know that there might be more names cast in the side of an open screw vise similar to that (maybe 20 or more) than the Chinese Wonder Vise that swivels in almost any direction.

my guess is after WWII a lot of factories were started in Japan and Taiwan that were able to use old US patents that they either bought the rights to or that had expired and maybe weren't covered in countries not in the USA. in any case your vise is a light duty vise that is on a lot of handy guy's benches, but it's no substitute for a 4 inch Reed or other similar age and size vises made in that era.

 

[pcar964]

That looks just like the Sears vise I am fixing up.



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That does look remarkably similar, I suspect both the Baker and the Sears are rebranded but I wonder which company actually made them? I'll post up some more pictures after I get it out of the electrolysis bucket, maybe there are some other identifying markings. In any case it's made in the USA so it must be decent!

 

[drivesitfar]

PCAR: sorry for the post about all the imports. open screw vises are not one of my favorite vises and i didn't see the made in USA on either your Baker or the Sears cause i was just looking at the vise design. I was assuming the Sears one was made in JAPAN or TAIWAN like so many of them were in that era.

it's still a light duty vise and like i said there must be 20 or so names that i've seen cast on the side of vises like that.

good luck and maybe you'll turn up something interesting so i'll keep watching.

 

[pcar964]

I looked up the Sears version which is apparently a rebranded Columbian, so odds are this is the same.