Calling all Clamp, Vise, and Puller Experts

[Private Lugnutz]

I do not collect vintage C clamps, vises, or pullers, but I am preparing to collect a couple of very large WWII era US Army Ordnance Dept tool-sets that include them. The following images were extracted from a 1945 US Army Ordnance manual. I would appreciate it if the vintage clamp, vise, and puller collecting experts out there might take a shot at identifying the Mfgrs from the physical features and vague hints of markings.

THANKS

 

[notlob]

2nd bench vise is a morgan - you can read it vertically in the pic

 

[Provincial]

Vise 41V-276 appears to be a Morgan. You can see the name Morgan in the photo. The first "M" in the name is hidden by the swivel handle.

The 41V-272 also looks like a Morgan.

 

[notlob]

not identical, but the drill press vice is very similar to the palmgren in this auction:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Palmgren-Drill-Press-Vice-12351-New-In-Box-/121783291888

 

[tombell572]

Second C-clamp should be either an Armstrong or Williams heavy duty machinist's vise--can't quite make out the lettering.

Tom B.

 

[Carla]

The C-clamps 'A' and 'F' are most probably of the Armstrong, Williams, or Billings makes.

The '2911' and '2912' pullers are "OTC', Owatonna Tool Co.

cheers

Carla

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Thanks Carla, Tom, notlob and Provincial!. Your quick and confident replies are much appreciated!

Here is a blow-up of the base of the piston vise, from two different angles, where it looks there is a mfgr's name.

My eyes keep seeing AEL?N or AFL?N or possible DEL?N then illegible, which isn't ringing any bells for me.

 

[bc88888]

Piston Vise looks a ZIM that was on ebay, check the completed listings

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Piston Vise looks a ZIM that was on ebay, check the completed listings

Wow. Bingo!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Old-Antique...:g:MxUAAOSw14xWOBff&item=262396603800&vxp=mtr

THANKS!

 

[four.cycle]

Lugnutz, my best wild guess on the 41-P-2911 and 41-P-2912 pullers would be Owatonna Tool Company (OTC), Owatonna, Minnesota.
They are a good match for the original "Grip-O-Matic" gear puller patented by Reuben A. Kaplan in April 1929 - patent no. 1709913 - the design for which remains the industry standard to this day.
The square drive head on the main screw throws me, though, as most of the Owatonna pullers I've seen have a hex drive head (but NOT all.)

The exact same pullers are sold under a plethora of other brand names; we sold the same design pullers in Indestro. My best guess on that is that Owatonna was stamping them out for everybody. (A few others I've sold that were exact look-alikes: K-D, CTA, Lisle - all three were primarily repackaging outfits, however.)

The small puller ("E") at lower right kinda-sorta resembles a 253 Indestro, but as above, I think a lot of the pullers were a buy-out item for Indestro and I tend to believe they were outsourcing them from Owatonna. (I'll see if I can dig up a photo image on that one.)

Any markings/numbers/patent numbers on them?

 

[ganymede]

That first bench vise looks quite Columbian-ish.

 

[drivesitfar]

Lug: the second vise is a Morgan 40 which means it has 4 inch wide jaws. a good vise and maybe weighs about 40 pounds. the first vise looks like a Columbian and judging from the size similar to the Morgan i'd say it also has a 4 inch wide jaw and maybe a bit smaller. good vises and great according to what you can buy today in similar pricing, but not HIGH dollar vises and fairly common. clamps all look decent and not a clue on the pullers, but other members and you probably know what they are. good luck

 

[four.cycle]

for reference only:



Indestro Tool Catalog 55 1972 pp 54-55 pullers by four.cycle, on Flickr

Indestro Tool Catalog 55 1972 pp 56-57 pullers by four.cycle, on Flickr

 

[3baygarage]

Pullers are funny because they are one of those rebranded things as four cycle said.

This is similar to one of the gear pullers but the pressure screw head looks different. Armstrong Bray:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Armstrong-Bray-Vintage-Adjustable-Locking-2-Jaw-Gear-Puller-P-48-USA-NICE-/322074886227?vxp=mtr

I think the last C clamp could be Armstrong as well, with the handle through a square like that.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Thanks for the updates, guys, especially the catalog shots, four-cycle.

Looks like we have a difference of opinion about the first (41-V-272) vise being a Morgan or a Columbian. I may have to dig deeper on that. Incidentally, according to the specifications in the Standard Nomenclature List (SNL) that goes with the images, the FSN 41-V-272 is a 3" vise, the FSN 41-V-276 is a 4" vise. I probably threw you off with the image distortion (not to scale with anything or each other), drivesitfar.

 

[Ole Slewfoot]

Re; puller E
Here is an Indestro 253
although the issue one looks to the the slightly smaller 252.

the bevel on the cross bars, big head rivets (only big on one side) look like a match, but the detail of the bottom of the hook and top of the forcing screw do not. Mine has ball detents on the handle, while the catalog picture has crimps.
Can't really tell about the knurl on the cone.
Mine is age unknown, it comes from a collection ranging from prewar to about 2000.

Edit; I derped out and forgot to link the pic

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Here's another one for you guys... This is from War Dept TM 9-867, a 1945 handbook on the care and maintenance of tools. It is an artist's rendering, not a photo, of a combination bench/pipe vise, but artist's renderings were often done from actual models. So all these features (the shape, the jaw facings, the spindle knob, the handle on the swivel, etc) might be actual. Is it identifiable from those features? And if so, who made it?

 

[notlob]

That is clearly a Charles Parker vise - the jaw insert profile and swivel lock wrench are dead giveaways.

A Parker swivel combination vise with anvil/horn isn't common - I'll see if I can determine a model no.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Thanks, notlob.

 

[southalabama]

I have nothing to add to this thread except, wow.

I shouldn't be but I am constantly amazed at the collective knowledge On this forum.

 

[Mick56]

This is a Williams Vulcan 1-1/2" clamp. Looks close to your pic.

 

[d42jeep]

Yep, it’s a Williams Vulcan clamp for sure. Here are mine.
Notlob, I am VERY impressed that you IDed that vise. I promise to try to carry your next vise all the way to your car!
-Don

 

[notlob]

Thanks Don! It's actually a very easy ID, especially as I own more than one C Parker vise.

 

[ganymede]

I think that Parker vise is the "Big Bear" model.

 

[notlob]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/PARKER-VISES-BEAR-VINTAGE-c1920-039-s-ADVERTISING-PAINTED-CAST-IRON-PAPERWEIGHT-NR-/112133983124?hash=item1a1bb4cb94&nma=true&si=%252BFjytbuQfRjwLFCx%252BHGFnnWq%252Bm0%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

 

[ganymede]

You know I would've thought it'd go for more than it did.
My tool box needs a Parker bear.!

 

[Private Lugnutz]

You know I would've thought it'd go for more than it did.

I was just thinking the same thing! I would've expected anyone willing to spend a few to several hundred dollars on a vintage vise, over and over again, would be more than willing to do it once on a cool little accessory like that!

The have a little Chas. Parker wrench. It doesn't even belong to the one Chas. Parker vise I own. It's in the curio cabinet.

 

[Fierljeppen]

Here's another one for you guys... This is from War Dept TM 9-867, a 1945 handbook on the care and maintenance of tools. It is an artist's rendering, not a photo, of a combination bench/pipe vise, but artist's renderings were often done from actual models. So all these features (the shape, the jaw facings, the spindle knob, the handle on the swivel, etc) might be actual. Is it identifiable from those features? And if so, who made it?

Looks like a Parker Oriole, not a common vise from Parker.

I enjoy your threads and admire your research skills!

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I enjoy your threads and admire your research skills!

Thank you. Let's face it, it's a necessity in this hobby. I used to say, "I wish I could spend more time collecting and less time researching," but honestly, I now enjoy the research aspects of this hobby just as much as - if not perhaps more than! - the actual collecting.

 

[drivesitfar]

Lug; the HUNT is where it's at for me, but i do like the research once i own something cause with some of this stuff there is more history that is hard to find.

just curious are you researching all this stuff because you actually found it all or are you looking for all these vises, clamps and stuff to add to your collection?

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Lug; are you researching all this stuff because you actually found it all or are you looking for all these vises, clamps and stuff to add to your collection?

I'm looking to identify them so that any WWII collector, myself included, knows what brands and models to look for to add it to their collection.

It's probably more obvious from my participation on other forums than here, but I like to create and publish collecting guides, tables, cheat sheets, etc., reflective of my research. I am the co-author of a Willys MB toolkit collecting guide, I have created a GMTK collecting guide intended for hand-carrying to flea markets or garage/estate sales, and a host of other mini-guides, all in the WWII niche. The vises, clamps, and pullers in the initial figures, when I first started this thread, were issued in several rear echelon maintenance tool-sets. My most recent query here (and on the vises thread) are from two different Signal Corps tool-sets (K-43, and TE-6). The tools in those manuals, like most WWII manuals, by the way, are not identified by name. So we often use figures. But a man can only become a true subject matter expert in so many things, and while I pride myself on my wheelhouse being pretty large, clamps, vises, and pullers are not really in my wheelhouse, so it's good to be able to tap into the collective knowledge.