Chas. Parker No. 955

[cowboy73]

Chas. Parker No. 955 Vise for $50

I picked up a Chas. Parker No. 955 off of Craiglist tonight. Had to drive over 1 hour to Indy to pick it up.

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It looks to be in good shape. No slop in the jaws. No visible cracks. It has a few dings and scratches. Jaws are 5" wide. I only dared to open the jaws up to 9" without it being mounted. The vise weighs 82 lbs. according to the bathroom scale.
The guy selling it said it came off of a workbench that was from the 1940's. He said that he thinks it is probably about the same age. I paid $50. Did I do o.k.?

 

[Outlawmws]

No cracks, jaws in good shape, not really abused, you did great!

 

[cowboy73]

Thanks Outlaw! I've been looking for a big vise forever. I think this one will do for awhile .

 

[coolreed]

Sweet Find.

 

[Jarhead0408]

Looks great to me man. Congrats!

 

[Catalyze]

Very nice find!! It's a great size that you won't outgrow most likely (unless a full scale Zombie invasion happens). The collar is there....the jaw faces are not bad...and if the slide is smooth then it's perfect. Enjoy it and if you get tired of looking at it, just send it to one of us.
Craig

 

[lwlobo]

Great score! Excellent old vise, good price.

I'd drive an hour to pay $50 for that. It's a later one, since the it has a cylindrical screw boss instead of spherical one, so 40's is realistic, I think. Charles Parker closed in 1957.

 

[cowboy73]

Thanks guy! It's one beast of a vise. I think I pulled something getting the sumabitch out of the trunk .

 

[Packard V8]

Heckuva deal. I'd pay that and then some.

jack vines

 

[flashman]

Nice, that trumps the Reed 3 1/2" I paid $40 for. Nice job.

 

[skybar]

Nice. i have a 954 in excellent condition which i never saw before.

 

[57JoeFoMoPar]

That's a great vise for the money. Well done.

 

[Swan]

Nice one, you are going to love your new vise, it is worth every penny.

 

[drivesitfar]

Cowboy,
you did great picking a Parker that doesn't have a lot of issues and for only $50. you can restore it to shine as well as any of the other Parker vises or if you just want to take it apart some to clean and re grease and use it then it might work well on your bench for another 60 years.

I can't ever find a Parker with jaws that nice for twice that much money so have almost given up on finding one locally.

 

[bobcatdan]

I love my big parker, I'd take it over a wilton any day. Curious if anyone eles has this problem thou. Are you afraid to work any old, kinda collector vise hard in case you may break it? I'd be sick for days if I did say crack it. I personally never broke a vise, but I could see it happening.

 

[drivesitfar]

Parker's jaws are not exactly delicate, but I've seen more with issues with them than ones that are still in perfect shape. that said you should be able to use your vise normally to hold things and have it sitting on your bench to look at.

Maybe just find a wilton you can buy parts for or another brand of vise to do some of your welding and hammering on if you need to do that sort of thing. have the second vise on another bench if you have some room or get one of those vise stands and push it in the corner until needed.

KMScott is about the only person I've seen try to attempt to make a set of new jaws for a Parker and from what I've heard they are not easy or cheap to make. and they are not a 5 minute change out either.

 

[larry_g]

Are you afraid to work any old, kinda collector vise hard in case you may break it?

If I can't use it it is worthless. I would think all the 50-100 year old vises that were weak have already been broken.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[ganymede]

Re: Chas. Parker No. 955 Vise for $50

...... I paid $50. Did I do o.k.?

Yyyyup.!

 

[KMScott]

KMScott is about the only person I've seen try to attempt to make a set of new jaws for a Parker and from what I've heard they are not easy or cheap to make. and they are not a 5 minute change out either.

Finally got my first set fit, dang CNC broke again or I would have the radius already cut on my 956. I sent two more 8" sets out today for final fitting before finishing them too. I do not want to be building to many of these. I am doing it just to say I can but way to many hours burned in building them.
Really nice 955 you picked up Cowboy. Great find.

 

[Packard V8]

You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din.

Making Parker jaws is right at the top of the list of things I'll never do.

As to the question of breaking an older high quality vise;, if you do it, don't come back here and cry about it, cause you'll get no sympathy. The Parker, Holland, Wilton, Reed, Rock Island, et al, were industrial quality machines and designed for hard, continuous use. If one manages to break such, he's guilty of really poor judgment.

FWIW, in fifty years of fabrication, welding, auto and truck repair, I've never seen a vise broken by anything approaching reasonable use. In the rare instance of vise failure, there was usually a cutting torch or a long cheater bar or a sledge hammer involved and a very stupid person the other end.

jack vines

 

[bobcatdan]

Trust me, I use my parker everyday. I'm a one man shop and brought it to work so I could use it. There are a couple nice Morgans and wiltons here so it is not that I need it here.