SweetD
Well-known member
Hi All,
It's been awhile since I've restored a vise. I have a few candidates laying around, and it's time to work on one.
This piece is a REAL vintage "Clipper Tool Company" vise, very old, rudimentary, and quite unique I think. Got it off of c-list a couple of months ago along with a vintage Dunlap drill press and "Tomlee" table saw. Guy had all three in his basement, rusting for at least a generation, left over from his WWII-era father, who "had lots of projects, but didn't get around to finishing many" (sounds familiar)...
Anyway, as you can maybe see in the following initial pics, the slide is a semi-circle casting. The jaws are 4" wide, and do not have jaw inserts. I can barely make out some cross-hatching on the jaws...and it's not very precise. The nut is intact - I told my wife that, but she didn't find it funny...
From a little research I've done, I think this vise is at least 100 years old. No cracks, no significant damage, just rusty as hell. I'm going to go the electrolysis route. Oh, it is missing the handle. I have a machinist friend that will certainly be able to create an excellent reproduction handle for me.
So here we go - not sure when I'll "get 'er done", but I'm hoping over the next couple of months. Step 1 was just getting it dis-assembled tonight:
Anyone else have one????
Dave
It's been awhile since I've restored a vise. I have a few candidates laying around, and it's time to work on one.
This piece is a REAL vintage "Clipper Tool Company" vise, very old, rudimentary, and quite unique I think. Got it off of c-list a couple of months ago along with a vintage Dunlap drill press and "Tomlee" table saw. Guy had all three in his basement, rusting for at least a generation, left over from his WWII-era father, who "had lots of projects, but didn't get around to finishing many" (sounds familiar)...
Anyway, as you can maybe see in the following initial pics, the slide is a semi-circle casting. The jaws are 4" wide, and do not have jaw inserts. I can barely make out some cross-hatching on the jaws...and it's not very precise. The nut is intact - I told my wife that, but she didn't find it funny...
From a little research I've done, I think this vise is at least 100 years old. No cracks, no significant damage, just rusty as hell. I'm going to go the electrolysis route. Oh, it is missing the handle. I have a machinist friend that will certainly be able to create an excellent reproduction handle for me.
So here we go - not sure when I'll "get 'er done", but I'm hoping over the next couple of months. Step 1 was just getting it dis-assembled tonight:
Anyone else have one????
Dave
