Columbian Vises: history and reliability thread.

[2oolhound]

Well I finally ran into one - a broken Columbian 504M vise.

Oddly though, it was the leadscrew that sheared in half, nothing to do with the casting. Interestingly, the handle is not bend like a pretzel. The previous owner says he was just clamping a piece of metal by hand and it kept turning but not tightening. The story was he got it from his dad who had it in their workshop in the 1950s. The vise body had been hammered on a bit, but no casting failure. But I had to carefully file the slide for half an hour to disassemble it.

My first guess is it was a fatigue failure, possibly cased by a defect in the screw? The screw failed at the location right in front of the nut when the vise is closed.

Sadly, Columbian used a 7/8-4 acme looking thread, which does not look to be available. A standard thread is 7/8-6 and that thread is available. I'll put a wanted posting in the Vise Parts Swap thread and see if there are any Craftsman/Columbian screws available. None on Ebay. Is there another source I should look at?

Hey Tool scrounge, looking at the 2nd photo those look like square threads (correct me if I'm wrong). Acme threads have a 14.5 degree slope on the side of each tooth (both sides = 29 degrees). Acme are a newer invention and better because they forgive wear so get less sloppy from wear compared to square. I understand square threads are easier to cut for most people. You may be able to get a machine shop to cut a new screw for a reasonable cost.

 

[chadsmith]

My granddaddy old vice i have put up in storage. Don't have a metal table to mount it to and if I mounted it to a wood one I would brolly have it ripped apart in no time with the weight of things wrenches w pipes and sledgehammer licks it would be taking

 

[Beerhippie]

From the opposite end of the "nice-****" scale from your sweet old vises:





The slide is a steel channel, cast into the dynamic. I'm somewhat skeptical of the Cleveland, USA claim. I did pretty it up some, just 'cause that's a thing with me.

 

[INSP380]

Here’s my newly acquired 604…. Everything works great, time to start the clean up and resto….

Steve

 

[GatorEd]

COLUMBIAN 404-1/2 ADJUSTABLE JAW, SWIVEL VISE - Purchased my first Columbian vise at a garage sale. The gentleman told me he bought it a week earlier at an estate sale in central Florida and he had to remove it from the bench. He knew nothing about the vise. After I paid him, I showed him how the adjustable jaw swivels. I spent some time yesterday pouring through old catalogs and ads and think this vise might be dated around 1950 based on the how the model # is shown and the T-shaped jaws. It's in great shape and definitely has not seen heavy shop work! It's not only my 1st Columbian, it's my first adjustable jaw vise.

 

[Beerhippie]

COLUMBIAN 404-1/2 ADJUSTABLE JAW, SWIVEL VISE - Purchased my first Columbian vise at a garage sale. The gentleman told me he bought it a week earlier at an estate sale in central Florida and he had to remove it from the bench. He knew nothing about the vise. After I paid him, I showed him how the adjustable jaw swivels. I spent some time yesterday pouring through old catalogs and ads and think this vise might be dated around 1950 based on the how the model # is shown and the T-shaped jaws. It's in great shape and definitely has not seen heavy shop work! It's not only my 1st Columbian, it's my first adjustable jaw vise.

The pivoting jaw actually moves without hammer persuasion? That's nearly unheard of in a garage sale vise!

 

[Shiftless]

The pivoting jaw actually moves without hammer persuasion? That's nearly unheard of in a garage sale vise!

I agree.
The locking pins are usually next to impossible to extract. It took me WAY too long to free up one of mine.

 

[GatorEd]

It pulled right up and I was shocked. Clearly the man who bought it a week ago did not even try to pull on it! Then the jaw easily pushed to the side! I made sure I paid for it before demonstrating it I don't see too many of these Columbian adjustable jaw vises but the price was right!