Craftsman Vise - Need help Identifying

[dakotart1984]

Picked up my first vise score from craigslist today. A much needed vise. Its a Craftsman model 506-51811, I know its old and made in the USA. Other than that not much remaining info. Does anyone know where these were produced? What year(s)?

 

[wild cowboy]

made by Columbian, likely in Cleveland, 1960's

 

[dakotart1984]

Estimated value? I got it for $30.

Id like to blast/wheel it and paint it. Any suggestions on what to do with the handles and screws?

 

[wild cowboy]

that should be a 5" jaw width vise, about 42 pounds or so, I would value it around $85 or more, if there are no cracks or repairs (welds) and it works nicely

you can glass bead blast the handle and coat with fluid film spray

lubricate the internal main screw with most any grease (I like bearing grease)

there are some large vice info and restoration threads here on GJ, here is one of them with a lot of cool info:

www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=62716

 

[dakotart1984]

Sweet! This was purchased off an older gentleman who bought it new with the intentions of building a hot rod. Instead, he said he only used it for fishing lures and fishing rods. Theres little to no damage on it, no welds or repairs and the jaws still have a decent score on them with nothing that's chewed up. Its got minimal rust from sitting and the main screw is tight but im sure its just gummed up. Im super excited to get this thing restored thanks for the input!

 

[bluebolt]

Nice! I find a lot of the smaller Craftsman's that style but not one single 5" jaw so far. $30 is a good buy.

 

[dakotart1984]

I wasnt sure at first what it'd be. I figured at $30 for the 3-4" it'd be fine. He didnt know what size or anything about it. He was content on the $30 he wanted and I willingly paid him his full asking price for it. It is indeed about 40+lbs and visually it looks larger than most of the ones on the market today. Those Ice cream cone ends remind me of FMJ flat nose bullets. Its amazing the knowledge here yet again. You guys rock!

 

[dumper]

I had that vise, and sold it recently for $80, after a cleanup.

 

[CNGsaves]

+1 you did fine OP . . . that will clean up nice !!

 

[dakotart1984]

Dumper, what kind of paint did you use on yours? Anyone have any suggestions on best method for paint removal? I've seen wire wheel, Glass bead blast, or solvent remover?

 

[dumper]

after looking at the pictures of your vise again, I would just wipe the painted areas with wd40 with a sponge, then wire wheel the non-painted areas, and then steel wool them a bit to shine them up. The paint looks good enough for a working vise. I wouldn't strip the paint off, unless you have nothing else to do. As for paint, I use cheap rattle can paint, and it holds up very well- I use my vise every day.

 

[scooternut]

Crappy cell pic, but you get the point. This is the earlier and larger of the Craftsman Columbian vises, I have the little brother as well.

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[scooternut]

Almost forgot.

Awesome work here by Outlawmws, a link to a thread with the sears catalog pages of all of the vises.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/s...d.php?t=149519

 

[dumper]

you mean this one? Are you using the same Walmart paint that I am using? Hahaha. Thats where I get it.

 

[dakotart1984]

Thanks guys. I want to make it like new. I don't have many winter projects (weird, right?) Since I have the time I figure Id just spend a little bit of extra time on it. Scooter, yours looks brand new! Did you grind the exposed parts after painting or tape them off before?

 

[scooternut]

Thanks guys. I want to make it like new. I don't have many winter projects (weird, right?) Since I have the time I figure Id just spend a little bit of extra time on it. Scooter, yours looks brand new! Did you grind the exposed parts after painting or tape them off before?

Thanks, that red one was in really good shape to start. It looks so nice it hasn't made it to work yet. The one below was very well used and given to me by my father. I converted it to aluminum jaws I made from stock as the originals were a mess. This was a nice upgrade. I have since filed them to mate better, they look and function very nice.

I usually tape off the parts prior to painting. Most of mine were done using rustoleum brush on oil based. Primer first, then a few coats on top. I think that one was safety red, my favorite is the smoke gray with red raised lettering. I have a newer US Craftsman Columbian on my bench now (below pic) with that combo. I did a Craftsman Reed 5180 this way as well that I have mounted to a grinder stand.
View media item 46174

 

[dakotart1984]

Scooter. I love the scheme. I was thinking black / red for a moment but I figured id just try my hand on the stock restore first. I spent 3 hours with the grinder today and its currently in the paint process. The main screw was really gummed up I used an entire can of brake cleaner on it, dried and used alcohol to surface. I don't have much grease but I do have a tube of Lucas red n tacky. Will that make do for the screw?

 

[dakotart1984]

I had nothing else better to do today so I stripped it. It needed some small areas filed to make it operate smooth after I filed them I just stripped the entire thing. I'm now contemplating doing it black with red letters..

 

[scooternut]

Theres a massive thread one the site somewhere about vise maintenance. I initially lubed with never seize but have since switched to extreme pressure grease. I'd guess, just lube the darn thing with something that is decent lube, clean it from time to time.

The coolness of these things is that they can be multi-generational in our families, but, we must do our part in that process. That, I enjoy.

 

[dakotart1984]

I have seen the thread. I'm going to use anti seize once its done. I decided to go with black but I'm not 100% sure I want it.

 

[dakotart1984]

Just wanted to update with some progress. Spent some time on it the past few days. Its currently on its last coat and im off to find a paint marker to do the lettering. Disregard the chip brush. Those are horrible for that enamel application. I wound up using the cheapo foam brushes.

 

[dakotart1984]

Here it is all done. Those who recommend using the sharpie paint pens get a pat on the back. Made doing the letters a great deal easier. Thank you fellow GJ'ers for the help. Now to install it in my garage to serve me a lifetime of use.

 

[bluebolt]

That turned out nice!

 

[dakotart1984]

I was skeptical at first of the black but considering you dont see many black vises I am glad I went with it and it turned out great. I have added it to the vises of GJ thread.

 

[ks1982ss]

looks great i just did the same to my 51811 i picked up

 

[scooternut]

Looks great. Enjoy, they are a good quality working vise.

 

[coleman10]

I was skeptical at first of the black but considering you dont see many black vises I am glad I went with it and it turned out great. I have added it to the vises of GJ thread.

The black does look great. I remember I looked at mine after I had primed it and thought that it looked great in black. Looks even better with a glossy coat. Great job!

 

[coleman10]

The coolness of these things is that they can be multi-generational in our families, but, we must do our part in that process. That, I enjoy.

Yep. There's something about these things. Every time my three year old follows me into the garage, he goes straight to the vise. It'll be his one day.