Dawn Vices

[doily_grunge]

G’day picked these 1960’s vices up the other day, wondering if I should repaint them or leave the patina? Thoughts?

 

[Maui]

They look pretty clean. I would probably just lubricate them and put them to work myself.

 

[JZiggy]

Try a gentle degrease and a coat of wax or oil. The original finish looks great — just shine it up a bit.

 

[bonneyman]

Yeah, too classic to prep and repaint. Shine 'em up and use!

 

[ALLFAST]

Yes,

Those are nice. Could these be early 1950s ? They look more robust than a newer style.

 

[Shiftless]

Put me down as a 5th vote to gently clean and degrease, dry thoroughly and wipe on some Boiled Linseed oil, thinned with a bit of turpentine if you like, and you're ready to go.

Vises in horrible shape need more work than that, sometimes a complete repaint, but I am a fan of preserving originality when appropriate.

 

[ALLFAST]

I just noticed that Paramo looking Dawn has what looks like hints of a Coral/Pink hue bleeding through with that black. That is bad *** !

I agree with everyone here on the clean up and go. You can't buy that patina....well, you just did !

What I do is take some hot water and mix a good amount (50% or so) of non toxic degreaser (like Simple Green) up. I then get a small pile of clean rags and start scrubbing away..you don't want the rags super wet, or too dry. Go through the rags in stages, so as you clean, the rags have less and less, to zero grease and scudge remaining. When your rags end up coming up clean, you are done. I have good luck with spraying a semigloss clear engine enamel (satin or gloss if you prefer) over the painted portions...it seals in the patina. Nice Score !!

Shawn

 

[ALLFAST]

My old Record No. 3 has that same home brewed washer arrangement behind the snout as your swivel vise. It's functional, but cheesy. JZIGGY here has a super smart conversation involving two roller thrust washers and a bronze bushing (which replaces the spring). Here is my record as modified by its original owner. The other photo is JZiggy's Paramo No.6 with the conversion.

 

[ALLFAST]

Here ya go. I haven't converted mine, as it works just fine, but JZ reports that this setup gives the vise a very smooth and firm action while allowing you control any backlash.

 

[ALLFAST]

My Record

 

[Shiftless]

I just noticed that Paramo looking Dawn has what looks like hints of a Coral/Pink hue bleeding through with that black. That is bad *** !

I agree with everyone here on the clean up and go. You can't buy that patina....well, you just did !
What I do is take some hot water and mix a good amount (50% or so) of non toxic degreaser (like Simple Green) up. I then get a small pile of clean rags and start scrubbing away..you don't want the rags super wet, or too dry. Go through the rags in stages, so as you clean, the rags have less and less, to zero grease and scudge remaining. When your rags end up coming up clean, you are done. I have good luck with spraying a semigloss clear engine enamel (satin or gloss if you prefer) over the painted portions...it seals in the patina. Nice Score !!

Shawn

I too use Simple green diluted 1 part SG to 2 parts water. Scrub with little brushes like these, then rinse with either a garden hose or even better, a low powered electric pressure washer holding the nozzle not too close to your workpiece.
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[1/2 Cup]

doily_grunge firstly hello and welcome to the GJ.

They look fantastic as they are, IMHO I would leave them but give the mechanisms the TLC they deserve. Dawn still make replacement jaws for their vises.

You may like to do an introduction in the General Garage Discussion forum.

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=27

Cheers

 

[Mark in Indiana]

Doily_grunge:

Welcome to GJ. Great to see vises from down under. Great looking vise you have. I'm voting that you should paint your vise its original color. 2 reasons; First, although I've restored dozens of vises in all different colors, I prefer vintage vises to look the way that they came from the factory. Second, in my part of the world, we have to fight humidity which brings flash rust to bare metal details. Plenty of good techniques, but paint seems to work for me. This is just a happy retiree's opinion.

Edit: BTW: Are you a fan of the television show "Rake" ?

 

[doily_grunge]

Here ya go. I haven't converted mine, as it works just fine, but JZ reports that this setup gives the vise a very smooth and firm action while allowing you control any backlash.

Thanks Allfast I’ll have a look into that

 

[doily_grunge]

Thanks everyone I think the “leave it alone”s have it. I’ll give them a clean and just use them. Thanks for the input

 

[B.Boru]

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[doily_grunge]

What is this style of Vice (that leans over) called?



(I've never seen this type before )



B.

It’s called an Off Set Vice, mainly for clamping longer items so the vice doesn’t get in the way. Clever, and looks cool (I reckon anyway)

 

[B.Boru]

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