Do you use your vintage vice?

[Rod N]

It all started with a Beaver 2700 drill press and now I'm really liking vintage stuff.

I want a vintage vice, but I need a vice. I won't paint it, just clean and lube etc.

Do you guys use your vintage vice or is it just there to be admired?

 

[Oldtuleguy]

I fixed mine up then retired it to light home use

 

[Provincial]

I have a couple that have older damage and repairs. Both work well, but will never be collectable, so I use them. One has the jaws slightly misaligned, the jaw faces worn, and the main body scarred up. It is big and heavy, but none of the parts are suitable for a display vise. I use that one when I hammer, grind, or weld. I'm not making it any worse.

 

[Loga_3]

Vises are meant to be used and abused so, yes i use all of mine.

 

[bmwrd0]

I have an old Prentiss. Still does work every day.

 

[larry_g]

Yes I use them. My drill press just turned 100 this year and still in use. A couple of my vises are quite old and used regularly. I do disagree with the guy above that said they are made to be abused. Used correctly and within their limits is ok, beyond their limits is abuse and to be avoided. Abusing tools just shows your ignorance.

That said, if I have a machine down that is costing $$$$ per hour in downtime I will sacrifice a $$$ tool to get it going again.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[f121]

I inherited this vice from my grandfather, bolted it into the little bench my wife inherited from her grandfather. Super useful for saw sharpening because it rotates.

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

i use mine but I have some that I wont use due to rarity. When I restored my first nice one I thought I'd be scared to get a scuff on it. I use it all the time and I don't stress now. I won't abuse it but I know it can take some hard use.

 

[txlonghorn1989]

Yes. I use my Reed 214R. Don't have anything rare enough that they can't be used.

 

[Rod N]

Good to hear gents. I’ll keep looking for something interesting.
I don’t weld or do metal work so I’m not too hard on them. The old #3 Record with have to do until then.

 

[Shiftless]

My user vise is a Wilton C1. It started out 4 + years ago in freshly applied Rustoleum Verde Green as seen here in this old pic.
It gets used but not abused. Once in a while I wipe it off, pull the slide all the way out, clean it and re grease. No touch up paint.
I never bang on the “anvil” portion. I have a chunk of train rail for that purpose.

 

[Catcher1984]

My user vise is a Wilton C1. It started out 4 + years ago in freshly applied Rustoleum Verde Green as seen here in this old pic.
It gets used but not abused. Once in a while I wipe it off, pull the slide all the way out, clean it and re grease. No touch up paint.
I never bang on the “anvil” portion. I have a chunk of train rail for that purpose.

Is the Rustoleum verde green still sold? I tried looking before I painted my C1 but didn’t have any luck.

 

[rustyzman]

I use mine constantly. The vintage 6" Wilton Mechanic's vise is from one of my first jobs as a tech, that I worked really hard back in the day in the repair shop. It did everything I ever asked of it and is still solid as rock. It is not quite like the version they sell now, this one is really stout and refined.

The other is the Desmond Stephan Simplex that I inherited from my Grandpa. That one was his shop vise at Skil Tools, where he was a Tool & Die maker for over 30 years starting in the 1950's. He took it home when he retired and they moved the factory out of Chicago. That one has smooth machinist jaws and works beautifully.

I enjoy using all my vintage tools, it is what they were made for. I have no issue with keeping restored examples untouched in the world, those are an important thing for history, but for me personally, using my tools seems like the right thing for me to do.

 

[DWise]

I use mine all the time.

 

[67carl]

Is the Rustoleum verde green still sold? I tried looking before I painted my C1 but didn’t have any luck.

No, it's not. And neither is the Light Blue. Both are still listed on their website but are not available anywhere. I reached out to their customer service and was told it was a "supply issue". Funny thing is an extensive Google search found folks have been having trouble finding it since at least 2017. I doubt a supply issue lasts 4+ years. For the hammered paint they only have the earth tones now - grey, silver, black, brown and copper, but there is a bright red. *****. I'd like to add some color to my vice and drill press, but not those.

 

[67carl]

Using one of my unrestored filthy Wiltons to hold some stair treads while I belt sanded them even. Sure would look nice in Verde green or light blue...

 

[Rbcsci]

Good to hear gents. I’ll keep looking for something interesting.
I don’t weld or do metal work so I’m not too hard on them. The old #3 Record with have to do until then.

I just cleaned up my old Record last week after decades of service. A little paint and it’s ready for another 50 years of duty.

 

[CoogarXR]

My old Charles Parker had the hell beat out of it before I found it. I never restored it or anything, I just use it in as-is condition.

 

[RTM]

Mine is a 50s era, and of course I use it. Almost all my vintage tools get used, except the Stanley #1 and an ivory folding ruler.

 

[firingsquad]

I’ve got several, both at work and in the home garage. They all get used almost daily.

 

[genog]

Heck yes!
I use mine!

Vises are meant to be used and abused so, yes i use all of mine.

 

[rsanter]

i use my vintage cars, vintage tools, vintage vise...etc
but I figure its ok, they are being used by a vintage owner

 

[Duke74]

My vintage vises are just shelf candy.

 

[Stillgottimefor1]

Firing squad, that vise looks good but the press….wow.

 

[Packard V8]

Display vises? Shelf Candy?

Your money, your vises, your vices, your decision.

jack vines, old guy, old tools and mostly the work gets done.

 

[firingsquad]

Firing squad, that vise looks good but the press….wow.

That my current restoration. I’ll post some photos of it when I’m all done.

 

[drivesitfar]

Rod: it looks like at one time your older Record had its jaw busted off and then braze welded back together so I wouldn’t worry to much about damaging it. If you do find a pre war vintage vise clean it up and don’t abuse it.

I keep a few chunks of steel handy to pound on (or RR track works) and a press so I use my big and little pre WWII vises all the time. Blacksmith vises were built to hammer on and everybody things a big old vise won’t break but sadly they will.

the newest vise I own might be a chinese wonder vise that rotates every which way and when I start welding if I need to weld on a vise that will be the one I use and not my vintage users.

 

[Rod N]

Rod: it looks like at one time your older Record had its jaw busted off and then braze welded back together so I wouldn’t worry to much about damaging it. If you do find a pre war vintage vise clean it up and don’t abuse it.

It also has a couple of set screws holding the jaw together. The welds do bother me.
If you look to the right of the vice, there is a 1" thick plate of steel. All hammering is done there. Never on the vice.

 

[isb cornbinder]

My newest vice is over 40 years old. The other 4-5 vice are nearing 100 years old, I do not beat on my tools, but I expect them to work for their keep. I have mounted a vice or two on my milling machine to true up the working surfaces.

 

[Maui]

Yes, this Reed 2C is my daily user. In fact, I used it today to help fabricate parts for a Craftsman 101 (Atlas 618) bench top metal lathe that I am restoring. It is a quality vintage vise.

 

[Jagmandave]

Yes, mine are for use not display.....my newest one is an early 90's Wilton, my 2 Craftsman are considerably older, maybe mid 1960's? All of them get used regularly......that's what they're for.

 

[mopar66]

Not sure if it's vintage. But I use my Wilton all the time.

 

[Rbcsci]

These old Simplex 41S vises are overdue for a little attention. I really don’t know much about their history. I saved them from the scrap dumpster when my employer closed up shop 20 years ago and I’ve been sitting on them all this time. I think I’ll start cleaning them up this weekend for a new bench that I’m putting together.

 

[yelchevelle]

Is this a serious question? I think that there is too much collecting these days and not enough using. I wish people would quit hoarding multiples that they will never use so maybe the price on some of this stuff will go down. People start collecting when they think that it’s too valuable to take a chance on breaking it. I think I paid 40 dollars for my vintage vise 3-4 years ago. It’s used for something almost every time I come in the shop to work on something.

 

[slowtwitch73]

Vintage vice? Opium?

 

[Jim C.]

I really enjoy using vintage tools and machinery when possible. Vises are no exception. I only have three vises, each of which is 50+ years old, and they get used (never abused) on a daily basis.

Jim C.

 

[Rbcsci]

Vintage vice? Opium?

I see what you did there. Well crafted.

 

[slowtwitch73]

What do you guys think a Prentiss Bulldog Dog 4" swivel would be worth roughly? Nothing broken..not re painted.

 

[tjansson]

I use my Athol indiscriminately for everything. The whole point of vintage vises to me it that you can't buy good vises new for reasonable money, i.e. vintage vises are the best tool for the job.

 

[exmaxima1]

I just cleaned up my old Record last week after decades of service. A little paint and it’s ready for another 50 years of duty.

Awesome copper jaws! Nice job.