Help date Rock Island 542-BX Vise please

[Joefriday]

Hello folks,

New guy here and I've really been enjoying reading your forums for the past several days.

I am not exactly a vintage tool collector although I have a fair amount of them as well as modern.

I had been looking for an old vise for quite some time and stumbled across this one at a garage sale this weekend for $15. It weighs 78lbs according to my digital scale. I've read a number of threads on this forum (I'm easily influenced and now I'm on the hunt for vintage tools...and I really don't need to start collecting anything else if you know what I mean..) but I can't seem to locate information that will date this vise for me. I've read that the date is sometimes stamped on the back of the slide. There are numbers on mine but I can't determine if several numbers are missing. It appears to be _9_2. Is there a "1" missing at the front end and another number missing between the 9 and 2 by chance?

There does not appear to have ever been a name plate attached to the side like some that I have seen on this forum.

I apologize if I posted in the wrong area. I read of a "vise" section someplace but I couldn't find it.

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Best,
Rob

 

[thehorse13]

Let me say welcome and, "you ****".

That vise is a gem and for 15 dollars...well...you already know.

I would say 1930s-40s on this vise. You're missing the pipe jaws too. Certainly no big deal.

 

[Joefriday]

Let me say welcome and, "you ****".

That vise is a gem and for 15 dollars...well...you already know.

I would say 1930s-40s on this vise. You're missing the pipe jaws too. Certainly no big deal.

Ha.. Thank you for the kind welcome and information.

Here is one that my father gave me a few months ago. I had a buddy sand blast it for me and I painted it. Not a professional restoration job by any means but I was only trying to clean it up a bit.

Yea, I know..rookie stuff..

Best,
Rob

 

[thehorse13]

You're welcome.

Rock Island used to date stamp their vises on the dynamic jaw exactly where you see, "9 2" on yours. My 574 Rock Island, which carries a Birtman Electric tag, is dated 9 44 for Sept of 1944.

Yours is likely 9 of 32 or 42 hence the range I provided.

No matter how you cut it, you have a great restoration candidate.

 

[Joefriday]

Roger that.. Thank you again.

Best,
Rob

 

[ALLFAST]

Rob...welcome, and that is in excellent shape. You would get eviscerated with a 300 plus shipping on flea bay for this cream puff As the horse said....no badge holes, and the baseball snout...definitely pre 1940....Keep us losted.

Shawn

 

[Joefriday]

Much thanks for the "welcome" and additional information Shawn.

Best,
Rob

 

[ALLFAST]

The red Columbian is very well done....I like the gold accents!

 

[ALLFAST]

Rob,

Please post some more photos of your crown jewel......especially of the inner jaw and areas hidden...folks will want to see what an unmolested specimen looks like. It appears yours has residual medium green which I understand a good number of Rockys of the day originally wore (that or the blue/light gray hue). It looks to have been used very little, or very carefully !

Until next time,

Shawn

 

[Packard V8]

It appears yours has residual medium green which I understand a good number of Rockys of the day originally wore.
Shawn

Here's the remnants of the Rock Island green.

and the baseball snout.

Note the difference in the length of the two 'baseball snout" What does that tell us?

jack vines

 

[Joefriday]

Good afternoon sirs..

It appears to me that my vise was originally gray but I seem to see remnants of yellow too (?). I'm not sure what vise guys look for in a vise but here are a few more pictures. The jaws look pretty good to me but as far as being used "little or carefully", it looks like a former user was a little rougher on the tail end of the dynamic jaw than the originally intended business end. It appears that he used it as an anvil resulting in a 1 inch crack. Won't affect function for me.

And thank you for the comments on the Columbian..

Best,
Rob

https://s29.postimg.org/g6cpkp42f/IMG_3590.jpg

 

[Joefriday]

 

[thehorse13]

My Rock Island was originally battleship gray. I didn't really like that color so I went with this sea foam green.

 

[ALLFAST]

Thanks for the extra photos Rob. She is in awesome shape, even with some mild abuse.

Horse....Hammered Rosemary as I recall ? Is that 2 or 3 coats ? It looks really good.

 

[Joefriday]

Great looking vise!

I was going to describe the color of mine as "battleship gray" also.

 

[Joefriday]

Much thanks for the positive comments Shawn.

 

[ALLFAST]

My pleasure. With JimReed and Joe Friday in the mix, all of our vices should remain safe from criminal elements !

 

[BrettJ74]

Nice score Rob! I picked up the same vise about 4 months ago for $50 I think, but mine was in way rougher shape. the Jaws had some crazy scarfing from a carbon arc I believe, and there was a 3" long crack on the slide, not to mention the rust.

After some major clean up, sandblasting, and some Tig welding on that crack, plus a fresh coat of Hammerite she turned out pretty good , and functioned very well.

My vise was stamped 9 44 on the top of the slide just aft of the body of the vise when the dynamic jaw was closed.

I had no plans of getting rid of it but one of my buddies was in a bind for a birthday gift for his dad's 6oth and really liked the vise so I made him a deal, and parted ways with my first love of old American vises.
Hope yours serves you well for years to come

 

[Joefriday]

My pleasure. With JimReed and Joe Friday in the mix, all of our vices should remain safe from criminal elements !

Absolutely!

 

[Joefriday]

Very nice refurb job on your vise Brett.. I swore to myself that I wasn't going to do anything but clean mine up and use it as is but I'm afraid I may have to make it another project now that I've seen what you guys have done..and I don't need anymore projects. But it's got to be done I guess.

And now I'm looking for more vises too!

Best,
Rob

 

[ALLFAST]

It's a slippery slope Rob !

 

[Joefriday]

I know about slippery slopes all too well.

 

[thehorse13]

Thanks for the extra photos Rob. She is in awesome shape, even with some mild abuse.

Horse....Hammered Rosemary as I recall ? Is that 2 or 3 coats ? It looks really good.

Correct. Hammered Rosemary is the color. Two coats and a nice bake in the afternoon sun. This vise is used regularly in my shop. Never fails me.

 

[Joefriday]

Rock Island model 591 on local Craigslist ($75 OBO).. Darn you guys! I can't afford any more hobbies but you have me looking.

 

[ALLFAST]

Its like a harley or vintage muscle car in the garage....it will only likely increase in value in time, or become barter for a better item down the road. Dont forget that Rock Islands are extremely overbuilt and of very good quality......

 

[thehorse13]

Rock Island model 591 on local Craigslist ($75 OBO).. Darn you guys! I can't afford any more hobbies but you have me looking.

Wait until you discover the other beautiful American vises like the Prentiss. lol

 

[Joefriday]

Wait until you discover the other beautiful American vises like the Prentiss. lol

You guys are ruthless! I NEED one of those. I get a bit OCD about collecting. I'm not going to sleep well until I find one of those now. Curse you!

 

[thehorse13]

You guys are ruthless! I NEED one of those. I get a bit OCD about collecting. I'm not going to sleep well until I find one of those now. Curse you!

Probably should check out Chas Parker too.

 

[Joefriday]

Me and my bright ideas..all I was trying to do was figure out how old my vise is and now I'm feigning for my next vise. I need professional help.

 

[Mudpig]

I just picked this vise up for $20. I was actually buying a Blackhawk 6 ton floor jack that I paid $130 for when he asked if I wanted the vise for $20. I couldn’t say no lol. I restore old ATCs, can’t wait to start on these, I’ll be researching on this site quite a bit. I know this is an old thread, hope there is still some interested.

 

[Beerhippie]

You done right, Mudpig!

What's up with all the Britman Electric tags? How many RI vises did they use?

 

[Private Lugnutz]

What's up with all the Britman Electric tags? How many RI vises did they use?

They acquired Rock Island in 1930.

 

[Beerhippie]

They acquired Rock Island in 1930.

I was envisioning a electrical manufacturing plant filled with thousands of Rock Island vises....

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Yes, not exactly the most intuitive pairing or acquisition.

 

[btcarver]

I know this is an older thread but if anyone has time, looking for suggestions on whether or not I should restore my vice or keep it as is.

It is a Rock Island 542 BX. I just purchased it.