How to date 2 old vises

[CGT]

I have 2 older vises that were my grandfather’s that have been in an old barn on the family farm for many years. I basically knocked the rust off and did a general cleanup on both. I know the larger Vise is Columbian Vise 5-c but the smaller one has 0 markings of any kind. Is there a way to date the Columbian vise and find out the manufacturer of the smaller vise.

 

[2oolhound]

Don't know about the Columbian wood worker's vise but the red one is a butchered blacksmith's "Post Vise" that someone cut the leg off that should go down to the floor from below the bottom hinge pin. Also the mount system is not correct.

Look very carefully for stamped markings on the sides of the legs on the bottom end of the vise.

I'm no expert but there are post vise or leg vise experts around who could likely recognize certain features or shapes of the vise to determine who the maker was. They are usually very old and often from the UK.

How wide are the jaw faces?

 

[CGT]

Don't know about the Columbian wood worker's vise but the red one is a butchered blacksmith's "Post Vise" that someone cut the leg off that should go down to the floor from below the bottom hinge pin. Also the mount system is not correct.

Look very carefully for stamped markings on the sides of the legs on the bottom end of the vise.

I'm no expert but there are post vise or leg vise experts around who could likely recognize certain features or shapes of the vise to determine who the maker was. They are usually very old and often from the UK.

How wide are the jaw faces?

Only seems to open a couple of inches

 

[RTM]

Yours probably looked like this before it became an amputee.

The VISES of Garage Journal

Hey fellas, any idea where I could pick up a replacement Charles Parker vise lockdown handle like this one? Link to the eBay ad for the above photo...

www.garagejournal.com

I’ve only carried them and stored them for other people, so I have no idea how they work, but I’d guess that where the inner leg meets the mounting bracket that someone took away Some degree of motion. The piece held on w the square head bolt may have been longer.

 

[2oolhound]

Only seems to open a couple of inches

Vises are measured by the width of the jaws not how wide they open.

That said the jaws on that vise should open 6 - 8 inches. The improper mount likely is making it bind. If you tap on the movable jaw it will free up and open wider (loosen the handle first though).