Massive 7” Antique Prentiss Vise Help

[Mattlamont]

Hey everyone, I’m new to this forum, but appreciate any help anyone can offer me. Over the last week I picked up two Prentiss vises. One is a smaller one, has identification on it (No. 181), seems to work well, no issues with that. I got it for $35 which includes the steel cabinet it’s sitting on.

The real one that I’m wanting to talk about is this beast that I bought off someone (see the pictures). It says PV CO under the handle, is 26 inches long, not including the handle bracket (adds an addl 5”). It’s 13 inches tall, and has 7 inch wide jaws. I haven’t officially weighed it yet, but I think it’s definitely over 150 pounds. I saw off another post in this forum that it is likely a reverse jaw vise, is supposed to have a pin on top that you can pull that you can flip the jaw around. I can see where the pin is/was, it is currently ground flat. I’m assuming it was likely peened over and then ground flat. I’m hoping that I can tap it out from the bottom, but the issue is the vise is stuck shut, and it also has a crack along the tail. I’m assuming I can just vee that out and braze it, and the rust inside of it may be whats keeping the vice from opening. I was thinking about maybe doing some electrolysis to get rid of rust and then putting a torch on it to try to get it to open up for me. I appreciate anyone help anyone can offer with:

1. Identification of this beast
2. Any tips on how to try to get the jaws freed up without breaking the inner nut.
3. Have these jaws been brazed, or did they come like that?
4. Will I be able to tap that pin out? Or do I need to drill it?
4. Looks like this was a swivel vise, although someone has thrown some weld or something into the hole where it used to tighten. I’m thinking about just drilling that out and re-tapping it and fabricating something. Any other ideas?

Thanks everyone in advance!

 

[Marsim]

No 5?

 

[Marsim]

Check out Vise.dayid.org. might be someone here. Good luck, cool vise.

 

[rancherbill]

Welcome to the forum !

Keep us up to date, everybody loves vise threads.

 

[thehorse13]

The Prentiss beast is post 1910. That's when Prentiss went from solid form jaws to screw on models. I would say this vise is from the teens. It was once a swivel vise but this poor thing has really been beaten to within an inch of its life. The slide crack is a notorious failure on Prentiss vises. Can can notch it and braze it out but that slide appears to be cracked all the way through. Your handle area is also going to be of concern because I can see that it has a ton of slack. It could be that the collar is missing or simply loose and out of adjustment. Hopefully the main nut isn't destroyed because sourcing one of those is going to be quite an adventure.

Getting that pin out is going to be a hell of a job. If you remove the slide, you can access the hole from inside the vise body. Drilling that out would be the last resort for me. I'd use hydraulic pressure from inside the vise body and pop it out through the top.

The jaw area is heavily damaged but we've seen far worse vises than this come back to life. I'd drop your questions in the Vise Repair thread and you'll have access to endless knowledge on vise restoration.

VISE REPAIR 101 all vise repairs, lubricants, sources for parts and the tricks to fix

I'm starting this thread to help me because i'm going to restore quite a few vises and I've only paid to have that done or done some basic repairs so far in my 60 years. as with all tools different manufacturers all do things a bit different and some makers even do different things on their own...

www.garagejournal.com

 

[RoninB4]

Can't add much to what the above post provided. I have an older Prentiss #10 with the dynamic back jaw. Can't guarantee that the locking pin is the same but the #10 has a tapered pin that can only be removed going out the topside. Photo below AFTER cleanup. The main nut may likely be held in a dovetail with a small pin and shims to secure location. If so it can only be removed in one direction.

Your vise was a beauty at one time, it hurts a little to see the life it barely lived through. If you can't return it to service I wouldn't toss it, there's still some parts of the vise that aren't completely trashed. Good luck.

 

[tool_scrounge]

Wow - big Prentiss but sadly abused. That crack in the slide is pretty scary. Looks like it was used without jaws for a period of time too. Best of luck on getting it working.

 

[slowtwitch73]

Big *** old vise used for what it was made for.. good chance some blacksmithing. Not seeing anything sad about it...

If it was mint sitting in a garage someone would say it was 'sad' it wasn't getting used.

 

[Shiftless]

I see a big difference between being “used” vs. being “abused”.

That big Prentiss has obviously been severely abused. The big crack in the tail is no doubt from somebody using that piece of the vise as an anvil. If a guy needs to pound on something, either get a real anvil or a short length of train rail or I beam cutoff or something other than a machined vise tail piece.

Using a vise with no jaw inserts also counts as abuse. Cast iron is pretty soft compared to the steel used for jaw inserts. It wears away and cracks off quite easily.

With all of that being said, that particular vise could still be saved by somebody as a “labor of love”. I have struggled greatly with stuck swivel jaw lock pins. It’s rarely easy. I have had success by drilling and tapping them and then using a puller to yank them out from the top. If it’s the factory pin, it is tapered so don’t even try to push it downward,

 

[slowtwitch73]

That is the life of a vise.. esp a big one.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

I would fix it. That thing is awesome!

 

[Mattlamont]

Thanks everyone for all the responses, I really appreciate all the input. I have a ton of respect for old tools, it was really hard for me to see how beat up this thing was, Seriously has hammer marks all over it. Luckily, the other side of the jaws are in a little better shape. I am super motivated and dedicated to try to bring it back to life. I’m going to grind the jaws back to clean metal, and then get it brazed, and try to hand mill out the step, and then re-drill and tap for jaws. Same with the tail. I’m gonna very carefully try to get this thing opened up without ruining the nut. It may not be the tightest vice when I’m done with it, but I’m hoping to get it back in to some form of use, and after its painted and tuned up, hopefully it’ll look like a million bucks.

For anyone interested, someone posted a page out of an old catalog, I think it may be a number 23, given that it has the swivel base, the pin in the top, and 7 inch jaws. That would put it at 207 pounds, I will try to verify that soon on a scale.

On another note, anyone know how the handle fixes to the moveable jaw? There is no collar and there are no holes where it would thread into. Once I get the screw moving, I don’t see why it wouldn’t just thread out of the movable jaw.

I appreciate anyone else’s input and/or advice.

 

[Cleave]

Great find, good luck on the repairs.
Fireball Tool has a youtube video repairing a longitudinally cracked slide on an old Prentiss vise, that would be worth the watch.

 

[thehorse13]

I see that the plunger has been cut clean off the vise body. That's going to be one heck of a tricky repair. It was spring loaded at one time and used to lock the vise into position once swiveled into the desired position.

I'm happy to hear that you're going to undertake the restoration. Hang in there even when it gets tough.

 

[TailGunner3000]

That is likely a Prentiss 23 vise. It looks to have been rode pretty hard, but definitely worth a restoration in my opinion. It is an uncommon vise and highly desirable.

The rear jaw isn't reversible. It swivels to accommodate odd-shaped workpieces. The "Prentiss Pox" on the slide is bad, but repairable. Finding/repairing/replacing the plunger will be a challenge, but again, not insurmountable.

Good luck and keep us informed of your progress.

 

[FJ 432]

DOA. RIP Prentiss.

 

[Roberts210]

Good find! WIth some thought and some good work, that big guy can be put to work again. Maybe it lived in a roundhouse for railroad work at one time--wherever it lived it was USED and used hard. That's what they bought these vises for, and nobody cried when the vise was beaten to within an inch of its life. They just bought a new vise.

 

[kenc184]

Oof, that's about as bad an abused vise as I've seen. There is a hole on the underside of the vise body where you can punch out the pin assuming it's not nirod welded shut as many are. My 6" Prentiss had about a 3" crack on the back of the slide and it took a hell of a lot of heat to get it to brazing temps, you have much more iron to get up there but I'm sure it's doable. The jaws are a big job. Good luck.