My New Columbian

[kald]

Here is a Columbian my dad and I picked up for the shop did a full resto. It's a 604 1/2 in pretty good shape. Vise here in Cent. Fl are pretty hard to come by IMO so I'm pretty stoked. It replacing a 5" Larin swivel of death. Anyone have any ideas on the the age?

 

[kald]

Here it is after a paint striping soak, degreasing, wire brushing and taped up for paint. Sorry for the crappy cel pics.

 

[twincam00]

wow that thing was in great shape when you bought it

 

[kald]

I wasn't sure of the orgional color and didn't want dark green so I went the with Rustoleum rattle can Satin Lagoon. It's kind of a Makita blue green. The cel phone makes it appear more blue than it is. You can see the Larin swivel of death in back ground it is replacing.

 

[otis66]

Nice.

 

[kald]

wow that thing was in great shape when you bought it

Yeah it was in great shape. Just a few dings on the slide and normal but light wear and tear. I lightly sanded(with the machine marks) and filed the slide.

 

[kald]

Thanks Otis!

 

[whelenfan]

Looks great!

 

[thesilverone]

looking good!

 

[kald]

I used some insulation form 4/0 welding cable for the finger savers. IMO it is much better than orings. Something like insulation from 10-4 0r 12-4 sow ac wire would work as well. I think it will be much more durable and you can cut it thicker if you want.

 

[MrMark]

Damn that thing is beautiful! I love that color on it. I am in the process of painting one of mine a 505 and I may switch to that blue. I have it as a rustoleum metalic blue right now and it may be a bit much.

I have a 504 and a 505 of similar vintage to yours. I think the orignal color was a pale green.

Catalyze is the expert on these vises and will love to chime in on this I am sure.

You did an awesome job on everything.

BTW, my 504 has lettering EXACTLY the same as yours so when you find out the date I will be pleased.

My 505 has the curved lettering with the stamped model No on the one side just like yours but it has straight block lettering "Columbian" on the other side.

I have a feeling the 504 I have and yours are VERY old, perhaps 40-50 time frame.

 

[kald]

I also put a thin polypropylene base pad to take up some of the slop in my table.

 

[kald]

Looks great!

looking good!

Thanks Guys!

 

[MrMark]

Interesting how you have the smooth jaws. I have seen them both ways but the smooth seem to be the minority. Both of mine are knurled. What is your opinion on the smooth vs knurled jaws?

 

[kald]

Damn that thing is beautiful! I love that color on it. I am in the process of painting one of mine a 505 and I may switch to that blue. I have it as a rustoleum metalic blue right now and it may be a bit much.

I have a 504 and a 505 of similar vintage to yours. I think the orignal color was a pale green.

Catalyze is the expert on these vises and will love to chime in on this I am sure.

You did an awesome job on everything.

BTW, my 504 has lettering EXACTLY the same as yours so when you find out the date I will be pleased.

My 505 has the curved lettering with the stamped model No on the one side just like yours but it has straight block lettering "Columbian" on the other side.

I have a feeling the 504 I have and yours are VERY old, perhaps 40-50 time frame.

Thanks Mark! I really looked for while before I choose the color and decided against green or grey. It is definitely a "Makita Blue Green" the phone doesn't do it justice. Again it's Rustoleum Painters Touch Satin Lagoon. I use a ton of Industrial Rustoleum here at work and this stuff(painters tocuh) at least dries unlike the Industrial ****..

I think I read somewhere on the forum last night that the curved lettering is from the 40's-60's.

 

[kald]

Interesting how you have the smooth jaws. I have seen them both ways but the smooth seem to be the minority. Both of mine are knurled. What is your opinion on the smooth vs knurled jaws?

I would probably prefer serrated over smooth. But I'm going to make some aluminum and serrated steel (Larrin 5" ones are in great shape) magnetic ones for it. So the smooth maybe better since I will not damage the magnetic ones.

 

[kald]

I will say as a life long Steelers fan I threw up in mouth a little when I painted the Cleveland lettering. I hope they know more about making vises than they know about football.

 

[MrMark]

Thanks Mark! I really looked for while before I choose the color and decided against green or grey. It is definitely a "Makita Blue Green" the phone doesn't do it justice. Again it's Rustoleum Painters Touch Satin Lagoon. I use a ton of Industrial Rustoleum here at work and this stuff(painters tocuh) at least dries unlike the Industrial ****..

I think I read somewhere on the forum last night that the curved lettering is from the 40's-60's.

That's really good to know on the painter's touch. I am not much for the Industrial Rustoleum although it has its fans on here. How is that Painter's Touch for durability? Is it a lacquer or some form of enamel like the industrial line?

 

[MrMark]

I will say as a life long Steelers fan I threw up in mouth a little when I painted the Cleveland lettering. I hope they know more about making vises than they know about football.

You have a steady hand. What did you use for the lettering?>

 

[kald]

That's really good to know on the painter's touch. I am not much for the Industrial Rustoleum although it has its fans on here. How is that Painter's Touch for durability? Is it a lacquer or some form of enamel like the industrial line?

We will see about the durability. It's in an industrial shop now so it's going to get used. It dried quickly so I hope that doesn't make it chip easily.

 

[kald]

You have a steady hand. What did you use for the lettering?>

I used a folded paper towel and lightly dabbed it on. I put a pic in post 17. I used a Bic pen cap as well. The little plastic end perfectly holds a drop of paint and can clean in between the lettering as well. I saw the paper towel thing online somewhere and it's all I had handy here in the shop. I think a q-tip would be great to use, better than the paper towel.

 

[Catalyze]

Beautiful work on that sweet Columbian! That thing was in nice shape and is a great size too. You did well young Jedi. With a double curved logo it is probably pre WWII. Two slices of vise pie for you tonight.
Craig

 

[kald]

Beautiful work on that sweet Columbian! That thing was in nice shape and is a great size too. You did well young Jedi. With a double curved logo it is probably pre WWII. Two slices of vise pie for you tonight.
Craig

Thanks Craig! Thanks for the info! I wish I could have pie, my wife has me on a diet.

 

[Laker]

Very nice job! I can see how the folded paper towel would help to prevent you from accidentally hitting the low spots next to and inside the letters. With a q-tip or paint brush you would need a very steady hand.

 

[kald]

Very nice job! I can see how the folded paper towel would help to prevent you from accidentally hitting the low spots next to and inside the letters. With a q-tip or paint brush you would need a very steady hand.

Thanks Laker! I think you need to fold it smaller and tighter than I did though.