Prentiss 19 1/2 Vise Refresh

[Catalyze]

Greetings!
Let me start by saying that my wife has Great friends. I never knew it until one of them told her "Vise collecting? At least he isn't spending it on some girl half his age at the bar." And from that comment came the blessed "Honey, I think I might have found you an old vise." So without further ado, this Prentiss Vise Model 19 1/2 came from a Wisconsin dairy farm to New Mexico. I have never been to Wisconsin but I think it must rain there more than our 8" of total moisture a year.
I love big heavy packages that you can use a hand truck to move.
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It wasn't abused and it was only missing the swivel jaw pin. The rust didn't seem deep except on the handle. There it was like a golf ball of pits. Several of the jaw face screws were hidden or missing.
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From the Prentiss vises that I have looked at, there would be a collar with prongs on the lead screw. Some nice soul had converted it to a set screw collar that came off easily.
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More photos to follow.
Craig

 

[autopts]

Thats a beauty! Nice ones like that are fun to restore, and it could have some good resale value also. Its nice to have friends!!

 

[Catalyze]

The lead screw threads were in very nice condition. Here is a view of the inside of the main body. Rust in New Mexico is like a snowmobile....I know that there must be some somewhere....just not where I live.
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I used a motorcycle axle that I keep as a big punch to remove the main nut. It came out hard all the way. If you happen to wander around and find such an axle, grab it up and taper the threaded end. The other end on mine has a nice mushroom shape to smack on and it is hardened steel to boot.
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Then it was time to try and remove the swivel jaw. Morgan held the Prentiss whilst I began to lovingly tap (and pray) on the jaw end. It moved slowly and came apart with rust falling everywhere.
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This is what the body looked like under the jaw. Organic Loctite.
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The swivel base came apart with no surprises except more organic Loctite so it was time for electricity and water to mix. The magic combination you were told never to mix. LOL
Craig

 

[eburke197]

Electrolysis I'm assuming?

 

[BJ42LX]

Organic Loctite.

Hahhah!

Great write up. Keep the pics coming.

 

[Catalyze]

Thanks Autopts! It's folks like you that keep me out in the shop mixing water and electricity....
Electrolysis is like the gift of fire from Promethius....it is wonderful stuff. After several days of ****** tank, I used the wire wheel and things started to look shiny again. I used machinist's dye to try and find the binding spots on the swivel jaw. After doing an old Parker 272 and this vise, I like Parker's big central pivot better. After a couple of hours, it moved very nicely and had no problems except the pin to lock it in parallel position.
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On the back side of the smooth jaw faces were these markings. I guess that these were the maker's company initials.
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For the pin, I went to the Fabrication section of this great forum and asked about how to make one. I finally decided to pattern what Hofferwood did on his model 19 Prentiss. I think that he used a lathe. Since I was not smart enough to make friends with anyone owning one.....I used a 3/4" bolt and a bench grinder. Take my word for it....make friends with a lathe owner!
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Coming up.....the Pretty Shots.
Craig

 

[Catalyze]

So if you have waded through everything to this point (and not yelled Get to the Point), here is what it all came out to look like.
Take one batch of these and mix with water and electricity (and Arm and Hammer soap).
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Then beat it around with knotted wires on an angle grinder. Coat it with some pigments and you get:
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Thoughts on the Prentiss: The early (pre 1920 or so) swivel locking handle for the base is crazy to use. It takes a gorilla to pick up that pin against that spring inside. The next generation used a lever of sorts and Hofferwood says his is a bit easier. The best is the Bulldog ring with the large screw handle. Perfection at last. The vise lettering.....some folks think it is graffitti....no it really is cast that way. I love it.....since it makes me realize that some human being and not a computer wrote it that way.
Thanks to this Forum for all its help and previous posts! Every vise that you all post and chat about helps someone later on down the road!
Craig

ps -I forgot to add...this is a 4" jaw vise

 

[JeremyManning]

Man that is one cool looking vise, the lettering is definitely the neatest part

 

[ZRX61]

ya used black hammertone rustoleum on it?

 

[hofferwood]

GREAT JOB Craig
If we took the swivel lock springs out of both of ours, they'd be perfect helper springs for a 3/4 ton pickup
This is the lever arrangement that Craig spoke of

Chuck

 

[Catalyze]

ZRX - yes I used the Hammertone paint on it. I am a fan of the colors in that style now.
Craig

 

[jsokoly]

Sorry to dredge up an old thread, but can you tell me what the internal workings are on that swivel lock pin? I understand there's a spring in there and you have to pull up on the locking handle or disk. Trouble is, mine doesn't have anything on top of that pin so I can't pull it (it's rusted in place). I've managed to depress the pin underneath and it stayed depressed (that's depressing) so I'm guessing it's pretty rusty in there. What am I facing here? I saw a picture with your locking pin (on top) removed so I'm thinking I could do that if I understood what's inside.

Help?

Jeff

So if you have waded through everything to this point (and not yelled Get to the Point), here is what it all came out to look like.
Take one batch of these and mix with water and electricity (and Arm and Hammer soap).
View media item 9258
Then beat it around with knotted wires on an angle grinder. Coat it with some pigments and you get:
View media item 9353View media item 9354View media item 9357View media item 9356
Thoughts on the Prentiss: The early (pre 1920 or so) swivel locking handle for the base is crazy to use. It takes a gorilla to pick up that pin against that spring inside. The next generation used a lever of sorts and Hofferwood says his is a bit easier. The best is the Bulldog ring with the large screw handle. Perfection at last. The vise lettering.....some folks think it is graffitti....no it really is cast that way. I love it.....since it makes me realize that some human being and not a computer wrote it that way.
Thanks to this Forum for all its help and previous posts! Every vise that you all post and chat about helps someone later on down the road!
Craig

ps -I forgot to add...this is a 4" jaw vise

 

[jsokoly]

Thanks Matthew. I'm still stumped about how the plunger Is attached to the pin. I can't get the plunger to move up or down. I can't turn it either. I will keep working on it.

 

[wadewilson]

So if you have waded through everything to this point (and not yelled Get to the Point), here is what it all came out to look like.
Take one batch of these and mix with water and electricity (and Arm and Hammer soap).
View media item 9258
Then beat it around with knotted wires on an angle grinder. Coat it with some pigments and you get:
View media item 9353View media item 9354View media item 9357View media item 9356
Thoughts on the Prentiss: The early (pre 1920 or so) swivel locking handle for the base is crazy to use. It takes a gorilla to pick up that pin against that spring inside. The next generation used a lever of sorts and Hofferwood says his is a bit easier. The best is the Bulldog ring with the large screw handle. Perfection at last. The vise lettering.....some folks think it is graffitti....no it really is cast that way. I love it.....since it makes me realize that some human being and not a computer wrote it that way.
Thanks to this Forum for all its help and previous posts! Every vise that you all post and chat about helps someone later on down the road!
Craig

ps -I forgot to add...this is a 4" jaw vise

I know this is an old post, but I’m curious if you were able to dissemble the base swivel lock pin. I have a No. 26 that I’m currently trying to restore, but I can’t find a pin or anything to take it apart.

 

[Maui]

Nice work! How did you work out the swivel jaw? That’s something I have to figure out on a Prentiss No. 20 swivel jaw vise that I will eventually restore. Here’s some images of a Prentiss No. 92 restoration that I did complete.