Prentiss 26

[Rancid Polecat]

Hello all, I just picked this vise up from a local picker/junker/horse trader. I’ve seen these but never one with this long of a jaw. It opens 17 plus inches. It’s comically long. Irresponsibly long. It’s more…extension…than any man needs. All the catalogs I’ve seen say it’s a 9 inch opening. Anyone else seen one? It must have been in the sales lineup at some point.

 

[outofbounds]

I believe this to be a "coachmakers" vise. Certainly collectible for anyone outfitting a period correct buggy works garage.

 

[thehorse13]

This particular Prentiss rarely shows up. This is the second one I've seen in 30 years.

 

[Rancid Polecat]

I believe this to be a "coachmakers" vise. Certainly collectible for anyone outfitting a period correct buggy works garage.

Yup it certainly is. I've used them before and they work really well. What I haven't seen is one with a jaw opening almost twice as wide as a normal(?) model 26. The catalogs say the 4-1/2 inch jaw version has a 9 inch max opening. This one seems a little odd.

 

[Rancid Polecat]

This particular Prentiss rarely shows up. This is the second one I've seen in 30 years.

Have you seen one listed in a catalog? Maybe only offered for a short time so not much literature showing it? Whatever the facts are it should be nice addition to the garage. Nice and tight, no signs of abuse.

 

[thehorse13]

Have you seen one listed in a catalog? Maybe only offered for a short time so not much literature showing it? Whatever the facts are it should be nice addition to the garage. Nice and tight, no signs of abuse.

I have not seen one in the catalogs but I tend to stay more in the machinist vise pages when I do look through. Yours is only the second one I've ever laid eyes on and I'm left wondering if that dynamic slide was some sort of part add-on that you could buy.

 

[Rancid Polecat]

I wondered the same, although I would think that if they offered a long slide as an add-on it would seem they would offer the complete vise in a longer version anyway. Maybe available special order from the factory, or more likely they offered it at some point, sold very few, and dropped it. This thing is way heavier than it looks, even by antique vise standards, and I imagine it would be kind of awkward on the bench of a 1920's buggy shop.

 

[thehorse13]

It's funny you mention the weight. This was the primary reason why I left behind the only other one that I saw at a Pennsylvania swap meet. I'm still kicking myself in the pants for being unwilling to lug it back to my car when I had the chance but who knows if tripping over it would have caused me to cut it loose later.

I have several theories about the vise ever since I spotted the first one. They are:
1) Catalog parts add-on offered for a short period of time.
2) Special order for large commercial buggy works.
3) Short production run at the very end of the buggy era, read automobiles took over. It's easy to date this vise based on the font and style of parts.

 

[Rancid Polecat]

I guess it was worth the $80.00 then. I'll put it to use, probably not carriage-building though.

 

[Beerhippie]

Put it on a receiver hitch mount and you have a full rear bumper!

 

[Rancid Polecat]

I think a rear shock upgrade would be in order.