Rapid/Quick Adjust Vintage Vise

[Maui]

I recently bought a vintage bench vise, and I can’t figure who manufactured it. It has approximately 4” wide jaws, and is unusual because it is a rapid adjusting vise. You can pull on the dynamic jaw to open it up to any position you like with minimal effort (and you do not have to lift up the jaw to do this), place the object between the jaws, and tighten down just like a normal vise does. I tried doing this without placing anything between the jaws and you can get about 3 rotations of the handle in before it won’t rotate any more. There are no markings anywhere on it that I am able to find. Does anyone here recognize it? It reminds me of an Athol model 32, but I don’t believe that is what it is. I am scratching my head...

 

[Fierljeppen]

Hey Maui...Some more photos would certainly help, including the screw and retainer, rapid transit device, bottom, etc...

Very interesting vise!

 

[Maui]

Hi Fierljeppen, thanks for the reply. I agree it is an interesting vise! More detailed (and better) pictures could certainly help. I posted all the pics I’ve got of the vise at the moment but after I return home at the end of the week I should be able to provide some more detailed pics. It does look like it is an Athol vise to me. Do you agree, or do you think a different manufacturer produced it?

Maui

 

[Fierljeppen]

I definitely do not think it's an Athol "Simpson" vise. The only part of the vise that looks like an Athol to me is the dynamic jaw slide shelf, otherwise it looks very different to me. Here's a link to an Athol "Simpson" no.30 from the vise spreadsheet for comparison.

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/vise-info-thread.355753/page-11#post-7182828

You've peaked my interest in this vise, I'll be waiting for more detailed photos with "bated breath".

 

[Fierljeppen]

Wow!!! Maui, you've managed to find an ultra rare W. E. Snediker patent no. 686,484 XL Rapid vise. I believe it may be the first one show-cased on the internet. It was manufactured by about -3- different companies, with the last one being the G.M. Yost Mfg. CO. until around 1909.

You've got a model no. 50, as seen in the 1903 catalog scan below.



It has a very unique rapid transit device, described and illustrated in the magazine scans below.



GJ member Mark Stansbury already has some historical information about the inventor in the link below.
http://vintagemachinery.org/mfgindex/detail.aspx?id=11522

Here's the patent link.
https://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&idkey=NONE&SectionNum=3&HomeUrl=&docid=0686484

Please take some time and upload some detailed photos in good lighting so we can have some quality photo's for record. Also, please reach out to KMScott, so that he can add this information to the "Vise Spreadsheet".

I knew that was a really special vise! I could smell it all the way from Chicago.

Vise on!

 

[Maui]

Fierljeppen, you just made my day! Thank you for the wonderfully detailed research. I’ll be sure to provide some quality photos of this vise, and I’ll let Kevin know I have it. This is easily the rarest vise I have. Sweet!!!

Maui