Reed 404R vise

[Hobb]

Hello all,

I'm new to the forum and stumbled upon it while researching information on the reed 404r vise.

I am a garage tinkerer getting into welding and general shenanigans. My wife says I have a hoarding issue with tools even tho me & my 3 toolboxes would disagree.

So I saved a reed 404r vise that was destined for the scrap bin. It seems to be in good working order. No obvious cracks or detrimental damage beyond normal wear and tear. The biggest thing is the screw holding the vise to the base is missing and was probably the reason it was being thrown out.

Would anyone of you intelligent beings out there have an idea of what the dimensions & thread pattern for the bolt may be? I may be able to have a new one machined if I am not able to buy one.

Im hoping to document the restoration of the vise and show you all my attempt to bring this beast back to life. I am excited to put it to use but need to fix this issue.

Thanks in advance for any help and I hope to get more involved with this community.

 

[Roberts210]

Does that Reed have a swivel jaw?

 

[Maui]

I have no idea why people remove these bolts from bench vises. I bought a Craftsman 5163 bench vise years ago that had the same problem. It was manufactured in the mid 1930s and for some unknown reason the bolt that attached the swivel base to the vise was missing. So I bought a standard 7/8-14 bolt and cut it to the required length with my dremel tool. It took several carbide disks to get through the bolt, but it worked. I also machined a brass sleeve on my lathe to go around part of the threaded section of the bolt to reduce the radial slop, since it is supposed to be a shoulder bolt that is used in this application. And it worked lke a charm. The vise is nice and tight, and moves freely with no radial slop when I want to engage the swivel.

 

[Hobb]

Robert's210 yes it does have a swivel jaw. Had no idea thats what that was when I got it. I was very curious why it didn't have an anvil behind the jaws instead.
Maui thanks for the idea. Ill probably haul the jaw base to my local store and test some bolts in it starting with your suggestion.

I'll post some updates as I get the ol girl cleaned off.

 

[fullthrottle24]

First off, glad it didn’t go to scrap yard. That is a pretty rare vise. Reed did not make the 404 during the war. After the war Reed began switching over to the R models. The 404 was phased out of swivel jaw line up, with only a handful of sizes offered until the 70’s. I have a 404 A, which is the predecessor to the R model. Yours still has the meatball spindle and not the flat nose of latter R models. It should have a date code on dynamic jaw. As for the screw, finding another Reed with a swivel base might be your best bet as size is fairly common to find. Also check out this link:
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=400156&highlight=Reed+model+date

 

[j.t.d.]

It looks like the bolt was broken off inside the base.

 

[Hobb]

Thanks for the link fullthrottle. I somehow missed that when searching. Jtd I don't think the bolt is broken off. I looked at it last night and it seems to be a smooth bottom at the end of the threaded hole. I tried a 7/8ths course thread bolt I had on hand and I'm in the right diameter just not the right thread pattern. So the adventure continues. I will post some teardown pictures later on.

 

[Hobb]

So as an update:

I stripped all the paint off with paint stripper trying to preserve the metal especially around where the year stamp is. I found what appears to be a stamp of 44 on the jaw. so maybe it was from that time? Found clear evidence of repair on the base where it was welded back together. For how good of condition the jaws are in i am kind of curious what caused the breakage.

After striping it I applied boiled linseed oil to prevent rust. Hectic work schedule so no time for paint in the near future and I kinda dig the raw steel look for now. I used some high temp silicone spray lubricant for now to oil the moving parts.
For the base bolt I tried 3 hardware stores before finding that it is a 7/8 fine thread bolt. I cut down a 2 inch bolt and fired up my forge and bent a piece of mild steel to act as a sleeve with a washer on top. So it seems to do the job.
Now I seem to the best of my determination have a fully functioning swivel jaw reed 404r vise now! Pretty excited just need to get some longer bolts to attach it to my bench top until my welding bench is built.
Thanks everyone for the help. Ill post an update if paint ever gets slapped on her.

 

[Butterman2473]

For the base bolt I tried 3 hardware stores before finding that it is a 7/8 fine thread bolt. I cut down a 2 inch bolt and fired up my forge and bent a piece of mild steel to act as a sleeve with a washer on top. So it seems to do the job.
Now I seem to the best of my determination have a fully functioning swivel jaw reed 404r vise now! Pretty excited just need to get some longer bolts to attach it to my bench top until my welding bench is built.
Thanks everyone for the help. Ill post an update if paint ever gets slapped on her.

Thank you for measuring the diameter of the top of the swivel base of your 404R. I genuinely appreciate it.

I had two options in regards to repairing the broken swivel base on my Athol 624 1/2.
One was buying a welder and some specialty cast iron electrodes called Muggyweld 77.
The other was to buy a oxy / acetylene torch setup and some brass brazing rods.

But after seeing that the Reed 404R appeared to have the same type of swivel base lock design and its base diameter also being 7". I decided to take a chance and I ordered a 404R swivel base that was on Ebay.

Lo and behold.....it worked out perfectly!
I had to.add a couple of washers and a 1" copper sleeve around the base bolt but my vise is now 100% fully functional.

To sum it up....with minor modification, the Reed 404R swivel base and the Athol 624 1/2 swivel base are interchangeable.