Restoring a Rock Island Vise

[Adam McLaughlin]

Hey Guys,

I thought that I would like to share my mini restoration of an old American made vise with you guys.

An old eighty year old friend of mine who got his knees replaced gave it to me, said that after his surgery he wasn't going to be working with this kind of thing much any more.

I started out by hot tanking it, and the painting it, followed by building a vise base and bolting it together. The vise is a Rock Island 594. I am not sure when it was made, the inspection plate is gone. The only identifiable marks are the stamp of "N 13" on the bottom of the slider. Does anyone know if that means November of 1913 perhaps?

Anyway, here are some snapshots.

Adam

Cleaned and painted

Vise base in construction

Vise base finished

Finished Vise Assembly

 

[v8garage]

Nice job!

 

[evintho]

Very, very nice! Excellent job!

 

[krusty the clown]

probably overkill for a guy who like's tiny precision tools though

 

[Uncle Buck]

Great, I will take it, so the price plus shipping to my zip 66604 will be?............

 

[64merc]

Very nicely done!!

 

[Joe B.]

I love old vises. I just found an old Athol vise that I need to post some pictures of.

Where did you hot tanks it? Do you need to take it to a radiator shop for that? I have a a couple of old vises I need to cleanup myself.

What paint did you use? The vises I have don't look like they were painted on the jaws or the shaft, do you think it will hold up?

 

[Jay H 237]

The only Rock Island I know of is the defunct railroad, never heard of it as a tool brand.

 

[v8garage]

The only Rock Island I know of is the defunct railroad, never heard of it as a tool brand.

Then you must not have earned your "Tool Junkie Wings" yet!

P.S. You won't find them at Home Depot

 

[old salvage]

Looks like almost all the grip is still on the jaw faces.

 

[Uncle Buck]

I love old vises. I just found an old Athol vise that I need to post some pictures of.

Where did you hot tanks it? Do you need to take it to a radiator shop for that? I have a a couple of old vises I need to cleanup myself.

What paint did you use? The vises I have don't look like they were painted on the jaws or the shaft, do you think it will hold up?

No, of course it will not hold up, if it does he will not be using it, but rather displaying it! Another part of the vise that will get skinned up possibly even as he assembles it will be the square part of the moveable jaw, that slides through the fixed jaw as you use it.

That is just how it goes,

 

[GDA]

Excellent job!

Question for you - how heavy is the portion of the wheel base? It appears to be a half ring off a semi rig right?

 

[v8garage]

Excellent job!

Question for you - how heavy is the portion of the wheel base? It appears to be a half ring off a semi rig right?

Looks like a semi brake drum to me.

 

[krusty the clown]

Looks like a semi brake drum to me.

yup.......

 

[eschoendorff]

That is one of the nicer example of over-engineering that I have seen.


Nice welds, BTW....

 

[russlaferrera]

Great job. One question Where are the little rubber o rings on the handle. I know someone is going to bring it up.

Really, really, like your stand. So GJ looking.

 

[Adam McLaughlin]

Did Rock Island Vises come with the little rubber stoppers on the handle? What are those things for? I had figured that they were just noise dampeners.

Thanks for the comments guys. I thought that you all might appreciate this week's project. Like yourselves, I too appreciate antique tools. I also like to restore old stuff.

I had cleaned the actual vise with a Hot Tank at the machine shop. They did it for free because they thought that the project was awesome. I then painted the vise with Rustoleum Industrial Gray, and the base was shot with Rustoleum Hammer Finish in black. I do like to paint stuff, but on tools that get hit with a hammer and such I usually don't indulge in paint from the auto body paint shop.

Yes, that is a big rig brake drum. I wanted something HEAVY, yet still mobile.

What I would like to do now is to get another one for my bench. Maybe a matching unit? This vise is awesome for holding transmission shafts while working loose snap rings, pulling hubs, etc.

Large, antique vises are the best.

Adam

 

[Lookin4'67Galaxieconv]

Large, antique vises are the best.

Adam

Yes sir. Very nice job!

 

[captf71]

GREAT job on your vise! WOW ... what a stand. I just finished putting my RI 542-BX together today and thought I'd search the web to find the company. No luck there but I found your post. Mine has been severely abused but works smooth as glass. Weighs 84 lbs on bathroom scale. I was going to weld up a stand using a car tire rim but I may look for a brake drum to copy you although I could never come close to the perfection displayed by yours.

My favorite vise is about 3 times bigger but is currently buried under 2 ft of snow because it won't fit in the garage. The Mfg has been hammered so bad I don't know who made it but I can make out New York. I'll be refurbishing it this spring when I can get to it and it'll also be machinery gray.

 

[old salvage]

The Mfg has been hammered so bad I don't know who made it but I can make out New York. I'll be refurbishing it this spring when I can get to it and it'll also be machinery gray.

I believe the old girl was made by 'Prentiss'

 

[captf71]

Mr. "Old Salvage",

Thank you Sir! You're right on the money. I found several on the web just like it. Model #23, ironworkers vise and weighs 207 lbs. No wonder my knees hurt when I lifted it out of the truck!

Rog

 

[nordstar]

Adam, nice job on the restoration. Keep those old beauties running or at least display them with pride in the shop.

 

[jopickens]

Prentiss Bulldog Ol No. 58
Ok guys - first time poster here... Wanted to share w/you a vise that was given to me the other day. Would like help on determining the specs and possibly age 'range' of the vise etc. It came to my neighbor from a RxR shop 8yrs. ago. Unfortunately the only thing wrong w/it (they didn't know this at the time) was missing jaws, slightly bent handle, and a sheared off 'pin/stop' that kept the brass 'screw dog' in place as you reversed the vise. Therefore 8 years ago the paint was in nice shape and no rust whatsoever (as the story goes). Of course it's spent the last 8yrs in the mud under an enourmous pile of scrap/junk. We dug it out last Sunday afternoon. I quickly hot water pressure washed it to get it to this state... I should have placed a coffee cup on top of it to give an idea of the sheer size. I assume it's in the 250lb. weight range.

http://www.ezpickens.com/josh/prentissbulldogviseolno58/pbdno58_1_large.JPG

http://www.ezpickens.com/josh/prentissbulldogviseolno58/pbdno58_2_large.JPG


Thanks in advance - Josh

 

[jopickens]

Prentiss Bulldog Ol No. 58 - take 2
Well the saga continues... Finally got the vise apart. Lots of PB Blaster and elbow grease later - here she is. I think I'll have it 'hot tanked' to have it cleaned up minus the brass 'nut' (for lack of better words). Any recommendations on how best to repair the 'pin/bolt' that held the brass 'nut' from backing out of the vise when opening the jaws would be greatly appreciated. Also - any links to replacement jaw inserts - need to get the mouting/mating surfaces cleaned up as well etc.

http://www.ezpickens.com/josh/prentissbulldogviseolno58/pbdno58_3_large.JPG

http://www.ezpickens.com/josh/prentissbulldogviseolno58/pbdno58_4_large.JPG

http://www.ezpickens.com/josh/prentissbulldogviseolno58/pbdno58_5_large.JPG

http://www.ezpickens.com/josh/prentissbulldogviseolno58/pbdno58_6_large.JPG

Thanks again,
Josh

 

[fatfillup]

You are obviously one of those guys who thinks size matters

That thing is huge. I assume you are into watch and jewelry repair

Seriously, welcome to the board and what do you plan to use the vise for?

 

[Adam McLaughlin]

Hummm... I could do some nice work with that....

Congratulations on the score!

Adam

 

[jopickens]

Thank you
Thank you

I just measured it...
31" deep
13" wide
16" tall

Forgot my scale at work... should be much easier to weigh in two pieces.

Josh

 

[JohnAG]

I have a Rock Island 542-BX vise and found this forum via Google. I thought you guys may be interested to to know that mine has the original manufacturers plate attached which states: "manufactured by BIRTMAN ELECTRIC COMPANY, ROCK ISLAND DIVISION, ROCK ISLAND ILLINOIS, made in the United States of America".

 

[old salvage]

I have a Rock Island 542-BX vise and found this forum via Google. I thought you guys may be interested to to know that mine has the original manufacturers plate attached which states: "manufactured by BIRTMAN ELECTRIC COMPANY, ROCK ISLAND DIVISION, ROCK ISLAND ILLINOIS, made in the United States of America".

Yes we are interested !
Feel free to post pics too.

 

[cruiser808]

Prentiss Bulldog Ol No. 58
Ok guys - first time poster here... Wanted to share w/you a vise that was given to me the other day. Would like help on determining the specs and possibly age 'range' of the vise etc. It came to my neighbor from a RxR shop 8yrs. ago. Unfortunately the only thing wrong w/it (they didn't know this at the time) was missing jaws, slightly bent handle, and a sheared off 'pin/stop' that kept the brass 'screw dog' in place as you reversed the vise. Therefore 8 years ago the paint was in nice shape and no rust whatsoever (as the story goes). Of course it's spent the last 8yrs in the mud under an enourmous pile of scrap/junk. We dug it out last Sunday afternoon. I quickly hot water pressure washed it to get it to this state... I should have placed a coffee cup on top of it to give an idea of the sheer size. I assume it's in the 250lb. weight range.

http://www.ezpickens.com/josh/prentissbulldogviseolno58/pbdno58_1_large.JPG

http://www.ezpickens.com/josh/prentissbulldogviseolno58/pbdno58_2_large.JPG


Thanks in advance - Josh

jopickens - please don't leave us in suspense. How did the that awesome vise rebuild go? As Clint Eastwood's "good buddy" said in the opening part of Dirty Harry, "I gots to know."

 

[Fins/413]

That Bulldog is aptly named.
Great job on the Rock Island

 

[Hoot]

Prentiss Bulldog Ol No. 58 - take 2
Any recommendations on how best to repair the 'pin/bolt' that held the brass 'nut' from backing out of the vise when opening the jaws would be greatly appreciated. Also - any links to replacement jaw inserts - need to get the mouting/mating surfaces cleaned up as well etc.

I would guess that pin is a "press fit" type that fits into a hole in the base. I popped mine out on the Morgan with a punch and a few taps with a ball peen.

I don't know if this will help at all, but hopefully it will. I found this site when I was looking for a couple of parts for my Morgan.

http://www.milwtool.com/v_mach.htm

Granted, it's not the manufacturer for your vise. But perhaps the parts you need might be "standard" for several makes of vises????? Email a request for a parts breakdown for a Milwaukee vise that most closely resembles yours. I actually talked to a rep on the phone and he was pretty helpful. My Morgan has that pin that you're missing, and the parts breakdown I received via email had three different types of jaw inserts. If you take some measurements from yours, and then ask for specs from the rep on the Milwaukee site, maybe you can find something that works. It's a long shot for sure, but maybe worth looking into......

 

[jopickens]

Ok guys - sorry for the long 'outage' !
Much has been done... From electrolysis & painting to making new aluminum vise jaws... I built a vise stand out of 8" H beam and 1" plate - concreted it in the ground in front of my shop. I've got the sliding vise jaw left to clean up/paint/fabricate new handle... Have all the parts - just need more time. Here are a few shots from this aftenoon...

I finally got around to weighing the vise components individually on a digital bathroom scale...
The brass nut or 'dog' as I call it that the vise screw runs thru is right at 5 lbs.
The sliding portion of the vise is 145 lbs.
And for the stationary portion of the vise that I have painted... 153 lbs.
Jaws are ~1lb. a piece...

305 lbs. total weight!


Josh

 

[old salvage]

Lookin real good.
Cant wait to see it all done up.

 

[snapmom]

 

[jopickens]

Re: Prentiss Bulldog Ol. No. 58

Ok some movement on the vise restoration...

Decided to Herculine the top of the vise stand...

Sliding jaw is painted... assembly tomorrow!

New vise handle with spring detent for center hold position. Tapped the ends of the handle for 'ball' ends etc.

Josh

 

[jopickens]

Re: Prentiss Bulldog Ol. No. 58

Ok - she's all but done... Want to pop the jaws off and apply some anti-sneeze and level/shim it up front to back etc. Otherwise - works like a champ! I can't believe how 'tight' this vise is for being a 300+ pounder from the 1940's or 50's that lived is whole life in a rail road maintenance shop! (minus the half dozen + years in the mud before I rescued it!

(just now realized I picked up a different spray can when painting the sliding vise jaw

My two boys already claimed it as their new 'horsey'. Pa-paw standing by...

Josh

 

[Adam McLaughlin]

Yummm... Makes me want to find one for myself...

Adam

 

[old salvage]

What a great job.
I like the tan/black color combo.
How hard was it to make the jaws ?

 

[jopickens]

Thank you!
The whole project was a lot more work man-hour wise that I initially anticipated. Almost all of the uncalculated time was due to the sheer size/weight of the components and of course experimenting with electrolysis etc. The jaws were pretty simple actually. I happened to have a matching pair of aluminum bars lying around. I paid a machine shop $25 to cut the 7/8" wide by 1/4" deep grooves into the back of them. Then I ordered myself up a cheap x/y table for one of my drill presses to make the counter-sunk holes for the low profile cap screws. I also used the rigged up 'mill' to clean up the one end of each bar where I cut them to length with my port-a-band.

Josh