Rigid 5000r vise, help with restoration.

[Lolaralph]

Hello all, brand new member here. I recently was given a Rigid 5000r by an older friend, he rescued it from his place of employment in the 80’s before it was thrown out and had it in his garage until I mentioned I was looking for a vintage USA made vise. It was missing one jaw, had two broken jaw screws and two bent handles. It definitely seemed worth fixing so I had a friend make me a set of jaws, I drilled and tapped new holes for the replacement jaws and made two new handles. It is sandblasted and primed currently.
The lead screw was missing the retaining clip, I have an e clip there currently. My big question is whether or not this particular vise has a spring on the lead screw. Mine does not but I am wondering if it did originally. I can’t find an original parts diagram and am hoping someone with some experience with these vises will chime in. Any other advice is also appreciated.
thanks in advance.

 

[Shiftless]

I don’t have one of those in my collection, but I’ll put up an educated guess.
No spring.

 

[Lolaralph]

I don’t have one of those in my collection, but I’ll put up an educated guess.
No spring.

That is what I am leaning towards as well, thanks for the input

 

[Lolaralph]

Got the vise pretty well sorted out, it is primed and ready for paint. Does anyone know what is the correct color for this vise ?

 

[Fierljeppen]

Could you post some photos of your vise? Ridgid made the model no. 5000R vise for many years in several flavors and I need to see if my vise information is for the same vise as yours.



I don't know what the actual original color of your vise was, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't blue.

 

[1982fxr]

So it's a Columbian?

 

[Lolaralph]

 

[Lolaralph]

Sorry for the cell phone pics but I'm at work. As you can see, it was red when I started but it appears to have already been painted at that point. I have seen that most Rigid were red but it thought I'd check with people who are obviously way more knowledgeable on the subject.

 

[holie gardner]

Welcome to the forum buddy

 

[Lolaralph]

Welcome to the forum buddy

thanks, a lot of interesting and valuable information here

 

[Lolaralph]

So it's a Columbian?

From what little i've read, i guess that is a possibility. They definitely have a lot of similarities

 

[exmaxima1]

So it's a Columbian?

Yes, pretty much the same as the Craftsman vises from the 80's/90's

 

[Fierljeppen]

Utility vises are very practical and your Ridgid 5000R vise is no exception.



Good news! I found a parts diagram for your specific model. It's from a 1980 Ridgid parts catalog.



The restoration looks like it's going well. Post some more photos after you figure out the color and paint it.

 

[Fierljeppen]

So it's a Columbian?

Good eye! Ridgid changed their vise lineup from the Simplex line to Columbian in 1980 and that lasted until 1998, a little after Wilton bought out the Columbian Vise Co.



Columbian vises are so underrated in my opinion. My outside vise, pedestal mounted no. 506 gets used all the time and I have absolutely no motivation for upgrading it.

 

[Lolaralph]

Utility vises are very practical and your Ridgid 5000R vise is no exception.



Good news! I found a parts diagram for your specific model. It's from a 1980 Ridgid parts catalog.



The restoration looks like it's going well. Post some more photos after you figure out the color and paint it.

Thank you for posting that, now I know a bit more about my vise.

 

[Lolaralph]

Good eye! Ridgid changed their vise lineup from the Simplex line to Columbian in 1980 and that lasted until 1998, a little after Wilton bought out the Columbian Vise Co.



Columbian vises are so underrated in my opinion. My outside vise, pedestal mounted no. 506 gets used all the time and I have absolutely no motivation for upgrading it.

So was my Rigid made by Columbian or were the Columbians rebranded Rigids ?

 

[Fierljeppen]

Your 5000R utility vise was a Ridge Tool Co. Ridgid vise, made by the Columbian Vise Co. (1980-1997), who also made vises for Craftsman as well as their own line and possibly others. Ridgid acquired the Simplex vises in 1964 and had several variants of that line until they switched to the Columbian vises in 1980. The only vises that they made previous to the Simplex vises, were their pipe vises, which I believe they still make currently.

The following scans are from an original 1980 Ridgid Catalog showing your model 5000R vise.

 

[Lolaralph]

Your 5000R utility vise was a Ridge Tool Co. Ridgid vise, made by the Columbian Vise Co. (1980-1997), who also made vises for Craftsman as well as their own line and possibly others. Ridgid acquired the Simplex vises in 1964 and had several variants of that line until they switched to the Columbian vises in 1980. The only vises that they made previous to the Simplex vises, were their pipe vises, which I believe they still make currently.

The following scans are from an original 1980 Ridgid Catalog showing your model 5000R vise.

Again, thank you very much for your time in posting this information. It is appreciated

 

[Lolaralph]

Well it is done. I wanted to thank everyone for their help and comments. I had jaws made and drilled new holes as the old ones were occupied by the original broken screws and 2 ez outs. I ended up milling the anvil to revive that area and making handles from cold rolled steel and threading the ends for nuts which were turned down on a lathe. I had to shim the slide inside the body due to how badly it had been twisted. I used 2 .035 shims, one on the bottom and one on the left side to bring it back into alignment when closed. This poor thing did not have an easy life previously.
All in all I'm pretty happy with the results. Oh, I ended up with using regal red rustoleum for paint. It at least reminds me of a Rigid color
even if it's not perfect.

 

[fromthebasement]

That looks really, really nice! Good job with the paint!

 

[Lolaralph]

That looks really, really nice! Good job with the paint!

Thanks, it was a fun project. I enjoyed it enough that I am currently looking for a 3 1/2" vise to restore

 

[Sport trucks]

Help newbee here but want to fix my vice Can any one tell me where to buy the screw rod for a ridged 5000r and how do i tell how wide it opens don't know the accual name but its the main rod that makes it open and close the jaws.

 

[Lolaralph]

Unfortunately I don't believe parts are available any longer. At least i was unable to find any in my searching. Maybe Ebay ?

 

[RTM]

Help newbee here but want to fix my vice Can any one tell me where to buy the screw rod for a ridged 5000r and how do i tell how wide it opens don't know the accual name but its the main rod that makes it open and close the jaws.

The names are linked below, but I agree with Lola that you won't find parts outside of eBay, or other second hand sites.

The vise spreadsheet says it opens to 6", which is measured with the screw fully engaged in the nut.

Rigid 5000r vise, help with restoration.

Hello all, brand new member here. I recently was given a Rigid 5000r by an older friend, he rescued it from his place of employment in the 80’s before it was thrown out and had it in his garage until I mentioned I was looking for a vintage USA made vise. It was missing one jaw, had two broken...

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