Rock Island Vise No. 72

[Bass Man]

Hi everyone, ran across this sight researching some old tools. I didn't see a "New Member" area, so here's a little intro:

A little about me, I’m retired from the military in ’93 and from the IT field in ’12, served in the Air Force for 20+ years (served in Desert Shield/Storm in Bahrain), was a carpenter/mason worked my way up to Superintendent and became a 1st Sgt. Been married to my Bride for 30 yrs.

Haven't found anything on the 'net about the #72. This is a Garage Sale find, for $22.

A few questions:

- The is a "5" stamped on the left side jaw. Is that anything special?
- What year was this made?
- Anything you can tell me about it?

Thanks for all the info in advance.

 

[ZRX61]

Here ya go:

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1859310#post1859310

 

[notlob]

Welcome to the GJ from an Omaha native!

I think you will find that, although RI vises are considered to be of high quality, there is a not a lot of info available.

BTW, thank you for your service.

 

[G-ManBart]

Welcome!

That's a great buy at way more than $22! I've been looking for a nice RI for quite some time, but the few I've found have been too rough.

I also spent some time in Bahrain when I was in the USAF. I was at Shaikh Isa for about am month in 1997...it was a nice change from PSAB in Saudi!

 

[Bass Man]

Welcome!

That's a great buy at way more than $22! I've been looking for a nice RI for quite some time, but the few I've found have been too rough.

I also spent some time in Bahrain when I was in the USAF. I was at Shaikh Isa for about am month in 1997...it was a nice change from PSAB in Saudi!

G-Man, Shaikh Isa? That's where I was. We had a lot of aircraft there, and my squadron was the F4 Wild Weasles from George AFB. We built the revetments, tent city, etc. Small world.

ZRX, thanks for the article, ran across that yesterday and http://scuttle.dayid.org/wiki/index.php/Rock_Island_Vise

notlob, really like GJ, ton of information, and thank you for you support for all the vets/first responders.

 

[drivesitfar]

Bass Man (BM for my future posts if ok): i post a little different than most of the membership because i post multiple posts in one to try and make some of the threads easier to read for one. anyway there is a new member area that not many of the members visit or even know about and here's the link.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=27 you can start a little intro thread there or just start posting questions or sharing your wisdom or start a few threads since you already know how.

welcome to the group

I LOVE ROCK ISLAND VISES, but sadly i've yet to figure out their numbering system. there are a few short threads about them that you might find and if you find the BIG VISE THREAD there is a lot of ROCK ISLAND vises listed there. i really like their big 100+ vises because they work like a little one with very little effort.

your vise is probably 1920's (just a guess) and the #5 is more than likely a part # so the casting guys could clean up the vise parts throw them in a bin or basket the workers putting them together could figure out which parts were for which vise. can you measure the width of your jaws and the weight so we might have an idea how big it is. also pretty positive you didn't pay too much for it.

cheers and again welcome

 

[rusty65]

nice rock island from my catalogue page it should have 3 1/2in jaws 5in opening and weigh 38 pounds.

 

[Packard V8]

Of all the old USA vises I've used over the years, including Athol, Wilton, Columbian, Morgan, Parker, my Rock Island has the best fit between the fixed jaw and the slide. Most manufacturers leave a lot of slop in there to reduce any hand fitting. At least this one RI is snug and smooth. Only the round-slide Wilton has a more precise slide.

jack vines

 

[Bass Man]

nice rock island from my catalogue page it should have 3 1/2in jaws 5in opening and weigh 38 pounds.

rusty, you are absolutely right on all the above. Just got done measuring/weighing before logging in.

It's in really good condition, so don't know if I want to media blast and repaint, or leave it as is.

Was the original paint black?

Thanks for all the input.

Here are some more pics.

 

[rusty65]

Yeah that's the original color it was originally jappaned black. Yours looks to be in very nice original finish personally I'd just wipe the main body down with wd40 and use some steel wool on the slide and handle. But if your looking to refinish it id also do that without a second thought just it's up to you what you want to do. Do you you want it perfect or do you like the patina look that's the question you want to ask.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

 

[CNGsaves]

Welcome to GJ . . . . That's a great first post BassMan . . . LOVE the Rock Island !!

I'd say spend the time for full restoration on that vise. White lettering on the name would make that pop . . . maybe red body and white letters ???

Finally, just $22 for that swivel vise . . . YOU **** !@!X!!#$@!!#!!

 

[Bass Man]

Thanks guys for the kind words. I'm thinking on the vise, that it will stay original.....for now. Rusty had a great idea, taking some steel wool to it. Personally, like the old patina. I have a Chinese SKS, that looks ugly, but it's a shooter. Know if the stock was cleaned up, it would look excellent, all that dirt and crud gives it it's own personality.

Will probably do a full restore sometime in the future. But just for now, will just enjoy it.

 

[jrobb316]

I have a Rock Island 94, which is the fixed base 4.5" jaw cousin of yours. I believe the models 9X (fixed) and 7X (swivel) were the first gen rock island vises with cast in jaws. Later they had different numbers like 57X (swivel) or 59X (fixed). Those are found with the Birtman Electric plate on them, so they're from the 30s on. The history of Rock Island is easily found on this forum if you care to read about it. Their numbering system went up .5" for every model. 93 =4" 94=4.5" 95=5" etc. That said rock island is probably my favorite, you got a great vise at a great price. I would say its from the 1910s-1920s.

 

[Bobioz1]

That Rock Island might have a date stamp on the top of the slide. Close the jaws and look hard at the top of the slide right where it exits the static jaw.

 

[drivesitfar]

Bob: i think the early Rock Island vises were not date stamped like the ones in the 40's that were stamped on top of the slides.

JRobb: is there one good thread for Rock Island history or is there several you need to pull up stuff from to get their history?

 

[Bobioz1]

Dam. Well they had to start sometime. Maybe it was on his?

 

[jrobb316]

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=124285

Everything you want to know about rock island vises can be found there.

 

[G-ManBart]

There's absolutely nothing wrong with just cleaning it up a bit, but it's in such nice condition that it's also a great candidate for a full restoration. That's actually a nice position to be in...either will be fine

 

[Bass Man]

Holy Rock Island vises Batman......Didn't know I lucked out. Just think, I left that garage sale the first time talking myself out of it, saying "have one already, don't need another one", then had to go back and get it. The wife hates when doing the garage sale gig.

Here's a couple of pics with my early '80's Craftsman vs. the RI. That dude is massive.

Again, thanks all for your input. Who knows, might just have to do a restore.