Sears 51777 Vise???

[EngineerEli]

Hey all,

I have a lead on a Sears 51777, that I am trying to decide if I should act on. It appears to be a 4" machinist vise, it's made in the USA, and has a roughly 6.5" capacity. Also says "Malleable Unbreakable" on the other side. Looks pretty solid from the pics.

What can you tell me about this vise? Maybe made by someone else? Is it worth picking up?

Couple of pics (Including a schematic I found)....

 

[drivesitfar]

Eli: i've seen more than a few of those Columbian made SEARS craftsman vises on some very handy guy's benches. although not all that big they work great so if you can't find a bigger Reed or Rock Island or some other Pre WWII vise to buy for not much more i'd say it looks decent. price is your baby, but i have on a bit older i'm trying to sell for $80 and not a bite and we usually don't have many vises for sale in our area. i'm guessing yours is in the $50 or less range or do tell if you want to?

my guess is early 70's for date it was made, but might be 60's.

here's the picture of my Craftsman heritage 4 inch wide jaw vise i mentioned above just so you can compare and i probably should spiff it up, but i have a daughter's wedding on my plate at the moment.

 

[EngineerEli]

So, I've wondered how the one I am looking at would compare to one of the retro looking Craftsman vises that are out there, similar to yours, or is yours better than those?

The one thing I notice that stands out to me is the shaft on the dynamic arm of the one I am looking at has machined sides compared to the raw sides found on most other craftsman / sears vises I've seen in the past. Does this make a difference or mean anything? Almost looks similar to my old 4" Yost.

I'm not looking for a huge vise, I have a pretty beefy 4" machinist Yost in my garage, as I mentioned, that I'm pretty happy with, but I want to replace the Chinese made ACE vise with exposed screw I have in my basement shop. I usually just use for gunsmithing and other small stuff. I'm having trouble even gauging how large this vise is...

 

[kwoswalt99]

I'm having trouble even gauging how large this vise is...

What? There's a tape measure in the picture.

 

[thehorse13]

If I needed a light duty vise that I had no plans to restore, the one you have posted would be a good choice because it was built by Columbian for Sears. This is why the quality is better than the other ones that you come across.

If that vise was for sale here in my area, $30 would likely be the starting price. How close you would end up paying would largely be based on how long the vise was posted for sale.

 

[EngineerEli]

Haha, yes true. I guess I could use that as a reference to figure out overall height, width, and length, but I am more so saying I'm not sure how well it will fit into the space I want to use it in, or if it will just feel too big.

 

[exmaxima1]

That looks like a really nice vise, and will clean up like new. I'd think it would be a great deal at $50 (or less). How much was the seller asking for it?

 

[EngineerEli]

It's really strange how little you can find on these particular vises. They must not have been made in very large quantities... Is it safe to say that if these were made in America by Colombia for Sears regardless of what year that they are high quality, or like some of the more recent craftsman vises even when made in USA, they were still not so great???

I also wonder why it was marked and marketed at a sears vise only and not a craftsman, does this indicate anything more about quality?

The one I am considering is less than $50...

 

[EngineerEli]

After some more searching and reading, I actually found some good info on this vise!!! I'd say they take some artistic liberties with their catalogue images but the numbers match! Also, that weird groove in the swivel lock down matches...

 

[notlob]

I assume that ad is from a sears catalog? What year?
While not as heavy duty as some, if you need a vise that size, it's probably worth picking up.

 

[EngineerEli]

Outlawmws posted it in the thread below. He said the add was from 1968.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=2308600&postcount=7

 

[G-ManBart]

Those are decent user vises, but not particularly strong, or valuable. I'd expect to pay $50 or so, but not much more. For around $100 I've been able to find much higher quality machinist vises that size. Usually they need to be cleaned up at that price, but are still useable as is.

 

[EngineerEli]

Eli: i've seen more than a few of those Columbian made SEARS craftsman vises on some very handy guy's benches.

Not intending for it to be a jab, but are you pretty confident that these are actually Colombian manufactured vises? The guy in the other thread I referenced, where I found the old add for the vise, mentioned he though the more expensive model from that year was a Colombian, but did not say anything about this one being from them as well...

Other post I was referring to:
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=2308600&postcount=7

 

[Bcom]

I bought an NOS version of this vise for $40. I flipped it 3 weeks later for $85. Not a particularly high end vise but an ok garage vise. Theze vises were typically made by Columbian but that rear Anvil area has me scratching my head. Not exactly what im used to seeing around the anvil area.

 

[EngineerEli]

Theze vises were typically made by Columbian but that rear Anvil area has me scratching my head. Not exactly what im used to seeing around the anvil area.

What do you mean?

 

[Bcom]

What do you mean?

The anvil area sticks out farther than the vise is wide. Usually when you see this,it shows the vise is a Chinese pos but the sears obviously says USA on it so thats why im scratching my head.

 

[EngineerEli]

OK, I see what you're saying....

I feel like it may have more to do with the duty level of the vise. This does seem to be a lighter duty vise that most of the bigger beefier ones, and now all the vises of this duty level and lower are made over seas. Hopefully this one being how old it is, even if it is slightly lighter duty, will still serve me well for the light duty work I plan to use it for. I'm really hoping the casting, machining, finishing, and tolerances are better on this than a similarly priced current imported offering.

 

[bluebolt]

That's an interesting vise, it is not Craftsman, just Sears. It has a machined slide. It is likely a Columbian since Malleable Unbreakable was something they used in their advertisements. I think it would be heavier duty than the Craftsman utility vise of the era. I would buy it if it was under $100

 

[drivesitfar]

Eli: it surely is ok to question me or any of us about vise makers when we are talking 1970's and older vises. for one there isn't really good records on a lot of it. I've actually finally started a thread to see if we can find out who made the 519x's for Sears (Craftsman) which is a vise I HIGHLY RECOMMEND you buy if you see or find one for sale.

as far as i know Columbian was the only maker of this generation of vises that Sears sold with their name on it or Craftsman.

since Craftsman vise made by Columbian were made in Japan at a certain point maybe Columbian still had a US factory making SEARS cast ones.

i'm about 100% that vise was made by Columbian, but maybe you'll find facts or somebody will to prove me wrong and tell us a new story.

did you buy it yet or still waiting for the seller to respond?

 

[EngineerEli]

I'm going to pick it up tomorrow after work! It is definitely kind of different. Seems to fall somewhere between the true heavy duty machinist vises most of us envision, but still seems to be heavier duty than the regular home shop grade ones that are most common.

 

[1982fxr]

First time I've ever seen that exact model.

 

[EngineerEli]

So I had some extra time last night and wend to pick it up!

Out of the trunk it had some surface rust. (see pics) I tore the whole thing down and hit all the bare metal surfaces with WD-40 and a wire brush. Most all of the surface rust came right off (I'll post next)

It truly is an interesting vise. It literally seems to be a mini machinist vise. You can see it side by side with my 4" Yost that is actually old school heavy duty. That said, this Sears vise seems to be quite well made, with decent machining, and pretty beefy for its size. It has a brass washer between the main screw and the dynamic jaw for smooth action, and it has teeth on the base and swivel lock which is generally a feature of higher end vises as I understand it. I'll give it some more love over the next few days, but honestly it feels and functions pretty d@mn well. I think it will be perfect for my application because it is for a relatively small basement work bench, and this vise has the 4" capacity, decent build, but still relatively small foot print. Got it for $30, and I'm a happy camper!

 

[EngineerEli]

I tore the whole thing down and hit all the bare metal surfaces with WD-40 and a wire brush. Most all of the surface rust came right off (I'll post next)

Sorry, the lighting is kind of terrible...

 

[thehorse13]

Nice grab. I would have bought it for 30 bucks too.

 

[drivesitfar]

ELI: happy to hear you picked it up and that you like it too. looks like a decent vise and it's got a good home now for the next 50 years or so.

it almost looks nicer than a Columbian casting so i'm still thinking Columbian, but would love to hear if it wasn't.

 

[EngineerEli]

There actually were some identification marks and numbers on the inside of the main jaw and dynamic jaw. My phone was dead at that point and I didn't note any of them. If it would give us a clue, I'll take a picture next time I have everything apart. I feel like the color might have to change this spring, that grey is just a bit boring to me...

 

[Bcom]

There actually were some identification marks and numbers on the inside of the main jaw and dynamic jaw. My phone was dead at that point and I didn't note any of them. If it would give us a clue, I'll take a picture next time I have everything apart. I feel like the color might have to change this spring, that grey is just a bit boring to me...

No doubt. Hot pink or light purple would look great:supergay:

 

[bluebolt]

There actually were some identification marks and numbers on the inside of the main jaw and dynamic jaw. My phone was dead at that point and I didn't note any of them. If it would give us a clue, I'll take a picture next time I have everything apart. I feel like the color might have to change this spring, that grey is just a bit boring to me...

Turn it over and look for numbers in the bottom of the swivel base.

And great score at $30!

 

[Bcom]

After getting some better visuals of the vise,it looks well made and stout. It doesnt even have the built in pipe jaws youd typically find on Columbian made mid range vises. Fat anvil area too. Very different vise. Good job

 

[kwoswalt99]

No doubt. Hot pink or light purple would look great:supergay:

Just so long as it matches the drapes.

 

[G-ManBart]

Definitely a good buy at $30 regardless of who made it.

 

[EngineerEli]

You guys are funny

Forgot to mention it also has 360 deg swivel, which I think is a pretty premium feature.

Also, I found this inflation calculator and while I'm not sure how accurate it is, in today's dollars this vise would retail new for $186, I'm pretty happy with $30.

http://www.usinflationcalculator.com/

 

[Bcom]

You guys are funny

Forgot to mention it also has 360 deg swivel, which I think is a pretty premium feature.

Also, I found this inflation calculator and while I'm not sure how accurate it is, in today's dollars this vise would retail new for $186, I'm pretty happy with $30.

http://www.usinflationcalculator.com/

The real good ones swivel 720 deg but those are hard to find

 

[EngineerEli]

Do you guys thing the main screw head, handle, and swivel lock are chromed, or bare steel. Just trying to figure out how to clean them up without damaging a finish that may remain.

 

[Bcom]

Try buffing out a small spot with some green polishing compound or whatever you got

 

[bagged89s10]

That vise is in excellent shape. I finally found pictures of mine before I sold it and mine was beat compared to yours.

 

[bagged89s10]

Do you guys thing the main screw head, handle, and swivel lock are chromed, or bare steel. Just trying to figure out how to clean them up without damaging a finish that may remain.

All just steel.

 

[Cope]

Do you guys thing the main screw head, handle, and swivel lock are chromed, or bare steel. Just trying to figure out how to clean them up without damaging a finish that may remain.

If that was my vise, I'd clean and oil it and use it as is. It's really clean.

 

[EngineerEli]

If that was my vise, I'd clean and oil it and use it as is. It's really clean.

I think I am leaning towards just that. I would like to get a few more of the rust spots cleaned up though. I went over the whole thing last night again with WD-40 and '0' grade steel wool. I dont think it made any difference... Took some more pics though!!! Too many....

 

[EngineerEli]

Before I put it back together...