Shiftless
Well-known member
For a long time I have noticed that Garage Journal folk seem to regard homeowner grade exposed screw vises as nearly worthless. Sure, everybody can drool over a Reed or Rock Island or Morgan or Prentiss (and others) with 6 inch or wider jaws and weighing so much that normal fellows can’t even lift them. But what about commoners?
The main vise thread on GJ is an amazing resource but it’s over 2000 pages and growing every day.
I‘m starting a specialized thread where we can all admire the ordinary grade vises that graced so many workbenches of the ordinary budget conscious men of the past.
I‘ll kick it off with a few of mine. I admire quirky names and shapes. I buy them at estate sales and garage sales and usually pay $10-20. Some I get free. I spend time spiffing them up so they can stand proud on a shelf in my basement. Once in a while I sell a vise. The rest of them are sitting around in a warm and dry room waiting to possibly be put back into service for somebody who doesn’t want or need a more serious machinist grade vise. In the meantime they are items of reference and interest to the few who visit my little “museum”.
So go ahead and post pics of yours if you have any. If you have rehabbed them and have pics from before and after, post those. It’s an inspiration to others.
For readers new to the game, one advantage of rehabbing this class of vise is that you’ll get experience using your tools and won’t risk ruining a vise that might otherwise be worth hundreds of dollars.
Not everybody admires repainted vises. I can respect that. My own guidelines are to preserve original paint where possible. Don’t work on an old vise with beautiful patina and then put a mirror shine on exposed steel.
The main vise thread on GJ is an amazing resource but it’s over 2000 pages and growing every day.
I‘m starting a specialized thread where we can all admire the ordinary grade vises that graced so many workbenches of the ordinary budget conscious men of the past.
I‘ll kick it off with a few of mine. I admire quirky names and shapes. I buy them at estate sales and garage sales and usually pay $10-20. Some I get free. I spend time spiffing them up so they can stand proud on a shelf in my basement. Once in a while I sell a vise. The rest of them are sitting around in a warm and dry room waiting to possibly be put back into service for somebody who doesn’t want or need a more serious machinist grade vise. In the meantime they are items of reference and interest to the few who visit my little “museum”.
So go ahead and post pics of yours if you have any. If you have rehabbed them and have pics from before and after, post those. It’s an inspiration to others.
For readers new to the game, one advantage of rehabbing this class of vise is that you’ll get experience using your tools and won’t risk ruining a vise that might otherwise be worth hundreds of dollars.
Not everybody admires repainted vises. I can respect that. My own guidelines are to preserve original paint where possible. Don’t work on an old vise with beautiful patina and then put a mirror shine on exposed steel.
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