steel slide - vise

[LCconvert]

This may be a silly question but doing a quick search I could not find an answer. Why did Simplex emboss their vises with "steel slide"? Is it actually different from the other cast iron slides of other makes or just marketing? Is it better?

thanks!!

 

[ganymede]

Yes, the slide was made in 2 parts. The long rectangular part that moves in and out of the body is the part of a vise that was most prone to breakage. Simplex solved that problem by making that part of the slide out of steel. The rest is iron.
Most vises were and are still now made of iron.

 

[LCconvert]

Thanks for the reply. So with that...wouldn't these vises be a step above even Reed, Parker, etc. of the same size?

 

[ganymede]

Thanks for the reply. So with that...wouldn't these vises be a step above even Reed, Parker, etc. of the same size?

That's a good question.
Around here (garage journal ) I think Reed and Athol vises are consider tops for strength. And that's concerning vintage vises from a time when everything was over engineered .
Simplex vises, be it the originals from Woosocket or the later Desmond Stephen and Ridgid models are not as common as other makes from the same time period. I don't know if they didn't make as many or if they have a lower survival rate because they weren't as strong .
In all my years collecting Ive only seen 4 of the Woonsocket Simplexes including mine.
Hopefully I'll never find out how much it takes to break it .