va.grouseman
Well-known member
Now that's the HOLY GRAIL KM.
Vise Info Thread
- Thread starter FMC1959
- Start date
KMScott
Well-known member
I agree VA.
Alexvito163
Member
I’m going to enjoy it.KMScott
Well-known member
Thanks Alex for the pic:s and spec;s. you have a keeper there on that Aluminum Parker.
trijeff
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Yeah wow! I wonder if that is a patent sample? No matter what that is too cool
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KMScott
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KMScott
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wrenchguy
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nice, real nice!
KMScott
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Reed 108. Stationary 8" jaws, owner says it weights over 300lbs but it is not confirmed. I worked on a Reed 109 and it was under 300lbs. The jaw geometry is what fascinates me.
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KMScott
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wrenchguy
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modified in past life? towers been cut down any?
KMScott
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Would like to see another 108 to compare, if these are reworked then they was done by a good Toolmaker. Pic;s does not show the serrations very clearly if any at all.
KMScott
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trijeff
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Yeah crazy jaws on that 108, they almost go all the way to the slide
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PghJKB
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The towers were milled down and new upside down "L" shaped jaws were added.
JKB
454ragtop
Well-known member
Some pics of an American Scale 214A 3-1/2" vise, opens to 5+". Cracks me up how big the swivel base and "meatball" on the screw are on these vises.
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KMScott
Well-known member
Yes 454 the handle supports are large on American Scales. They are one of the few vise builders that did not friction weld the spindle they bore a hole and then pins the meatball end in place. Thanks for the pic's 454.
trijeff
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454, let's see that Craftsman 519X behind the American Scale
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KMScott
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lafester
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Last edited:
sandmann
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Hey Guys, This is a template of the base of my new-to-me Wilton C3. I am making a stand and am trying to figure out if there is a "back" or "front" to the base.
You will notice in the picture the distance between the two feet are different. I can justify either side being the front or back, and not really sure if it will make any difference. And yes I realize the vice can turn 360 degrees. Just wondering what the factory thought was the "Front."
The line in the middle is the longitudinal axis. The top feet are closer together than the bottom feet. I just realized the picture doesn't show this very well. Top holes are 7-1/4" apart and bottom holes are 9" apart.
This base will be plasma cut from 9/16" plate steel and I will be adding a flat extension to the back to lay hammers, bolts etc. Other suggestions welcome.
[/IMG]
You will notice in the picture the distance between the two feet are different. I can justify either side being the front or back, and not really sure if it will make any difference. And yes I realize the vice can turn 360 degrees. Just wondering what the factory thought was the "Front."
The line in the middle is the longitudinal axis. The top feet are closer together than the bottom feet. I just realized the picture doesn't show this very well. Top holes are 7-1/4" apart and bottom holes are 9" apart.
This base will be plasma cut from 9/16" plate steel and I will be adding a flat extension to the back to lay hammers, bolts etc. Other suggestions welcome.
Last edited:
trijeff
Well-known member
I've always gone with the wide spread at the front. Don't know if it's factory but never run into any issues. Like you though, definitely thought about it and could justify both ways. In the end I went wider front for two reasons. First, a little more clearance from the side of the jaws for things hanging to the side and down. Second, I reckon it provides a little more left to right support, when it is in the non-swiveled primary front position. But in the end, like you said, it swivels 360 so it really must be intended to be used in any position. That said, I think the C3 in particular has one of the slightest bases for a vise that size.
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KMScott
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chrisnazzy
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Whoa, I've never seen one like that before.
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KMScott
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KMScott
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Yes it is pretty unique. Owned by a GJ member. Check out the ACME vise. Pretty rare too.
va.grouseman
Well-known member
KM, first one of those I've ever seen.---Have seen Wilton ACMEs.---So far, that's a one-of-one.
KMScott
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va.grouseman
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Packard V8 has one of those KM, and I think Zoomie does too.
KMScott
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I think it is Zoomies. He did not mention if he owned it, a man of a few words.
KMScott
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KMScott
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Charles Parker 1073 1/2
Kevin, don't know if you saw this previously, I had posted this in the main vise thread back in 2014. But the link I had posted no longer has the vise or story behind it so I will post pictures plus the story the OP had on this vise.
This vise has some really cool mods and enhancements to it; definitely done by someone with maching skills.Whether you would like to add it to the spreadsheet, that is up to you but according to the author of the article, it was either Parker that modified it for the Marines or The USMC themselves modified it. I think that is where the author made a mistake, he forgot to mention that the mods could have been made by KMS also
Pics, full story + a link to the story.
With the 1073 1/2 Badge
http://kesterhouse.com/etct/shop.html
"The Chas. Parker Co. № 1073½ "Eclipse" Machinist's Vise
The first thing I found was this goofy looking vise with a long quick-release handle thing sticking off the front of it. I remember when I found this vise originally back in "the Shoe" and it was rusted to the point where nothing turned. Since I had the electrolytic rust removal tank up and running in the shed, I figured I'd toss this thing for a few days and see what came out. While it sat in the tank for a week, I started some tool research on the web to see what the story was with The Chas. Parker Co. cast in the side of the vise. I was familiar with Wilton (there's a 4 or 5 inch "bullet" machinist's vise somewhere in that storage unit too) and of course the Emmert patternmaker's vise that I'd love to get my hands on some day. I'd never heard of Parker though.
It didn't take long to find The Garage Journal with a very active section on tools new and old, as well as a huge thread in the discussion forum specifically about vises . It became very clear, very quickly, that I had stumbled onto something quite unique...
While I've spent a good deal of time learning about and collecting old Stanley tools, reading The Garage Journal has opened up a whole new subject of old tool stuff I can now obsess about, starting with the seemingly simple bench vise. I might be new to the field, but it seems clear to me that The Chas. Parker Co. made the best vises on the planet from the late 1800s until 1957, when the Union Mfg. Co. bought out the company. They offered a huge selection of vises with everything from incredibly heavy, non-swivel "Superior" Machinist's vises to what I consider a more "normal" bench vise with a swivel base and anvil back that they referred to as the "Service Station and Garage" vise. After looking over every old Parker vise ad and catalog I could get a glimpse at, no where could I find a reference to the 1073½, or anything that even remotely resembled the quick release thing I had sitting out in the rust removal tank. I was able to determine that this vise, like all Parker 97x series vises, was made sometime between 1930 based on the patent date on the casting (which refers to the "Clamping Element for Vises" US patent #1778576 for the swivel base clamp bolt), and 1957, when Union Mfg. took over production and changed the logo design on the side (although they kept the Parker name in the new logo).
After seeing how gorgeous some of these old vises looked while perusing the vises at The Garage Journal , I knew I was going to have to do a full blown restoration on this thing, and not just slather a little grey paint on it and call it good. The vise came out of the tank and everything was moving freely, so I set about dis-assembly and paint prep. I found the swivel base section had the number 973½ cast into it, and there was also evidence of that model number having been originally cast into the side of the static jaw unit before it had been ground off and replaced with a brass tag with the number 1073½ stamped on it. Evidently this thing began life as a Parker 973½ "Eclipse" Machinist's vise, with 3½ wide jaws and a weight of just over 47 lbs. (a little heavier than a 973½ due to the quick-release handle stuff). It was then either modified by Parker and sold to USM Co. as the 1073½, or modified by the folks at USM Co. (they had their own foundry and the place was a huge machine shop, after all) for their specific in-house needs and then re-tagged with the 1073½ model number for their own records.
How it came to be may forever remain a mystery, but it appears to be either unique or extremely rare. It really doesn't matter - I needed to get a working vise back on the bench and this was going to be the one. I hit all the big pieces with a wire brush in the 4-inch angle grinder, and the smaller stuff was cleaned up with the wire wheel in the bench grinder. I then masked off some bits and painted the jaws and base with two coats of Rust-oleum® #7250 Black Night Metallic enamel, and used their #7770 Gloss Black enamel on the handle, handle retainer, handle stop, and swivel wrench. After everything dried over night, I grabbed a little brush and did all the lettering on the sides with a few coats of White enamel, then gave it all two coats of #7701 Crystal Clear enamel as the final finish. The next day I removed all the tape and polished the bare metal parts to a nice lustre, then gave all the bare metal parts, including the parts inside the swivel base, a few coats of Renaissance Wax to prevent corrosion. The main screw and dynamic jaw slides received a liberal coat of Permatex® anti-seize lube, while the working parts of the quick-release cam and handle got a dab of Valvoline® Multi-Purpose grease.
One thing I'd noticed while looking at information for other Parkers is that the swivel bolt wrench was missing when I brought the vise home. After seeing what it was supposed to look like, it seemed awfully familiar to me... while waiting for paint to dry I took another trip to the storage locker and after digging through a couple boxes, there it was. The Parker No. 2 wrench, along with an unused set of 3½ inch replacement jaws. There was even a pair of bronze jaw protectors with USMC stamped on them in the same box! All that's left to do now is bolt this beauty to the bench."
Kevin, don't know if you saw this previously, I had posted this in the main vise thread back in 2014. But the link I had posted no longer has the vise or story behind it so I will post pictures plus the story the OP had on this vise.
This vise has some really cool mods and enhancements to it; definitely done by someone with maching skills.Whether you would like to add it to the spreadsheet, that is up to you but according to the author of the article, it was either Parker that modified it for the Marines or The USMC themselves modified it. I think that is where the author made a mistake, he forgot to mention that the mods could have been made by KMS also
Pics, full story + a link to the story.
With the 1073 1/2 Badge
http://kesterhouse.com/etct/shop.html
"The Chas. Parker Co. № 1073½ "Eclipse" Machinist's Vise
The first thing I found was this goofy looking vise with a long quick-release handle thing sticking off the front of it. I remember when I found this vise originally back in "the Shoe" and it was rusted to the point where nothing turned. Since I had the electrolytic rust removal tank up and running in the shed, I figured I'd toss this thing for a few days and see what came out. While it sat in the tank for a week, I started some tool research on the web to see what the story was with The Chas. Parker Co. cast in the side of the vise. I was familiar with Wilton (there's a 4 or 5 inch "bullet" machinist's vise somewhere in that storage unit too) and of course the Emmert patternmaker's vise that I'd love to get my hands on some day. I'd never heard of Parker though.
It didn't take long to find The Garage Journal with a very active section on tools new and old, as well as a huge thread in the discussion forum specifically about vises . It became very clear, very quickly, that I had stumbled onto something quite unique...
While I've spent a good deal of time learning about and collecting old Stanley tools, reading The Garage Journal has opened up a whole new subject of old tool stuff I can now obsess about, starting with the seemingly simple bench vise. I might be new to the field, but it seems clear to me that The Chas. Parker Co. made the best vises on the planet from the late 1800s until 1957, when the Union Mfg. Co. bought out the company. They offered a huge selection of vises with everything from incredibly heavy, non-swivel "Superior" Machinist's vises to what I consider a more "normal" bench vise with a swivel base and anvil back that they referred to as the "Service Station and Garage" vise. After looking over every old Parker vise ad and catalog I could get a glimpse at, no where could I find a reference to the 1073½, or anything that even remotely resembled the quick release thing I had sitting out in the rust removal tank. I was able to determine that this vise, like all Parker 97x series vises, was made sometime between 1930 based on the patent date on the casting (which refers to the "Clamping Element for Vises" US patent #1778576 for the swivel base clamp bolt), and 1957, when Union Mfg. took over production and changed the logo design on the side (although they kept the Parker name in the new logo).
After seeing how gorgeous some of these old vises looked while perusing the vises at The Garage Journal , I knew I was going to have to do a full blown restoration on this thing, and not just slather a little grey paint on it and call it good. The vise came out of the tank and everything was moving freely, so I set about dis-assembly and paint prep. I found the swivel base section had the number 973½ cast into it, and there was also evidence of that model number having been originally cast into the side of the static jaw unit before it had been ground off and replaced with a brass tag with the number 1073½ stamped on it. Evidently this thing began life as a Parker 973½ "Eclipse" Machinist's vise, with 3½ wide jaws and a weight of just over 47 lbs. (a little heavier than a 973½ due to the quick-release handle stuff). It was then either modified by Parker and sold to USM Co. as the 1073½, or modified by the folks at USM Co. (they had their own foundry and the place was a huge machine shop, after all) for their specific in-house needs and then re-tagged with the 1073½ model number for their own records.
How it came to be may forever remain a mystery, but it appears to be either unique or extremely rare. It really doesn't matter - I needed to get a working vise back on the bench and this was going to be the one. I hit all the big pieces with a wire brush in the 4-inch angle grinder, and the smaller stuff was cleaned up with the wire wheel in the bench grinder. I then masked off some bits and painted the jaws and base with two coats of Rust-oleum® #7250 Black Night Metallic enamel, and used their #7770 Gloss Black enamel on the handle, handle retainer, handle stop, and swivel wrench. After everything dried over night, I grabbed a little brush and did all the lettering on the sides with a few coats of White enamel, then gave it all two coats of #7701 Crystal Clear enamel as the final finish. The next day I removed all the tape and polished the bare metal parts to a nice lustre, then gave all the bare metal parts, including the parts inside the swivel base, a few coats of Renaissance Wax to prevent corrosion. The main screw and dynamic jaw slides received a liberal coat of Permatex® anti-seize lube, while the working parts of the quick-release cam and handle got a dab of Valvoline® Multi-Purpose grease.
One thing I'd noticed while looking at information for other Parkers is that the swivel bolt wrench was missing when I brought the vise home. After seeing what it was supposed to look like, it seemed awfully familiar to me... while waiting for paint to dry I took another trip to the storage locker and after digging through a couple boxes, there it was. The Parker No. 2 wrench, along with an unused set of 3½ inch replacement jaws. There was even a pair of bronze jaw protectors with USMC stamped on them in the same box! All that's left to do now is bolt this beauty to the bench."
Last edited:
KMScott
Well-known member
Some pretty fancy modification's done on this 973-1/2. I would say it was done in the USMC machine shop.
KMScott
Well-known member
Saw this posted for sale, not much info other than it is an Armstrong, and according to the seller, it weighs close to 400 lbs! It is nice looking and seems in good condition but looking at the tape measure + that it is a combo vise, it looks like it may be 6" jaws.
The heaviest 6" vises are usually combo vises and the heaviest I have seen are around or just over 200 lbs. Pretty sure the seller is highly ambitious in his speculation of the weight or it is made of some special metal we don't normally find on earth.
I have an Armstrong pipe makers vise and have seen plenty of those, but this is the first bench vise. Looks a lot like a Columbian, like a 206, possibly Armstrong OEM'd it from Columbian.
Still nice looking vise.
The heaviest 6" vises are usually combo vises and the heaviest I have seen are around or just over 200 lbs. Pretty sure the seller is highly ambitious in his speculation of the weight or it is made of some special metal we don't normally find on earth.
I have an Armstrong pipe makers vise and have seen plenty of those, but this is the first bench vise. Looks a lot like a Columbian, like a 206, possibly Armstrong OEM'd it from Columbian.
Still nice looking vise.
KMScott
Well-known member
KMScott
Well-known member
chrisnazzy
Well-known member
The couple Hollands catalog pages I've got saved only show the swivel jaw and swivel base varieties. Model no. 45 1/2 is a 5 1/2" jaw @ 128lbs. Im guessing this 35 1/2 model is also 5 1/2" jaws and somewhere around 120lbs.
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