Vise repaint

[Lookin4'67Galaxieconv]

Decided to clean up my vises...not vices and give them a fresh coat of paint. The Sears vise is my dad's old one. I'm guessing it's early to mid 70s. I didn't download a pic of this, but on the bottom it's stamped TAIWAN
Other than that, it's a good vise!

The black one is one I did a quick respray on today. I sandblasted it ten years ago, and the paint job held up pretty well...just a few nicks here and there

The black one will go on a workbench I already have set up. The red one will be mounted on my "bowling alley" workbench top...after I build that workbench. Stay tuned

 

[chad s]

What brand is the black one? I have one just like it, marked Easton. Its very old, was made in PA, probably 100 years ago. Its a great vise.

 

[Adam McLaughlin]

Hey where do we get new replaceable jaw inserts for old Rock Islands, Columbians, etc?

Adam

 

[Lookin4'67Galaxieconv]

What brand is the black one? I have one just like it, marked Easton. Its very old, was made in PA, probably 100 years ago. Its a great vise.

It's a Yost, and on the side is printed "Yost Manufacturing Co. Meadville, PA"

I was visiting a friend who lives on a farm. It was sitting on the floor in his workshop and I just happened to notice it sitting there and mentioned it. He said a neighbor gave it to him but he didn't need it and I could have it if I wanted it. He also gave me a bunch of old Michigan license plates from the 1940s and '50s that are on the wall of my old garage.

Hey where do we get new replaceable jaw inserts for old Rock Islands, Columbians, etc?

Adam

I don't know...I would imagine there's got to be somebody that sells that stuff.

 

[Uncle Buck]

Hey where do we get new replaceable jaw inserts for old Rock Islands, Columbians, etc?

Adam

I can only speak to old Columbian vises. I have a fairly old Columbian. One earmark of older Columbian vises is the jaw inserts. Older models have inserts that when viewed from the **** end look like a capital T, the top leg of the T being the face of the insert with the serrated lines, and the down leg of the T shape fits into a groove in the body of the vise.

T type inserts have 2-3 holes in them that hold 2-3 pins. There are holes in the cast fixed, and moving jaw, of the vise that correspond to those located in the inserts, the pins are driven through the vise body and into the T inserts which firmly secures the T inserts to the castings of the vise. You have to look closely to locate the pins sometimes.

Now for the bad news. If your Columbian has T inserts such as those described, jaw inserts are no longer sold, or available from the manufacturer. I think I might have figured out a way to replace my T inserts with another type, but I have not tried it yet so I have no idea how well my idea is going to work.

I do not know anything about the other brands.

 

[Uncle Buck]

It's a Yost, and on the side is printed "Yost Manufacturing Co. Meadville, PA"

I don't know...I would imagine there's got to be somebody that sells that stuff.

I think you might have good luck with a Yost, Good luck.

 

[Adam McLaughlin]

I do have ONE Columbian Vise with "T" style Jaw Inserts, but those Jaw Inserts are sharp as "Cat's Nails" so I am not worried about that one. The Jaw Inserts that I would like to replace are my Rock Island editions, where the Jaw Inserts are just a piece of flat bar with two holes drilled in the jaw faces to hold the jaw insert to the jaw face.

Any ideas for us old Rock Island guys?

Adam

 

[Uncle Buck]

I do have ONE Columbian Vise with "T" style Jaw Inserts, but those Jaw Inserts are sharp as "Cat's Nails" so I am not worried about that one. The Jaw Inserts that I would like to replace are my Rock Island editions, where the Jaw Inserts are just a piece of flat bar with two holes drilled in the jaw faces to hold the jaw insert to the jaw face.

Any ideas for us old Rock Island guys?

Adam

I think that style of vise would be a bit easier to deal with because these days it seems most brands use the type jaw inserts you described. I think even if you cannot get the original brand, you could measure yours up and start calling different manufacturers and find a match in short order.

 

[dxdexter]

Your vise's look great. Now get out and pound,burn,grind and smash that paint off.

 

[autoace]

I'm in the market for a new vise. I have a large 8 inch Harbor Freight vise linked here.http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=5800

Since I'm used to a large vise, I need one the same size...The Wiltons are big bucks. I'll probably check out some old used ones, based on some info. I learned hear. The above vise I linked is not bad(you can fit a whole manual trans. in it for rebuild) but it has really taken a beating over the years.

Looks like you spiffed up those old vises, real well.

 

[Brad54]

A man has got to have a few vices. Vises. Whatever.

My father has one very similar to that Yost... not sure the manufacturer, but it was his fathers (Dad is 60) and did time in a road construction shop.

BEEFY.
a little over 20 years ago, I cleaned it and the table its on, and gave them a coat of Rust-oleum flat black. I gave it a good bit of use when I was a teenager and in college, now it mostly sits as a place to put other stuff. But the paint is still perfect.

I've found RO Flat Black stands up to use very well--doesn't chip or flake off, or transfer to your work material.

-Brad
(The table the old vise is on, is 2x2 angle iron, about 18 inches deep, two and a half feet long, about 30 inches high--so it puts the vise at a nice work height--and the top is a piece of WWII Half Track 1 3/4-inch armor plate. Gramps bought the 'track as Surplus, removed the box and put a crane body on it.
I've asked, and Dad insists he may use it again (on the last visit, the book of matches I set on it when I moved out in 1995 was finally gone). Guess my brothers and I will fight over it!