Who made this vise?

[Garageseller]

I was at the metal scrap yard, and found this. Bought it for $0.50 per pound, weighed in at about 60 pounds. It has no maker mark on it that I can find. It seems to have been covered in a putty, then painted (I am guessing that this was someones attempt at restoring it). There is a "77" stamped on the bottom of the jaw. There also appears to be either an "H" or an "I" stamped on the side of the body.

Any help in identifying this would be great.

 

[Packard V8]

Appears to be a generic Chicom sold under a dozen different brand names. Some survive in industrial abuse and some break when dropped.

jack vines

 

[woody 73]

The base looks strong enough, so I would think it could hold up well .

 

[Garageseller]

Thanks! I thought it felt well made, so I assumed it was an old, good quality vise. I guess no point in restoring it, I'll just use it til it breaks.

 

[retDAC]

Per Mohawk Dave: Jiangsu Swordfish Bench Vise Co., Ltd.
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=2857949&postcount=31


If yours weigh 60 lbs, it is one of the bigger models.

 

[Nick P]

Hi all, I am a new member here. (apologies if I make an error posting.)
I have been reading lots of interesting posts on this site. I did not think of myself as a tool collector so much as an accumulator. I see a fair number of vintage tools that I have also. Some quality vintage and some not so much of either. Which brings me to this vise. I have an almost identical one though not quite so abused.
Mine is an Olympia, Chinese made of recent vintage. It is actually not a bad vise for the not very serious home user. I got it at a yard sale very inexpensively, but they run just about $100 new. I found one that is even a closer match, Precise 5" Multi-Purpose Rotating Vise-3900-0259 at Penn Tool Co. online for $218.34
I have mine mounted to a hitch plate for now as I am moving my work area to the garage from the basement and have not figured out where I will mount it permanently. I have a Pentis Bull Dog that will be my main vise.
Reading old threads, I am up to page 34 of 509. I don't know if I can read them as fast as they are posted. I may never get all the old ones read.

 

[exmaxima1]

Wow, I've never seen so much Bondo on a vise....

 

[TailGunner3000]

Although those are cheaply produced Chinese vises of dubious quality, they have great utility if you can find a decent one. They are body filled out the rear end because of the unbelievably poor casting quality. And they are prone to fail at the rear ring, particularly where it meets the key.

Certainly not worth restoring, but really good user vises. I have two that I use all the time. I was also lucky enough to recently find a NOS Columbian version of this vise. It will also be put in service. Although still made in China, it seems to have been made to higher standards than my other two. Time will tell.