KWRB Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 Got this one today. I have a catalog from 1929 that shows it, but I'd actually never seen one until now, and now it's back home after roughly a century, in Oswego County. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sledgehammer Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 1 hour ago, KWRB said: Got this one today. I have a catalog from 1929 that shows it, but I'd actually never seen one until now, and now it's back home after roughly a century, in Oswego County. Pipe vise I assume? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Beale Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 My pipe vise comes from this crew https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Footprint_Tools What you might call "a long handled tool" I guess Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KWRB Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 11 hours ago, Sledgehammer said: Pipe vise I assume? Yes. The catalog calls it a Jarecki style. Here's a picture of it opened up. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KWRB Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 31 minutes ago, KWRB said: Yes. The catalog calls it a Jarecki style. Here's a picture of it opened up. It's bigger than it looks in the photo. It's the 4" model and weighs 30 lbs. According to catalog, they made 2, 4, 6 and 12 inch sizes. The 12" model weighed 160 lbs!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sledgehammer Posted February 25 Share Posted February 25 Worked some more on the latest post vise. Can see some of the original cross hatch on the jaws. I’ve never seen a date on one before. My guess is “55” for the weights which would be about right. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KWRB Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 9 hours ago, Sledgehammer said: Worked some more on the latest post vise. Can see some of the original cross hatch on the jaws. I’ve never seen a date on one before. My guess is “55” for the weights which would be about right. With bench vises, it's common that the model number, if that's what the 55 is, has a style in the first digit and a jaw size in the second digit. For example, an Oswego model 23 is a bench swivel ("20") with 3" jaws. Possibly did the owner put a date on it, if it were for use in an industrial setting, for replacement schedule or just to otherwise identify it? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sledgehammer Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 23 minutes ago, KWRB said: With bench vises, it's common that the model number, if that's what the 55 is, has a style in the first digit and a jaw size in the second digit. For example, an Oswego model 23 is a bench swivel ("20") with 3" jaws. Possibly did the owner put a date on it, if it were for use in an industrial setting, for replacement schedule or just to otherwise identify it? You could easily be correct. This has 5” wide jaws but I’ve never seen a model number on a post vise. That doesn’t mean it can’t happen. Owner could have dated it but no one will ever know for sure. I think it is a mfg date. As for the “55” I will try and remember to weigh it when I get it all back together and see if that is close. Back in those days, “replacement schedule” was when it was destroyed 😊 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
int 504 Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 I've had a few with the number 55, 75 etc. that is always close to the weight. I've never seen one with a date. I have a Colombian that needed some restoration and a new lower leg with a C on the bench plate and a 20 on the vise that corresponds to the 200 lbs. it weighs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Dinan Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 Here’s some pictures of one that my nephew picked up for me. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sledgehammer Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 Got the post vise clean and back together minus a new (straight) handle. I kept the ball ends from the original and will weld them back on the new handle. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redturbo Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 5 minutes ago, Sledgehammer said: Got the post vise clean and back together minus a new (straight) handle. I kept the ball ends from the original and will weld them back on the new handle. Have you ever found or seen what the bottom of the leg is suppose to attach to? Have 3 different sizes of that vise & never seen what they mount to. thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sledgehammer Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 26 minutes ago, redturbo said: Have you ever found or seen what the bottom of the leg is suppose to attach to? Have 3 different sizes of that vise & never seen what they mount to. thanks Yes, normally the vise is a set height that is shorter than most work benches. Originally a hole was dug in the dirt floor and a wooden post was placed in that hole and cut off at the correct height for the leg of the vise to be mounted to. Bore a hole into that post the size of the small base of the leg and you have your “post” vise. I made a mount for my concrete shop floor and cut a piece of steel that I mounted mine to. The second and third pics are the way I mounted one to my striking anvil. It required cutting the leg down but is the same principle. Does that make more sense? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sledgehammer Posted March 3 Share Posted March 3 On 2/27/2023 at 8:40 PM, redturbo said: Have you ever found or seen what the bottom of the leg is suppose to attach to? Have 3 different sizes of that vise & never seen what they mount to. thanks Here is a closer shot I thought to grab today. I was mounting to concrete so I took a piece of pipe that this would fit into and cut it about 1/4” longer than the stub on the bottom. Then that was welded to a block making the correct height for my stand. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sledgehammer Posted March 3 Share Posted March 3 Finished new handle. It’s a couple inches shorter than original but plenty long. Original spring still works perfectly allowing one handed opening up to 2-3”. Jaws are tight and line up nicely. Box threads were all in good shape under the grime. I use anti-seize on the threads to protect but not get too much buildup of dirt and junk. It also provides a little lubrication. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
int 504 Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 On 2/25/2023 at 10:24 PM, KWRB said: With bench vises, it's common that the model number, if that's what the 55 is, has a style in the first digit and a jaw size in the second digit. For example, an Oswego model 23 is a bench swivel ("20") with 3" jaws. Possibly did the owner put a date on it, if it were for use in an industrial setting, for replacement schedule or just to otherwise identify it? I dug out an industrial supply catalog from 1946 that has Columbian leg vises in it. There were 4 then #24, 25,26 and 28. The second number was the jaw width. The 28 with the 8 inch wide jaws weighed 150 lb. This was a reduction from maybe 20 years earlier when the 8" one weighed over 200 lbs. These had the u shaped spring and a u bolt that anchored the plate to the vise. The plate had a vertical side with two holes in it for the u bolt. Forged in closed dies, hardened and heat treated jaws. The last version I think. Not sure when these changes were first implemented. The same catalog has an 8" Athol swivel base machinist bench vise at a slim and trim 300 lbs. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sledgehammer Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 I have a large Athol vise but it looks like it spent several years underwater and is beyond bound up. It wasnt 300 lbs or anything but when I bought it the guy couldn’t believe that I carried it to the pickup. As for post vises I looked in the newest older catalog I have which is a 1927 vintage. They list Columbian vises but only the bench variety. The only post vises are not labeled by a specific maker and do not go along with any sizing we have discussed here. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KWRB Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 2 hours ago, int 504 said: I dug out an industrial supply catalog from 1946 that has Columbian leg vises in it. There were 4 then #24, 25,26 and 28. The second number was the jaw width. The 28 with the 8 inch wide jaws weighed 150 lb. This was a reduction from maybe 20 years earlier when the 8" one weighed over 200 lbs. These had the u shaped spring and a u bolt that anchored the plate to the vise. The plate had a vertical side with two holes in it for the u bolt. Forged in closed dies, hardened and heat treated jaws. The last version I think. Not sure when these changes were first implemented. The same catalog has an 8" Athol swivel base machinist bench vise at a slim and trim 300 lbs. If I were to guess, that reduction was probably made possible by improvements to both metallurgy and casting processes. Of the wrenches i collect, I've been shocked at how many different patterns they had over a relatively short period of time and relatively low volume. Best I can guess, is that the dies wore out real fast compared to more modern forging. Kind of along those lines, i have to imagine they learned a thing or two about casting throughout the long, long run of that company. Industrial history. Two of my favorite things, smashed up into one! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellowrosefarm Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 I've never seen a vise with a rib on the slide. https://charlottesville.craigslist.org/tls/d/waynesboro-vintage-heavy-duty-bench-vise/7597836239.html 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sledgehammer Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 5 hours ago, yellowrosefarm said: I've never seen a vise with a rib on the slide. https://charlottesville.craigslist.org/tls/d/waynesboro-vintage-heavy-duty-bench-vise/7597836239.html That a new one on me. Looks fairly stout Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellowrosefarm Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 3 minutes ago, Sledgehammer said: That a new one on me. Looks fairly stout Do you think those rings on the handle predate the round knobs common now, or were home made as a replacement handle at some point? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arizonian Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 On 3/8/2023 at 6:57 PM, Sledgehammer said: I have a large Athol vise but it looks like it spent several years underwater and is beyond bound up. It wasnt 300 lbs or anything but when I bought it the guy couldn’t believe that I carried it to the pickup. As for post vises I looked in the newest older catalog I have which is a 1927 vintage. They list Columbian vises but only the bench variety. The only post vises are not labeled by a specific maker and do not go along with any sizing we have discussed here. Depends on how tenacious you are. There is a thread on Shop Floor Talk forum about Cutter's Vice that runs about 35 pages and about 350 entries, that details Cutter's trials in freeing up his freebie Wilton machinist vise. As luck would have it, Wilton ran a contest a quite a few years ago about which vise had the best story and Cutter won it. Alas, Cutter is no longer with us, but his vise has made a new home in another member's garage. On edit, the prologue to the vise story starts on Cutter's home page. There are 19 pages and probably 190 entries at the start of his journey. So what happened to Cutter? He died in early 2020, but his pages live on thanks to his son. On edit again, the movement of the stuck vise starts about page 16. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sledgehammer Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 3 hours ago, yellowrosefarm said: Do you think those rings on the handle predate the round knobs common now, or were home made as a replacement handle at some point? I’m guessing it is factory. I’ve seen crimped on ball ends, ends that looked like pipe caps, round balls, and even a mushroom cap style end before. The ring style makes decent sense to me actually. I keep a coffee can full of ball bearings and when I have to make a new end for one I weld one on and dress it down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nomorejohndeere Posted June 10 Share Posted June 10 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
int 504 Posted June 10 Share Posted June 10 On 3/8/2023 at 8:57 PM, Sledgehammer said: I have a large Athol vise but it looks like it spent several years underwater and is beyond bound up. It wasnt 300 lbs or anything but when I bought it the guy couldn’t believe that I carried it to the pickup. As for post vises I looked in the newest older catalog I have which is a 1927 vintage. They list Columbian vises but only the bench variety. The only post vises are not labeled by a specific maker and do not go along with any sizing we have discussed here. Those numbers are possibly the weights of the vises. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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