New Englander Posted July 12, 2021 Share Posted July 12, 2021 A year or so ago there was a long vise thread where all sorts of vises were displayed but no swivel jaw, a type I confess to being totally ignorant of. I've just been given this 19th century example when my friend was cleaning out his 18th century house. It has a swivel base but no obvious way to keep it still. It looks like the swivel jaw was tightened without the securing bolts (one missing) tight as a piece is missing. After a quick bead blast the replaceable jaw still has a good pattern on it. The movable jaw is spring opened but the slide is too dirty/rusted to let it happen although it's not stuck. Overall it's in good condition with no real signs of hammer marks or other abuse except for the swivel jaw. Does anyone know anything about this vise or swivel jaw vises in general. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sledgehammer Posted July 12, 2021 Share Posted July 12, 2021 You are missing the base. Most companies offered swivel jaw variants. Should be a bolt/grub screw to afix the swivel jaw solid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
axial_al Posted July 12, 2021 Share Posted July 12, 2021 Don’t know anything about your vise, but man if that thing could talk! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
just Dave Posted July 12, 2021 Share Posted July 12, 2021 Thats a cool find I have a 4" parker but no swivel jaw. The base on mine is complete. It uses a twin brake shoe set up in the swivel base for locking and a big shoulder bolt to hold the vice to the base. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
just Dave Posted July 12, 2021 Share Posted July 12, 2021 This is a 1962 tool catalog I saved from a trash can thrtysome years ago. Not a lot of detail , yours swivels the movable jaw and this one the fixed. I would guess yours is older, I see C Parker on yours and Chas. Parker on later models. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sledgehammer Posted July 12, 2021 Share Posted July 12, 2021 3 hours ago, just Dave said: This is a 1962 tool catalog I saved from a trash can thrtysome years ago. Not a lot of detail , yours swivels the movable jaw and this one the fixed. I would guess yours is older, I see C Parker on yours and Chas. Parker on later models. I will try and look later if I get a chance. Got one from 1921 and another from sometime in the early teens. I’d be curious to compare prices with yours ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sledgehammer Posted July 12, 2021 Share Posted July 12, 2021 Checked my catalogs. Both have “Parker” vises in them but neither on lists a swivel jaw. Those must have come post 1920 since that’s the newest catalog I’ve got???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dasnake Posted July 12, 2021 Share Posted July 12, 2021 https://picclick.com/C-PARKER-Meriden-CT-Swivel-Vise-w-173431283004.html Tried looking using patent date best I could find, also a utoob on the same date 1854. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Englander Posted July 12, 2021 Author Share Posted July 12, 2021 4 hours ago, Sledgehammer said: You are missing the base. Most companies offered swivel jaw variants. Should be a bolt/grub screw to afix the swivel jaw solid. There are two bolts that secure the swivel jaw. The base is not like any I'm familiar with but my knowledge of antique vises is limited at best. Below is a picture of what I have. It looks like a base would be very tall judging by the length of the center bolt and have a method of securing the vise from swiveling unlike any I've been able to locate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Englander Posted July 12, 2021 Author Share Posted July 12, 2021 7 hours ago, just Dave said: Thats a cool find I have a 4" parker but no swivel jaw. The base on mine is complete. It uses a twin brake shoe set up in the swivel base for locking and a big shoulder bolt to hold the vice to the base. Any chance you have a picture of that base? The brake shoe arrangement sounds interesting and may be exactly what I'm missing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sledgehammer Posted July 12, 2021 Share Posted July 12, 2021 5 minutes ago, New Englander said: There are two bolts that secure the swivel jaw. The base is not like any I'm familiar with but my knowledge of antique vises is limited at best. Below is a picture of what I have. It looks like a base would be very tall judging by the length of the center bolt and have a method of securing the vise from swiveling unlike any I've been able to locate. I’m guessing the base was broken at some point or the owner didn’t like the swivel feature (of the base) and discarded it. The long bolt was a replacement to bolt it directly to a bench. I have a picture of a C.Parker swivel base in a catalog. I’ll see if I can get a good pic of it. Looks like the base of the swivel jaw has been broken also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
int 504 Posted July 12, 2021 Share Posted July 12, 2021 The center bolt is long because it passes through the top of the bench and was customarily secured with a large wing nut. Some antique vises I have with that arrangement have a cone projecting from the top into a tapered seat in the base. This swivels when loose but locks the tapers together when the wing nut is tightened. Mine are Stephens Patent vises. I think these bases probably disappeared do to production costs. My bases attach to the bench with the customary 3 large bolts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
int 504 Posted July 12, 2021 Share Posted July 12, 2021 On reading my previous post I realized that i reversed the parts of the cone-projects up from the base into the body of the vise is how it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DroschaFamilyDairy Posted July 12, 2021 Share Posted July 12, 2021 I'm Laughing out Load!!! My wife came into My Farm Office a minute ago and looked over At my Computer screen, You Guy's are Glowing over Pictures of a Broken Vice!! 3 weeks ago it was Pictures of Food!! She Said, "Karen at Work sez Her Husband was caught looking at XXX websites at his DPW work station, They Gave Him A Warning!! I Like What "We" Look At!!! "Geezz... I Enjoy My Fellow Red Power Friend's" Thanks Neighbors, Jim Droscha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sledgehammer Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 First pic is the hardware catalog description advertisement. Second is a close up. The knife is pointing at the part I believe is missing. Remember, there has been close to 100 years of potential to break this thing before you got it. Lots of “fixes” could have been done in that amount of time. Note also the “handle stays put” due to screw and spring in handle. I actually prefer a fixed base vise since I don’t use the swivel feature. Others are exactly the opposite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
just Dave Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 Do not have a tear down pic of my vise base. I think your vise bench mount is more like the one described by Int 504? You can see the brake shoe set up in Sledges' see through catalog pic. The brake drum mounts to bench with three bolts. A large shoulder bolt goes through the bottom of the base into the vice main frame holding vise and base together . Like the back plate on an old car holding the brake shoes the bottom of the vise retains the shoes and when assembled they slip in to the drum (Base) .The brake is applied by a cam (between the end of two shoes). The cam is rotated by the small handle you see. I can"t see in your pics for sure but I think the pocket your swivel jaw sets in would of had a back side to it? Is there a tapped hole in the swivel jaw trunnion to hold down while in a swiveled position? It looks like the the two big bolts only go in when jaw is straight? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellowrosefarm Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 14 hours ago, Sledgehammer said: First pic is the hardware catalog description advertisement. Second is a close up. The knife is pointing at the part I believe is missing. Remember, there has been close to 100 years of potential to break this thing before you got it. Lots of “fixes” could have been done in that amount of time. Note also the “handle stays put” due to screw and spring in handle. I actually prefer a fixed base vise since I don’t use the swivel feature. Others are exactly the opposite. Is that one of your damascus blades? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
just Dave Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 I just checked u tube. There are many vids there. Happy clamping Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sledgehammer Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 1 hour ago, yellowrosefarm said: Is that one of your damascus blades? Not damascus. That is a commercial made knife that was handy to use for a pointer. The pic makes it look like damascus though. I’ve been thinking about trying to make some and turn it into something but the raw steel I wanted wasn’t available. edit: checked steel supplier and they had what I was wanting so I ordered some stuff to make some. I’ve never made damascus on a large scale. I will hopefully be able to make a fairly high layer count. ?? Maybe a large billet and forge a hatchet from it? Knives are always interesting but man do they take forever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dasnake Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 3 hours ago, Sledgehammer said: Not damascus. That is a commercial made knife that was handy to use for a pointer. The pic makes it look like damascus though. I’ve been thinking about trying to make some and turn it into something but the raw steel I wanted wasn’t available. edit: checked steel supplier and they had what I was wanting so I ordered some stuff to make some. I’ve never made damascus on a large scale. I will hopefully be able to make a fairly high layer count. ?? Maybe a large billet and forge a hatchet from it? Knives are always interesting but man do they take forever. Sledge if you ever get round to making throw axes lemme know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sledgehammer Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 19 minutes ago, Dasnake said: Sledge if you ever get round to making throw axes lemme know. Not to get too far off topic but I’ve made tomahawks before. Never made any of these bar throwing axes though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dasnake Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 4 minutes ago, Sledgehammer said: Not to get too far off topic but I’ve made tomahawks before. Never made any of these bar throwing axes though. We aren't far off topic, you need a vice to put the axe in to file the edge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sledgehammer Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 15 minutes ago, Dasnake said: We aren't far off topic, you need a vice to put the axe in to file the edge. I use a 2x72” belt sander for that. ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Englander Posted July 14, 2021 Author Share Posted July 14, 2021 23 hours ago, just Dave said: Do not have a tear down pic of my vise base. I think your vise bench mount is more like the one described by Int 504? You can see the brake shoe set up in Sledges' see through catalog pic. The brake drum mounts to bench with three bolts. A large shoulder bolt goes through the bottom of the base into the vice main frame holding vise and base together . Like the back plate on an old car holding the brake shoes the bottom of the vise retains the shoes and when assembled they slip in to the drum (Base) .The brake is applied by a cam (between the end of two shoes). The cam is rotated by the small handle you see. I can"t see in your pics for sure but I think the pocket your swivel jaw sets in would of had a back side to it? Is there a tapped hole in the swivel jaw trunnion to hold down while in a swiveled position? It looks like the the two big bolts only go in when jaw is straight? Thanks for bringing that to my attention. So, a few minutes of disassemble and a few more in the blast cabinet cleaning off a hundred and sixty plus years of grime reveals just what you alluded. There's a hole for a pin that will align the jaws and a piece broken off that probably would have held some sort of setscrew to hold the jaw at an angle. The whole affair looks like light duty in an angle position. There's another piece of the slide assembly that contains the swivel jaw that has also succumbed to some abuse. It seems that fixing the jaw in position will make it serviceable. I had never even heard of a swivel jaw until given this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
just Dave Posted July 14, 2021 Share Posted July 14, 2021 I have a Whale tool co vise grip with a swivel jaw, it works quite well in certain situations but not needed often. I use up my holly leather gloves in a vice to compensate for irregular shape. One side serrated jaw leather on on the other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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