Monster Vise Resto

[AN5Sprite]

I rescued this vise over the 4th of July holiday. I love this thing. It's literally 109lbs of American Iron. From what I can tell it was made between 1890-1922. The Prentiss Vise Co only made two models that were larger at 160, 230lbs. (now that's mucho grande) It was rusty, the base and rear jaw were frozen. It was generally impacted with dried grease and wood shims. I disassembled, de-greased, and began de-rusting with battery charger/sacrificial anode method. While that's always fun, I was glad when a friend with a sand-blasting cabinet (at work) bailed me out. After that it was metal prep and paint with o.d. green. Then a little wax and grease on sliding surfaces. To finish it off, I highlighted the letters with gold leaf - out of respect for the skilled men who used this beast before me. Reassembled and now I'm looking for something to crush! :banana:

 

[Mickey Richaud]

Now THAT is a cool restoration!

Well done!

 

[PAUL161]

That is really sharp! I love to see things like this restored, instead of heading off to the scrap yard. PJ

 

[weewillie]

great job Steve, btw what is the wood on the toolbox under the bench,

 

[drooartz]

Very nice work, Steve. These old vises are great, and will last for generations to come.

Don't know if you're familiar with the Garage Journal, but they've got a couple great threads on old vises. Yes, there is a whole sub culture around finding and restoring old vises.

The Vises of Garage Journal:
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=44782

Everything you need to know about bench vises:
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=62716

I need to do the same sort of restoration on my little Ridge vise. Came from the estate of a friend's grandfather.

 

[DrEntropy]

Fine work, Steve! Goodonya!

I gotta find one. Had a Chinese lump given to me as a gift. It lasted about a decade, then the cheesy iron (inclusions, porosity) finally CRACKED at the thread receiver. An old American made one would last three lifetimes, mebbe more.

 

[70herald]

That looks really nice!

 

[AN5Sprite]

great job Steve, btw what is the wood on the toolbox under the bench,

It's Black Walnut. I sawed the drawer fronts from one board to get the figure to line up like it does. It's the toolbox that North Bennet Street School has their cabinet makers build for a first project. Even though I was in another program I figured I should make one too. Secondary wood is White Pine, all hand cut dovetails.

Drew, I am familiar with the vise collector sub-culture....(great links BTW) I'm trying not to get in too much deeper. :crazy: I've got 11 vises. In my defense, I use them all and none of them are the same or nearly as large as my latest. Most of them are small and specialized. I also have to admit that if I stumble on another machinist's vise like this, I'd probably buy it. I find it remarkably peaceful to work on things like this. My mind clears, and I work. It relaxes me. It's not just restoration either. It's rescue from people who don't understand the difference between a tool that was made by and for craftsmen and the current paradigm of "tools" made for "consumers"

Doc, sounds like you just wrote a prescription for a new/old vise...

 

[70herald]

An old American made one would last three lifetimes, mebbe more.

If you succeed in coming back from the dead I suspect you are going to have a hard time getting it back to use it in your next life

 

[aeronca65t]

Very, very nice!

I applaud such work!
We have about a dozen old American made vises in our engineering lab. Plus lots of well-used American equipment (lathes, milling machines, drill presses, etc).
And we have two large anvils made in England.

Our college engineering lab is going through a renovation soon and I was asked if I wanted to get rid of "all that old stuff" and buy new equipment.
Guess where all the "new stuff" would be made?

We're <span style="text-decoration: underline">keeping</span> all the old stuff (I raised Holy He11 about this).
I'm having a painter come in to dress up the old equipment to keep <span style="font-style: italic">The Suits</span> happy. :wink:

By the way, I have all my students build a small pin-vise as a starter project in our Prototyping class.
So I guess we've made hundreds of American made vises. :laugh:

Pin Vise

 

[drooartz]

I gotta find one. Had a Chinese lump given to me as a gift. It lasted about a decade, then the cheesy iron (inclusions, porosity) finally CRACKED at the thread receiver. An old American made one would last three lifetimes, mebbe more.

Time to put one on your list of things to hunt down, Doc. I'll admit I got lucky with mine (free) but they're out there.

It's not just restoration either. It's rescue from people who don't understand the difference between a tool that was made by and for craftsmen and the current paradigm of "tools" made for "consumers"

I couldn't agree more with this sentiment, Steve. There's just something nice about working with a tool that was designed well. Bringing one of these back into service is very rewarding, and the end result is a tool that is *better* than much of what you can find now. A double win.

It's like my main mandolin ('23 Gibson A) -- yes, it's old, but it was made by folks who cared and is still a useful tool for the intended job.

Our college engineering lab is going through a renovation soon and I was asked if I wanted to get rid of "all that old stuff" and buy new equipment.
Guess where all the "new stuff" would be made?

But it would be new, Nial. Shiny. Pretty. Isn't that all that matters?

 

[DNK]

Where's the after pic with the gold leaf?

 

[Mickey Richaud]

Where's the after pic with the gold leaf?

Click on the second link below the pictures in his post.

 

[DNK]

Thanks Mick

 

[Mickey Richaud]

¡Para servirte!

 

[DNK]

Gesundheit! :thumbsup:

 

[Guest]

I'm no expert but I'm pretty sure it'll hold a monster.

The question is, why would'ya wanna?