Looks good in snappy red. I'm a Wilton kinda guy. Mostly because I got it free with the jaw rusted shut. I think these were from when I got it. It was mounted to the back of a logging truck(in the oil field the truck with a big coil of cable in the back, not the tree hauling kind). They had already broken the fasteners In the snout off so the threaded part went in and out but the jaw was shut. They sell a lot of replacement parts so I got the horseshoe piece and drilled and tapped some new holes one I got the jaws apart with a spliting wedge. Got a drum and built a sturdy stand with some heft to it to keep it in place when I'm beating on stuff. Yours sure looks a lot nicer.
So are you actually going to beat on it and your nice new wood top.? Or is it a show piece now? How long before hammer and torch marks give it character.
Beautiful. I have an old heavy duty bench vise like that too. Early last century I suspect. I can literally clamp stuff in there and take full swings with sledge hammer. I don't know what I would do without it. Did all sorts of stuff with suspension and bushings for the GS.
Old American-made tools were the best. In another thread I mentioned that I use a pair of tin snips that were made in Ohio in 1909. They are not pretty, but they are by far the best tin snips that I have ever used. American quality also extended to power tools. People in my age bracket still call a milling machine a Bridgeport. BTW Jason, the vice looks great - the only issue is that it's too pretty to use.
That's what was often used in a production machine shop to clamp parts quickly.. the handle is very handy for that. Seeing that brings back memories.. used to use one where I worked, when I was just out of high school. Nice Resto Jason. And John, we always called it a "Bridgeport" because it said "Bridgeport" in huge letters on the side of it.. The machine shop I ran one in, back when I was a teenager, had about a dozen of them.. I remember being surprised the first time I saw a mill that was not a Bridgeport. To this day I call any mill a Bridgeport.. JW
I can't remember the name but from 3 or 4 years old I used to play with a hefty vise my father had in his work room in the basement. This was around 1966 and i'm sure my father had it for 25 years before me and it was probably made 30 years before he bought it. This thing never ever broke or got loose in tolerances or in the tightening process. All my car friends and non car friends would come to use it......I would get a knock on the door and just hear "I need the vice" Now I need to remember to see just who made it??
That looks pretty awesome. I love old tools in addition to old cars. My lawn tractor is a 1973 Wheelhorse. I had a guy go through it, and he was like "you're gonna mow your lawn with this??" I was like. "Why the heck not?" Mine isn't nearly as nice or as big, but I got one that was made in Cleveland and its significant to me. After my grandfather passed, they were kind of cleaning his house out and, and he had made a workbench out in the garage out of an old door from a business he had worked at. It came with him from the house he had right when he got married, so we figured early 1950s. He had bolted this thing down, and with a deadline of the next day, and basically no tools my old man and I got it off the bench. I installed it in my workshop at home. I'm not a real wrench, so it works fine for the relatively minor projects I tackle. What actual made in the USA vices goes for these days is out of this world, if you can find them at all. ( I think even Wilton does a lot of their stuff in Taiwan.) Even the foreign built stuff isn't cheap. I'm just happy I have a USA one, that has some history to my family.
Brings back memories of the old vice my father had back in the sixties. Don't remember the brand name, only that it worked perfectly. Used it many times for various items. Pretty sure one of my brothers ended up with it.
This beast, not proven but pretty sure I can get a Subaru in the jaws. On a 3/8” base, over 14ga. Bench top, over wood frame.
My vice has been getting some use and I put the first mark in it! The hacksaw slipped and put a nice scratch in the fresh powder coat!
I finaly procured a piece of rail from an old track. I really would like to have a real anvil for my shop but they are expensive and very heavy. So I have been looking for quite some time for a piece of raíl to make a shop tool. A coworker came up with two lenghts and told me to help myself to some of it. I believe that it will complement my vise nicely.
Hector, Looks great, I have 2 pieces of rail I got from my Dad. The one is full size like yours, with a squared off end on one side and a pointed "V" end on the other. The other is a piece of small gauge rail with 2 rounded ends. I used mine all the time when I was building cars. I am sure you will find them useful. Duane
