Hey guys I really have no clue where to ask this and I know the H.A.M.B is really good on finding all kinds of cool old stuff. The other day I was going to buy a vise and my dad said I have one! Well it was from one of his old fishing friends from the early 60's, The guys name was ray and he was in the war of korea, Well my dad can remember seeing this Vise back in 62 at rays house. This vise wroks great! all it needed was som oil. Its a heavy mother! I've done a google on it and can't find one thing. Do any of you have a clue what year it is? Im thinking late 40's. Thanks Srry if I po any one off by putting this on the H.A.M.B
My guess is that if the vise doesn't weigh 37 pounds, then that raised number is likely the year of manufacture. Is there a particular reason you MUST know this? Old and heavy duty is generally good enough. If you're curious beyond that level, google 'vintage tools, vintage vises, collectible tools, etc' My experience is that a vise is only as good as its mounting location. Putting a behemoth like yours on a chintzy workbench will not utilize the tools full capacity, especially if you're attempting to cinch down a part that you need to remove a recalcitrant piece from. I'm not suggesting that you don't have it mounted well, just offering expanded commentary, as is my tendency. dj
I think it is 1940's from the tag. My father had a vice like that and his looked old in the early "60's
I just have it sit n there!! Im still working on my shop!!! So every thing is not done yet! Im gonna have it sitin on the edge where I can use the full capacity, That work bench is a lot stronger then ya think!
well, so far, I can tell ya that birtman electric bought the "rock island division" in 1930 so it's no earlier than that. apparently they also supplied gun parts to the army as well....
nope, the Rock Island ****nal was wholly owned and run by the gov't. Today the maker of ar-15's just uses the name for the ***ociation withhistory.
NICE vice. it will look good blasted or wire brushed up & painted. is it sloppy? get it all tuned up, cleaned up & it'll last for years.
Most of the vice's I have are vintage as well but have come out of old factory and scuh, easy to dis***emble and paint - the Rustoleum hammered finish in green and blue match some older shop equip. Is there an "***et tag" on it? a little br*** disc usually that states where it is/company sold to? It was a used vintage one it may be on there somewhere and mayby just covered up in grease. Birtman bought Rock Island in 1930 so it is post '30
Well I just got done with a wirewheel! I found this 904-7900-810240-39 on the top. Update! My dad just rememberd Ray use to work for the ROCK ISLAND RAIL ROAD! So I bet it has somthing to do with the RR
Recalcitrant....did that hurt!?! Sorry friend, I just had to rag on you.... You don't often find someone on this thread with an anachronistic vocabulary.
I have one that's really old and looks almost identical to that one. When I first got it from a garage sale, it had a lot of backlash in the crank screw from many years of use. I took it apart and added a sintered bronze thrust washer that took up most of the slack. I cleaned up everything and used a paint brush to grease it all up again with fresh white lithium grease. It should have an acme screw thread if it's a good one. The lower part on yours should swivel, but it looks like the T handle is missing. You should take that swivel part apart and grease it all up to make it easy to swivel when you want to. It's really handy to be able to swivel it around 90 degrees either way when you need to. Bolt it to a heavy table and you'll get a lot of good use out of it.
Dude, I have the same vise. It was my grandfathers, so it goes back pre-WWII for sure. Clean it up & paint it and you can leave it to your grandkids when your done with it.
The thing swivels just fine!, I just take a lil pipe or something to tightin it down. Once I get my foor in my shop and the table setup the way I want it the vise shud be fine, I'll make sure every thing stays in the same spot that for sure. My dad said it was sliver so im gonna paint it sliver hammertone paint.
maybe fasten the bench to the wall so you can really pull on objects in the vise I need to fasten my bench to the wall too
I've got a Rock Island vise that my Dad got in the late 60's and it was old then it is just like yours but does not swivel just stationary on the edge of the bench
The Jalopy Journal
