Any Vise Collectors Here? (3 Viewers)

[RodrigzCrzr]

I’ll play I dug this out from underneath my bench.
Been meaning to mount it on my work bench.
It’s a Colombian D44. Picked it up I think from a garage sale.
Right now using this small Littco.

 

[suzuguru]

Nice Columbian. I had one of those LITTCO's, but it broke.

 

[Irish11]

After my old vise met a tragic end (my bad) I read through this thread for ideas. Then the search started and I went down the rabbithole... (so thanks all for that, haha).

Found a nice Columbian (what looks like a 504, the number on the plate is missing) to replace my Fuller. I am guessing this thing will out last me. It was a guys Fathers, he had used it and was retiring, so now its my turn to enjoy it.

Also found a good deal on a Columbian D43 m4 that seems like it might come in handy as well. There is a D44 locally and I am debating between the two. Seems like both are well made. Any advise between the two? It would just be mainly house work since I have the larger vise now as well.

 

[FARMAN33]

@Irish11 That 504 will 100% outlive you! the arch script Columbians get dated to around the 30s. I've seen thousands of vises and many many broken ones. I have only seen two broke Columbians and they were still both functioning vises. By far my favorite manufacturer.

 

[Irish11]

@Irish11 That 504 will 100% outlive you! the arch script Columbians get dated to around the 30s. I've seen thousands of vises and many many broken ones. I have only seen two broke Columbians and they were still both functioning vises. By far my favorite manufacturer.

I am excited to have it. I took it apart today and give it a good cleaning. Its built to last for sure! Good to know on the date, its in a 1925 house now so that makes it even better.

Edit: That cleaned up nicely! There is a 603 1/2 number inside the casting, so I estimated the model closely, but good to know. While I was at it I stripped it and decided to throw some new paint on it as well:

 

[RUSH55]

Some poser shots for the vise collector thread

 

[FARMAN33]

@Irish11 got me looking for a good old Columbian to work on and found one pretty close for good money. It a 6” 506M2 that looks to have had covered jaws from the start. Came with the copper soft jaws too!

 

[FARMAN33]

Also found a babied Reed 3C. The guy I bought it from bought it new for his personal user in the early 80s. These things have a MILLION parts and are usually a nightmare to disassemble. All these pieces came right out without much of a fight at all. Might end up keeping this one a while!

 

[RUSH55]

Both of those turned out beautiful, @FARMAN33 !
Thanks for posting the pic of the 3C parts spread. I haven’t been much into Reed’s until lately. I know where a 2C is, but it’s 12hrs from me and the seller won’t ship.
Noticed that collar in the dynamic that the screw goes through. What’s the scoop on that piece?
Another question is what is the story with the flat-nosed meatballs? I’ve seen them with both round and flat - was this a change they made at a certain date, or did they produce both styles simultaneously? Are the flat-nosed more rare or sought after?

 

[Irish11]

Also found a babied Reed 3C. The guy I bought it from bought it new for his personal user in the early 80s. These things have a MILLION parts and are usually a nightmare to disassemble. All these pieces came right out without much of a fight at all. Might end up keeping this one a while!

Well done! I'm still new to the vice game, but the Columbians as tanks and the few projects I've used it for it makes a difference to have a strong vice. There is a Reed 3c for sale locally and I've debated it, but I am afraid it will flip my bench over with how heavy they are, haha.

 

[FARMAN33]

@RUSH55 So that is the infamous Reed split nut retainer. If you didn’t know it was “split” you’d likely have a heart attack when you remove it and it falls out in two broken pieces. It goes in the channel just behind the meatball and is held in by a set screw under the oil hole in dynamic.

The meatball was transitioned to a “puck” shortly after the War.

 

[FARMAN33]

@Irish11 The 3C is just at 120 pounds. The 4C is 70 pounds heavier!

 

[e9999]

this business about the broken retainers is such a strange anomaly in the world of design. It goes so contrary to all engineers' instinct. And yet it makes sense in some instances. I did not know about the vise one, but had seen it in chucks. Weird, yet oddly satisfying in a deviant kinda way...

 

[FARMAN33]

@e9999 Crazy because it is clearly broken and not made into two pieces that fit together.

 

[RUSH55]

@RUSH55 So that is the infamous Reed split nut retainer. If you didn’t know it was “split” you’d likely have a heart attack when you remove it and it falls out in two broken pieces. It goes in the channel just behind the meatball and is held in by a set screw under the oil hole in dynamic.

The meatball was transitioned to a “puck” shortly after the War.View attachment 3288914

Good to know, thank you sir. Interesting method of retaining the screw

 

[Mr Wonderful]

Also found a babied Reed 3C. The guy I bought it from bought it new for his personal user in the early 80s. These things have a MILLION parts and are usually a nightmare to disassemble. All these pieces came right out without much of a fight at all. Might end up keeping this one a while!

View attachment 3288700

View attachment 3288701

View attachment 3288702

View attachment 3288703

Great job! Do you happen to know the diameter and length of the pipe jaw pins? Or maybe the diameter of the hole for them. I have a 3C that someone brazed the pins in place, and I want to make sure I don't go too far when grinding them out.

 

[FARMAN33]

@Mr Wonderful The pins are .5” diameter and around 3 7/8” long. Hope that helps!

 

[Mr Wonderful]

@Mr Wonderful The pins are .5” diameter and around 3 7/8” long. Hope that helps!

Teriffic! thank you! I cant for the life of me figure out why they did it. on the dynamic jaw im sure it was because it was blown out. The static jaw was intact and they did it there as well. Hopefully mine will be close to as nice as yours when I get to it.

 

[FARMAN33]

Guess this has been my month for finding vises. Picked up some “smalls” the other day. Big logo Reed 103 (3” jaws 25pounds) and a Columbian Pennypincher (3 1/2” jaws 4 pounds). Tried out color shifting paint on the Columbian. Turned out nice I think!

 

[RUSH55]

Cute little Columbian! That paint job makes it look like it’s made out of copper, maybe to go along with the “Penny-pincher” nickname.(?)