Justin Topp

Today I have some vises to display. First is a 4” Columbian post vise that I found for 25$. The stand is nice and heavy so I intend to cut it down for a base for my belt grinder. Threads are in great condition and it closes firm and straight.  One of the wedges was a United States Navy MK2 kabar knife which I thought was neat. I’ve been told probably ww2. 
 

the next vise is a Parker number 371 swivel jaw vise. Coming in at 39 lbs with 3.5” wide jaws.
 

After a ton of hassle with rust converters and oil. I managed to free everything slowly. Than I welded the swivel than ground it. Since the cast iron had chipped and it couldn’t clamp without the jaw lifting. Now it works well. And brazed a crack in the body at the back of the swivel jaw. Then i wire wheeled and painted it. Gun blued the non painted parts. I think it came out nice. It’s a pleasure to use the vise 

Thanks , That’s for sure! Nothing like running a machine that’s much older than me and will probably outlast me haha. The grizzly seems pretty powerful for its size. Certainly enough for what I need. Price was half of retail so I’m happy. 
 

Been keeping my eyes open for a 7” shaper …. None yet but I’m watching haha 

Finally got myself a lathe and a milling machine. The lathe is an old craftsman 6x18 metal lathe. It has a marathon 3/4 hp dc motor. and the mill is a grizzly. Real excited to put them to use. Small but they should do the trick for my shop. Can always use a friends machines if I need bigger 

Haha thanks. Someone’s coming to take a look later today. 

A couple rough but functional tongs. I’m out of practice. it’s been too hot for me to forge  so I did nothing for the pretty much The entirety of July unfortunately 

Wire wheeled it and gun blued the body. Now to build a little stand. I’m thinking a mini railroad style vise stand. In my cleaning I discovered the swivel base plunger says pat feby 6th 77. Meaning it was patented February 6th 1877. The prentiss logo is also double stamped 

Thank you, 

It is done. 19” hickory handle 

Sounds like I’ve got some experimenting to do. Thanks for the information everyone! 
 

Today I forged a drift for an axe and an axe with said drift. It’s about 2 lbs made of mild steel with a forge welded hard edge on it. Just needs a handle and it’s good to go. 

I’d want a swivel jaw vise like this one just bigger if I was going to trade it. 

That’s what I’m thinking. I’ll either trade it for a larger one. Or sell it and buy a larger one. It’s cool but I’m not making watches or jewelry so I don’t really need it. 

For sure it’s worth far more than a bigger one. But it’s less useful to me! 
 

looks awesome though! 

Thinking I need about a 4” or 4.5” one like this. The swivel jaw is great 

It’s just mild. I’ve heard higher carbon steels are better but this one works perfectly fine so I’m not worried about it 

Yup! It’s tiny but fully functional! 
 

this is one of the smallest. If not the smallest side they made I believe. I paid 100$ but I have had an offer of 300$ by a collector and there are several that sold for more than that on eBay. So not too bad I think.

I like it. It’s adorable 

Boy do I have a treat today! I got this very nice and very smooth operating prentiss (jewelers?) vise today. It is a swivel jaw, swivel base both of which operate smoothly. The jaws are 1.75” wide. Beautiful little vise 

Thank you 

Dinner triangle made for a friend. Need to give it an oil finish than it’s good to go. 

I will try those things! Thanks! I never thought of mixing my own paint although It’s not a bad option 

Yup old school machine gray is what I want. This was sold as dark machine gray but it’s pretty light. 
 

My shop is dry enough usually that things don’t rust. As long as I give them a nice oiling/ waxing now and again. 
 

I’m thinking about getting a color matched paint to some of the old school machines. 

Thanks to the both of you. 
 

I like the machine gray a lot (although I wish it was a hair darker and a little more “blue” if you get what I’m saying) 

I’m just more partial to a raw iron look than paint normally. But the wire wheel made it a little too shiny in places for me. 

Found this old Columbian 504 1/2 at an antique store for 45$. Brought I home and after an excessive amount of penetrating oil I got it loose. wire wheeled and painted it. Not sure on how I like the paint. But it works well so that’s what matters. 
 

4.5” jaws. About 48 lbs 

Got the 12” contact wheel in the mail finally 

Enclosure for the vfd is in the mail. Otherwise it’s done! And working fantastic!

Done. Just need a vfd enclosure.  Which will be a metal box with a fan and a filter 

Gotta do the finishing touches and a few more minor changes than it’s done. It runs dead smooth and has tons of power. Very efficient at grinding 
 

I can balance a nickel on it’s side with the grinder off. Than go straight to 6500 sfpm without it ripping. Having a vibration free grinder is great!