Am I on the right track identifying this post vise?

[utaholdiron]

I'm indebted to Mr. Frank Turley for a detailed article about post vises that I ran across on the internet. In it, he talks about deeply chamfered legs, detailed lathe work, etc., on the older, English vises. Quoting the article, "It is more difficult to find out about old leg vises than anvils, because there were fewer markings. When Peter Wright did mark their vises, they did so on top of the screw box body with P.WRIGHT PATENT SOLID BOX. These were in three lines, stamped in small, serifed letters and were often obliterated by wear and rust."

I had recently purchased a vise that had no visible markings, but did possess all the things talked about in the above mentioned article. After taking the screw box body out of the vise and cleaning it with a wire brush I did find what appears to be the remnants of some markings. What is there is faint and incomplete and appears to be "HT". Could this be the last two letters of the name Wright? Does anyone have a picture of the three lines of markings on the screw box of a Peter Wright post vise?

[utaholdiron]

Sorry about picture 5 being so large, I forgot to reduce it in size.

[utaholdiron]

Here's both pictures of the partial marking in reduced size.

[Frank Turley]

Utah,
Your vise is a nice looking old vise, but it does not have all the earmarks of a Peter Wright. The visible, screw box "bell shape" is not like the PW's that I have seen. The 'ear' or 'ducktail' looks like it's missing from the jaw base of the fixed leg. The original PW mount was a solid plate, kind of lozenge shaped. Of course, that could have been lost and replaced. Your mount looks like the Iron City style, but that does not make it an Iron City vise. I have taken apart PW vises, and there is often a single letter on the box which cannot be seen when the vise is assembled. Perhaps it is an inspector's mark; we don't know for sure. Your marking may be a "match mark." It looks like three lines, trying to make sure the box went to the right vise. The PW screw head is a little larger and more circular than yours, and it often has lathe turning marks on it.

For comparison, my PW vise is pictured on page 7 of "Show me your Vise."

You have a nice vise. It doesn't need to be a Wright to be good.

[ThomasPowers]

There is not enough room for the rest of Wright to proceed that marking at the same size stamping too.

There were a large number of vise makers---into the hundreds I'd wager---over time and many did minimal marking of their work---just use it! Markings don't make it a better vise, the state of the screw and screw box and jaws and legs are what make it a better vise!

[utaholdiron]

@ Frank Turley, thanks for taking a look and giving me some pointers. I appreciate and value your input. I really enjoyed having a look at your PW vise. A friend of mine deals in antique farm equipment and every so often lands a post vise, anvil or forge blower. I would like to know what the Peter Wright markings on their vises looked like, and where on the screw box it was located? The only picture I've seen had a coat of arms stamp with it and the markings were visible when the screw box was assembled. Thanks again for you time and input.

[utaholdiron]

@ Thomas Powers, That's more or less what I was thinking. You are exactly right, the condition of the vise is more important than whatever markings (or lack of them ) are on the vise. Thanks for your input.

[Frank Turley]

Here are photos of my outdoor Peter Wright to show some of the features. It is mounted on a truck wheel. One photo shows the screw head with lathe turnings. Another shows "SOLID BOX" stamped on the "side" of the box. "P. WRIGHT" on top is obliterated. "PATENT" is present, but extremely difficult to read. The other photo shows the mounting plate setup.

[utaholdiron]

@ Frank Turley, thanks for the additional photos and your imparting of wisdom, you've answered alot of my questions and I appreciate it. Alan

[Sask Mark]

Here is the stamping on my Peter Wright vise if it helps at all:

[utaholdiron]

@ Sask Mark, Thanks, that's a nice one and almost completely all there. What is the coat of arms looking mark in the middle?

[Sask Mark]

Utaholdiron, I think it IS a coat of arms.

[John McPherson]

UK royal coat of arms it is.

[Frank Turley]

Sask Mark's photo brings up a theory that I posted some time ago. When I demoed in Queensland, Australia, in 2005, one of the participants had a collection of leg vises and small vises. We also had a number of vises at the workshop. Many of his PW leg vises were stamped with the British coats of arms. I suspect that the vises sent to British protectorates at a specific, early period were often stamped that way, and that would include Canada. I don't believe that the ones exported to the U.S. had the coat of arms stamp. If you find the coat of arms on a vise in the U.S., it might be a vise that came to the U.S. via Canada. Also, many of the Australian PW's had slight chamfering on the legs, whereas the U.S. imported vises had deep chamfering. When I visited Scotland, I saw one PW vise that had the slighty chamfered legs. The whole thing is intriguing as to the whys, wherefores, and the dates involved. This is theory; I'm always looking for more information.

I might also mention that Sask Mark's screw box conformation is different that those on mine (I have three PW vises).

[ThomasPowers]

You often see country specific "styles" back in the 19th century---just look at the different types of crosspein hammers we still see---French, Swedish, German, etc.

A company doing items for export might very well produce them in the "style" preferred in the selling country.

[Sask Mark]

I would like to provide you more information on my vise that would help you with your theory Mr. Turley, but my vise is made up of components from at least 2 separate vises. The screw box and screw appear to be Peter Wright, but the rest of the components I believe are from a Buckworth vise.

My 7.5" vise has a screw box very similar to my Peter Wright, but I can't find any stampings on it to verify the manufacturer.

[utaholdiron]

@ Sask Mark, you should post pictures of your 7.5" vise and possibly Misters Turley or Powers could identify it for you.

@ John McPherson, thanks for the input.

[Sask Mark]

My big vise looks like a generic English vise with the deep leg chamfering and the screw box similar to the Peter Wright. I can post pictures tonight but, as Thomas has stated before, there were many vise makers and many of those makers never marked their vises, so I doubt it is possible to positively identify the maker. It can't hurt to try though. Pics to follow tonight...

[ThomasPowers]

Mr Turley is the expert; I've just owned about 20 of them over the years.

[Sask Mark]

Here's my 170 pound vise:

[utaholdiron]

That's a beautiful vise, Sask Mark. To my untrained eye it looks, at the very least, to be quite old and of English origin. I hope Misters Turley or Powers will give it their appraisal. Thanks for the picture and your input. Alan

[Frank Turley]

I can't see all the features of Sask Mark's vise, but gut level tells me it is a Peter Wright.

[Sask Mark]

Mr. Turley, is there any features in particular that you would like to see? I have looked at the box closely and cannot see any stampings.

[Frank Turley]

Sask Mark,
If the PW vise comes with its original mounting plate, the ones I've seen are of the modified lozenge shape, which I've attached. They have that sloping rise toward the end which then shoulders into the central, circular boss.. The side profile of the plate on your large vise looks like what I've described and shown, but can't say for sure without seeing the overall shape. Columbian vises made an attempt to give the same look, but their cast plates were more triangular.

I've also sent photos of the bell-like portion of the box. I think that the lathe turnings may vary slightly from one PW vise to another, depending on when the vise was made, depending on who was doing the turning, and from which side of bed he may have arisen. My 5 3/4" screw box looks a lot like yours.

From left to right (measurements are jaw width):

My 5 3/8" PW plate; my 5 3/8" screw box; my 5 3/4" PW plate; my 5 3/4" screw box; my 6 7/8" PW screw box.

[Sask Mark]

I won't be able to make it to my shop to take additional pictures before the weekend, so hopefully these pictures can clarify things a little:


Thanks for your input Mr. Turley.