So I'm watching the news the other day and caught a blurb about an armory museum closing in Worcester MA. (pronounced Woosta by us locals.) Then I get a call from my buddy - Archiphile on IFI - do I want to go check it out before it closes.

 

There were a lot of old weapons and armor, but they also had these. The leg vice was from Germany or Italy circa 17th century.

The anvil was from Central Europe circa 1763. I really thought the vice was a true museum piece.

The museum was the Higgins Armory Museum  http://www.higgins.org

Greetings Cross Pien,

 

Thanks for shareing the pictures... Sure  puts my stuff to shame...  Reminds me of some of the old carpenter tools with detail...  An age when professional ment something... 

 

Jim

Wow.  It is terrible that a museum like that is closing.  What is to become of its collections?  I did not know that this museum even existed.  I have been through that area dozens of times in the last 10 years.  I would have made it a point to visit.

 

That vise with the face is a work of art.  Absolutely amazing.

 

And that anvil and the others in the collection are wonderful too.

Wow.  It is terrible that a museum like that is closing.  What is to become of its collections?  I did not know that this museum even existed.  I have been through that area dozens of times in the last 10 years.  I would have made it a point to visit.

 

That vise with the face is a work of art.  Absolutely amazing.

 

And that anvil and the others in the collection are wonderful too.

It is less than an hour for me and I never heard of it until they announced the closing.

The museum is open until December 31, 2013. 

The collection will be moved to the Worcester Art Museum after that.  If you are into armor - particularly European - it is definitely worth visiting. 

 

Bill

I visited there about 15 years ago, at the time they were claiming to have the largest collection of European arms and armor in the Americas.  IIRC the museum started off as a small armor replica shop in the corner of a rich industrialist's factory and grew to take over the entire building.  

How do you tighten that vice? Design flaw?

 

Cross Pein, I live near Worcester, UK, pronounced locally; "Wustaah".

How do you tighten that vice? Design flaw?

 

There's a big nut in the back, with a separate handle which is used.  You can see the collar of the handle in the first photo and the end of the handle in the second.  This was the normal arrangement of a vise in the 16th century.

 

I just got a PhD on medieval armour, so the closure is a huge deal for me.

Dr. Nick, congratulations on you PhD!

 

So, is the handle like a captive ring spanner that you disengage/engage to tighten? Or a ratchet of some kind? What I'm trying to ask is how the handle goes round, as it the bench would get in the way of a full circle.

Thanks, Dan :)

 

It is a spanner, and the bench would get in the way.  I've attached an image from the Mendel Hausbuch which shows it in use.  In this case the screw is facing out but the vise is mounted into the bench so the spanner (between hammer and vise) still must be removed.  A full leg vise is shown a little later, and the Hausbuch also has the earliest known depiction of a vise.  When they're leg vises on the edge of the bench they are shown facing towards the bench, away, and even sideways.  By the end of the century the familiar arrangement had been developed:

 

Thanks Nick, that's very interesting. Indeed, I could have looked at that illustration a dozen times and never noticed the way his vice works.

Thanks Nick, Cross Pein, and all responders for the photos and information. I am a leg vise aficionado, if there be such a thing. Your posts give good history, and also thanks for the Mendel Hausbuch reference. I'm devouring it.

 

Ive had a post card color photo of the Wofchester museum vise for years and it shows the handle out to the side. I couldn't figure it out till now. By the bye, correct me if I'm wrong, but what we Yanks call a wrench, the Brits call a spanner.

How do you tighten that vice? Design flaw?

 

Cross Pein, I live near Worcester, UK, pronounced locally; "Wustaah".

 

"Wustaah" sounds about right to me.

 

Dr. Nick, congratulations on you PhD!

 

So, is the handle like a captive ring spanner that you disengage/engage to tighten? Or a ratchet of some kind? What I'm trying to ask is how the handle goes round, as it the bench would get in the way of a full circle.

 

I don't think it is captive.  Just a big 6 point box wrench.  And the bench would absolutely get in the way.

 

 

Thanks Nick, that's very interesting. Indeed, I could have looked at that illustration a dozen times and never noticed the way his vice works.

Sorry I didn't get a better picture of the back end - but it was facing the wall - and I had to stay behind the rope.

If you go to the Higgins website they have another view from the front in the collections database.