Grandpa's vise

[gaswizard]

Here is an old Columbia 4" vise that was owned by my late grandpa Roy Lindquist. This vise was the last and only thing left of his stuff bolted to a table in the garage that know one wanted after he passed away so I took it. Grandpa was a tinkerer of all tinkerer's. In 1939 on Addison Ave in Palo Alto CA, Roy became Hewlett-Packard's very first employee but since he was there for only 6 months he never received recognition as an employee for that company. In 1940 he moved onto Eimac in San Carlos, CA. Eimac offered Roy a $.60 an hour more than what HP was paying him so he went for it. He made high performance transmitting tubes and was known as a scientific glass blower. He made TV sets with the old cathode ray's. Later on he made the exterior light bulbs that went onto the first manned spacecraft for the Apollo Missions, my "grandpa Roy lit the moon". He assisted with the design of the Standford Linear Accelerator back in 1961 during the design and build stages, "grandpa Roy was splitting atoms". He built homemade telescopes and polished his own lenses so he could look at the universe at night. I can remember him bringing out his 6 foot long x 8" round telescope at night to show us the stars and planets. When I was a little guy he told me "you see that TV screen, there is a camera inside of it, they are watching you". He was married to Milga and had 3 kids, Roanne, Judy, and Bill and lived in Woodside, CA on a couple acres.

I use this vice every single day of my life in my lighting restoration shop. Every time I use this vise I think of him and all he has done.

"Thank You Grandpa Roy"

Cheers and "happy metal working"

Paul

[Daswulf]

Great story and memories. I still have and use a columbian vise my grandfather had and used as well. It's great to use tools our fathers, grandfathers and even further used. We are lucky to have these tools and experiences. 

[Lou L]

Sounds like an amazing guy!  My grandfather painted the exterior of most of the buildings in our capital city, fell from one of them, and drank until he terrorized his family every weekend.  Can you smell my envy?  

seriously..that was another great post.