I recent got my first post vise and I have no idea how old it is or who might have made it.  I've been trying to learn as much as I can about it but, I'm finding out that a lot of different people/companies made them and never put any identifying marks on them.  I thought it would be worth a shot to ask here. 

It looks (to my untrained eye) to be hand forged so that makes me wonder if it was made around the mid to late 19th century.  I also wonder if the screw and screw box might not be the original parts.  I wonder about the screw box because the "duck tail" looking part on the back of each jaw looks like someone with skill made them but, the screw box looks like it was made by someone with a little less skill. When I got the vise apart I noticed that 4 of the pieces had 3 dots on them.  So far, those are the only markings on the vise.  When I got the screw box cleaned up some, I saw that it appears to have been brazed/welded with bronze or brass.  You can see it in multiple places where it looks like it had seams that have been brazed/welded.  Another thing that I haven't been able to figure out is the slot on one side of the pivot pin hole.  I don't know if it was put there intentionally by whoever made it or if it was something someone else did by accident or after the fact.  If I need to post more or different pictures to show different parts of the vise, let me know. 
 

Definitely some mixed signals there.  The mounting plate is not a mortise and tenon set up so not too early; but the forge brazed screwbox is an earlier type.  The pivot bolt with a locking protrusion often goes with an earlier style too especially when the bolt is wedged rather than  a nut. 

You do realize that being made in a factory does not mean it can't be hand forged don't you?

The 3 dots are to keep all the pieces together for a "fitted" assembly. I'm leaning towards a major replacement of the screwbox done by a smith in his smithy to a postvise that had a problem.  As screws and screwboxes could be bought in the Sears and Roebuck catalogs it probably predated the 1890's or was in a backward area.

As for maker---you haven't supplied a major factor LOCATION; If I was asking about a used car and said I was in Russia, a Lada might be a good guess; If I was in the USA a Lada would be a terrible guess while a Ford might be more likely.  We have folks here from over 100 different countries so we generally suggest you edit your profile and add a generaL LOCATION.

2 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said:

Definitely some mixed signals there.  The mounting plate is not a mortise and tenon set up so not too early; but the forge brazed screwbox is an earlier type.  The pivot bolt with a locking protrusion often goes with an earlier style too especially when the bolt is wedged rather than  a nut. 

You do realize that being made in a factory does not mean it can't be hand forged don't you?

The 3 dots are to keep all the pieces together for a "fitted" assembly. I'm leaning towards a major replacement of the screwbox done by a smith in his smithy to a postvise that had a problem.  As screws and screwboxes could be bought in the Sears and Roebuck catalogs it probably predated the 1890's or was in a backward area.

As for maker---you haven't supplied a major factor LOCATION; If I was asking about a used car and said I was in Russia, a Lada might be a good guess; If I was in the USA a Lada would be a terrible guess while a Ford might be more likely.  We have folks here from over 100 different countries so we generally suggest you edit your profile and add a generaL LOCATION.

It didn't occur to me that being made in a factory could mean that it was still hand forged.  

Sorry about forgetting the location.  I bought it in Greensboro, North Carolina.  

I think it is an Alfa Romeo

I like the hammer deflecting protrusions on the jaws. Usually on expensive vices.

Clearly repaired or parts replaced at some stage, but not a Frankenstein vice. 

Aha; perhaps a repair from up in the hills during the great depression or even the reconstruction.

I have an old vise: tenon mount, wedged pivot bolt (no screw threads) where the screwbox was built up of a bunch of pieces all forge brazed together.  From what I can see that screwbox was a single piece and the threaded insert was made and brazed in it replacing the original threads.

My vote is Peter Wright with new screw box 

I have an almost identical vise i got from my grandmothers byre in Scotland. Been sitting there for at least 40 years but probably longer, it was in the byre when she bought the property and she didn't know it existed. Mine however has two dots instead of three and no dots on the spring. I also observed the same brazing on the screw box and was perplexed by it. The jaws on mine are 105mm/4" and in total length of very close to 1m. Still in process of removing rust so one of the photos is rusty but you can still see the two dots. In the last photo you can see what looks like welds from welding rods or maybe oxy acetylene, looks like maybe welding harder steel plate on the teeth of the jaws? But im pretty sure the vice is have is wrought iron and is clearly handmade and old

I forgot you'd made this post too or I would've mentioned not submitting the same post more than once. Sure there is some new stuff in this one but nothing significant. If you wish to strike up a conversation with someone on an already covered topic a good way it to select their avatar and select "Message". You can say anything you wish however you wish unlike on the open forum where there are some rules for language topics, etc.

Frosty The Lucky.