Craig's list find of an old barn vise.  5" jaws.  Starting cleanup and disassembly.  First one I'm restoring, should I paint it?

       

 

Nice find.  The spring and mounting hardware at there too!  I would paint it but down here in Alabama the humidity is so high in the summer mine was rusting just laying on the bench in my shop after I took a wire wheel to it to get the surface rust off.  Not sure if it's "correct" to paint them but I did to keep mine from rusting.

Will it look best in fresh paint or covered in rust and flaking old paint where you intend to put it? Sometimes the surroundings have theanswer, not the piece you are working on.

Is your shop heated?  If not then the condensation issues in "upstate New York" WILL result in rust. 

However there are  alternatives to paint.  If you like the patina look; wiping it down with boiled linseed oil after you remove all the loose rust will darken and preserve the "look".   On the other hand it's your vise feel free to go wild with a multicoloured paint job using paints made for painting steel.

I'm with Thomas, personally I like old tools to have their "patina" so I use BLO or Ballistol to protect them after cleaning off the rust & crud. Looks like you found a gem.

I just used a wire brush on an angle grinder (a fairly dangerous thing to do) and then coated it with BLO. 

Had I painted it I would have gone with olive drab, because that was the color of the paint beneath all the rust and grime. Yours looks to have been red at some point. 

Thanks for all the advise.  Yes it was red at some time, but I also prefer the steel patina look.  Upstate is always damp, it seems, so some form of rust prevention is in order.  I'll get some BLO and use that.  It will match my other post vise then.  This one is a bit heavier with a deeper throat, so I plan on mounting it a bit lower.

Also used a 4.5" grinder and twisted wire wheel to break off the initial layers of crud, rust and peeling paint.  A bit hairy at times, but I had on both safety glasses and a face shield (and stupidly shorts... but you have to throw the dice sometimes I guess).  First photo was a before and second after.  Amazing how easily it all came off, probably could have used a pressure washer.

Just hang it outside and let the wind blown sand blast it?  (Or is that just a NM thing...)

When I did it I was wearing jeans, but no apron. The wires are like little darts when they break off. More than a couple imbedded themselves in my belly and thighs.