I am a sucker for user made tools. I find the craftsmanship and creativity
involved in these tools to often be amazing. And of course, sometimes you just
have to wonder why? What was the motivation?

Recently SWMBO and I took off for a week of travel thru southern New England. We
love to poke around in small towns and small town antique shops and of course at
this time of the year there is the wonderful fall color. While crossing
Connecticut we even managed a brief visit w/ Josh Clark for a little tool talk.
Heading out onto Cape Cod, in Bourne as I recall, we stopped at a shoppe. Joanne
was ahead of me and she said I should check out the vise in the next booth --
she has become a great rust spotter. But there was little rust on this vise,
it's mostly made out of wood.

It looks like a regular bench top vise. The 3 1/2-inch wide jaws are about
7-inches above the bench. They are opened and closed w/ an Acme screw and there
is a wood screw w/ a nut at the bottom of the jaws to keep them aligned. There
are screw holes in the bottom of the case that holds the Acme screw to suggest
that it had been screwed to a bench top from beneath. There are also two screw
holes in each side which may mean it had some kind of added rails to hold it to
a bench. The jaws are leather lined. My first thot was that it was a leather
worker's vise, but I think it is too slow for a leather worker. My impression
has always been that they need to grasp and release often and quickly. Seems too
big for a jeweler's vise. Whatever it is for, it is well made w/ wonderfully
bold dovetails to hold the case/mount to the jaws.

Any one seen one like this? Ideas on what trade it might have been created for?

Pictures are at:  https://www.flickr.com/photos/77280442@N.../sets/7215
7648523527328/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/77280442@N.../sets/721576485235273
28/

Bill

At 12:45 PM 10/23/2014, William Ghio wrote:
>I am a sucker for user made tools. I find the craftsmanship and 
>creativity involved in these tools to often be amazing. And of 
>course, sometimes you just have to wonder why? What was the motivation?

>Any one seen one like this? Ideas on what trade it might have been 
>created for?
>
>Pictures are 
>at:  https://www.flickr.com/photos/77280442@N.../sets/7215764852352732
8/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/77280442@N.../sets/72157648523527328/

That is a gunsmith's vise.  The leather lined jaws are to prevent 
damage to the stock and barrel.   I have had a couple but they were 
newer ones.  That is a great find.

Tony (with a few vices and vises.....)



                         Olde River Hard Goods
                     http://www.oldetoolshop.com">http://www.oldetoolshop.com
                                   TSMusic on Facebook
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ok.com/tonyseomusic

Bill

Is that a dark stain/paint on the top of the jaws? Was the leather put on after
the staining was done?

Ed Minch




On Oct 23, 2014, at 12:45 PM, William Ghio  wrote:

> Any one seen one like this? Ideas on what trade it might have been created
for?
> 
> Pictures are at:  https://www.flickr.com/photos/77280442@N.../sets/72
157648523527328/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/77280442@N.../sets/7215764852352
7328/
> 
> Bill

It appears to be brown paint and went on after the leather was applied.


On Oct 23, 2014, at 4:29 PM, Ed Minch  wrote:

> Bill
> 
> Is that a dark stain/paint on the top of the jaws? Was the leather put on
after the staining was done?
> 
> Ed Minch
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Oct 23, 2014, at 12:45 PM, William Ghio  wrote:
> 
>> Any one seen one like this? Ideas on what trade it might have been created
for?
>> 
>> Pictures are at:  https://www.flickr.com/photos/77280442@N.../sets/7
2157648523527328/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/77280442@N.../sets/721576485235
27328/
>> 
>> Bill
>

...and 12 minutes after posting, he has his answer.

The Porch is simply amazing...   :)


--Travis

On Fri, Oct 24, 2014 at 2:57 AM, Anthony Seo  wrote:

> At 12:45 PM 10/23/2014, William Ghio wrote:
>
>>
>> ((SNIPPAGE))


>
>  Any one seen one like this? Ideas on what trade it might have been
>> created for?
>>
>>
>> ((SNIPPAGE))


>
> That is a gunsmith's vise.
>

On Oct 23, 2014, at 12:57 PM, Anthony Seo  wrote:

> At 12:45 PM 10/23/2014, William Ghio wrote:
>> I am a sucker for user made tools. I find the craftsmanship and creativity
involved in these tools to often be amazing. And of course, sometimes you just
have to wonder why? What was the motivation?
> 
>> Any one seen one like this? Ideas on what trade it might have been created
for?
>> 
>> Pictures are at:  https://www.flickr.com/photos/77280442@N.../sets/7
2157648523527328/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/77280442@N.../sets/721576485235
27328/
> 
> That is a gunsmith's vise.  The leather lined jaws are to prevent damage to
the stock and barrel.   I have had a couple but they were newer ones.  That is a
great find.
> 

Thanks Tony. The gunsmith use makes sense. It appears to have been mounted to
resist lateral or twisting forces and putting a long gun in the vise would
certainly produce those forces. It also gets the piece up higher for detail work
and, being wood, it will not produce so much pressure at the jaws to be likely
to damage anything. Now, I just have to find a use for it or own up to the vice
of vises.

Bill------------------------------------------------------------------------

On 10/24/2014 8:48 AM, William Ghio wrote:
> The gunsmith use makes sense. It appears to have been mounted to resist
lateral or twisting forces and putting a long gun in the vise would certainly
produce those forces. It also gets the piece up higher for detail work and,
being wood, it will not produce so much pressure at the jaws to be likely to
damage anything. Now, I just have to find a use for it or own up to the vice of
vises.
Seems to me it would be real useful for shaping with spokeshave & files 
or for carving.

Don

Bill Ghio asked: "Any one seen one like this? Ideas on what trade it might have
been created for?

>  https://www.flickr.com/photos/77280442@N.../sets/72157648523527328/"
>https://www.flickr.com/photos/77280442@N.../sets/72157648523527328/ <

It might originally have been made to be held in an ordinary bench vise, to be
tilted and turned so that a workpiece can be attacked from different sides. Sort
of a home-made patternmakers' or carvers' vise.

Tom Conroy
Berkeley

Sent from my iPad

> On Oct 24, 2014, at 5:42 PM, Thomas Conroy  wrote:
> 
> Bill Ghio asked: "Any one seen one like this? Ideas on what trade it might
have been created for?
> 
> >  https://www.flickr.com/photos/77280442@N.../sets/72157648523527328
/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/77280442@N.../sets/72157648523527328/ <
> 
> It might originally have been made to be held in an ordinary bench vise, to be
tilted and turned so that a workpiece can be attacked from different sides. Sort
of a home-made patternmakers' or carvers' vise.
> 
> Tom Conroy
> Berkeley

Don't think that was original use, but certainly will be mine.. Thanks for the
ideas.

Bill