Large Vise

I discovered this forum trying to find some information on a vise I inherited several years ago and have been curious about for about 30 years. It has on the side The Columbian Vise and Tool Manufacturing Company; Cleveland Ohio with the number 508 alongside. It has jaws 8 1/2" wide and opens 18", the handle is 1' thick and 17" long and was originally gray in color. I would appreciate any information anyone can give me about, including possible value. I currently use it to work on my farm equipment but will soon no longer be able to and feel it would be a shame to let such a vise go to waste. No one in my family wants it, to heavy, weighs approx. 175 pounds.

Steve
Welcome!
Pictures would help with your questions.
There is third from the top a topic, "Posting images and links" that deals with how to post images. Give that a try. If all else fails send them to me and i will post them for you.

Marshall

I appreciate your reply, I have already read the instructions on the image placing and if I understand right you need a homepage or something similar to do so and I do not have one. I will be glad to send you the pictures I have, I think you will find them interesting. Thank you very much.
Steve

Thats a nice heavy vise for someone who is fairly close to Steve. The base looks kind of thin, but that may just be because of the overall size of the vise makes it look that way.

A 175-lb bench vise is the second-largest one I've ever heard of. A very interesting piece!

Man, if it was closer, I'd tak that in a second! (If JL Sargent didn't beat me to it.) That is a monster vise and a good quality name. I think big vises are like big shapers and big lathes, though... harder to sell because you can't move them easily. The price depends on how many people close to you want one and are willing to drive up and get it, versus a smaller vise that might bring more because UPS will drop it at your door anywhere for just a few bucks.

Steve
I may be down to Bonham,Texas to visit friends around Thanksgiving time. If you want to part with this "lump" at that time let me know.
Marshall

edit: added 2 Big Grins

[ 08-22-2007, 09:56 PM: Message edited by: Marshall Henderson ]

I second the notion that an older Columbian vise is a high-quality item.

Despite its great weight, this vise is much too graceful to be called a lump! Notice that the anvil area in the back of the vise is not overly large, and there's no pritchell hole or anvil horn, both of which I've seen on old Columbian vises. This vise was not meant for ham-handed pounding! No, this one was meant to be used for more delicate operations on large workpieces.

Bench-mounting this would require a very stout workbench, indeed!

JRR

I have 3 big ones like that, but they weigh in around 260 pounds.
I'd like to have it, would pay plenty for it, but I'd hate to pay the shipping.

If you're willing to get it to a local shipping terminal, I'll take it.

PM me for contact info.

Thanks,

Andy

That No. 508 Columbian is a nice heavy vise, alright, but there were yet larger, heavier ones built back before the war.

I've seen only a very few of the really big ones, doubtless they were so costly when new that only the Navy, the railroads, and a few mine or mill operations would have bought them.

Just for amusement, I dug out a couple of old machinery catalogs from the '20's and '30's, to get some specs on the seriously heavy vises which were available as an 'off the shelf' item, years ago....

The Columbian 508 was the largest of the '500 series' of standard machinists' bench vises. Its catalog spec listing was 8" jaw width, opening 13", and weighing 150lbs.

The Columbian 'heavy chipping vises', advertised as 'A careful study of conditions in railroad shops and steel mills has led to the design of this vise for extra heavy duty work. It is practically indestructible'. (note the 'practically'....I remember seeing a broken one in a scrap yard, some years ago, and wondering just what sort of men worked in the shop where that vise had been used)

The Columbian 'heavy chipping vises' were the No. 107, listed as 7" jaw, 11-1/2" opening, weight 218lbs., and the No. 108-1/2, listed as 8-1/2" jaw width, 13" opening, and weighing 268lbs. A rather serious tool, that......

One of the Columbian Co's competitors, the Reed Co., of Erie PA, 'went them one better' so to speak with their No. 109, listed as 9" jaw width, 13" opening, and weighing 290lbs. I've only ever seen one of those, which was salvaged from the maintenence shop in a large saw-mill, after the mill itself burned down.

And then there was the 'Trenton chain vise', basically the old style of blacksmiths' 'leg-vise', except that it used two screws connected by a link-chain, for parallel opening.....some of those were literally of 'monstrous' size.....intended for the very heaviest of hand forging work, presumably.

cheers

Carla

Thats a nice vise. Not the one Im looking for however. That would be a pre 1900 power hammer worked (not cast) 10" post vise at 350lbs or so. Or I want a Starrett 346 w/swivel base at 240ish. I mean, if we are gonna be picky.

On chain driven post vises, Fisher made em and those are highly sought after. I have seem only a couple in person.

Wow, this thread really got me juiced up! I've been looking for a long time for a GIGANTIC vise. That Reed No. 109 looks pretty awesome. I wrote to Reed and asked if they had any info on them and they sent me a .pdf of an old catalog with their complete "100 series" line.

Sargent - the 10" monster you describe sounds pretty awesome!

Ryan

Here's a Columbian 108 that sold recently on ebay - http://cgi.ebay.com/Antique-Columbian-Vise-Tool-LARGEST-EVER-on-eBay-278-LB_W0QQitemZ160183577454

Mudflap said:

Here's a Columbian 108 that sold recently on ebay - http://cgi.ebay.com/Antique-Columbian-Vise-Tool-LARGEST-EVER-on-eBay-278-LB_W0QQitemZ160183577454

Click to expand...

Yes! I watched that one with great interest.

I didn't bid on it because I didn't feel it was worth $150 with the fixed jaw all goobered up like that. I'd have jumped on it for $50-$75.

Ryan

Dad had one of the Fisher twin-screw vises for a while. It was one of the smaller ones (6" jaws).
Here is one of Clark Fisher's patents, which shows the vise in the drawing, but makes no mention of it's unique mechanism in the text (he is actually patenting the idea of the vise/bench unit): http://www.google.com/patents?id=_0lNAAAAEBAJ&pg=PP1&dq=fisher+vise#PPP1,M1

The current owners of Reed tool own a piece of property next door to my parents- dad's drill press vise is a Reed 2nd that they gave to him.
Andy

That ebey Columbian is awsome! A friend has a old Parker vise that large. It's well worn at the acme screw and nut. It sits in the corner but he won't sell it!

That giant Ebay Columbian is back up for sale. "Non compliant buyer"...whatever that means.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...Track=true&ssPageName=VIP:Watchlink:middle:us

Like I said before, I would LOVE to have that thing but I just don't see it being worth $150 (or more) with the fixed jaw all goobered up.

Ryan

Think of the price as "per pound", and $150/278lbs = a mere 54 cents/lb! The horrible weld job on the rear jaw could be milled off and a new jaw made. With a little bit of luck it could be almost as good as new.

Carla's discovery of an old catalog listing stating that that vise was designed for "heavy chipping", explains why it does not have an anvil area on the back. I wonder what the weight of the workpiece was? And, was the bench made out of RR ties?

"Heavy chipping" - few people alive today seem to appreciate the "art of the cold chisel". (That's why such chisels sell, in good used condition, for $1 at the Flea Market) Joe Michaels once hit it on the head (no pun intended) when he wrote that a cold chisel is a poor man's shaper. I have already amazed a couple of young guys by cutting something cold, and this wasn't even job-related. My "dream bench" would have a drilled block with various sizes of cold chisels standing at the ready. (And, I was just down in the basement working on the top of this dream bench, which will be made up of edge-glued 2x6's, with the front part made of salvaged old-growth timber.)

John Ruth