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A marvelous wrought iron blacksmith vice.

Lester Bowman

Hot Rolled
Joined
Apr 9, 2011
Location
Modesto california USA
This is the earliest blacksmith vice I've ever seen.It appears to be made entirely of wrought iron.It shows every shade of blacksmith skill and is marvelous in its execution.

The vice is marked with the initials J W.There are hardened pieces of steel forged into the vice forming the jaw face.The rear female screw is either bronze or brass.Everywhere is seen the "grain" of wrought iron and the beauty of splitting and forming.

Can anyone venture a guess as to the age of this vice? Also the way the stand holds the vice is very unique using a gib and cotter for tightening.Do you think J W is the maker or owner? Does the finials and fancy work fit into any time period? Thank you for your comments.
 

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A few more pics of wrought iron vice..

I forgot to mention the vice jaws measure 4 inches wide...a smaller vice.
 

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And the last pics of the wrought iron vice.

I've had a number of these old vices but none as old or dainty as this one..the jaws are notched to allow one to hold a round object.
 

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Nice vise..... it is real hard to date some hand made things as they were made the same way, sometimes in different countries for over a 100 years. Here is a plate from Diderot's encyclopedia from 1771...... has some similar features. The stamps for the J. W. look about a hundred years later.

ScreenShot2013-03-01at23755PM_zps503d7529.png
 
I had a 4 inch (sold it) that was pretty much identical to yours - down to the mounting plate. I also have four 5 inch vises that all show similar construction so I would hazard a guess it probably dates mid 1800's or thereabouts. On the other hand, I have read that many of the larger shops made all of their tools except the anvils - so this could well be a shop made vise.
 
The really old vices have brazed on threads...the threads were wound onto the mandrel and then heated in the forge and brazed onto the mandrel. most post vices are forged from wrought iron as blacksmiths made their own tools but this ones looks like it has a turned screw meaning it the screw was made around the vice or made at a time when most shops had a screw lathe available. That being said I cannot give you a definitive answer.
 
The screw on this one is definitely turned in a lathe because it possesses the tell tale centers.The thread looks like a square thread but the root has a slight "round" or radius.I looked inside the bronze nut and the threads appear to be integral with the nut.

Here are two pages from my 1898 "Waterhouse & Lester" buggy catalog showing somewhat later vices and the proprietary screws available. Yes..the screws look very similar.
 

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VISE! with an S! wouldn't have corrected you if you didn't say vice a hundred times. Otherwise, nice piece, great show of early craftsmanship
 
Thanks Putch.You've probably added another day or two to my life. Here is one definition coming from Wikipedia for vice....A vise or vice (see American and British English spelling differences) is a mechanical screw apparatus used for holding or clamping a work piece to allow work to be performed on it with tools such as saws, planes, drills, mills, screwdrivers, sandpaper, etc. Vises usually have one fixed jaw and another, parallel, jaw which is moved towards or away from the fixed jaw by the screw".
However I appreciate the education and apologize for using the term "vice" so relentlessly :)
 
Yes..the little ones.Here are two vises I have which are palm size..plus a cute little Boley mounted on my bench.
 

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And one more showing the difference in color indicating where the steel joins the wrought iron through forging.Was this standard practice on these old vises?
 

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An interesting thread. I also have one that appears to be entirely wrought iron, and I believe it has brazed-on threads. I'm away from home so I can't check, but it seems to me that the very end of the thread is slightly detached. I've wondered how it was made but never taken the time to look into it further. Would that be perhaps mid-19th century or even a bit earlier? I know its whereabouts back to the 30s at least and, given who owned it, I'd bet it was quite old when he got it.

jp
 
I looks like a peter wright vise to my eye, but that is hard to be sure, basing on the screw & box design and the little "ramps" above the screw on the body. Likely english though. It is probably newer than 1700's because the really old ones hat the table mount use a mortice and tenon joint instead of the wrap around clamp like yours has. (similar to one of your hand vises) It is an older one though because it has two straps to bolt to the table instead of a triangular blob for mounting. I think most postvises were wrought iron even into the first part of the 20th century (not sure of the cut off date).
Nice score :D
Rob
 
I sure appreciate all the replies thus far on this old vise.I especially appreciate the early illustration showing the construction of early vises and the screw cutting "lathe" used to form threads..perhaps evolved from the clock making industry.

The early method of forming a thread by wrapping wire and brazing into the box struck a familiar chord.The smaller bench vise I own have the threads "pulled" and it is no longer serviceable.However I thought it would be interesting to post pics of its construction.It is marked " H ? R Boker ".The ? mark probably is an "&" sign but I can't make it out.The smaller hand vise is simply marked " H Boker ".

Maynah also has a very interesting thread entitled "Nice post vise" which has all the appearances of Peter Wright.I don't know how to post a link..would somebody please do so? Thank you!

Also if anyone has a similar looking vise or one from approximately the same period please post a picture.Thank you!
 

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I have a bunch of Boker vises and other tools.... they are quite common. They were made in Germany in the 19th century..... sort of the German version of P. S. Stubs from England.... one catalog I have compares the calipers between Boker, Stubs and Stevens..... in that order with Boker being the lesser quality. Here is a bit on the history of Boker from their web site... you can read more up to their modern knife production...

Boker offers pocketknives and hunting knives.



A giant chestnut tree, shading the small Boeker tool factory in Remscheid in the 17th century, is the oldest traceable symbol connected with the Boeker name. Apparently, Boeker tools were very successful, since they were among the leading products in Germany and neighboring countries 100 years later.

Due to the increasing demand in a restless political era, Hermann and Robert Boeker decided in 1829 to begin with the production of sabers. As early as September 1830, the accounting records indicate a weekly production of 2,000 items, made by 64 smiths, 47 grinders and a large number of unskilled laborers. In view of the constantly increasing variety of tools and cutting instruments and the good opportunities for worldwide sales, the family realized that the individual steps in the manufacturing process had to be spread out for optimal realization of its interests. As a result, Hermann Boeker emigrated and founded H. Boeker & Co. in New York. Young Robert developed his enterprise in Canada, founding a branch in Mexico later in 1865. This branch is still a market leader in its country under the name of Casa Boeker.

Heinrich crossed the nearby Wupper river and went to Solingen, where the German industry of cutting tools was growing by leaps and bounds at that time. In 1869, he founded Heinr. Boeker & Co. with Hermann Heuser, a well-known specialist in the field of cutting tools. The Boeker family in Remscheid and their overseas cousins had a lot of interest in and a great demand for shaving blades, scissors and pocket knives from Heinrich's new enterprise. They had to identify their products for the overseas markets in a simple way, since many customers and consumers had problems with the German name Boeker - not considering the fact that illiteracy was widely spread. In Heinrich's opinion, the chestnut tree near the Remscheid facility represented an ideal, easy-to-remember symbol. This brand symbol was owned by the Remscheid company, together with a second logo, the arrow. One of the few valuable documents that survived the total destruction of WWII is an ad by Boeker, Remscheid, from the year 1874, showing both logos.

The relationship between the two Boeker companies had always been extremely friendly. Therefore, Heinrich was allowed to take the tree symbol across the river with him - without any big fight or cost. Since then, not a single Boeker article has left the Solingen factory without being identified by the tree symbol. After more than 100 years of existence the old chestnut tree was the victim of lightening. In 1925 a talented artist carved a copy of the majestic tree on a piece of the trunk. This original piece of art decorates the boss' office in the Boeker plant.
 
Nice early vise Lester. I think making up a spring should not be to hard for you. Are you planning on mounting it up and using it again? Would look real cool mounted on a nice old log or wooden bench.

I thought since we are talking about early post vises, I would share pictures of my favorite post vise. It is circa 1500 made in Germany. Wish I owned it:D Best regards, Jake

PMAVise4.jpg


PMAVise3.jpg


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PMAVise2.jpg
 
Hi Jake.Oh man..that vise is awesome:) I've been studying vises over the last few days and have found links to several made like this one..beautifully wrought sculptures.One thing that really stands out (besides the sculpting ) is..the vise is tightened from the back side rather than the front.

It almost leads one to imagine these early vises mounted on a post (rather than a bench) and the smith stood on the mounting side of the vise to perform his duties.I wonder if the square screw nut is a replacement? Could very well be after five hundred years of pulling a jaw!

I'll make a spring for mine.I've already fixed the ugly flame cut cotter that stuck out way to far and mounted it temporarily on a heavy old bench mostly for looks.I could easily fill my little shop with blacksmith related tools but I've made it a point to stop at vises and one anvil..which I still haven't found.Still hunting for the one I can't resist..and afford!

Thanks for the 15th century vise pics.I would say these marvelous pieces speak to us on so many levels..if only they spoke in words we would certainly be amazed at their stories and the events they've seen.
 
On the subject of a replacement spring. Old buggy springs can work out really well or very light leaf springs from a trailer or such. I have made them from heavier leaf springs but they tend to be too stiff.
 








 
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