Prentiss Vise

Looking for some info on this vise, it was my great grandfathers. All the Prentiss Vises I have seen online have a stamp on the side with the type. The jaws are 4 1/2 inches.
The only markings are
PRENTISS.N.Y
89
AABW99

With tall thin jaws that would be considered a sheetmetal vise I think.

The back jaw pivots for tapered parts. Remove the pin.

I believe this is called a Carriage Maker's vise. Designed for holding odd shapes (primarily of wood) in making carriages.

And yes, it's pretty good for sheetmetal work as well. I have one which will be fantastic holding my wood scraper when burnishing.

Taken together, the two features, tall smooth jaws and swiveling rear jaw, identify this as a Coach Maker's vise. An old-time wooden coach is frame-and-panel construction with the edges of many panels curved.

Bottom row, center of this page on Pinterest:

Helpful chart. Courtesy of my friend Bart. | Prentiss Bench Vise in 2019 | Pinterest | Bench vise, Shop cabinets and Workshop storage

Note that there are two quite-different Prentiss Coach Maker vises shown on this distributor catalog page.

I'm going to go out on a limb and speculate that this was one of Prentiss' early products from the 1800's. Prentiss started off in Watertown, NY in the era of the U.S. Civil War.

It's an unusual and useful old vise! Congratulations on your acquisition, and of course we all wish you the best of luck in extracting the swivel locking pin without damaging the casting.

(Check to see if the pin hole goes all the way through; you might be able to tap it out from the bottom with a pin punch.)

John Ruth

We have the same vise on our tool crib, although ours has shorter jaws with screw-in inserts, but same size and same swiveling back jaw. Looks like ours is a "Machinist's flat base" vise.

The back jaw makes it handy to hold on to tapered shank tool holders.

Ours was missing the pin, so I made one and stamped "Do not hit" on the head but at some point I want to make one with a ball-top. So many of these vises get every square inch of them pounded on. On ours the "Prentiss" lettering is almost gone.

ry85--you might check on the Garage Journal forum "The VISES of Garage Journal" thread. Those guys are serious collectors and should provide plenty of information.

Tom B.

Thank you for all the information. I was able to remove the swivel pin. It was a rounded bolt.

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