Parker No. 3 vise

[ebinmaine 67,570]

Picked this beast up this afternoon. 

 

Any info would be appreciated. 

 

 

 

[Pullstart 62,905]

Awesome!

[formariz 11,987]

It was made in Meriden , Conn. It cost $11.75 in 1888. Should have a 4-3/4” jaw and weigh 59.5 lbs. Good vise. Are you looking for any particular information?

[gwest_ca-(File Mod) 11,046]

This link does not work.

https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/ec/db/44/8877ac5879af83/US72327.pdf

H K Porter made/make bolt and cable cutters

The date got my attention.

[formariz 11,987]

In reference to the patent just posted, Parker had two patents in improving the handle movement in their handles. The one posted which is a screw that can be tightened to restrict handle movement is a later one. The previous patent had a spring clip inside handle’s head which provided continuous friction keeping handle in same position within it. I am not sure they were ever made with the second patent using screw. I have never seen one but catalogue drawings renditions of vises do show it. I have however come across several with the internal spring.

Edited June 29, 2022 by formariz

[ebinmaine 67,570]

8 hours ago, formariz said:

It was made in Meriden , Conn. It cost $11.75 in 1888. Should have a 4-3/4” jaw and weigh 59.5 lbs. Good vise. Are you looking for any particular information?

Basically I was looking to find out if it was something worth using and you've answered that. Thank you.

Any thoughts on actual date or rough range of manufacture year?

 

 

What I'd like to do is pressure wash it and disassemble it some. Repaint it.

Do we know what color or colors it would have been?

 

I'm under the impression this was "part of a building" for many years. Just sat buried somewhere.

I'll check with the guy that I got it from and confirm. He mentioned getting it and a couple other things and soaking them with Marvel oil for a few weeks to free them up. This particular vice still has the very old square headed bolts that would have held it down to somebody's bench many decades ago. In fact, the nuts are still in place and I'd almost assume that the bench or whatever it was attached to disintegrated at some point. 

[ri702bill 8,327]

6 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

What I'd like to do is pressure wash it and disassemble it some. Repaint it.

Do we know what color or colors it would have been?

Lead paint - don't lick it!!!

[ebinmaine 67,570]

2 minutes ago, ri702bill said:

Lead paint - don't lick it!!!

Too late.

 

 

I'm kidding I'm kidding I'm kidding....

 

 

There's actually almost no paint left on this thing.

[midpack 866]

Funny, I just found a Parker at a flea market last week. had to check, it's a #2 but still plenty sturdy!

 

I'd like to say you just can't kill these old vises, but I've broken 2 so far. One was my Dad's old Athol vise  The other was an old Columbian branded vise

 

The one I have on my bench now is massive vintage Craftsman, but I'll always grab one for a spare if the $$$ is good!   

 

 

[ri702bill 8,327]

1 hour ago, midpack said:

old Athol vise

...always sounds like an insult, delivered with a lisp!!

[ebinmaine 67,570]

4 minutes ago, ri702bill said:

...always sounds like an insult, delivered with a lisp!!

Absolutely agreed. Now try the fact that I was born and raised in that area.

 

More times than I could even tell you I've heard..

 

You WHAT now??

[davem1111 2,030]

Great find!   

 

This one has been in the family for many years, apparently belonged to my great-grandfather.  My oldest daughter (who is a mechanic) will be inheriting it from me.  I think it's from somewhere between 1900-1920.

 

[gwest_ca-(File Mod) 11,046]

http://vintagemachinery.org/mfgindex/detail.aspx?id=11524

 

There is more in the history line

[ebinmaine 67,570]

13 minutes ago, gwest_ca said:

http://vintagemachinery.org/mfgindex/detail.aspx?id=11524

 

There is more in the history line

 

Excellent. Thanks Garry.

 

 

1 hour ago, davem1111 said:

  My oldest daughter (who is a mechanic) will be inheriting it from me

VERY cool.  

[Pullstart 62,905]

I used to have a kitty litter bucket full of old oil.  I’ve taken a few items that size and just tossed ‘em in for a month or so with pretty spectacular results!  

[formariz 11,987]

5 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

Any thoughts on actual date or rough range of manufacture year?

 Yours is an early one. From details on it probably around 1887. Main fact dictating that is patent date on casting. After about 15 years after that date they were no longer cast with patents on it. The scalloped base is also an indication . Later years was not so scalloped. If handle can be removed from head check for the friction spring in there. Not always possible to remove without damage . 
 The No.3 and others with the same type of single number model designation were the basic model vises available from Parker, and the least expensive. They are however basically indestructible and were known for the strength of the one piece movable jaw and beam.  Looks like you still have both jaw pads mostly intact. It’s a good thing because they are impossible to get due to their unique shape which was pretty much proprietary to them and Prentis. 
 As for color I believe they were black. I seen faint traces of that on several looking original but never any other color. It’s a matter of personal preference but for me a vise should be black or battleship gray if painting is to be done. However the best is to clean them oil them and leaving them with their dignified original patina.

[formariz 11,987]

2 hours ago, davem1111 said:

Great find!   

 

This one has been in the family for many years, apparently belonged to my great-grandfather.  My oldest daughter (who is a mechanic) will be inheriting it from me.  I think it's from somewhere between 1900-1920.

 

 We discussed yours in an earlier thread. That is a very rare type seldom seen today. Awesome vise.

[davem1111 2,030]

2 hours ago, formariz said:

 We discussed yours in an earlier thread. That is a very rare type seldom seen today. Awesome vise.

 

Thanks - yeah I know we did, but I couldn't remember if @ebinmaine had been present in that thread and I wanted him to see it.  I also found out recently that my son has a Parker that was left behind in the garage when he bought his house a couple years ago.  I think it's a No. 40-something, quite a bit newer but still old school.

[formariz 11,987]

12 minutes ago, davem1111 said:

 

Thanks - yeah I know we did, but I couldn't remember if @ebinmaine had been present in that thread and I wanted him to see it.  I also found out recently that my son has a Parker that was left behind in the garage when he bought his house a couple years ago.  I think it's a No. 40-something, quite a bit newer but still old school.

 You have the Oval Slide model. Can you get photos of the other one?

[Jeff-C175 7,202]

6 hours ago, ri702bill said:

delivered with a lisp!!

 

And the guy that invented the word " lisp " was a masochist.

 

 

[formariz 11,987]

Correcting a statement I made before, they were made with the screw on the handle’s head. Just saw a photo of one and a mention of it in one of my catalogs. So if no screw another indication that it is an early one. 
 

 Interestingly enough in one of catalogs it is mentioned a series called the Green Vise, which I have never come across. Catalog artwork is black and white so I am assuming that those particular vises were green. 

[davem1111 2,030]

17 minutes ago, formariz said:

 You have the Oval Slide model. Can you get photos of the other one?

 

 

That's all I have - it's at my son's 700 miles away, so I won't have any other views any time soon. He's pretty busy so I'm not going to ask him to take any other pictures until at least Sunday, if someone wants to see them.

 

 

[Rob J. 1,942]

3 hours ago, formariz said:

 Yours is an early one. From details on it probably around 1887. Main fact dictating that is patent date on casting. After about 15 years after that date they were no longer cast with patents on it. The scalloped base is also an indication . Later years was not so scalloped. If handle can be removed from head check for the friction spring in there. Not always possible to remove without damage . 
 The No.3 and others with the same type of single number model designation were the basic model vises available from Parker, and the least expensive. They are however basically indestructible and were known for the strength of the one piece movable jaw and beam.  Looks like you still have both jaw pads mostly intact. It’s a good thing because they are impossible to get due to their unique shape which was pretty much proprietary to them and Prentis. 
 As for color I believe they were black. I seen faint traces of that on several looking original but never any other color. It’s a matter of personal preference but for me a vise should be black or battleship gray if painting is to be done. However the best is to clean them oil them and leaving them with their dignified original patina.

 

3 hours ago, Pullstart said:

I used to have a kitty litter bucket full of old oil.  I’ve taken a few items that size and just tossed ‘em in for a month or so with pretty spectacular results!  

That’s what I’d do. 

[formariz 11,987]

49 minutes ago, davem1111 said:

 

 

That's all I have - it's at my son's 700 miles away, so I won't have any other views any time soon. He's pretty busy so I'm not going to ask him to take any other pictures until at least Sunday, if someone wants to see them.

 

 

 Parker Superior series machinist vise from around 1946.

[ebinmaine 67,570]

14 hours ago, formariz said:

Correcting a statement I made before, they were made with the screw on the handle’s head. Just saw a photo of one and a mention of it in one of my catalogs. So if no screw another indication that it is an early one. 
 

 Interestingly enough in one of catalogs it is mentioned a series called the Green Vise, which I have never come across. Catalog artwork is black and white so I am assuming that those particular vises were green. 

 

I'll get more pics in a day or three. There's a screw in this one at the end where the handle pivots. It appears to put more or less tension on the twist motion maybe?

 

I'm headed out to the fella's place later today to see what other old mechanical wonders are there.