Gotta have a Vise!

I already had two vises, but felt both were too small for any really big or tough projects. I started poking around Craigslist to see what would turn up and to my surprise an old Reed vise was for sale.

I contacted the seller and went out to look at it. I knew nothing about old vises, but this one was big and heavy. It was also one big lump of rust.

I took a chance, paid the man 40 bucks and dragged my boat anchor home.

Lots of rubbing, cussing, filing, honing, electrolyzing, wire wheeling, sand blasting, plus a decent coat of paint later and I finally have a vise that I'm pretty sure will handle most problems I come up with.

 Here's the technical info on it. It's a Reed 105 R. It weighs about 73 pounds and has almost no play side to side or up and down. It also has no play in or out. I painted the fixed portion with a undercoat of Rustolium Cold Galvanizing Compound followed by a good black epoxy paint I bought at Advance Auto.

I neglected to get before pictures, but suffice to say, it took me three days just to get the movable jaw out of the thing. The vise has two problems that I see. The first is the movable jaw looks like someone took a hatchet to the top of the back side. There's lots of deep cuts in it. I have no idea why, but it was the reason why it took three days to get the jaw out. I had to file the upper corners followed up with sessions with a honing stone to remove the mushroom on the top side. The other problem is there is a minor flaw in the hardened jaw tooth that looks like a crack between the tooth and the cast jaw. Reed vises have imbedded jaw teeth unlike other makes that are bolted on and I suspect there was a forging defect in this one. The imperfection hasn't failed in 70+ years so I'll live with it.

I mounted it on a Gladiator roll around cabinet I bought back when I had more money than sense. I like Gladiator stuff, but it has a tendency to come out of the box with dents in it. It is also light duty so I decided to beef up the top to take a bit of punishment. The plywood top is 3/4 inch and there's another sheet of 3/4 inch inside the cabinet to sandwich and reenforce the top. I used 5/8 x 3 inch carriage bolts around the perimeter to hold it all together.

I cut two more pieces of 3/4 plywood using the base of the vise as a template, routed the top using a 1/4 round-over bit, and finished up with a nice Varithane stain and sealer.

Now I'm ready to crush some stuff!

Seriously though. A vise is an important investment. A good heavy machinist vise made of ductile iron bought new will run hundreds of Dollars. I recommend keeping an eye out for a neglected antique one for cheap that you can restore yourself. Just don't stoop to buying a cracked, broken, or worn out one.

This whole project; vise, rattle cans of paint, plywood, nuts and bolts, stayed under a Ben Franklin. I also had plywood and paint left over for other projects to boot. A new bought 5 inch vise from Harbor Freight may cost the same or less, but will weigh more like 36 pounds and be made of cast iron which is far more likely to break if you over tighten it.

So, yes Virginia there is a huge difference between cheap and cheapo.

Do this and chances are your vise will still be in your shop ready to give great service when your kids begin fighting over your stuff after your funeral.