I found this Polish Vise while trying to track down my "Hi-Test" hammer/screwdriver.....gasket scraper....chisel, or what ever it is? Does anyone notice anything unusual in the way the jaws operate on this thing? Yes, the outside jaw remains stationary, while the bed or main body jaw moves! I have never seen anything like this, so I thought I would share it. It is circa 1960's. If anyone has any information on this "HI-TEST" made in Poland Company, please share it with me. I'm about to pull my short hairs out looking for information to solve my chisel????, what is it puzzle.

Thanks,

Wayne

Polish, well I see it works backwards, and the handle is a very small diameter, and won't take much torque or it will bend.
Maybe used to crack walnuts,,,,,,

There is a "vise guru" over on the "Garage Journal" website that has a "Polish" name. Maybe he will know more.

That one is very similar to my G. Boley watchmakers machine vise which opens in the same manner. I will try to post a pic (2nd try) I posted it in the old forum and I will try here.

http://s1140.photobucket.com/albums/n563/ietech/

Mr Chuck -- Actually the handle on the G.Boley that I have is quite stout. I have done some small projects milling some new steel knife handles for some broken knives and it worked quite well. Can't speak for the Polish one tho it seems comparable to mine. The G. Boley was made not too far from Poland in Germany -- historically polish and german machinery and tooling were top notch.

Quote from: Ietech on May 25, 2011, 12:09:47 PM
That one is very similar to my G. Boley watchmakers machine vise which opens in the same manner. I will try to post a pic (2nd try) I posted it in the old forum and I will try here.
-- historically polish and german machinery and tooling were top notch.

I agree that yours IS very similar to this one (which is not mine by the way). I'm just looking for the history of the Company (HI-TEST) that made it, and found this while searching. Now I have seen 2 of this type of working design Vises, thanks for sharing. Yours appears to be riding in a fixed channel, is that correct, or does it have ajustment to snug it up? I would have no problem buying one either, if I saw it for sale.

Wayne

Wayne it actually has ways just like a cross slide vise but there are no gibs to control movement . The ways are Very close tolerance and I cannot detect any play or slack in movement -- I am sure there is some movement but not noticable without using a micrometer to detect it.

Here is a link to info on a much larger vise with the same marking as the one you posted.

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/antique-machinery-history/unique-vise-find-201352/

The thread that this links to is very interesting and might be helpful in your search. There are some excellent pictures in post #15

Thanks for the Info. Ietech!

Wayne