REED MFG. VISE

[Ken W.]

I picked this vise up over the weekend.I had to unbolt this from the bench.It's alot heavier than you would expect.It's a Reed Mfg. Co. of Erie,Pa. Model # 224 , 4" smooth jaw vise.It has a chunk of the outer jaw chipped off.It has 4 mounting holes instead of the 3 holes you see on most vises.The lady I got this from say's she remembers when her father bought it new over 50 years ago and it's been on the same bench ever since.I thought it was a neet old vise.

[scottg]

Hey the pix are too dark for me to see.
But from what I can see its a sheetmetal workers vise.

Extra tall, thin, smooth jaws and extra long beam? 

If it is, its 100 times rarer than a standard mechanics vise and very desirable, at least to me.
  yours Scott

[Ken W.]

Yeah,it's a metal working vise.It's too bad about the chip tho.This is heavier than other vises the same size.I was quite surprised about the heft of this vise when I lifted it off the bench.Defiantly a 2 hander.

[BuckHenry]

Yep, a sheet metal vise or filler's vise. I have a much older Colombian (actually old enough to be marked Columbian Hardware Co.) coachmaker's vise. To the best of my knowledge the coachmaker's vise was developed early in the 18th century for use in shops that worked mostly with wood. In the early twentieth century demand for these vises seems to have nearly dried up. In the 1930s some manufactures were marketing them as woodworker's vises, but apparently this sales tactic did not work. Later they were marketed in small numbers as filler's vises or sheet metal vises. At least two companies (Yost and Milwaukee Tool & Equipment) still manufacture them as sheet metal vises.

My Columbian model no. 124 1/2 is old enough to have hollow jaws. It has 4 1/2 inch jaws, opens to 11 1/2 inches, and only ways about 45 lbs. I know that by the early 1920s the model 124 1/2 had been beefed up to 60 lbs. (I presume the jaws were no longer hollow). I think as the industrial revolution marched on, and these vises were being put to heavier use they had to be beefed up, but even then could not compete with the strength of a good machinist vise, and thus passed out of general use. Today they are essentially a specialty tool.

This is my understanding, but I am certainly no expert. If anyone can correct me please do. Is there a difference between a sheet metal vise and a coachmaker's vise other than the name? Does anyone know for sure when the coachmaker's vise was invented?