Another unusual vise...MUCH larger this time

[mikeswrenches]

This is the second one of these dovetail style vises I've had, but this is by far the largest.  The jaws are 6 in. across and it weighs right at 98 lbs.  I don't know how far the jaws open since this thing is just too heavy for me to handle easily.  My back protested for a week after I dragged it from the backseat floor of my car and put it in the bottom of the motor home.  That is where it will stay until the Nov. Flywheelers tractor show.

The pictures aren't great but you can get a pretty good idea of what it looks like.  Probably the most distinguishing feature of this type of vise is that the front jaw is fixed and the rear jaw moves.  In this vise there is also an adjustable take up gib on one side so that any unwanted clearance can be eliminated, much as you have on the ways of machine tools.  I'm not real clear on why this is necessary on a bench vise. This feature, as far as I know only appears on European vises.

For some reason I think this one was made in Poland. There are no markings other than the strange mark on the side of the fixed jaw.

Anybody have any ideas on the actual origin?

Mike

[johnsironsanctuary]

Nice score,  I wonder what someone was thinking when they made a 98 lb vise with a swivel?  Every swivel vise that I have ever used slipped when you try to bend something long enough that you had to put it in the jaw horizontally.

[mikeswrenches]

You do have to wonder don't you?  What you can't tell from the pictures is that the handle used to tighten the swivel has a severe bend in it.  You would think that they would put two swivel locks on these big vises...or as you said, don't put any on them.

Mike