And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
Thursday, August 4, 2022
That row of vises. What would one like that cost nowadays?
I have the most expensive vise here (purchased new around '98)- https://wiltontools.com/bench-vises/bullet/ But I sure don't remember paying more than $700 for it. Looks like it was a good investment.
Yesterday I was in a real hardware store. I saw their most expensive vise was just $1,200. Their 10" was just under $700. I do not vouch for their quality.
My main vise opens to 14" and is nigh 100 yrs old. I got it for $10 at a garage sale.
I have a old 12 inch vise I got from a buddy for 15 bucks, he ran a scrap yard . the damn thing is so big, I had to break it down into 2 pieces to lift and mount I put in on a metal bench that weighs over 300 pounds. and even then I had to add weight to the back of it. jaws are 8 inches wide. it is the last one I will need. people always ask where in the world did I find it. handy !
The old Boston Technical High School near downtown Boston had a machine shop like that, with belt driven lathes powered by a huge DC motor in the ceiling. The rats nest of belts was really quite impressive. The frames of the lathes had casting dates of 1890.
I sucked as a machinist student, but the lathes were fun.
The Elgin Watch Company, Elgin, IL, was driven by overhead shaft and belt. Lots of nice American-made tooling went for next to nothing when they dismantled the plant in 1967. Now the key industry there is a casino. At one time, Elgin had about 20,000 employees. Now they grow condos.
If you're ever in the Baltimore area, the wonderful Baltimore Museum of Industry offers a big room-sized display of a steam-powered, belt-driven machine shop and forge. If you go to the museum website and take the virtual tour, you can find it with a bit of wandering around (no bookmarks or v-tour map, unfortunately.) https://www.thebmi.org/exhibitions-2/ The whole museum is a full day's worth of marveling at the ingenuity and industriousness of our predecessors.
I would LOVE to have just 1! All the socalled ones now ARE JUNK or you have to take out a 2nd for enough coinage to buy it...and it aint worth SHITE either
In Rochester NY they dug races from the Upper Falls on the Genesee River to power machine shops and mills. They found a huge water wheel for a trip hammer forge in the sub-sub-basement of an old building that was being torn down, and decided to preserve it. You can still see holes up high on the gorge where the used water emptied back into the river.
Think how well they were built compared to the junk we get now.
ReplyDeletea Wilton vise in that size- about 3-4K
ReplyDeleteNot quite the original Bullet, but pretty close. Look like 6 or 8". So, yep, 3-5K a pop today if Wilton or similar quality US made.
DeleteA decent vice today about $1,000, but the vice found in Washington D.C and other Democrat cities, priceless.
ReplyDeleteI have a Wilton 8-inch, with Swivel Base, bought 35 Years ago, was $650 at the Time
ReplyDeleteI got one for free from someone that was about to take down an old barn. Said I could have anything I wanted. Got an anvil too. Price those puppies
ReplyDeleteI have the most expensive vise here (purchased new around '98)-
ReplyDeletehttps://wiltontools.com/bench-vises/bullet/
But I sure don't remember paying more than $700 for it. Looks like it was a good investment.
Dunno but I bought a used Wilton (US MADE) that looks like those for 140 20 years ago, can't imagine what they cost now even from CCP
ReplyDeleteI'd like to see what is powering this shop!!! Steam engine or hit & miss???
ReplyDeleteYesterday I was in a real hardware store. I saw their most expensive vise was just $1,200. Their 10" was just under $700.
ReplyDeleteI do not vouch for their quality.
My main vise opens to 14" and is nigh 100 yrs old. I got it for $10 at a garage sale.
I have a old 12 inch vise I got from a buddy for 15 bucks, he ran a scrap yard .
ReplyDeletethe damn thing is so big, I had to break it down into 2 pieces to lift and mount
I put in on a metal bench that weighs over 300 pounds. and even then I had to add weight to the back of it. jaws are 8 inches wide. it is the last one I will need. people always ask where in the world did I find it.
handy !
Fun story. Thanks.
DeleteIn Utah, $50k. Americans screwing Americans one vice at a time.
ReplyDeleteDammitall! I have a Wilton, buuut, it's not particularly beefy or ,I guess, old enough to get excited about. It's got 111218 on it.
ReplyDeleteNo one noticed the mill vises? And the mills? I have a couple of Brown & Sharpe mills of about that vintage. Rather nice machines actually.
ReplyDeleteThe old Boston Technical High School near downtown Boston had a machine shop like that, with belt driven lathes powered by a huge DC motor in the ceiling. The rats nest of belts was really quite impressive. The frames of the lathes had casting dates of 1890.
ReplyDeleteI sucked as a machinist student, but the lathes were fun.
The Elgin Watch Company, Elgin, IL, was driven by overhead shaft and belt. Lots of nice American-made tooling went for next to nothing when they dismantled the plant in 1967. Now the key industry there is a casino. At one time, Elgin had about 20,000 employees. Now they grow condos.
ReplyDeleteIf you're ever in the Baltimore area, the wonderful Baltimore Museum of Industry offers a big room-sized display of a steam-powered, belt-driven machine shop and forge. If you go to the museum website and take the virtual tour, you can find it with a bit of wandering around (no bookmarks or v-tour map, unfortunately.)
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thebmi.org/exhibitions-2/
The whole museum is a full day's worth of marveling at the ingenuity and industriousness of our predecessors.
I would LOVE to have just 1! All the socalled ones now ARE JUNK or you have to take out a 2nd for enough coinage to buy it...and it aint worth SHITE either
ReplyDeleteIn Rochester NY they dug races from the Upper Falls on the Genesee River to power machine shops and mills. They found a huge water wheel for a trip hammer forge in the sub-sub-basement of an old building that was being torn down, and decided to preserve it. You can still see holes up high on the gorge where the used water emptied back into the river.
ReplyDelete