Thread: Saw Vice ID help requested

Originally Posted by Colin62

I've been looking for a saw vice for a while, and have found one at a fair price. I suspect I'll buy it, just wondering if anyone recognises what it is and if it's a decent one or will frustrate me. There are apparently no markings on it at all.
saw vice.jpg

Thanks in advance

is there a photo from the front? Or can u describe the locking mechanism?

I've asked if the seller will post a pic from the front, hopefully to show if the jaws line up.

From what I can see, the lever on the far right will lock it, but how it works mechanically I'll probably only find out if I buy it.

edit: apparently the jaws line up 100% and have no nicks, so I bought it. Should arrive in about a week's time, and I'll have a fiddle and post back.

I'm sure we can find an original similiar, but those guys seemed to have copied furiously of each other back then!

I feel like there was one like this in Patrick Leach's list couple days ago ... (?)

Paul

Saw vise by Stearns; patented in 1899, it has 10 1/2" long
jaws; no damage, it uses a cam lever to pinch the saw's
blade tightly; this model was original provided with a
rubber pad, that disintegrated long ago, or was removed
by an owner as saws are secured in such vises better
without that;

This EC Stearns one looks like it has the makers name cast into the jaws.
Surprisingly affordable at US$50

Mine has a somewhat different cam action that is activated by rotating the handle. One jaw has a dovetail channel with what I at first thought was a perished grey rubber strip in it, but I later realized it is actually a strip of lead which deadens things whilst filing.

(edit) You can see the faint mark left by the lead strip on the saw blade in the pic as I moved it along in the vice.

There are a couple of that design and it came in at least 2 sizes that I have seen. You will find plenty on ebay USA

This one is quite small, the jaws are 21.5cm, which is about 8 1/2", but I reckon I can shift the saw a couple of times without too much effort.

Once it arrives, I will have completely run out of excuses for not sharpening my saws...

Thanks for all the feedback and input.

I found a CN Stearns saw vice on ebay, it looks identical except for the fact that the ebay one has the manufacturer's name cast in. Further searching seems to indicate that it's actually GN Stearns, who was the more well known EC Stearns father. From wiki

After George N. Stearns encountered health problems in 1877, son Edward C. Stearns, an industrialist, along with his sister, Avis Stearns Van Wagenen assumed duties and renamed the company.

So the ebay one is probably well over 100 years old. I suspect mine is newer than that, and maybe not even made by Stearns, as I'm sure they would have marked it in some way.

I've added pictures of the ebay one, in case they're no longer available after the auction ends.

GN Stearns Saw Vice 03.jpgGN Stearns Saw Vice 01.jpg

I've just got back from the post office and have had a chance to look at the saw vice. It is in excellent condition, and the jaws line up perfectly.

Saw Vice 05.jpg

There is a small gap in the middle until clamping pressure is applied and then they meet perfectly. The design is exactly the same as the GN Stearns one I posted pictures of up thread, but it has no manufacturer's name anywhere, and the spring on the back of the front jaw is rectangular instead of tapered, but that could easily have been changed at some stage.

Saw Vice 06.jpgGN Stearns Saw Vice 06.jpg

I suspect that this is actually a copy made by someone else though, as it makes no sense that Stearns (either GN or EC) would sell a vice with no name on. The other option is that it's one of the very first one's made, and they only added their name to the castings later, but I suspect that's unlikely. Within a few mm, it is the same size as the GN Stearns one.

Originally Posted by Pac man

is there a photo from the front? Or can u describe the locking mechanism?

Saw Vice 04.jpg

The locking mechanism is a very elegant looking cam. As you lift the lever on the right, it forces the bottom end of the front jaw out, and clamps. Very simple and hopefully effective. I'll find out when I get it home.

Very nice. The jaws are meant to be bowed, works same as a caul to apply even clamping pressure across the length.

Originally Posted by Fuzzie

Mine has a somewhat different cam action that is activated by rotating the handle. One jaw has a dovetail channel with what I at first thought was a perished grey rubber strip in it, but I later realized it is actually a strip of lead which deadens things whilst filing.

(edit) You can see the faint mark left by the lead strip on the saw blade in the pic as I moved it along in the vice.

Yours is a Wentworth No 1.


http://woodworkerszone.com/igits/showthread.php?t=14202


http://www.forums.woodnet.net/ubbthr...lapsed&sb=5&o=

Thanks for the links Toby. I guess my lead strips must have been a user 'upgrade' sometime after the original rubbers perished.