It is a square piece of key stock that fits into the vise’s grooves. The vise’s body contains the sliding key, which prevents the front jaw from rotating. These numbers tell when the tool was ready for release or sale. A good example is an old vise from Wilton. Some antique vises have dates on their slide keys, if you haven’t noticed. Some current versions might have several jaws or a specialty jaw for particular applications. A good example is rotating a vise head in a circle, allowing you to be more flexible when working. As a result, these older vises lack some features present in modern versions. Identifying Vises by featuresĪs time evolved, artisans found ways of tweaking and adding a few things to vises to make them more functional.

On the other hand, modern versions are from ductile iron or steel. Antique Vises are made from old cast iron, with several imperfections compared to newer materials. The first and foremost thing that distinguishes an antique is its material. Identifying Antique Vises by their material Here are the basics that differentiate an antique from the current tool versions. Though modern and older versions have the same basic features, there are a few distinctions between both. Identifying an Antique vise is very easy. Today, several types of these tools can be used in special applications. Their modern design allows them to hold workpieces of various shapes and sizes. While the basic design hasn’t changed much, today’s vises are of cast iron and steel that are far more durable than before. Modern vises have evolved significantly due to manufacturing process advances since the early days of the parallel tool. Its makers fell back to using steel until there was an improvement in the quality of cast iron. This material created voids in the casting structure and made it fragile and porous.Īs a result, the vises were prone to breaking under pressure. However, these vises were not ideal because they made these tools from liquid iron. These vises outlasted their wooden counterparts in terms of durability. In 1830, England produced the first cast iron vise. As a result, producers had to seek out other materials that they could use to create these tools instead of wood. While these were helpful, they rarely lasted as they were subject to wear and tear over time. The tool was wooden and had sliding jaws that moved horizontally on movable slots. Thankfully, there was a breakthrough in 1750, after the invention of the parallel vise. Back then, artisans devised a tiring process of holding objects in place with wedges and hammers. The clamping technique came to life in the middle ages when clamps and thread became popular. Factors that Affect Antique Vise Values.

Identifying Antique Vises by their material.

Antique vice tool