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Posted 8 years ago
K6Symbol
(1 item)
This handmade hand vise with wrought iron mechanism (and handmade brass hinge on bottom) looks like it might have been used to engrave flatware - note the tapered section on top.
I haven't been able to find anything like it. And it looks to be a fairly early piece. Any comments/suggestions?
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Use all 4 pictures. Show it open as well.
Here's a similar one, called a wooden engraving ball vise (scroll about 1/2 way down the page):
http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/antique-machinery-and-history/amazing-skills-267908/
Yeah - I'm gonna disagree with Efesgirl on this one. BUT - that forum is a great resource - maybe ask them! And let us know!
Celiene - I said it was similar, not identical..... :-))))) The basic principle is the same.
Is it only like 2.5 inches tall? I know there is a penny there - but my brain is having a hard time spatially comparing.
There is a small notch on one of the blocks? You can't put something all the way in it - the screw is in the way.
And you could not do any heavy work with it -it is too small, right?
Thanks Efesgirl. I've seen many metal engraving ball vises...and I see this one is metal with a wooden ring. I've also seen many wood hand vises that jeweler's use to hold rings or other items for easier filing, etc. This one however, looks like it might be a one-of-a-kind.
BTW, I am a silversmith - apprenticed for 3 years back in the 60's.
KsSymbol - I think you're right, so I would label it as "shed work". Made by someone to fit their needs. I didn't find anything on the net that was wooden.
The Jewelry Junkie meets The Silversmith..........
:-))))
It is actually 4" tall and 2.25" diameter at the top and fits nicely in the hand. The recessed area at the top is tapered, so it looks like a fork or spoon handle would fit there....possibly for engraving.
It MAY be an engraver's vise, but nothing secures it to the work table. It would move around too much to engrave anything. And there is only that one notch & groove that looks like it held something straight, like a nail. But it's only on one side of the vise.
Efesgirl....high five! I've made a living with jewelry too - couldn't make it with silversmithing!
Celiene, It is definitely a hand vise and the notch is on both sides.....and tapered.
It's definitely handmade. The screw must be had forged, too. It is square, then spiraled. Are you saying that whatever it held was across the op in the small carved notch & NOT down inside the piece? It looks barely used.
If it was handheld (and it does look like it fits a hand) it had to hold something that you could work with one hand.
I'm looking at the half moon shaped notch on the right hand block in the third pic. And it looks like there is a line down inside it at that notch. But no half moon on the other side.
The notch carved all across the top is tapered? Did people hand serrate knives?
Screw hand forged...
Yeah - people serrate knives, but it would take a lot with this - unless they were just doing dinner knives. I can't think what would lay in that shallow groove - other than a knife.
I give up!
That "half moon" notch is where a small piece of the edge was broken away. The vise only holds a piece on the top, which was probably a spoon or fork handle. You could hold the vise in one hand and an engraver in the other, turning one hand in concert with your other hand to engrave curving letters.
I think this is just a part of the whole "tool"....the rest is still attached....somewhere back in time.... to the worktable of the person who made it. We are havin difficulty determining exactly what it is for because we are only seeing part of it.
:-)))))
If you look at the pic on the left you'll notice that when the vise is closed the ends of the jaws inside the slot line up because the right-hand jaw was cut away to make them even. Obviously the halves were miss-aligned and the owner cut off some of one edge to get them even. That cut is not part of a working surface. It's just to align the jaws. Look at the right-hand pic; you can see that the halves are miss-aligned, as is the hinge. The vertical slot in the center of only one jaw is exactly what you find on a modern machinist's vise. It holds any piece of stock in a vertical position regardless of its diameter (e.g. for filing threads on a small screw or bolt). This tool does not look like it was made by a tool-maker but by a reasonably skilled individual for personal use. Possibly a gunsmith or clockmaker. Based on the ram's-horn nut it's probably at least 150 years old.
Ever see those brass strips they engrave and place on frames with Artist info on them....seems to me one could lay that brass strip right on top inside cut away and tighten to hold in place while engraving??