Cleaning out at the In-Laws

[Dogshirt]

My Father-in-law died years ago, and we recently had to move my MIL to a nurseing home.
We have been clearing out the house to sell it, and I have scored most of his tools and other
things.
I brought these vises home last night. The one is HUGE!!! The rule in the picture is 12x1, just to
give an idea of it's size.
I also have his anvil. All to go with my Grampa's forge.

[Dogshirt]

Have to post these separately.

[Dogshirt]

And the little one.

[crazell]

They would make a good addition to go with the forge....Thanks for sharing.

[Dogshirt]

I found out some history on the company that made the big vise, the Charles Parker Co.

The plant was the former home of companies such as the Charles Parker company, known for the
manufacture of the Springfield rifle and the development of one of the early repeating rifles in the
mid- nineteenth century. Charles Parker was born in 1809 and rose from poverty to become one
of Connecticut's leading industrialists. He also became the city of Meriden's first mayor. He started
his manufacturing career inventing and producing coffee mills in a small shop in 1832.

By 1860, he owned several large factories and employed hundreds of people, in and around
Meriden. Parker products included hardware and house wares, flatware, clocks, lamps, piano stools
and benches, vises, coffee mills, industrial machinery, and, after 1862, guns. Guns, however, never
amounted to more than 10 percent of Parker's business. Charles Parker died in 1901 and his descendants
carried on his businesses until 1957. The Great Depression of the 1930s took its toll on the Parker
enterprise and it never fully recovered. Parker products have now become "collector's items," especially
the Parker shotguns. The Charles Parker Company sold its gun facility and the rights to the Parker gun
to Remington Arms Company in 1934, and Remington continued the Parker shotgun line until World War II.
The attraction by collectors to the Parker shotgun comes because of the gun's inherent quality and beauty.
The Parker gun is an American classic.

During World War II, the plant became the home of the New Departure Manufacturing Company,
which produced ball-bearings. The company was eventually owned by General Motors. At its peak,
over 20,000 people were employed at the plant. During much of the plant's life, the plant was powered
with an on-site power generation station which also powered other parts of the city. Stories are told
about the plant during this time. It is rumored that during the war, thousands of ball bearings were
stored underneath the parking lot of the plant, almost a whole year's production worth, in case the factory
was bombed! In this case, the company would recover the store of bearings until factory production was
re-established."

I guess I won't be getting new jaws for it, but they are in pretty good shape.