Antique Foot Operated Vise

[Marshman]

Hello, I'm new to this forum but hope someone can assist me with a question.   I have a large old cast iron foot operated vise (about 3 feet tall and mounted on a wood base for support).  I'm trying to acquire some particular information about this item and the only identifying information I can find on it is on the side of one of the cast iron uprights it is imprinted "H.E. Fuller".  I have done internet searches for this manufacturer without success but did recently find a somewhat similar item on eBay made by Wiley and Russell.  By best guess is this vise is from somewhere around the turn of the century or early 1900s but don't know for sure.  Anything anyone can tell me would be very much appreciated.   Thank you in advance for any assistance.

[gibsontool]

Never seen one like that before so I can't help, but I sure like it, it's a beauty. HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL. Jim

[OilyRascal]

Welcome.  Somewhere there is an introduction section.  I do like it.  Sorry I can't help you identify.  I'd like to have your *problem* though :)

Happy New Year 2013!

[john k]

I have seen several of these.  Sometimes called a caulking vise, clamp in a new shoe, twist in the caulks, move on.   I worked next to a guy that brought one to a demo.   Didn't look as nice as this one, and he couldn't get enough pressure on the treadle to hold much.   Ended up using my post vise.   Still, I'd get one if the price was right. 

[lazyassforge]

The only thing I can find is this:

http://books.google.com/books?id=T7jmAAAAMAAJ&pg=PT329&lpg=PT329&dq=fuller+foot+vise&source=bl&ots=fd0sJmIh5r&sig=Mi7WTfXhZ0ffd3LX-GHkB1hG2pY&hl=en&sa=X&ei=RjPjUJvpK6mw2gWY5IHICA&ved=0CDgQ6AEwAQ

It is a link to an ad in "American Blacksmith" from about 1915 for an "Improved" Fuller vise which appears different. It gives the manufacturer as C. & E. Manufacturing Company from Marshaltown Iowa. I have some old books I will look through also.

Hope this helps, Bill D.

[Marshman]

Thanks everyone for your replies.  John K, I wondered if it was a Farrier's vise and Bill D, thanks for your input, I'll keep researching.

[Branson]

Blacksmith's foot vise.  You can find a number of versions through google.  Anybody who's tried to do smithing in a hurry can appreciate these vises.
I thought we had some earlier discussion that touched on these vises.

[Marshman]

Branson, thank you for that information.

[wvtools]

There is one shown on page 508 of Sellens with a farrier using it.  I have always called them caulking vises.  Sellens lists them as farrier's vise, foot vise, horse shoers' machine, and shoeing vise.

[Branson]

I'm envious even when putting a simple twist in a pot hook.  The metal cools so quickly while you're adjusting the leg vise...

[Billman49]

Try contacting http://www.anvilfire.com/FAQs/blacksmith-vise.php

[Marshman]

Thank you, Billman49.  All of the responses so far are appreciated.  However I am still unable to find anything on the internet on the H.E. Fuller company or anything providing photos of the same vise I have.   I would like to try to pinpoint the date of production and any other information on this equipment that I can.  I may have to get a copy of Sellens' book.
Thanks again, everybody.

[wvtools]

The catalog cut in Sellens will not help you with the maker, although it is interesting.  I would not buy it just for that, but it is a great book/resource to have.  It shows a guy using a caulking vise, but I cannot see your vise well enough in your photo to see if it is the same type.  These vises all have a family resemblance, but most I have seen had differences.

One of the vises in Sellens is marked Green River No. 3.  I wondered who made that won, so I looked in my Sears 1915 reprint blacksmiths tools catalog (another good reference).  It was made by Wiley & Russell.

[Marshman]

Thanks for your information wvtools.  I need to do some rearranging in my shed to get the vise out to take some better photos and get a better look at it.  It came from my father-in-law's farm where it had been in his tool shed for many years and may have been his father's.  ONce I can get some better photos, I'll post them to see if that helps any in further identification.

[Marshman]

I was able to get the blacksmith's/farrier's foot operated vise out of the corner of my shed today and take some more photos of it.  I also got measurements.  It stands 34 7/8" high, not counting the wood base, 20" deep at the pedal, and the jaws of the vise are 6" wide.