A strange little hand vise

[mikeswrenches]

A tool collecting buddy of mine stopped by yesterday with a bunch of stuff he wanted to sort through. I volunteered to help and during our picking through his trays of mostly machinists tools, I ran across this little gem.

The only marking is "Pat. Apl'd for". It's usually next to impossible to find the actual patent since you never know if it was actually applied for, or if it was just marked that way to scare off would be competition. In this instance I lucked out and found it on google patents in a couple minutes.

It was patented by George W. Miller on March 17, 1891, no. 448,452. Link below.

https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/pdfs/8cc3d1ce2db739cfa865/US448452.pdf

It's a little hard to see in the pictures, but the round pad on the one jaw has a ball turned on the back side that allows it to swivel in the socket on the arm. There is also a small groove running down the whole length of one arm.

This is a very small vise. Only a bit over 4 inches long. The swivel pad is only 1/2 inch in diameter and the maximum opening is 1/4 inch. Not a very practical tool for general use. My guess is they were intended for jewelers or perhaps watch and/or clock repair.

First I've ever seen of this form.

Mike

[Lewill2]

I guess that explains the "M" shaped spring holding the section together.

[lptools]

Very nice !!!!!!!!!!!!

[bill300d]

I can't get past the hinge/spring thingie.

[mikeswrenches]

If indeed it was made to be an "M", as Les pointed out, it is an interesting way to make sure people don't forget your name. And it does work well as a spring, at least for small movements such as on this vise.

Mike

[Bill Houghton]

Cool design.

[turnnut]

 Yes, I like that vise.

  read the patent write-up, very interesting, and a few times when he mentioned the spring hinges,
  he used a larger highlighted letter.

   M

[JoeCB]

I'm just now looking at this old thread.  I can't believe that the "M" is a spring. That design certainly will not accommodate much elastic deformation. I think just a very creative spacer for the lower end of the jaws. Still a very cool design for sure. Especially like the ball swivel pad in the jaw. 

Joe B

[Bill Houghton]

I'm just now looking at this old thread.  I can't believe that the "M" is a spring. That design certainly will not accommodate much elastic deformation. I think just a very creative spacer for the lower end of the jaws. Still a very cool design for sure. Especially like the ball swivel pad in the jaw. 

Joe B

Well, it certainly must have been spring tempered.  I notice there's little movement at the "M" end as the vise is opened/closed.  Maybe that's why the swivel pad on one jaw; to accommodate the otherwise-out-of-square relationship of the jaws at different jaw openings.

[mikeswrenches]

Bill, I can’t remember just how much movement there is but I’m pretty sure it isn’t much. When I get home from the holidays, I’ll try to remember to measure the movement and post what I find. As I remember, there is a spring on both sides to keep the jaws in alignment.

Mike