Parker Bench Vises
 

Bill Bolyard and I were talking about Parker vises, but others may have some interest in them also.
My paternal grandfather was born in Meriden (as was my father) and after high school, went to work for the Parker family, apprenticing in the foundry, as a pattern maker initially, but eventually taking over the melting dept. He left Meriden Mfg in 1916, and with his cousin, bought the Connecticut Foundry Co, in Rocky Hill CT.
Most bench vises actually made in the Meriden Mfg. Co foundry are long gone, because, as the story goes, they weren't very good at Ductile and Malleable Iron, so concentrated on grey iron for their own product lines as well as many outside customers. Connecticut Foundry produced most of the castings for Parkers, until my grandfather and his cousin split up the partnership. The castings were briefly made in Wethersfield, just up the road from Rocky Hill, and only 2 towns up from Meriden. In 1923, my grandfather bought out Booth, of the Philbrick-Booth Foundry Company, in Hartford, when it became Philbrick, Booth & Spencer, Inc. The Parker vise casting business followed him and the ductile iron castings were made there until the early 1940s.
The patterns pictured were made well before the practice of lacquer painting patterns with black for as-cast surfaces, red for machined surfaces, and yellow for core prints (the part of the pattern that made the impression into which the cores were placed). PBS went into the steel casting business in 1960, and poured their last cast iron in 1970, concentrating on all grades of cast steel and stainless steel. I am the last of 7 generations of foundry Spencers. PBS closed in 1999.

That was great, thank you!

You should consider this for a Parker Pages article, the history along with these pictures and some technical detail on the pictures would be of interest to the many members that do not read this forum. This is fascinating to hear about!

I have Parker vises on every work bench in my house. My favorite is the 973 which is of the size and design as to be useful to anyone. My "Big Bertha" is a great vise, but not as useful as smaller ones because it does not swivel. When the M.P. Moller organ factory in Hagerstown, MD was auctioned off some years ago, dozens of work benches in use from 1896 were sold. There was a Parker vise on the end of each bench. When I supervised a truck fleet early in my working life, our maintenence garage housed many work benches with a Parker vise on each one. I would imagine that they are still there.

I'd have to agree with you Bill, the 973 is the ideal size (3" if memory serves) especially for general "indoor" use such as gun work.
Other than what I've learned by observation, I have yet to figure out the numbering system the company used, partly due to the fact that they changed it so often. The 97X series seems to be based on the jaw size, 973 being 3", 974, a 3 1/2", and presumably the 975 would have been 4", except I've neither seen one marked with the pattern number 975.
I have a 4" marked '89', which has a very different, early style, lettering. Interestingly it says "The Parker Company" in a curving block letter pattern, and has a round headstock opening, below tool steel jaws. All my others say 'Charles...' or even 'Chas'.
The one I get the most amount of use is not marked with any numerical model, but simply an X on the left side of the movable jaw stock, and a 1930 patent date. Casting defects, such as burned in (or burned on) sand, often meant that area was ground, and sand surface defects are common around lettering in the old 'green sand' molding process. As this vise is nearly identical, just larger than my 973, It might have been a 974 (except it's jaws are 3 1/2")
I have another vintage 4", unmarked in anyway, an likely not a Parker, as a rotatable rear jaw, so one could get maximum bearing on a part that didn't have parallel surfaces. This one has a lift 'plunger' to allow rotating the base.
A result of the internet, there are so many 'groups' devoted to the most esoteric subjects, and bench vises are just one of them. I chuckle when I run across one with painted up, pinstriped, and gilded examples. Somehow, I never thought of these as 'show pieces'.

I agree on the Parker Pages article. This info and more should be immortalized in print for the records. Great stuff. My best vises are hand-forged vintage blacksmith leg vises. One is 120# and 6" I think and near mint and has enough mechanical advantage to crush a VW I'd think. The coolest is stamped 1899(year of the gold rush)and was found sticking out of the tundra 75miles north of Nome. The 'teeth' on the faces are hand cut and still as sharp as new. 4" jaws. Looks like it was never used but likely was. Very cool 'little' vise. Only weighs maybe 75#.

Great post and really worth putting into the archives. John Deere in Waterloo had some Parker vises in the old plant on Westfield street. They moved most of the operation to newer buildings and I hope the vises followed.I have a couple of Parker vises but mostly use my Emmert.Really like the photos of the pattern as I worked in the foundry at Deere's for 15 years.Lots of Parker vises on ebay if anyone is looking for one.

Yup, go for it on ebay. I'm getting too old to bring home more vises. Mine are for sale but I won't ship them. They are great Parker collector items. Every Parker guy should have at least one.

I agree Bill! There is a bunch of them on ebay. Didn't realize there were so many around. One is all repainted nice and would do me just fine but I'm not shipping one up here either...

Edgar, Please consider doing a nice, detailed technical article on what you have written here and expand on it if you will please. Also please include all of the pictures you have shown us (more if you have them) and send it all to either myself dsromig@aol.com or Austin Hogan austin.w.hogan@valley.net for inclusion in a future issue of Parker Pages.

Thank you in advance,
Dean

Lots of good info. on Parker vices here:

http://dayid.org/mediawiki/index.php...es_Parker_Vise