Is there a Parker Bros. hammergun here?

[John Knobelsdorf II]

Maybe the one on the back wall, far right, next to the window?

In the collection of (but not on display) The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

Artist -- Edgar Melville Ward, American, 1839–1915
Title -- The Gunsmith Shop
Date -- c. 1890–1895
Medium -- Oil on canvas
Dimensions -- 24 × 20 in. (61 × 50.8 cm) Frame: 35 3/8 × 31 3/8 × 4 in. (89.9 × 79.7 × 10.2 cm)
Credit Line -- Museum purchase funded by "One Great Night in November, 1995"
Current Location -- Not on view

https://static.mfah.com/collection/2...jpg&quality=90

[Stan Hillis]

Man, I would love to have a print of that to hang in my shop.

SRH

[Jeff K.]

Stan,
I just googled The gunsmith Shop. Fine art America sells prints of it.

[Stan Hillis]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kuss

Stan,
I just googled The gunsmith Shop. Fine art America sells prints of it.

Thank you, Jeff. I will look into that now.

Best, SRH

[Ron Scott]

Interesting way to mount a post vice. A blacksmith would attach the post to the ground or to a block of wood on the ground so that it would absorb heavy hammer blows. That's the purpose of the leg. I suppose a repair gunsmith wouldn't need the vice for that purpose -- and back in the day you used what you had.

[Stan Hillis]

Originally Posted by Ronald Scott

Interesting way to mount a post vice. A blacksmith would attach the post to the ground or to a block of wood on the ground so that it would absorb heavy hammer blows. That's the purpose of the leg. I suppose a repair gunsmith wouldn't need the vice for that purpose -- and back in the day you used what you had.

After using one for the past 25+ years I'm not sure I agree with you on the reason for the "leg". Vises in general are not intended to hold something that is going to be hammered on hard enough for the vise itself to need vertical stabilization. That's what anvils are for. They are, however, called upon to hold things that are filed, bent, or otherwise "coerced" in a horizontal or lateral direction. The long leg gives tremendous support to the vise to prevent horizontal and lateral movement. JMHO.
SRH

[mobirdhunter]

John, Thanks for bringing this to our attention. In spite of our various "vices," I'd also like to think that the gun you speculate is a Parker is indeed an "Old Reliable." Thanks for posting.

[Ron Scott]

Originally Posted by Stan Hillis

After using one for the past 25+ years I'm not sure I agree with you on the reason for the "leg". Vises in general are not intended to hold something that is going to be hammered on hard enough for the vise itself to need vertical stabilization. That's what anvils are for. They are, however, called upon to hold things that are filed, bent, or otherwise "coerced" in a horizontal or lateral direction. The long leg gives tremendous support to the vise to prevent horizontal and lateral movement. JMHO.
SRH

Not to get too far off topic here but it is interesting (at least to me). I have and use one too. I also have a forge and an anvil that I use regularly. You're right the leg helps support the vice when bending metal but in most cases a blacksmith will also bang on the piece to help bend it. Especially when he needs a crisp right angle. Most blacksmiths also mount the vice so that they can work all the way around it. The guy in the picture and in the Youtube videos has mounted a blacksmith's vice to a bench to do light machinist work. You really can't tell from the picture but it looks like the workbench leg that the vice is attached to is not braced and is just sitting on the floor. If you put too much bending force on that vice you'll move the leg. Maybe I'm missing something but I don't see how that vice mounted that way has any advantage over a bench vise.

Check out the description of this blacksmith vice for sale:

https://www.blacksmithsdepot.com/post-leg-vise

[OH Osthaus]

i have seen a post vice mounted like that in a gunsmith shop -

i do like the center hole creel on the wall - that is an early design which fits the time period of the village out the window

[Bill Murphy]

I'm not a total idiot, and haven't worked as a machinist for fifty years, but my 130 pound Parker vise is mounted to a wooden bench as are a couple of lesser ones. "To each his own". Post mounted vises are for those who need them.