Parker Bench Vises

[Bill Murphy]

Thanks, Tom. I've never seen that vise nor have I seen a Parker marked miniature anvil.

[edgarspencer]

Originally Posted by Bill Murphy

Thanks, Tom. I've never seen that vise nor have I seen a Parker marked miniature anvil.

I'd bet a buck it was actually made by Bradley & Hubbard for Parker. Parker did not pour non-ferrous in their foundry.

[edgarspencer]

These are Bradley & Hubbard. The bronze ones are 3 1/4" Horn to heel, and the iron one is 10 1/4".
( It's actually steel. I Borrowed one from my sister, who has a lot of the B&H patterns, and used it for a pattern to cast in my foundry.) Oddly, Old Sturbridge Village brought an antique one to us to have a repro made, as they didn't think they should be using the original. After I told them I thought was stupid, I took a drilling from the bottom of it, and ran it through our lab. It was a high carbon as I'd expect from CI, but also high in Mg, Cr and NI, so it made me wonder if steel may be older than we thought. None the less, it rang like the original and their hippy dippy blacksmith thought it was great.

[ahfoxman]

Hello Edgar, The Parker anvil measures exactly 3 1/2" from the tip to the heel and appears to have a slightly different shape??? I can post more photos if interested.

[edgarspencer]

I forgot I had one like yours. Mine may not be as tall. It's a number 88. I guess I've had it quite awhile, because I don't remember having the energy to get it up to the 2nd floor of the barn. Somebody trade me something for it.
Also, I never hear anyone mention one of Parkers woodworking vises. Here's a no.26. They mounted to the underside of the bench, and are very useful, though not as versatile as a true pattern makers vise (3 axis angle adjustment)

[Bill Murphy]

Tom, I have a 3 1/2" anvil like yours, but unmarked. I guess it is iron or steel because a magnet sticks to it. I may have been wrong about never having seen a Parker marked anvil, because I bought this one because it was identical to a marked one I had seen (I think). There sure are a lot of bears out there. I wonder if Edgar was ever approached to cast those?

[edgarspencer]

Originally Posted by Bill Murphy

I wonder if Edgar was ever approached to cast those?

If he was, he doesn't remember. Anything small, like replacement parts for my steam engines, I would do on my own, making the mold in the core room and pouring it myself. Our ladles were 20,000#, suspended from 50 ton bridge cranes. It made hitting a 1" pouring cup tricky, especially since the stream was about 2 1/2" diameter, and at about 30#/second.
These little anvils were more likely jewelers tools. Mine were salesman's handouts as paperweights. Same with the Parker Bears and itty bitty vises.