Columbian vise paint question

fullthrottle24 · Apr 27, 2013

For those of you that have Columbian vises, was there paint on the slide and handle? I have two old Columbians, a 504 and a 403 1/2, both appear to have original paint and both are painted. I know members mjozefow and banjo saves the day say the are bright and shiny. The 504 is a dark red and the 403 1/2 is like a Record vice blue. Just trying to decide if I should repaint it everything or restore it minus slide and handle paint. Thoughts?

csargents1546 · Apr 27, 2013

I did not paint the slide or the handle on my columbia. Seems to me that the paint on the slide would get worn off and gum up the screw. Also the handle it would wear off.

1982fxr · Apr 27, 2013

csargents1546 said:
I did not paint the slide or the handle on my columbia. Seems to me that the paint on the slide would get worn off and gum up the screw. Also the handle it would wear off.

this

fullthrottle24 · Apr 27, 2013

I understand about paint wearing off, I was kinda just wondering if they left the factory that way. The paint they used back then does seem to hold up better and probably did not cause any gumming up problems like today's paint would. Personally, I like the look of shiny metal over painted.

ZRX61 · Apr 27, 2013

csargents1546 said:
I did not paint the slide or the handle on my columbia. Seems to me that the paint on the slide would get worn off and gum up the screw. Also the handle it would wear off.

That.... & it looks way better.

jabberwoki · Apr 27, 2013

I painted the slide but not the handle and the paint on the slide does not wear off.

1982fxr · Apr 28, 2013

I don't know about the Columbians, but I've had several Craftsman vises that had the slide painted from the factory and boy howdy that is some tuff stuff!

fullthrottle24 · Apr 29, 2013

On another note, do any of the vises guru's have a guess what the M in the polygon mean? My 403 1/2 has curved writing on one side straight on other and this M on everything. Maybe it is a W from when Warren tool took them over. :dunno:

One final question, T jaw pins, do they push out from bottom to top? I sure don't see any openings on top, I would hate to break them or the jaw trying to send them the wrong direction.
Mike

Voi · Apr 30, 2013

fullthrottle24 said:
On another note, do any of the vises guru's have a guess what the M in the polygon mean?

There is a discussion about this somewhere on GJ, IIRC. I'm not sure there was any resolution but worth searching for it if you haven't done so already.

Can you post a pic of your 504 showing the dark red color? I have one that is green but I think I see bits of red behind the green in parts.

Also, is the Columbian mark on the left side of your 504 straight or curved? By left side I mean left when you're facing the dynamic jaw. It's curved on mine but straight on my 505.

grimreaperc4 · Apr 30, 2013

My columbian vise apeared to have never been resored before and it did not have any paint on the slide or handle.......also i does not seem as if there is enough clearance for the slide to be painted, at least on my vise.

fullthrottle24 · Apr 30, 2013

My 504 has curved wording on left side. I did see previous thread,but nothing was resolved. Now if some can shed some light on which way to drive out jaw pins, I'll be able to finish them.

scottbob · Apr 30, 2013

I'm no guru but when i took mine out i drove them out from the bottom and in from the top

fullthrottle24 · Apr 30, 2013

Ok, I figured bottom to top to drive them out. The top of both my Columbians appear to have weld or lead covering the pins. Perhaps they were just ground flush. I don't know, but it sure blends in well with surrounding metal. Thanks

Columbian vise paint question

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