Just WOW, John! 😮 You answered you own question of why put 100.00 worth of work into a cheap tool. Enjoyment cannot have a price tag put on it. The enjoyment not only you had in actually being able to figure out and fix the individual problems, but the enjoyment all of us get by watching this AMAZING restoration (forget that - its BETTER than restored by far now) job is absolutely priceless. I never think about the time effort b/c its not important to me. As to the brass insert and knob - this is the touch of a master craftsman who loves what he does! But we all knew this anyway 😊 Again - just WOW! 👍🏻👏
A little late, but I got a Littlestown #25 vice at a yard sale about the time you made this video. I finally pulled it off the shelf to see what was under the three coats of paint. You are right.. if you want quality this ain't it! But I like a challenge so I tore into it. I thought it had a sheared off screw on one of the vice jaws.. wrong! It was a broken tap. Amazingly I was able to grind it out with a Dremel an a lot of patience and save the thread. I put the main body of the vice in the lathe using the base threaded hole and turned the base flat.. it was "as cast" like Scoutcrafters. I then turned the swivel base flat, top and bottom. The anvil section was pretty beat up so I milled that mostly flat. Like Scoutcrafter I made a bushing for the screw. I made a top hat bushing from brass with the thickness made so the retaining cross-pin will just fit. The seating area for the flange of the bushing was about 1/3 missing because of the poor casting so I milled that to get it flat. The bar is a poor fit in the main body of the vice. Luckily it isn't twisted like Scoutcrafters was. Some shims should tighten it up. This evening I started roughing out new jaws for the vice and in a day or two I'll be ready for a full assembly fit-up an check. Then some primer and paint will give me one very expensive cheap vice. I do have to say though that the vice has had a lot of use and it was actually still usable as is. Cheers from NC/USA
Google is watching. I'm running a video to make sure it loaded correctly and at the end of my video up pops who? Scoutcrafter's rebuild of a Littlestown No. 25 vise. Hi John. It is a beauty. Mine won't look this good. Great job patching the hole. The big tool guys like Bliss and Niagra filled the inevitable voids with the handymans favorite, Nope not duct tape, Bondo. I have many a story of drilling into the frame only to get pink plastic dust instead of steel or iron. Transfer punches are the die makers friend. Wouldn't want to live without them in the shop. 😁😎
Thank god for people like Scout Crafter. Always cheerful and a pleasure to see the transformation of some amazing vintage tools. Thanks for being one of the coolest You Tubers!
I don’t always comment on your videos. I do watch them all. I just want to say thank you for all the information that you are imparting to “us”. Not only are them informative but also entertaining. Enjoy them all. Hope that generations to come can learn and be entertained by you. Great job on the vise by the way.
I watched this video at least 5 times before refinishing my own littlestown vise. Thank you so much for your videos. I’d like to send you before and after photos as I know they’re your favorite part.
Great looking vice and as always another great restoration. Thank you for all you do!!! I especially appreciate how you go out of your way to help others.
Wow! Talk about making a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Between the abuse and sub standard casting it would take a small machine shop to fix it but I have to say this is an outstanding example of your talent. It is absolutely gorgeous. The polished metal, red paint and white accents really do this poor old vise justice and I doubt it ever looked like this when it was new. I learned a lot from this tutorial and I really enjoyed watching it. Thanks for sharing this.
Hi scout, not many people would have bothered whith that old vice, but you sure pulled all the stops out on this one,I think you have the patience of a saint ,I'm sure the pleasure these resurrections must give is beyond price, well done. Hope you are keeping well, best wishe's, Stuart.
I always walk away smiling!!! The ingenuity and skill you posess just blows me away!! I gotta admit....I was thinking you might have gold plated the thing but that paint job looks incredible!! There were so many great fixit ideas in this one video alone!! Thank You, John, for taking that piece o' junk and turning it into a jewel!
Hi Bill- I was running a little long so I couldn't show some other cool details like the custom bolts I made to hold the vise to the base... =D Thanks!
Happy Thanksgiving, John. My name is Mike Farrar, and I have been a fan of the show since you had started posting your content on RU-vid. I've watched this restoration video when it first aired a few years back. I have now watched it for a second time, simply because you did such a fantastic job with this piece! I look forward to your videos. You have inspired me to be a tool collector back when your channel had just started out, I became a subscribor. l am 48 years old now from a NW suburb of Illinois, and i still look forward to your videos, especially if I've had a bad day. Please keep your videos coming. You never truly know the impact your work can have on a person, especially on someone you have never met before, like me. Take care, kind sir. My family and I wish you and yours all the best during this holiday season and in the new year to come. God bless! Sincerely, Mike F.
Factory installed defect?!? That's insane! Great job milling the hole in the jaws, making the inserts and handle. Beautiful vise all around!! Great color too!!
I love restorations like these. No handgun trigger jobs just plain meat and potatoes. I enjoyed the handle job and the 1/2" repair job. The two tone paint job surprised me. I have the same vise and did it in bright navy blue with the white lettering. I like your colors much better. I am with you on the vise quality. These were made for hunters who occassionally did homeowner repairs. Competed with homeowner Craftsman and Wards at that time.
Hi Jett! With a little work they can be a useful vise and they are very attractive! However like you said from the factory they were oh so sloppy! =D Thanks!!!!!
Thanks for the tip on those left-handed bits. I just got mine from ebay. Cheaper than Amazon, same manufacturer and free shipping. Who wouldn't love that? I had some at my job before I retired and wanted some for home but, forgot about them until I saw your video. Don't need them every day but, when you need them, you need them and you can't find them in local stores.
what i find amazing is you took more pride in repairing and fixing this vice than the manufacturer did. you have more pride in your tools then the manufacturer. it is amazing how with a little thought and care you can turn this...... Turd? into a vice most people would be happy to have on their bench as just an extra hand. are there better one yes. this will now work for most everything. just wonderful, i hope it finds a nice home if you don't keep it.
Hi David! I certainly don't blame Littlestown because they have to produce a tool that can turn a profit. How many hours can you pay a worker to build a vise and still make money? These vises sold for very little money and did the job.. However as tool lovers we tend to appreciate the quality vises! =) Thanks!
You do some of the coolest stuff seen on RU-vid. This was great. Sharing the learning process is golden and rarely done. You are a great man for doing that.
The world's best $10 vise? LOL - great restoration Scout! Just goes to show, you can learn something and show off your innovative techniques even on a cheap tool.
Wow! Nice job!Love that red. Couldn't believe that deformity they put on that bar to make the jaws line up. Crazy.Good job fixing and improving a "pig" of a vice.
LOL Mike- Littlestown foundry is still around, they have a website and if you go to their "history" section you can see this vise being made! Plus you can see the worker "adjusting the slide"! Awesome!!!!
My grandfather has a little littletown vice. I've always loved it. He spray painted it red and he just uses it as a beater vice. He's had it for years and it's never given up on him lol. There's a small crack at the end of the vice on the "tail" lol but I've always loved that vice. I hope I get it in the future!
From the garbage! Cudnt believe coz it seemed pretty decent. Later u revealed the reason it ended up in garbage. Very few people hv ur talent of turning trash to treasure. The left handed drills were a new knowledge for me. Dats why I love ur vids.
Hi Scout, a lot of people would say that little Charlie Brown vise isn't worth the effort. But it's projects like this that keep your skills sharp! Love that candy paint.
Well this really makes me appreciate the 6" Prentiss I use. Nice repair work on this one John. Those endcaps are lovely, I'll keep that one in the bag of tricks.
Hi Noah! You know, we are lucky now to be able to buy really good vises cheap because they are antiques now but back in the day, when a dollar was a dollar, a high quality vise was a week's salary or more and buying one was a big purchase! The smaller vises were very attractive to home owners and hobbyists. The Prentiss, Reed, York and Parker Vises were not nearly as popular as these small ones because of the price. =D
I can relate to 'Famous Last Words'. I know how it can get. I call it 'Getting A Wild Hair' and it usually ends up being VERY wild indeed. And it can be about something insignificant and ratty. Makes no difference. And if you have to have a vise (vice) this one is one to be PROUD of! Thanks, CS!
Wow 😲 Amazing job... I was right at “throw it out” but everyone needs a beater vise... I think MagDad357 would say that you are deep in “ lipstick on a pig” territory! Well polished turd 💩 very well done 👍
What a turnaround on that vise. I had a similar and you gave me an idea how to fix mine. I somehow took a chunk of metal off of it. I also bent it enough that it doesn’t match well. I think some heat and I may try brazing the hole. Great idea on brass plug. Dad used lead shot and it’s what I use for set screws. Not the safest product on the periodic table!!
Hi Aaron! I don't know why lead has gotten such a bad rap lately! Years back everyone melted it and made sinkers! I think if you eat it in the form of paint chips it isn't good but I have used lead for years! =) Thanks!
That is a cool little vise. I really like the anvil that it has. I just restored my first vise last week. I did a Wilton Cadet vise that a customer gave me. It was her brothers who’d passed away back in the early 90’s at age 49. She said he was a real craftsman and could fix anything and did beautiful work. I had her give me a picture of him so I could remember who the Vice belonged to. It was my way of honoring and remember him. The Wilton turned out amazing. It’s so smooth and precise. It’s not like a modern vise that I’ve ever used. It’s a work of art. Thank you again for sharing your work. Do you have more restoration vids??
Another great restoration!! I am loving the longer videos!! I think this channel is going to explode soon! Again thank you for all the tips and tricks!!! Keep it rollin!!
S.C. a very nice restoration as always.. I love your longer videos and when you really show your stuff and restore things that are a little more on the difficult side... God Bless and take care...
Hi Gary! This one went so long I had to cut out the history of the Littlestown Foundry! There is a video on their website of these vises being made!! Thanks!!!
Lovely job John . I'm so glad you didn't go down the butcher way and fill that hole with what ever filler. I new your skill and attention to detail you wouldn't do anything but what you did steel plug it excellent sir. The finished article is a credit to you . I've never seen this type of vice and by the way you've shown the flaws I'm kind of glad I haven't . But now you've finished it unless you new how bad they normally are I wouldn't no they weren't top notch . Thanks again really enjoyed . Have a great weekend 👍god bless
ScoutCrafter you could of brazed it with it being cast very difficult to do any other than that . When I left work oxy set up was something I missed the most . I have mig and I also had tig .but my little 7' square shop hasn't the space for full bottles or even half size bottles . I gave my snap on mig to my son and I sold the tig and got a mini gas less mig it's very small and no gas makes it ideal for the small area I have .then the problem of gas welding .i found a place that does a small set up with map gas and throw away oxy bottles , it comes with the pipes torch and regs ,also three of each gas it was less than £100 about $115 in your money well I'm to say the least very very impressed obviously it won't weld the QE2 but for small jobs like silver solder and brazing does aluminium a treat and heating stuff up it's ideal and very small even has it own stand . Im sure in the states there will be something of the same and I would recommend it . I made a little out of fire prof 12" square mats a booth of sorts and I put that on a fire blanket all folds away so I can use when I need it . Just a thought for you and without the cost of the bigger version and in my case no space for one . I can send pics if you want a look etc just say
Yet again another amazing video I have just finished the small vise That I got a few days ago it’s From Japan quality is fabulous they make a great tool. Every day I try to learn something new I have never seen a left Handed drill what a great tool the vise came up fab from what it was one mans trash 🗑. Great 👍
Hey, this is my first comment, really enjoy your posts! Just a quick comment, with this vise, and maybe with others that you refresh, with the handle, perhaps putting on a couple of "O" rings at each end would help. They would keep the handle for "clanking" when spinning the handles around, just a thought. Thanks for your restorations! Keep going!
Terrific resto!!! 👍 I love to restore old things, you take them to another level. The bushing idea worked awesome. Great job. Btw, I live about 1/2 hour from Littlestown, PA. It’s just west of Gettysburg.
Hello Scott, When I was a kid I visited Gettysburg... I was too young to really appreciate it and I need to go back! I love Pa! Jacktown (Bangor) on the 20th!!!
Joe, I was running long so I had to cut the history part of the Littlestown Foundry, however on their website they have a video of them making this vise and you can actually see the guy smashing the slide to align the vise! =) Awesome!
What a great job! I was wondering...I knew you weren’t going to be doing any welding and what great idea firing up the mill. It came out really nice. Thanks for your effort on these video really enjoy the channel.
