Uploaded October 2019 | Updated September 2026, 16 hours ago
This is a 99 year old COACH-MAKERS Vice! It bears the name Athol, but was REALLY made by Starrett! What people call these vises have changed over time. You may call this as a carriage makers vise, a pattern makers vice, a sheet metal vise, or even a wood working vise.
A coach maker or carriage maker was a trade where the maker would build or repair horse drawn carriages. Through the evolution of time and of the trades coach makers changed to coach smiths and largely worked on building and repairing railroad coaches, carts and the like. These people had skills in woodworking and also blacksmithing, as it took the ability to work with both wood & iron to accomplish much of the things these craftsmen dealt with! These were VERY skilled people of their time! They have almost been completely forgotten about mainly because their trade name was too specific to early means of transportation!
Coachmakers vises have smooth faced jaws that are usually much taller and thinner than typical bench vises. That provides for more access to your work piece clamped into the vise. It's a great vise for filing or working with taller materials. These vises also open much wider than comparable mechanics vises allowing you to work on larger work pieces.
The smooth jaws are also relatively "non marring" and don't leave marks in your work piece like a typical mechanics bench vise will, making it great when working with soft metals like copper, brass, or even wood and plastics, or you just plain dont want something marked up!
These vises were largely made by company's like Reed, Prentiss or Athol, such as this one, but one thing's for sure, NONE of these vises are still in production today.
These vises are getting harder & harder to find for many reasons. I'm willing to bet that these vices are / were VERY easy to abuse, and since they have tall thin jaws and they open so large, it would be EASY to use this vise improperly, and break it! That on top pf the fact that MUCH less of these vises were made, and they stopped making them many many decades ago are just a few of my opinions on why many people have never even heard of one!
Laroy Starrett, one of America’s tool pioneers was the founder, along with other associates, of the Athol Machine Company in 1868. During his time with the company Starrett developed a line of vises and other mechanics tools. He left the company due to patent disputes in 1875. Those disputes prompted Starrett to sue the Athol Manufacturing Co., he won, leaving him with enough capital to buy Athol in 1905.
Athol Machine Co. changed its name to Athol Machine and Foundry in December 1920. Therefore Athol vises bearing the name “Athol Machine Co” are pre 1921 and those labeled “Athol M&FCo” are post 1920.
Therefore any Athol vise manufactured after 1905 is a Starrett vise whether it bears the Starrett brand name or not.
The L.S. Starrett company is still in operation today making incredible high quality machinist tools & precision measurement tools.
I found this vise buried in a locked cabinet in an old Blacksmith / Fabrication shop. I was digging through a bunch of old tools, and at the very bottom of the pile completely covered in black soot / oil & grease was this Athol / Starrett 413 1/2X Coach Makers vise from post 1921, just waiting to be discovered again!!
I truly appreciate that you've taken the time to watch as I bring back the bygone era of THIS Coachmakers Vise!
I'd love to know your thoughts on this project!
Please consider supporting the channel by buying these tools & materials for your project using the links below! It helps support the channel & won't cost you anything more!
Tools USED in the VIDEO:
Parts Washer Fluid - amzn.to/2OELNI9
Iso Tunes BlueTooth Hearing Protection - amzn.to/35tFm1h
Air Angle Grinder - amzn.to/2OIfSqt
Air Die Grinder - amzn.to/37vwgD6
Carbide Burr Grinding Set - amzn.to/37wZd1A
Corded Angle Grinder - amzn.to/2OIfOad
Wire cup brush for Angle Grinder - amzn.to/2Kx1Oi3
5" Orbital Palm Sander - amzn.to/32VFhlB
If you have any suggestions, questions, or comments, please leave them below!
Thanks for stopping by, I truly appreciate your support!
Feel free to donate towards future projects on my Patreon page Below, I would really appreciate it.
★Patreon★ patreon.com/salvageworkshop
Follow my Instagram for what I'm up to on a daily basis!
★Instagram★ instagram.com/salvageworkshop
#Restoration #OldTools #ViseRestoration
This is a 99 year old COACH-MAKERS Vice! It bears the name Athol, but was REALLY made by Starrett! What people call these vises have changed over time. You may call this as a carriage makers vise, a pattern makers vice, a sheet metal vise, or even a wood working vise.
A coach maker or carriage maker was a trade where the maker would build or repair horse drawn carriages. Through the evolution of time and of the trades coach makers changed to coach smiths and largely worked on building and repairing railroad coaches, carts and the like. These people had skills in woodworking and also blacksmithing, as it took the ability to work with both wood & iron to accomplish much of the things these craftsmen dealt with! These were VERY skilled people of their time! They have almost been completely forgotten about mainly because their trade name was too specific to early means of transportation!
Coachmakers vises have smooth faced jaws that are usually much taller and thinner than typical bench vises. That provides for more access to your work piece clamped into the vise. It's a great vise for filing or working with taller materials. These vises also open much wider than comparable mechanics vises allowing you to work on larger work pieces.
The smooth jaws are also relatively "non marring" and don't leave marks in your work piece like a typical mechanics bench vise will, making it great when working with soft metals like copper, brass, or even wood and plastics, or you just plain dont want something marked up!
These vises were largely made by company's like Reed, Prentiss or Athol, such as this one, but one thing's for sure, NONE of these vises are still in production today.
These vises are getting harder & harder to find for many reasons. I'm willing to bet that these vices are / were VERY easy to abuse, and since they have tall thin jaws and they open so large, it would be EASY to use this vise improperly, and break it! That on top pf the fact that MUCH less of these vises were made, and they stopped making them many many decades ago are just a few of my opinions on why many people have never even heard of one!
Laroy Starrett, one of America’s tool pioneers was the founder, along with other associates, of the Athol Machine Company in 1868. During his time with the company Starrett developed a line of vises and other mechanics tools. He left the company due to patent disputes in 1875. Those disputes prompted Starrett to sue the Athol Manufacturing Co., he won, leaving him with enough capital to buy Athol in 1905.
Athol Machine Co. changed its name to Athol Machine and Foundry in December 1920. Therefore Athol vises bearing the name “Athol Machine Co” are pre 1921 and those labeled “Athol M&FCo” are post 1920.
Therefore any Athol vise manufactured after 1905 is a Starrett vise whether it bears the Starrett brand name or not.
The L.S. Starrett company is still in operation today making incredible high quality machinist tools & precision measurement tools.
I found this vise buried in a locked cabinet in an old Blacksmith / Fabrication shop. I was digging through a bunch of old tools, and at the very bottom of the pile completely covered in black soot / oil & grease was this Athol / Starrett 413 1/2X Coach Makers vise from post 1921, just waiting to be discovered again!!
I truly appreciate that you've taken the time to watch as I bring back the bygone era of THIS Coachmakers Vise!
I'd love to know your thoughts on this project!
Please consider supporting the channel by buying these tools & materials for your project using the links below! It helps support the channel & won't cost you anything more!
Tools USED in the VIDEO:
Parts Washer Fluid - amzn.to/2OELNI9
Iso Tunes BlueTooth Hearing Protection - amzn.to/35tFm1h
Air Angle Grinder - amzn.to/2OIfSqt
Air Die Grinder - amzn.to/37vwgD6
Carbide Burr Grinding Set - amzn.to/37wZd1A
Corded Angle Grinder - amzn.to/2OIfOad
Wire cup brush for Angle Grinder - amzn.to/2Kx1Oi3
5" Orbital Palm Sander - amzn.to/32VFhlB
If you have any suggestions, questions, or comments, please leave them below!
Thanks for stopping by, I truly appreciate your support!
Feel free to donate towards future projects on my Patreon page Below, I would really appreciate it.
★Patreon★ patreon.com/salvageworkshop
Follow my Instagram for what I'm up to on a daily basis!
★Instagram★ instagram.com/salvageworkshop
#Restoration #OldTools #ViseRestoration
