Cole Tool Vise St Anne Illinois

rockyridgefarm

Well-known Member
I went to a farm auction Saturday and picked up a Cole Tool Vise. Casting says St Anne Illinois. It looks like it has never been used, or at least very lightly used. Unfortunately, I did not get the mount and will need to manufacture one. I'm planning on using it as a mobile "third hand", mounted on a post on a truck rim and moved around to be used wherever I need to hold something. Most I have seen online must have been cast in Chicago Heights.

I'm wondering if this vise has some value as a collectable and should instead be displayed versus used.
 
it might not be as old as think. the
foundry in St Anne is still in operation.
its quite small though. you might be able
to contact them for the mount
 
(quoted from post at 21:20:38 01/17/21) I went to a farm auction Saturday and picked up a Cole Tool Vise. Casting says St Anne Illinois. It looks like it has never been used, or at least very lightly used. Unfortunately, I did not get the mount and will need to manufacture one. I'm planning on using it as a mobile "third hand", mounted on a post on a truck rim and moved around to be used wherever I need to hold something. Most I have seen online must have been cast in Chicago Heights.

I'm wondering if this vise has some value as a collectable and should instead be displayed versus used.


These guys seem to know a lot about vices. You should ask them.

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=44782
 
Contact your state representatives.

They know all about vices, or at least send you a form letter thanking you for your inquiry and asking for a donation.
 
(quoted from post at 10:06:41 01/18/21)
(quoted from post at 21:20:38 01/17/21) I went to a farm auction Saturday and picked up a Cole Tool Vise. Casting says St Anne Illinois. It looks like it has never been used, or at least very lightly used. Unfortunately, I did not get the mount and will need to manufacture one. I'm planning on using it as a mobile "third hand", mounted on a post on a truck rim and moved around to be used wherever I need to hold something. Most I have seen online must have been cast in Chicago Heights.

I'm wondering if this vise has some value as a collectable and should instead be displayed versus used.




These guys seem to know a lot about vices. You should ask them.

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=44782

That should be "vises".

Why is the "Edit" function disabled? Would be a good thing to enable.
 
(quoted from post at 04:50:56 01/18/21) it might not be as old as think. the
foundry in St Anne is still in operation.
its quite small though. you might be able
to contact them for the mount

That was an idea that had not occurred to me. I called them and they are indeed still in business. Unfortunately, the guy I talked to said he had been there 15 years, and they had not made them for quite awhile before that. Thanks for the idea, though.
 

This is from Vintage Machinery Forum:

Cole Tool Manufacturing Co. had one known product, a combination swiveling bench vise and detachable drill. Their one known catalog, with 2 scanned copies on the Internet, is not dated. It appears to be from the 1940s to 1950s. The business was owned by Harold Eugene Cole (1909-1984). He retired in from the company in 1979, according to his obituary. A review of newspaper ads found the first in 1940, for the "Cole portable vise & drill" with no price given. Advertising resumed after the war, with the set priced at $55.00 in 1951. The most recent full price ads were in 1976, $239.50 at NAPA stores. A 1980 ad had the set on sale at $150.00. Known examples variously have the location cast into the head as "St. Anne, IL" or "Chicago Heights, IL".

Although the catalog called the drill "portable," it is intended to be operated firmly affixed to the vise or the object being drilled, as an engine block.

Information Sources
The Oshkosh Northwestern, Wed., June 13, 1984.
 

I have a Cole vise and the Cole drill. Great tools. Here's a link to a photo essay an owner did. http://oldengine.org/members/levans/colevise/cole08.html

And here's a link to a factory sales brochure- https://www.rustyiron.com/literature/ColeDrill.pdf
 

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