What's this old machine?

August 15, 2010 11:07 AM

What is this big vise like machine I found? It's about 5 feet tall. The lever at the top turns the screw which makes the top jaw close. The jaws toothed and diamond shape. There's another bar on the right that rotates. What else can I do with it besides it's original purpose?
posted by jefftang to Home & Garden (5 answers total)

The jaws make me think it's a pipe vise. They can be really handy for clamping things that don't fit in standard vise jaws easily.
posted by Shohn at 11:10 AM on August 15, 2010

I'm pretty sure it's an antique pipe threader. It usually had a box of square dies that fit inside the square where the clamps go, and you'd rotate the pipe to thread the ends. I have a smaller one, and since I don't have the dies I basically use it as a pipe clamp and a support for soldering pipe.
posted by true at 11:13 AM on August 15, 2010

Best answer: I think we're both right - it is a vise for pipe threading. Here's a link to a currently manufactured product that looks very similar. The copy says, "Yoke vises permit the strongest jaw-to-jaw gripping of pipe for high-torque applications like threading. " The giveaway to me that yours is a threading vise is that the space between the jaws is a square rather than flattened, so it seems likely that it was designed to hold a square die rather than pipe by itself.
posted by true at 11:22 AM on August 15, 2010

It's pretty cool-looking -- maybe clean it up and put a potted plant on it?
posted by trip and a half at 2:31 PM on August 15, 2010 [1 favorite]

Future use: Apple press, cheese press.
posted by stbalbach at 10:37 PM on August 15, 2010