The Home Machinist!

Good (proper) anvils have a harder tougher metal forged onto the top surface.
Non trivial manufacturing process.
~RN

SteveHGraham wrote: ↑Thu Jul 04, 2019 6:01 pm You must get great prices on port, though.

That's true; and I have mountains of fruit almost all year too.

I inherited my father-in-laws vise, and it is the best bench vise I have ever encountered.
5 " jaws and a 10 " opening and it is tough.
Its a Craftsman Vise and I understand was made in the 1940"s
The maker for this Craftsman Vise was Reed Mfg ( USA) I was told
Don't know the weight but it must be over 100 pounds with the swivel feature
It is actually better than my 2 Ton Arbor Press for press fits.
In the close up picture, please note the extended base, it ensures jaw alignment regardless of extension
and supports the moving jaw if you wish to persuade your work with a hammer
If you ever find one, grab it !
Rich

That's a nice thing for sure.
I have a set of pipe dies I bought at a flea market in the Netherlands, made in USA by Reed manufacturing; some of them have carbide teeth set in (I noticed while threading SS pipe).
I wonder what other good stuff they made?

Reed still makes many tools more current for this century. Their older vises are still around and they are grand. The numbering system then, could be confusing. Rich C's post got me to thinking about the one I have in the older garage. It is very much like his but slightly larger. It is a 4C and I knew that the jaws were 6'' wide and knew it was heavy. I didn't have a bench to hold it so I built a stand.
So just as Richard mentioned the '40s Craftsman being a Reed, it is well to know that 4C doesn't mean 4" jaw width. It is a heavy moma and they made larger.

I wonder if the Red Tool Supply Company is a spin-off of Reed manufacturing.

I have a smaller opening version (6") of the same vice but it is not a Craftsman. I does however look like it made from the same casting molds. I bought it new from as local contractor supply house in about 1968. They had somehow come across two pallets with the vices all in cardboard boxes and nicely stacked. I think the price was $49.95. I did not have a bench to put it on so I bolted it to a 30" long, 16" diameter tree stump. One that was supposed to be split for firewood but instead was squared up and set on the floor of my in cellar shop. Five years ago when I moved to VT I unbolted it then when I got here I found a new tree truck and bolted it back down. In the course of moving it, It must have been dropped because when it was bolted down in VT I found it would not crank open. Took it apart and found there was part of a 1/4" dowel that was supposed to protrude about 1/8 inch but it had been sheared or worn off. I replaced it with a tapped pin driven in from the bottom of the movable jaw casting. It has worked ever since. Given the mass of the vice castings I was surprised that the opening mechanism had such a weak link.