Need help identifying this mamouth, vintage vise.

[Gordon]

First off... I cannot be trusted. I promised myself that I was not going to buy any more vises...then this one came along.
It is an absolute monster...60 pounds, has jaws that open to 5.75", and the donut it a perfectly machined piece of bronze. Also, the jaws travel through 3 separate ways. I have no idea who made this as there are no markings on it that I can find. It came from the estate of a man named Gerard Lindenberg in New Jersey. Gerard was, (according to the seller), a gunsmith. I've shown it next to a common Victor vise to give an idea of its size.

Has anyone seen one of these before? The machining is superb, and after I clean up some light surface rust it's going to be one really pretty lady!

 

[John B.]

If memory serves........ I believe Mr. Lindenberg attended Neil Hartliep's engraving class in Trinidad, Colorado in 1982.
Lindy was a talented gunsmith and an outstanding machinist.

 

[troutbox]

a machinist friend of mine always writes the name of the person he bought machine tools from somewhere on the machine. some of tools i have that were "shop made" or "machinist made" were never signed. i have always put the persons name on it if i knew they made it.

i tried to find out info on the vice you pointed me to on ebay. but no such luck. if i were in your very small squirrel shoes, i would engrave mr. lindenberg's name to that vise for posterity. especially with the info that john b added.

but that's just me. and i don't hide nuts.

 

[John B.]

If memory serves........ I believe Mr. Lindenberg attended Neil Hartliep's engraving class in Trinidad, Colorado in 1982.
Lindy was a talented gunsmith and an outstanding machinist.

CORRECTION. Memory did not serve completely.
I looked back on my records and find that I taught the classes at Trinidad in 1982.
Mr. Lindenberg did take an engraving class from Neil Hartliep but it must have been
some time before 1982.
I was looking for Neil's class roster to be sure if it was the same Mr. Lindenberg from New Jersey but have not come up with the list yet.

 

[Gordon]

CORRECTION. Memory did not serve completely.
I looked back on my records and find that I taught the classes at Trinidad in 1982.
Mr. Lindenberg did take an engraving class from Neil Hartliep but it must have been
some time before 1982.
I was looking for Neil's class roster to be sure if it was the same Mr. Lindenberg from New Jersey but have not come up with the list yet.

Thank you so much for looking into this for me, John B. I'm sort of a nerd and I love knowing all the history of any tool or other nice thing that comes into my possession.

 

[monk]

if he was a machinist/gunsmith, it's quite possible he made the vise you now have.

 

[Gordon]

if he was a machinist/gunsmith, it's quite possible he made the vise you now have.

Thanks, Monk. The tolerances are awesomely tight. While in the process of cleaning up some surface rust etc. I used micrometer and Starrett feeler gagues to check the fit, in many instances, the separation of parts is 1.5-3 thousandths... close tolerances for a vise! The gap between the two hemispheres is exactly 0.010". Whoever made this was a classic "anal retentive". The thing is a beast.

 

[monk]

most machinists are as fussy about their work, as are those engaged in the engraving arts,
if they aren't fussy, things break down.