In 1956 brothers Lawrence A. Muggli and Victor V. Muggli applied for a patent on a machine vise that embodied a simple but important idea: force was transmitted to the movable jaw via a slanted surface that tended to pull the jaw and the workpiece down into the vise bed as the jaw is tightened.
The brothers' machine-shop business, Muggli Manufacturing Co. of Minneapolis, manufactured the Muggli vise for a few years. They then sold their shop and opened a new one in Glen Ulin, ND; they sold a few vises from there, which may have been leftover production from Minneapolis.
Surviving Muggli vises exist but are fairly rare.
Information Sources
- Practical Machinist forum discussion on the Muggli vise. This discussion provided much of the information given here.
- 1956 R.L. Polk.'s Minneapolis Suburban Directory lists "Muggli Lawrence mech eng Muggli Mfg r Mpls"; "Muggli Mfg Co (Victor Muggli) machinists h5948 University av NE (Fridley)"; "Muggli Victor (Muggli Mfg Co) h5948 University av NE (Fridley)".
- 1956 Catalog of Copyright Entries, page 1242: "Muggli Manufacturing Co. / Machine model A60 vise. Folder. Appl. authors: Lawrence A. Muggli & Victor V. Muggli. © Muggli Mfg. Co.; 25Sep56; A263664.
- 1960 Polk's Minneapolis City Directory lists "Muggli Lawrence A (Irene); Muggli Manufacturing h 2228 Dupont av N". There are other Muggli entries on the page but we cannot view them in Google Books.
- A 1966 University of Minnesota report lists local business surveyed, including "MUGGLI MFG. CO. 5973 N. E. 3RD ST. MPLS. 21"