From article in 1894-03-08 issue of The Iron Age, page 485

The Sabourin Brothers were David Charles Sabourin and Joseph Sabourin, both of them cabinetmakers living in Lowell, Massachusetts. Between 1891 and 1896, the two were granted three US patents and two Canada patents on quick-acting woodworkers vises. An 1894 article indicates that Sabourin Brothers were offering a quick-acting vise to the market, their "Champion Quick Action Vise". That article was the one and only mention of "Sabourin Brothers" that we have found. A virtually identical article in another journal that appeared a month later credited the manufacturer as R. C. Graves. We can find no information on any manufacturer or machinist of that name in or near Massachusetts, and we find no other mentions of R. C. Graves. These two articles on the Champion Quick Action Vise are the only information we can find on this product.

The 1897 catalog from Chas. A. Strelinger Co. shows a "Norbourn" quick-acting woodworkers' vise, showing the same drawing as in the above-mentioned 1894 articles on the Champion vise.

Information Sources

• 1894-03-08 The Iron Age page 485, article on the "Champion Quick Action Vise" from Sabourin Brothers. H. O. Stratton of Boston was their selling agent.
• The April 1894 Carpentry & Building page xx, article on the "Champion Quick Action Vise"; H. O. Stratton was the selling agent on behalf of "R. C. Graves".
• 1897 Chas. A. Strelinger Co. catalog, page 787, features the "Norbourn" quick-acting woodworkers' vise. The illustration is an exact match to the above-mentioned 1894 article on the Sabourin Brothers vise. The name "Norbourn" seems to have been used solely by Strelinger and solely for that one vise, which they deemed the second-best vise on the market, behind only a more expensive vise made by the W. C. Toles Co. Strelinger claimed to have evaluated every such vise on the market, a total of eighteen models.