Photo Index - Akron Wrench & Vise Co. - Pinch Bug vise

Machinery Photo Index

Manufactured/Badged by:
Akron Wrench & Vise Co.
Akron, OH

True Manufacturer:
Akron Wrench & Vise Co., Akron, OH

Machine Specifications
Machine Class:	Wood Working Machinery & Metal Working Machinery
Machine Type:	Other
Machine Size:
Submitted By:	Stephen Fixx

Machine Specifications
Description/Model:	Pinch Bug vise
Date of Manufacturer:	1922
Serial Number:	Patent #1,399,632
Last Updated	5/10/2021 1:40:32 PM

Comments:

I picked up a cool little project after seeing an ad on FB Marketplace. She was asking $50 for a workbench with a vise attached. I suspected there was something unique about the vise so I offered $25 for just the vise. She accepted so I drove the 40 minutes over to get it. I cleaned it up and started doing some research. My investigation revealed it’s a “Pinch Bug” vise made by the Akron Wrench & Vise Company. The 1921 patent I found is for the vises ability to rotate freely, until you put clamping pressure on the jaws, which then locks the vise in position. I was curious why my vise didn’t look just like the patent drawing, but a week later the most amazing thing happened...she wrote me back and said that she found another set of jaws for it! I offered $20 and raced over to pick it up. Though horizontal seems an odd way to use a vice I think it would make a pretty good drill press vise or small parts vise on a tabletop. I dug up that my vise's inventor J.R. Long had been working with this concept for a while and another vise design of his is quite popular and still in production: The Versa-Vise is made right here in Ohio, USA also (but there are lots of knock-offs). Patent #1,399,632

Photo 1:

Comments: Pinch Bug vise
Source: Photo credit: Steve Fixx, owner

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Photo 2:

Comments: Pinch Bug parts after cleaning
Source: Photo credit: Steve Fixx, owner

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Photo 3:

Comments: Pinch Bug both sets of jaws
Source: Photo credit: Steve Fixx, owner

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Photo 4:

Comments: Patent date
Source: Photo credit: Steve Fixx, owner

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Photo 5:

Comments: Patent date
Source: Photo credit: Steve Fixx, owner

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Photo 6:

Comments: "Pinch Bug"
Source: Photo credit: Steve Fixx, owner

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