Dawn 4L Light Pattern Bench Vice Info and Refurbishment

Dawn’s 4L vices were 4″ “light” pattern vices – I’m looking at one today as a restoration candidate. Here’s how it came to me:

Here are some photos of a Dawn 4L cast semi-steel or iron engineer's bench vice or vise

Note the dot between the 4 and the L – not all of the 4Ls I have found have this, I suspect that it is an indicator of how old the vice is but I don’t know more than that yet. Someone had given it an all-over rattlecan paintjob, sliding surfaces included:

Here are some photos of a Dawn 4L cast semi-steel or iron engineer's bench vice or vise

A lot of slop in the handle – the spring was either the wrong length or had compressed a great deal over the years:

Here are some photos of a Dawn 4L cast semi-steel or iron engineer's bench vice or vise

Here are some photos of a Dawn 4L cast semi-steel or iron engineer's bench vice or vise

In the usual Dawn style, simply wind out the dynamic jaw and the two halves of the vice separate:

Here are some photos of a Dawn 4L cast semi-steel or iron engineer's bench vice or vise

Here are some photos of a Dawn 4L cast semi-steel or iron engineer's bench vice or vise

Something curious about the jaw:

Here are some photos of a Dawn 4L cast semi-steel or iron engineer's bench vice or vise

Bondo in the screw hole:

Here are some photos of a Dawn 4L cast semi-steel or iron engineer's bench vice or vise

The matching screw was not factory:

Here are some photos of a Dawn 4L cast semi-steel or iron engineer's bench vice or vise

Here are some photos of a Dawn 4L cast semi-steel or iron engineer's bench vice or vise

Here are some photos of a Dawn 4L cast semi-steel or iron engineer's bench vice or vise

The 4L weighs in at 10.2kg – much lighter than the comparable non-L model. After removing the paint from the sliding areas and re-greasing:

Here are some photos of a Dawn 4L cast semi-steel or iron engineer's bench vice or vise

Here are some photos of a Dawn 4L cast semi-steel or iron engineer's bench vice or vise

Here are some photos of a Dawn 4L cast semi-steel or iron engineer's bench vice or vise

Here are some photos of a Dawn 4L cast semi-steel or iron engineer's bench vice or vise

It still required some rust removal, paint touch ups and fixing the aberrant screw but unfortunately I don’t have any photos of the rest of the restoration, so that’s it!

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