by Carl Matthews updated 03/17/06

Emmert Anatomy

a	Main Handle	j	Hinged Mounting Angle or Plate
b	Spindle	k	Rotate Adjustment Handle
c	Cover	l	Hub
d	Front Jaw or moving jaw	m	Beam or guide bar
e	Rear Jaw or stationary jaw	n	Slot for Screw
f	Steel Faced Jaws	o	Tilt Adjustment Bar or Rod
g	Taper Adjustment Knob	p	Tilt Adjustment Handle
h	Vise Dogs - Sometimes called auxiliary jaws.	q	Tilt Adjustment Clamp
i	Vise Dogs Pins - Used to engage or raise vise dogs.	r	Tilt Adjustment Bracket or Angle

Casting Numbers

The casting numbers are used to distinguish the various parts and to aid in assembly.

Part	No.1 Turtleback	No. 1 New Improved Universal	No. 2 Turtleback	No. 2 New Improved Universal
Front Jaw	82 or none	K1	86 or 96	K-16
Rear Jaw	13 or none	none or K2		K-15
Spindle	--	K9 near handle		K25 (24" long)
Cover	83 under cover	na		na
Collar	na	K5	na	K-22
Taper Adj Handle	na	K-14	na	K-23
Mounting Angle	--	K12 on underside		K-19 on underside
Rotate Adj Handle		K6 or K-28 or K-29		K-28
Hub	14	K3		K18
Nut	--	K or K8		K-24
Beam	16 under cover	K7		K17 (21" long)
Tilt Adj Handle	21 (Type T1)	K6 or K64		K6 or K64
Tilt Adj Bar or Rod	20 (Type T1)
Tilt Adj Bracket	19 (Type T1)
Taper Adj Bracket		none or K4 or K44		K44
Tilting Jaw Insert		K13		K26
Vise Dogs		K11 on front dogs K10 on rear dogs		K21 on front dogs K20 on rear dogs

Jaws and Jaw Inserts

The original sales literature mentions 7 pairs of vise jaws. It says "It has seven pairs of jaws so that it is adapted to grasp any kind of work without regard to irregularities of form." Wow, that's some vise, 7 pair. When I first read this, I thought that there must have been a lot of missing parts from my Emmert vise. That is not really the case though. Here is a breakdown of these vise jaws and jaw inserts.

The main vise jaws (one pair) measure 7 x 18.5 inches. These have button-hole or key-hole openings which can hold wood pads or jaw insert. One pair of steel faced jaws are located on the underside of the main vise jaws. These are used to hold metal objects, pipes or smaller objects. Two pair of small auxiliary jaws (1" wide) extend from the main jaws. These are commonly called vise dogs. A taper jaw insert can be used to hold tapered table legs and the like. This is often missing from the vise but can be purchased from Patrick Leach. Now the last 2 pairs are where it gets a little tricky. Rotate your Emmert 90 degrees to the workbench. "Ta Da", now you have a 7" wide pair of jaws above the beam and a 7" wide pair of jaws below the beam.

1 pair Main vise jaws, 18" wide

1 pair Steel faced jaws, 3" wide

2 pair Auxiliary jaws or vise dogs, 1" wide

1 pair Taper Jaw insert, 7" wide

1 pair Rotated top half of main jaw, 7" wide

1 pair Rotated bottom half of main jaw, 7" wide

Now you know how to get 7 pairs of jaws out of one Emmert.

Tilt Adjustment Mechanism These are sometimes called the drag or bar. The Tilt Adjustment Mechanism consists of a tilt adj. rod, tilt adj. handle, tilt adj. clamp and a tilt adj. bracket.

Type TA1 – Tilt Adjustment Rod is a Flat bar with notches. This rare tilt adjustment mechanism has 7 preset lock points. The handle has a spring attached. It obviously is more costly to manufacture than the TA2 that replaced it.	Type TA2 – Tilt Adjustment Rod is a Round bar which is usually broken or cracked where this one is. The bar is 12" total length, 3/4" dia. and is connected to the hub by a hex head bolt. The Tilt Adj. Bracket mounts to the bench with 5 large wood screws. The ones I've seen do not have a casing number on the bracket. The bracket height is low, only 2-1/2" from bench to the pivot point. The Tilt Adj. Handle has a large gentle curve, is 5" long and has no casting number. It connects to the bracket with square head bolts.

Type TA3 – Tilt Adjustment Rod is a Flat slotted bar. The bar is 15" long, 1/4" thick and the hole at one end attaches to the hub of the vise. The Tilt Adj. Bracket mounts to the bench with 4 wood screws. Some brackets have a casting number of K4 and some do not. The bracket is taller being 5" from bench to the pivot point. The Tilt Adj. Handle is straight and is 5" long. The handle casting number may be K6 or none at all. The older handles connect to the bracket with square head bolt and the newer handles connect with a hex head bolt.	Type TA4 – Tilt Adjustment Rod is a Flat solid bar. The bar is 15" long, 1/4" thick and the hole at one end attaches to the hub of the vise. The Tilt Adj. Bracket mounts to the bench with 4 wood screws. Some brackets have a casting number of K44. The bracket is taller being 5-1/4" from bench to the pivot point. The bar slides thru a square hole with a threaded bolt cast in. The Tilt Adj. Handle is a 5" straight handle. The handle casting number may be K64. The handle connects to the bracket with double hex nuts. Note: If the bench thickness is over 2", then the adjustment bar may bind unless the bracket is recessed as shown here.

Turtleback Covers

	Cover C1 - Gear symbol around spindle hole, and J. F. Emmert's arched on above, Pat. Aug. 11 in middle and 1891 Waynesboro PA. arched below.
	Cover C2 - Emmert's arched over spindle hole, and Pat. Aug. 11 91.
	Logo C3 - Emmert's Pat. Aug 11, 1891 & Apr. 11, '05. Some have USA below spindle hole and other do not.
	Logo C4 - Emmert's straight over spindle hole, and Pat. Aug. 11 (1891 missing or scratched off mold). Below spindle hole is Apr. 11, 05.
	Logo C5 - Emmert Mfg. Co. Waynesboro (arched) PA.

Front Jaw Logos

Turtleback		Logo 3.7 - Emmert Mfg. Co. Waynesboro (arched) PA.
Turtleback		Logo 4 - Emmert Mfg. Co. Waynesboro (arched) PA. USA
Turtleback		Logo 4 - Emmert Mfg. Co. Waynesboro (arched) PA. USA
K1		Logo 4.5 - Victor Tool Co. Waynesboro PA PAT APLD FOR
K1		Logo 4.7 - Victor Tool Co. Waynesboro PA PATENTED
K1		Logo 5 - Emmert Mfg. Co. (extra high raised lettering) Waynesboro PA U.S.A. and Patented.
K1		Logo 6 - Emmert Mfg. Co. Waynesboro PA U.S.A. and Patented.
K1		Logo 7 - Emmert Mfg Co on left side and K-1 Waynesboro PA USA on right side.

Hubs


Hub 1 - All Turtlebacks Some have a N cast below the 14 and some do not.	Hub 2 - Type U1, Type U2, Type U3	Hub 3 - Type U4, Type U5, Type U6

Hub 2 on the left and Hub 3 on the right. The gap in the hub is used to clamp the rear jaw and lock the vise rotation.

Hub 2 on the right and Hub 3 on the left.

This site was last updated 03/17/06