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John Adams took these pictures of a GR 810, with a background grid formed of quarter inch squares.

Note that Grand Rapids Hand Screw Company used the following terminology for parts:

GRHSC terms

my terms

(Chronicle, June 1995)

Shoulder Spindle Central or Through Spindle
Tail Spindle End or Stopped Spindle
Shoulder Jaw Stopped Jaw
Threaded Jaw Through Jaw

Grand Rapids Hand Screw Company

Peculiarities of Grand Rapids Hand Screw Clamps

The company continually emphasized that

In every other Hand Screw the thread is cut with a V shaped tool. In ours we cut it with a saw. The V tool strains and weakens the wood in cutting. Our patent process leaves the wood solid.

The woods were second growth hickory for the spindles, hard maple and birch for the jaws.

There is a prominent warning in several catalogs that

Our Hand Screw parts are not interchangeable with any other make.

Spindles

The woods were second growth hickory for the spindles.

Handle of stopped spindle

Handle of GR stopped spindleNote the slight taper to the cylinder.

Handle of through spindle

Handle of GR through spindle Note the pronounced waist.

Ends of spindles

Ends of GR spindles

The end of the through spindle is rounded. Note the lathe marks.

threads on spindle

Not available at this time.

Maker's Mark

The maker's mark has several forms

  1. Grand Rapids HAND SCREW CO in a circle. and
  2. G. R. HAND SCREW CO in one line by itself.

I believe the latter mark is the later mark.

Circular form

circular mark, with model number inside The image on the left shows the typical name on the outside, and model number inside.


One Line form

One Line MarkThis image shows the common abbreviation GR for Grand Rapids.

Labels

No labels are known.

Jaws

The woods were hard maple and birch for the jaws.


last revised and validated

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