Spanish Miquelot vise?

PerHaglund · Jan 19, 2025

Hi folks,

In my grandfather's barn in Sweden I found what I thought was some old form of caliper. After som googling I ended up here and quite convinced it is a Spanish Miquelot vise.

It has no particular value to me but perhaps someone who is interested in this sort of thing would appreciate it. It sounds like it is quite rare.

Is this forum (and subcategory) an appropriate place to post pictures?

Kind regards,

Per

Sam squanch · Jan 19, 2025

Show some pictures!

PerHaglund · Jan 20, 2025

Sam squanch · Jan 20, 2025

Looks nice! May be worth some money. Hopefully more people who are knowledgeable will get in on the conversation!

Harry Marinakis · Jan 20, 2025

I've seen vises like these, not sure how they work

Billy-by-gosh · Jan 21, 2025

PerHaglund said:
Hi folks,

In my grandfather's barn in Sweden I found what I thought was some old form of caliper. After som googling I ended up here and quite convinced it is a Spanish Miquelot vise.

It has no particular value to me but perhaps someone who is interested in this sort of thing would appreciate it. It sounds like it is quite rare.

Is this forum (and subcategory) an appropriate place to post pictures?

Kind regards,

Per

Your vise appears quite aged...the single leg design would seemingly work upon the external mainspring of a miquelet lock.
Overall it appears well made and I particularly enjoyed seeing the engraving, even on the screw heads - Very nice!!
Wish I knew a true value for it, but for a vise alone, demand for it may, or may not, be sufficient to fetch you a good price.
Wishing you the very best luck, and hope the part find a new home, displayed along with its appropriate firearm.

rickystl · Jan 21, 2025

YES. It is a vise for a miquelet lock. Gunsmiths from the period would usually keep 3-4 different sizes on hand depending on the size of the lock. The lower leg with the hook being the deciding factor. May also fit some wheellocks.

Rick

rickystl · Jan 21, 2025

On second thought, maybe not for a miquelet. The engraved piece that the screw pushes down on would need to be eliminated to use on a miquelet lock. But now, I see a screw which would allow the engraved piece to be adjusted upward. Hmmmm. I'll stick with my first post above. LOL How's that for thinking out loud ? LOL

Rick

rickystl · Jan 21, 2025

What's the approximate length ?

PerHaglund · Jan 22, 2025

Hi everyone, thanks for the feedback and positive comments. I've added two photos showing the length, approx 15 cm when fully 'closed' and 19 cm when fully 'opened'. The size of the gap in those states is 11 mm and 57 mm, respectively.

What led me here originally was this post where you @rickystl posted images of a similar vise.

rickystl · Jan 31, 2025

The engraved piece looks like it has a screw on each side. Is that piece removable ?

PerHaglund · Feb 3, 2025

I don't want to try it myself for the the risk of damaging vise, but you can see a seam across the top and bottom of the engraved piece which leads me to believe that it is removable (given the right tools and treatment beforehand).

rickystl · Feb 3, 2025

Thanks Per

OK. Now this makes more sense to me. If you look close on that engraved piece, above the screws, you see what appears to be a guide pin(s). I'm sure now that that engraved piece was designed to be removed if need be. Removed would make it a standard type vise for a miquelet lock. The engraved piece might be for use with a wheellock - or even a flintlock spring (?)

In the case of a miquelet lock: The vise is positioned at the inside of the lock plate. The lower hook catches the bottom edge of the lock plate. And the top screw is turned to push DOWN on the mainspring to relieve pressure - for Spanish style locks. For Italian (Roman/Naples) style miquelet locks, the vise is still positioned from the inside of the lock plate. But the lower hook edge is reversed 180-degrees to catch the upper edge of the lock plate. The screw is then turned to push UP on the mainspring to relieve pressure.

Rick

PerHaglund · Feb 6, 2025

Thanks for the explanation Rick. The vise has now been sold to a member of this forum.

RAEDWALD · Feb 15, 2025

The thought occurs that, it being found in Sweden, could it be a snaplock vice?

Rudyard · Feb 16, 2025

PerHaglund said:
Hi folks,

In my grandfather's barn in Sweden I found what I thought was some old form of caliper. After som googling I ended up here and quite convinced it is a Spanish Miquelot vise.

It has no particular value to me but perhaps someone who is interested in this sort of thing would appreciate it. It sounds like it is quite rare.

Is this forum (and subcategory) an appropriate place to post pictures?

Kind regards,

Per

Thats very good of you Ime sure it would be snapped up by now. I would like it but Ime half a world away in New Zealand Ime sure it will be gone by now . Welcome to the forum

PS It was but OK

RAEDWALD said:
The thought occurs that, it being found in Sweden, could it be a snaplock vice?

Good thinking nice piece of kit whatever it is

rickystl · Feb 16, 2025

I've found that the most common mainspring vises offered today will not work even on some flintlock mainsprings that have a dramatic difference in length of the two mainspring arms. This posted style of vise I find much more useful for a variety of different locks.

Rick

Spanish Miquelot vise?

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