 posted by
Cutter 02-23-2004
I found this old Wilton #6 (Chicago, Ill.) last month lying
in the weeds out behind the wellhouse belonging to one of my customers, a
woman who is selling the property & who has since moved to the DFW area.
God knows how long it had been there.
This sucker is huge; that is an 8 inch Crescent I tossed in front of it
for scale & it weighs in at 105 pounds. The moving jaw is stuck inside the
receiver and so far has resisted all manner of prying, tapping and
banging. Since taking the picture, I have successfully removed the swivel
base (had to use an 18 inch pipe wrench on the holddown nuts), and the
screw came right out. The nut feels good, believe it or not & the screw
had a fair coating of grease on the threads. I got the handle freed up,
too. Besides the stuck jaw, the collar or yoke is missing and the 3 screws
that held it in place are broken off in the casting. I figure I can make a
new collar, drill out the old screws and re-tap to a slightly larger size
if necessary. Now if anybody just happens to have a collar lying around, I
would happily pay the postage & maybe buy you a brownie or something?
My brilliant plan so far is to haul it over to my shop & hang it from a
hoist by the moving jaw - just off the floor - and heat the throat with a
torch to see if I can break it loose. Any better ideas?
posted by: fla jim
Thats a good looking hunk of iron. I'd soak
it with some "Kroil" for a couple of weeks, before I attempted to do
anything else.
That will make a real good vise. I have a 5" swivel jaw Wilton that I've
had for over thirty years.
____fla jim's signature_______________
Jim the shop rat
From the depths of the "Magic Garage"
posted by: Franz
Cutter, that vise is an ideal candidate for
ELECTROLYTIC derusting.
It's going to take some time in the tank, but electrolytic will remove the
rust, and make disassembly simple.
I'd start by hanging the vise in the tank from the screw, and cook it for
a while, then unscrew the screw.
From there, change where you connect and derust piece by piece.
We've successfully derusted seriously corroded hit & miss engines using
electrolosys as part of the disassembly process.
Chances are that vise was tossed because the setscrew in the screw
retaining collar came loose, and the owner didn't know how to tighten it.
NICE FIND!
____Franz's signature_______________
Will the last weldOr leaving the Hobart board please turn off the lights.
posted by: OlPilot
Cutter, Wilton doesn't build 'em like that
anymoreI That baby is cast steel, not worthless cast iron. Five years ago,
that No. 6 sold for $1200, can't even guess what it would go for today.
Today the vise market is flooded with Chicom junk and I think even Wilton
has rolled over and may now build some there.
I agree with Franz and Jim about using a derusting solution or a penetrant
like Kroil or Knock'erloose. I've gotten aircraft constant speed drives (CSD's)
with coked and hooked splines separated from generators with Knock'erloose.
That's about a $100K combination. I'd be inclined to use the derusting
procedure first on your vise.
There's something else you should know. The back end of that model should
consist of a cap which is retained by a pin. If you can find that pin and
drive or drill it out, you should be able to remove the cap. You may need
a slide hammer. That should provide better access from the back end for
the derusting or penetrant to work. You can still buy parts for this
model, but bunch your muscles when you ask the prices.
posted by: boilerman
toss it in bucket of diesel fuel for a week
____boilerman's signature_______________
I don't suffer from insanity....I enjoy every minute of it
quote:
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Originally posted by: OlPilot
Cutter, Wilton doesn't build 'em like that anymoreI That baby is cast
steel, not worthless cast iron. Five years ago, that No. 6 sold for $1200,
You can still buy parts for this model, but bunch your muscles when you
ask the prices.
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 posted by
Cutter 02-24-2004
Gawd-O-Mighty! I knew they were pricey but I had nooooo
idea they were that high. I did a
google for it over the weekend & came across a thread that I thought
described it & the guy
mentioned $800, but he never stated the model. I have another big old vise
sitting over at my shop/storage barn that I need to show you guys for an
appraisal but it is not a swivel, just a straight bench vise.
I've let it sit around for 2 or 3 years just because I didn't have a place
stout enough to mount it. Seems like it is a Parks or something like that,
clocks in at about 57 pounds, IIRC. It is in very good shape. We are
actually getting a little snow down here but it's supposed to clear off
tomorrow & warm right back up so I'll try to go photograph it soon.
I had been carrying a pretty casual attitude towards the old Wilton with
the notion of just
cleaning it up enough to use as an outdoor banger in my back yard, but
sheesh! - at that
price I better start thinking of it as a working heirloom & restore it
half way right. Looks like I better start looking for some plate steel to
make a stronger top for one of my steel tables, too.
Don't think I want to mount these things to a wooden bench with a plywood
top. I also will
have to come up with something big enough & sturdy enough to soak old #6
in. A 5 gallon
pickle bucket or a Rubbermaid blanket box ain't gonna cut it with this old
chunk.
Thanks for the comments, fellows. And especially that estimate, OP. Heck,
I thought this was about a hunnerd dollar vise at best, considering the
condition.
posted by: OlPilot
Cutter, you could use it on a pedestal
mount also. You could use old heavy truck wheels or discs for the base
welded to 4" pipe. Franz can probably suggest what type of junkyard stuff
to use. I think it might be more useable this way than on a table.
posted by: Junk
Ok, so I need to know. I'm in the process
of picking up a used vise soon, hopefully, but wanted to get one for my
brother.
The short version is he was hit by a drunk driver and lost a leg. He is
spending a lot of his time with his hobby, which is metal working. I want
to get him something that will last him an extremely long time and was
going to get him a new Wilton 5" swivel Machinst vise linked CLICK HERE ,
but are you saying that ALL of their vises are now crap? This $500 is a
lot of money to me, so if it's not going to last then I'll get him
something else. But if it's the same top quality they have made for years,
then I will definitely get it for him. I'd go bigger if I could, but can't
at the moment since I'm not working.
Thanks
posted by: Jerry
If you can't get it working it'll be worth
its wieght in gold as scrap metal for the chinese.
____Jerry's signature_______________
J P Streets Welding LLC
posted by: Franz
Junk, it might just be my cantankerous
nature, but I don't think I'd pay those people $500 for that vise.
If you go to Froogle on Google and type in 5" wilton vise
http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=wilton+5%22+vise
you get over 1000 hits.
Notice that most of them don't use the R with a circle indicating it is a
real Wilton vise. Evidently a lot of people have figured a way to make a
copy and market it as a Wilton.
The real thing should show the registered trademark.
posted by: Junk
Thanks Franz. That's what has me worried.
So based on everything I'm reading, no matter how much money I spend, it's
impossible to get him a good vise any longer. Unless of course I find a
used one sitting in a field somewhere and clean it up. This is really
frustrating.
posted by
Cutter 02-25-2004
quote:
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Originally posted by: Junk
Thanks Franz. That's what has me worried. So based on everything I'm
reading, no matter how much money I spend, it's impossible to get him a
good vise any longer. Unless of course I find a used one sitting in a
field somewhere and clean it up. This is really frustrating.
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Junk,
My take on it is a little different than yours. I don't think it is
impossible to get a good
new one although it is possible to buy new and NOT get an authentic one. I
think what
you need is some communication with buyers of new ones and used ones to
find out how
to get the good ones. Or IOW's, find a reputable dealer somehow, probably
by
finding his customers.
And don't discard the idea of finding a used one, either through a dealer
or an individual.
They are obviously out there and if I were your brother, I would
appreciate the gift of a
used one even more than a new one. But that's just me; I like old things
with character
better than new, maybe because I have the notion that the old tools carry
the spirit of the
men and of the era in which they were made. Several people have been
talking about
plant closings and how easy it is to find auctions and bargain
liquidations these days.
Give that some investigation, too.
I also want to say that I am impressed by your generous intent in the
matter & I hope you
don't abandon your quest. I think you just need to find a different point
of view &
set a new "strategery". Give it a fair chance & your vise might just find
you.
posted by: Junk
Thanks Cutter.
I'm having a tough time finding liquidations and sales but continue to
try. It's almost become a part time job at this point. Will continue and
am not complaining about it.
Will continue to search. Thanks.
posted by: Ryel
what is the big difference between the
mechanics vise and the machinist vise? The price is double for the same
size.
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