I am looking for a new bench vise. I prefer one made in the USA, but I am open to other quality suggestions.

I had original look at a Wilton model 69999. I have found several knock offs of this model all made in China. I have read a lot of bad reviews of the Chinese made vises about hollow castings and breaking. I have been told the Wilton model is made in China now too. I'm afraid they all come from the same place and I am not going to spend double for the same crap.

I like this style of vise, but I am not married to it. Thanks in advance

A good place to look for a quality used USA made vise is on craigslist or at yard sales. Many times people just want to get rid of them and they are too heavy to ship. I have seen good serviceable vises for as little as $35 bucks

Yost is still made in the USA. At least my 34C is.

Why go with the rotating head? I have an older Wilton shop vice. It was not made in China but somewhere over that way. I have beaten the snot out of it and keeps on ticking. The pipe jaws are quick and convenient being below the regular jaws with out having to flip the head back and forth. They do make vices made in the USA also. Or you can search at estate auctions for older models. My Grandfather has two of them from the 60's in his shop. Talk about beating the snot out of them. He has used a 5 pound sledge on his to massage metal. That is what sold me on the Wilton brand.

Yost vices I have a 865 nothing even comes close usa made.

quote:

Originally posted by XLT:
Yost vices I have a 865 nothing even comes close usa made.

Think they stopped making it in the USA, now it's Chinese made as of recent 2018. Bummer.

Found this on CL. Seems expensive. What do you guys think?

https://washingtondc.craigslis...ench/6548070692.html

Pretty hard to recommend a USA made Wilton Tradesman vise sells for $490. I think I got it for $115 from a guy closing his shop in near new condition around 1989.


The forged Yost 5" can be had for $194 shipped http://www.sears.com/yost-5inc...7f1toCFUlnAQodDy4G7Q

I agree with mbinky- if you watch craigslist and in particular- estate sales you can find some beautiful old tools and vises reasonably.

We had Reed vises in our shops when I was a kid and I changed many a universal joint in those beasts. Searched around for about 9 months to find this one that belonged to a retired tool designer. It works beautifully on a homemade oak table. (And for about $100 bucks).



My late father had a leather shop in the 50's and bought a used 1938 Powr-Kraft tabletop drill press. The building that it was stored in was damaged in a hurricane and this is what it looked like when I pulled it out-



I tore it apart and cleaned off the rust and vacuumed out the original motor (I found it's better to never blow rust around old electric motors- always vacuum. Rust is conductive).
Replaced the bearings for ten bucks and oiled everything. The original motor works perfectly, although I had to replace a few parts.
Here it is now.



It works pretty well for an 80 year-old drill press. (and doesn't have any of those fancy lad belt guards, etc).

The metal used in these you won't find these days unless you spend a lot of bucks...

Here's a tip. Use Search Tempest if you are looking for something. It not only searches craigslist but also ebay and other sales sites in one search and you can break down by distance/locations. Good luck!

Search Tempest

A widow at a yard sale got offered $60.00 for the vise on the bench.

she told them they could have it for $30.00 , But! they had to haul the bench away.

last I heard they called a guy with a pick up , from 40 ,miles away to come for the whole mess

I bought a very good, used, Wilton off Ebay a couple years ago for less than a new, Chinese vise. Very happy with the purchase.

The USA made wiltons are great as are the old reeds, etc. I bought the Yost forged 5" vice a while back for a bit over a hundred. Their over $200 now but if you keep your eye on This you may pick one up cheap. I believe it's made in Taiwan but I'm happy with mine. It appears to be a clone of the German made forged Rigid. Which is a Boss of a vice and also approximately 500 bones. The forged vises are tough and can be pounded on.

I also recommend craigslist but you might also look at the local flea market. I pick them up or see them routinely at the 'market' and then clean them up and use them in my shop. A few smaller wilton's and a few medium size ones as well.

Thanks guys. I price a new American made Wilton. $650 I cannot justify that kinda cost.

I will definitely be looking thru the used market.

Rinehart beautiful piece of machinery. They just don't make stuff like they used to!

Am94pm, thank you kindly.

Worth mentioning- while yes, you can get things at Harbor Freight pretty reasonably, Am94pm is right that they don't make 'em like they used to...

I needed a buffer to polish some nickel-plated Coleman lantern founts. Tried one of the HF models and it didn't hold up very long.
(I did have a number of founts to work on).

At the same estate sale where I found the vise I found this vintage Baldor Model 610 buffer.




Big difference between the cheap buffers and the vintage ones regarding RPMs and AMPs. I took it apart and cleaned it and checked the components- it was actually in pretty good shape.
Fellow on ebay was selling heavy buffer stands for $30 bucks free shipping. Worked out well-

Found this in my parents garage last year after my dad passed away.
US Made Littleston, PA vise.
I cleaned it up and painted it with some Green Urethane auto paint.
Works and looks great!