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| You're going to feel a little pressure... |
Hey all- I am looking for an American made bench vise for gunsmithing and general household use. I am looking at Wiltons on Fleabay. Are they fairly indestructible or is there something I should look out for, in a used one? Bruce "The designer of the gun had clearly not been instructed to beat about the bush. 'Make it evil,' he'd been told. 'Make it totally clear that this gun has a right end and a wrong end. Make it totally clear to anyone standing at the wrong end that things are going badly for them. If that means sticking all sort of spikes and prongs and blackened bits all over it then so be it. This is not a gun for hanging over the fireplace or sticking in the umbrella stand, it is a gun for going out and making people miserable with." -Douglas Adams “It is just as difficult and dangerous to try to free a people that wants to remain servile as it is to try to enslave a people that wants to remain free." -Niccolo Machiavelli The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all. -Mencken | ||
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semi-reformed sailor |
Wish I’d have gotten one of these when I bought my last one....being able to rotate the item while working on it would be great.  "Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor.” Robert A. Heinlein “You may beat me, but you will never win.” sigmonkey-2020 “A single round of buckshot to the torso almost always results in an immediate change of behavior.” Chris Baker | |||
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| Dances With Tornados |
I’d rather have an older Wilton American made vise that a brand new chineseium. In fact, that’s just what I did. I asked around, messaged around, found a good older used one. In excellent shape. Try Facebook marketplace local to you. Good luck to you. | |||
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| Member |
Sometimes fresh paint is to cover defects. Does it operate smoothly and jaws close together? Inspect the lead screw if possible. | |||
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| Member |
Buy one that's not all sloppy and turns smoothly. | |||
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member |
First, decide what size you need (width of jaws). Open the jaws a couple of inches or so, then pull the moveable jaw back and forth. I should have no, or very little, play. If you really want to delve into them, head over to the Garage Journal forums where there is a multi-hundred page thread on "The Vises of Garage Journal". Use their search function to narrow down your questions. There are a lot of treasures to be found at flea markets, CL, and the like, if you know what to look for. USA made Wiltons are not bad, but expensive, if you want to go new. When in doubt, mumble | |||
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| You're going to feel a little pressure... |
This advice sounds a lot like "Don't buy one you can't inspect in person". Am I correct? Bruce "The designer of the gun had clearly not been instructed to beat about the bush. 'Make it evil,' he'd been told. 'Make it totally clear that this gun has a right end and a wrong end. Make it totally clear to anyone standing at the wrong end that things are going badly for them. If that means sticking all sort of spikes and prongs and blackened bits all over it then so be it. This is not a gun for hanging over the fireplace or sticking in the umbrella stand, it is a gun for going out and making people miserable with." -Douglas Adams “It is just as difficult and dangerous to try to free a people that wants to remain servile as it is to try to enslave a people that wants to remain free." -Niccolo Machiavelli The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all. -Mencken | |||
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| Member |
Estate sales may be your friend. I often see them if the guy who passed was handy. Good way to buy many tools IMHO. Will need some patience tho. "The days are stacked against what we think we are." Jim Harrison | |||
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| Member |
There is merit to that line of thinking unless the shipped price of the vice is cheap and return shipping is covered. There are a TON of damaged and abused vises out there and not all damage is obvious without running a vice through its paces. I inherited a 4" Wilton Bullet, but I scored a Wilton 1745 on Craigslist for $75 or so several years back that was like brand new. When shopping, I'd rather honest wear and some surface rust over a resale paint job after being attacked with a wire wheel. | |||
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| Just because you can, doesn't mean you should |
Estate sales and craigslist are going to be your best bet. ___________________________ Avoid buying ChiCom/CCP products whenever possible. | |||
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Member |
Wilton. I have three and installed aluminum faces on the larger one to prevent damage to items in the jaws. ****************************************************W5SCM "We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution" - Abraham Lincoln "I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go" - Abraham Lincoln | |||
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| You're going to feel a little pressure... |
https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B0..._apa_i_HHZNEb1FA1R4B What about that one? Bruce "The designer of the gun had clearly not been instructed to beat about the bush. 'Make it evil,' he'd been told. 'Make it totally clear that this gun has a right end and a wrong end. Make it totally clear to anyone standing at the wrong end that things are going badly for them. If that means sticking all sort of spikes and prongs and blackened bits all over it then so be it. This is not a gun for hanging over the fireplace or sticking in the umbrella stand, it is a gun for going out and making people miserable with." -Douglas Adams “It is just as difficult and dangerous to try to free a people that wants to remain servile as it is to try to enslave a people that wants to remain free." -Niccolo Machiavelli The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all. -Mencken | |||
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| member |
At that price, it is certainly Chinese made. But that does not preclude it from being just right for light duty home use. The USA made Wiltons will start at $400 or so. Is there some place you can go (Home Depot, for example) where you can play with some different models, see how they feel, how much play they have, etc.? Even new vises (some models) have excessive play in the mechanism that screws the jaws together. My regular gunsmith, Don Williams, uses a very large Harbor Freight vise for when he needs to hold something solid, not for banging on though. He also has other, much better but smaller vises for routine work. In the large vise, he's usually holding a barrel or something like that, and uses a piece of leather wrapped around the workpiece to prevent marring. When in doubt, mumble | |||
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| You're going to feel a little pressure... |
https://www.ebay.com/itm/333532448069 I'm considering this one. It's missing the jaw inserts. How available are they on 3.5"? Bruce "The designer of the gun had clearly not been instructed to beat about the bush. 'Make it evil,' he'd been told. 'Make it totally clear that this gun has a right end and a wrong end. Make it totally clear to anyone standing at the wrong end that things are going badly for them. If that means sticking all sort of spikes and prongs and blackened bits all over it then so be it. This is not a gun for hanging over the fireplace or sticking in the umbrella stand, it is a gun for going out and making people miserable with." -Douglas Adams “It is just as difficult and dangerous to try to free a people that wants to remain servile as it is to try to enslave a people that wants to remain free." -Niccolo Machiavelli The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all. -Mencken | |||
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| The Constable |
Wilton! They are expensive, but every time you use it and experience the quality it's worth it. And made in the USA. I am DONE with buying Chinese crap! | |||
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| Member |
Be careful, not all of Wilton vises are made in USA! Also, if looking at used, look for cracks in castings. --Tom The right of self preservation, in turn, was understood as the right to defend oneself against attacks by lawless individuals, or, if absolutely necessary, to resist and throw off a tyrannical government. | |||
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| Dances With Tornados |
^^^^^^ that one on eBay isa very very light duty one. Almost a toy. | |||
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| Vote the BASTIDS OUT!  |
Many years back I was given a Reed Mfg. Co. No 1C made in Erie PA. Weighs in at 52 pounds. I gotta remember to pass this along to one of my sons. The thing is just awesome. John "Building a wall will violate the rights of millions of illegals." [Nancy Pelosi] | |||
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| Ammoholic |
It is possible that the reason the one insert is missing is that the screws holding it in place sheared off. It may be more interesting removing the sheared off screws than finding a replacement jaw insert (or more likely set of two jaw inserts). The cheap 4” vice in the barn sheared all four screws (two on each jaw). Don’t use it much, when I do it’s nothing critical, so I just toss the jaw inserts in tighten it down, do whatever, then when done close the jaw with the inserts in so they don’t wander off. Lazy, I know, but plenty of other projects... | |||
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| Member |
I was surprised to find that Harbor Freight vises weren't amy cheaper than Home Depot or Lowes. I was also surprised that according to reviews none of the new ones were very good, it being common for the jaw to break and land on your foot, I had thought if anything the Chinese could at least make a decent hunk of steel, but they're too brittle. So I looked on craigslist and apparently everyone knows what the old ones are worth and they were ridiculously high. The closest good deals were two hundred miles away. So I just went to pawn shops until I found a guy who cruised estate sales, bought old ones cheap, amd rehabbed and repainted them. I got a decent 1970s Record for a hundred bucks that looked almost brand new. I would think any of the old names would be good, I would go by type, size, and condition. Even an old Sears would be fine. | |||
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