Vice Mount Question

[CooperS7777]

I know this has been beaten to death here, but I wanted some opinions on mounting my Wilton Bullet.

Here are some pictures of the setup as it sits. I have yet to fasten the top to my cabinets, and the cabinet on the right is not secured yet either, so my options are still open.

Here is what it looks like:





My concern is that in the position pictured above - I cannot through bolt the forward, outboard lug on the vise base. There simply is not enough space between it and the forward upright on the cabinet, seen below.



If I slide it any further aft on the bench, I lose the ability to swivel it around that corner. Im not sure if thats a huge deal or not, but it was a consideration. If I slide it inboard any more, the fixed jaw will sit behind the edge of the bench - making clamping long items vertically impossible.

My two thoughts are;

A) through bolt the 3 ears I can, and use a ~1" lag bolt on the 4th ear. This will likely be more than secure enough for what Im doing.

B) slide the cabinet on the right in another ~3" closing the gap between the two sets of cabinets, and through bolt the outboard ears to the butcher block only, and the two inboard ears through the block and cabinet tops.

What are your thoughts?

Thanks in advance,

Coop

 

[exmaxima1]

The option of 3 bolts and a lag screw will be more than adequate. That vintage Wilton is not heavy duty, so you need to be a bit cautious with it, and even an all-lag screw solution would be fine in that maple top

 

[CooperS7777]

Excellent, thanks for the reply!

Could you elaborate on the comment about this vintage not being heavy duty, or point me in the direction of some reading on it?

I don't intend on doing anything terribly abusive on this bench, but Id certainly rather not break anything!

 

[exmaxima1]

Excellent, thanks for the reply!

Could you elaborate on the comment about this vintage not being heavy duty, or point me in the direction of some reading on it?

I don't intend on doing anything terribly abusive on this bench, but Id certainly rather not break anything!

From the dark pics it's difficult to confirm which generation vise you have, but it looks like the first gen to me---does yours read "9400" on it?. I think they added more numbers to the body when they went to 2nd gen. Autopts is somewhat of an authority on Wilton vises, and I would trust his opinion. He's made comments about the durability of early Wilton vises such as this (Post #166):

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/...ight=generation+wilton+heavy+duty#post1951657

FWIW, I have the same model Wilton, along with subsequent generations, and I do not have it mounted. I keep it on my bench as a decoration.

Here are pics of the first gen and second gen 4-inch Wiltons. They get even bigger after they moved to Schiller Park IL

 

[jakemac]

I'd choose Option C.

Drill a hole in the counter for the blocked foot and use a threaded T-nut in that spot.
Since the counter isn't mounted yet you have the accessibility to countersink the T-nut under the counter. This way you can have 4 matching bolt heads, just use a shorter bolt for that one foot.

 

[CooperS7777]

Also a great idea Jake!

For the time being, Ive decided to mount my work bench top, and stand by on mounting the vise. Originally I wasnt going to do anything with it aside mount, and use it, but the more I look at it the more I want to refinish it.

Here are some better pictures; I cant see any stamping with the date, even fully extended, but Im sure Ill be able to see it when I tear it apart. The cap screws appear to be original; Im not sure if those were an option, or changed over time.







Obviously someone changed the jaws out at some point in time - I haven't seen a set that looks like this before:



I guess my big concern is this; if this vise isn't great for actual work, is it better unloading to someone who collects them, and picking up a newer vintage?

 

[Fretters]

I guess my big concern is this; if this vise isn't great for actual work, is it better unloading to someone who collects them, and picking up a newer vintage?

Unless you're an ape who treats their tools with disdain, I think you'll find that will cope merrily with owt you're liable to throw at it, within its designed range. If you're planning on using cheaters bars, beating the **** out of it with a hammer etc., then it probably might throw a wobbler, but otherwise, I'd personally stick with it.

End of the day, it depends what you're planning on using it for. Looking at where you'll be mounting it though, I can't see general knuckle-dragger style abuse being a likelihood?

 

[exmaxima1]

Also a great idea Jake!

For the time being, Ive decided to mount my work bench top, and stand by on mounting the vise. Originally I wasnt going to do anything with it aside mount, and use it, but the more I look at it the more I want to refinish it.

Obviously someone changed the jaws out at some point in time - I haven't seen a set that looks like this before:



I guess my big concern is this; if this vise isn't great for actual work, is it better unloading to someone who collects them, and picking up a newer vintage?

Those are 40's vintage jaws, as generally found in the war-time models. As much as I think those vises look great, I think you could sell the vise and move up to a Schiller Park model which would weigh about 50% more and would be the last vise you would likely ever need/want. IMO the vise would fetch more as it is with the original paint and patina. Looks just like the one in the shipping dept at my work.

 

[spongerich]

My early 1941 (Pre Patent) 4" Wilton still works as well as the day it was made and it spent a couple years living outdoors under a tarp before I owned it.

They're beasts. As long as you don't plan on putting a tractor ****** in there, you'll be giving that vice to your grandchildren some day.

As for mounting, you could get a piece of 3/8 steel plate that's about 12x12.
Drill and tap some 1/2-20 holes and bolt the vice to that, then you can bolt that to the bench a couple inches further from the edge.

 

[CNGsaves]

^ ^ ^ ^ +1 for mounting plate. It will give you many options.

 

[zkling]

I'd suggest post mounting it next to your work bench.

 

[Mark in Indiana]

Excellent, thanks for the reply!

Could you elaborate on the comment about this vintage not being heavy duty, or point me in the direction of some reading on it?

I don't intend on doing anything terribly abusive on this bench, but Id certainly rather not break anything!

I'd like to add my 2¢.
I also have a pre-patent Wilton Bullet. It's an excellent "work holder". You won't break it unless you use a 4' cheater bar on it or hit it with a sledge hammer. For most guys, that vise will handle 99.9% of what's needed. Cleaned, polished and painted, your Wilton would nicely compliment your bench.

If you did work that needed a 6" beast, mount it on a pedestal and use it as a backup to your Wilton.