The VISES of Garage Journal
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cbacres
Well-known member
mrcrawfish
Member
I love this thread. I've lurked on it forever, and finally joined the forum today so I can finally post on here. I picked up an old Columbian no. 205 swivel vise today from a guy about 20 miles away. It's in great shape, but it has lousy paint and a bunch of superficial rust. I think it's an awesome candidate for a wire brush/Rustoleum restoration, but I'm wondering what color these things were originally. The paint that is on it and flaking off is a bright grass green, but it seems too shiny in spots to be original to what I believe to be a 50-70 year old vise. Any idea what color these vises were from the factory?
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AngryBeaver
Well-known member
Most newer ones from the 60's on were machine grey. Scott posted pics of a lightish green one he redid a couple years ago that looks pretty neat and said he had it paint matched. I've been looking for a 205 or 206 since I have a few 204-1/2's. Post some pics!
mrcrawfish
Member
CrotalusAtrox
Well-known member
mrcrawfish
Member
Here are some pics of the Columbian I posted about a few minutes ago. The silver thing on top of the jaws is a Leatherman for size reference. 
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trijeff
Well-known member
Everything's bigger in Texas!!
mrcrawfish
Member
That vise is cool but that anvil makes me bright green with envy
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Shiftless
Well-known member
mrcrawfish:
Solid old vise you have there. Welcome to the group.
I have a similar vintage Columbian 505 1/2 awaiting electrolysis. There is not a speck of paint remaining so I can't help you with that question.
But I would bet that it used to be battle ship gray. They guy I bought it from got it from a guy that salvaged it from the Kaiser shipyards in Richmond CA when they were demolished after WW2. Then it sat in the guys back yard for at least 30 years according to his story.
Solid old vise you have there. Welcome to the group.
I have a similar vintage Columbian 505 1/2 awaiting electrolysis. There is not a speck of paint remaining so I can't help you with that question.
But I would bet that it used to be battle ship gray. They guy I bought it from got it from a guy that salvaged it from the Kaiser shipyards in Richmond CA when they were demolished after WW2. Then it sat in the guys back yard for at least 30 years according to his story.
mrcrawfish
Member
Shiftless:
That's a cool story behind yours. Battleship gray would be good, but I'm thinking I may go with the standard greenish-gray Rustoleum Hammered paint. It's more typical of a Wilton Bullet, but I think it looks classy on just about any vintage vise.
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That's a cool story behind yours. Battleship gray would be good, but I'm thinking I may go with the standard greenish-gray Rustoleum Hammered paint. It's more typical of a Wilton Bullet, but I think it looks classy on just about any vintage vise.
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AngryBeaver
Well-known member
Any pics of the 205-1/2? I've never seen any info on charts or documentation for a 205-1/2. Just the 203-1/2,204-1/2,205, and 206.
Meh. If anything try the hammered light blue. The verde green doesn't look right on anything but a bullet. Lol. I just did another one tonight in hammered gray. I kinda like the looks of it. Hopefully it'll be dry enough tomorrow for some pics.
I did the ridgid (204-1/2) in demkote machine gray. The one on the right is original paint. (204-1/2).
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mrcrawfish
Member
Any pics of the 205-1/2? I've never seen any info on charts or documentation for a 205-1/2. Just the 203-1/2,204-1/2,205, and 206.
Meh. If anything try the hammered light blue. The verde green doesn't look right on anything but a bullet. Lol. I just did another one tonight in hammered gray. I kinda like the looks of it. Hopefully it'll be dry enough tomorrow for some pics.
I did the ridgid (204-1/2) in demkote machine gray. The one on the right is original paint. (204-1/2).
Yeah I was thinking about the light blue. It is close to the verde green without making it look like someone trying to copy a bullet.
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Crawfish--- Check out Hammerite light blue or dark blue as well. Both of these colors looks amazing as well. I can show you some examples in the FB group if youd like.
BrettJ74
Well-known member
Here is a 4" Tradesman I just finished up, I had to make some new Bronze jaws, and I used the Hammerite dark blue. I think it looks ****. That hammered dark blue has to be my favorite color. 
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Well... never thought I'd get into vises but I've looked through this thread a couple times, mostly at the cool completed vises... so anyways, picked up a wilton bullet last night for 60 bucks... is that a good deal? Don't know if I over paid or not but you don't see many around my area so I scoped it up. Can anyone give me any info on it? I know nothing about them. Also, is it supposed to have a base? The lady I got it from wasn't sure if it had one of not . It appears to say "1835" on the side.
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Very awesome! A double pinned Wilton C0! Very cool.
Anything you can tell me about this? I literally know nothing about them. It was kind of an Impulse Buy. Any information I could get about it would be appreciated. Anyway to tell the year on it?
Their is usually a date stamp on the keyway on the bottom of the tubular slide. The vise may or may not have came with a swivel base. They were sold both ways. $60 is a great buy. Lots of people love the double pinned version C0 vises including me. That vise is an excellent candidate for a restore project. Very very cool.
They are a little rarer than the single pin and set screw C0 vises. They are more of a visual personal preference on how the double pinned designed looks compared to the single pin and set screw versions. They are a bit rarer but there's still alot f them floating around.
Yes 1957.
Shiftless
Well-known member
Sh: Nice score! As long as it operates normally and has no cracks or repairs, it is definately worth more than what you paid. 
Bcom:
Are you sure the C series Wiltons were sold without swivel bases?
I know the machinist models without pipe jaws were sold as S models with a base and N models without bases.
All:
Isn't it interesting that a vise carrying a date of 1962 would also be marked Schiller Park rather than Chicago. That might be one of the very first vises to come out of the new factory which history says happened in 1957. Further evidence of the 5 year guarantee question.
Bcom:
Are you sure the C series Wiltons were sold without swivel bases?
I know the machinist models without pipe jaws were sold as S models with a base and N models without bases.
All:
Isn't it interesting that a vise carrying a date of 1962 would also be marked Schiller Park rather than Chicago. That might be one of the very first vises to come out of the new factory which history says happened in 1957. Further evidence of the 5 year guarantee question.
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Thats a good question. No, I have no proof they were sold without the swivel base. It was just a general guess since the non combination bullets were available both ways. This would be a good question for Autopts to answer.
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Sh: Nice score! As long as it operates normally and has no cracks or repairs, it is definately worth more than what you paid.
Bcom:
Are you sure the C series Wiltons were sold without swivel bases?
I know the machinist models without pipe jaws were sold as S models with a base and N models without bases.
All:
Isn't it interesting that a vise carrying a date of 1962 would also be marked Schiller Park rather than Chicago. That might be one of the very first vises to come out of the new factory which history says happened in 1957. Further evidence of the 5 year guarantee question.
Anywhere to find a base for it? Also, why is mine marked "Willer park"? (Could be Miller, just looks like a W to me)
Outlawmws
Well-known member
I suspect either a late Friday joke on the part of the pattern-maker, or maybe really hung over and started to setup "Wilton" then finished with "Shiller" without the SH...
Of maybe he knew he was about to get canned and did it...
We will never know!Better pics of that?
Outlawmws
Well-known member
Yeah thats an H. The S dropped off the mold...
Shiftless
Well-known member
I agree with Outlaw.
oldldh
Well-known member
The "S" was upper case...
They are more expensive than lower case letters...
Probably just an early cost cutting measure!!!
Maybe...
They are more expensive than lower case letters...
Probably just an early cost cutting measure!!!
Maybe...
You could possibly get a base from Nick (autopts) and all the lockdowns handles.
AngryBeaver
Well-known member
I think they ground them down when matching the tail caps. Seems to be a common thing with c2's and older c1's I've seen. The Castings were rough back then and took more grinding than the newer ones do.
My c2 is the same. But you can see grind marks where the S was taken out and part of the C to flush the tail cap
On the other side the last L on ILL was ground down also. Before I painted it you could see the rough machine grind marks (factory not someone getting carried away with a flex pad on an angle grinder.
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Outlawmws
Well-known member
It could happen, but I'm not seeing any grind marks on that one he posted.
Outlawmws
Well-known member
Like maybe a sombrero to beat the heat?... Nah...