The VISES of Garage Journal

[tool_scrounge]

Would any of you know anything about this style Big-baby Wilton 925 vise? I had never seen anything like it, although one just popped up on eBay. It has a 4" extension that I originally thought was just a user adaptation. The eBay one looks remarkably similar, although it is a different model. Does anyone know what this extension if used for, or if it was original? I was thinking of restoring the vise and getting a replacement screw of normal length, but I thought I would double-check with the GJ OGs first.

Looks like a conversion to add hydraulic actuation

 

[Smitty]

Hoorn: I must say that inventory tag bumps that Reed up to a whole other level. Nice find

 

[rk_tek]

Wilton offered the hydraulic ram as a factory option. There is a post with the Wilton ad somewhere here in GJ.

 

[va.grouseman]

Here's a few ADS and pics.---And a Google link.

https://www.google.com/search?q=pic...BAgJEAE&biw=1038&bih=517#imgrc=Q7_ZSyp374ReBM

 

[rk_tek]

I am far from the wilton bullet expert here. I am sure the others will chime in. But it sounds like you are missing the two pins on either side of the body that hold the drive nut in place. They should be at the 3 and 9 oclock position about an inch or two from the back of the vise. And thanks!

I went back and looked at pictures from tearing down my 3” and it has a single pin that engages a slot on the underside of the nut. I cleaned up the nut from the C3 to see if a previous owner had sheared the pins when trying to remove the nut and found no indication of the pins that hold the back cap making contact with the nut. There are 2 holes in the nut, but they are much too far forward for the pins. I have attached pics of what I currently have. If anyone else had torn down a larger Wilton vise with 2 pins holding the nut, please chime in.

View media item 111734

 

[Smitty]

Rj tek: the pins that hold the back housing on go through an pin the nut in plain and simple. It’s possible that yours was a replacement nut purchased from the factory and the holes were meant to be drilled once installed.

 

[Hoorn]

Wow! A great piece of history and a great conversation piece. Hopefully this won't be your daily driver!

Hoorn: I must say that inventory tag bumps that Reed up to a whole other level. Nice find

Thanks gents. I bought it to flip, saw the tag, couldn't sell it after that. Funny how often that happens with me and vintage tools.. I have an Athol 614 on my main workbench, this one will go on my mobile workbench for light duty.

 

[Andy FitzGibbon]

Several of my machines have those "Defense Plant Corp." asset tags. The Navy had their own style of tag that lists the weight of the machine, as well as what the government paid for it.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[Private Lugnutz]

What has me hooked though is the brass tag from the United States defense plant corporation during World War II.

Was part of the Fisher aircraft division who made a very fast climbing fighter called the P-75 "eagle" but it was ultimately shelved for the P-51 mustang and the P-38 Lightning.

Nice vise and tag, Hoorn! "Ultimately shelved" is the most polite way to characterize the XP/P-75 project. It is the Rodney Dangerfield of WWII fighters. But, just as a friendly FYI, your vise may just as well have been used on any number of projects. GM's Fisher Body (Aircraft) Division built parts for the B-17, B-25, B-29, P-80, and other aircraft. The XP/P-75 was their scheme to have a signature fighter of their own, but it was actually a very small part of their total production.

As you probably know, the DPC bought machines, vises, and hand tools - even entire buildings, or funded the construction of new facilities, to augment defense production. Your vise could've been provided to any one of the GM Fisher plants involved in aircraft parts production, and also and probably very likely Cleveland, Ohio, which they added at the onset of the war specifically to increase defense production.

I passed up a Reed 203R (too expensive) with a DPC GM Linden plant tag (where the airframe of the F4F Wildcat was built) a few years ago, linked here.

At the risk of thread drift (DPC tags DO show up on lots of vises though!), but to put all this in context, in terms of magnitude, for you or anyone else who may be interested, see the attached excerpt I made.

GM received over $1B from the federal government during WWII. Their Fisher Division alone received $124M. Those figures are not the amount of the contracts awarded to them to build things, and those figures don't include the contract numbers. That's just equipment, buildings, machinery, tools, etc to augment and upgrade the capacity of their existing plants and production capabilities.

I will point out a few things and orient the chart. See Civilian Production Administration at the top? That is what the War Production Board changed their name to in 1946 after the war. In 1946 they began publishing statistics. This is just one of many references. Column 1 is what the recipients were manufacturing in 1939. Column 2 is what they were manufacturing for the government in the buildup to and during WWII. Column 3 is how much they got to upgrade their facilities. Column 4 is how much of that came from the government. Column 5 is which government agency. WAR is War Dept. AC is Air Corps. DPC is DPC. The DPC spent a little over $50M on GM Fisher. Some of that was your vise.

GM entries take up six (6) of the 549 pages of this reference. I only excerpted their total line, and then the Fisher section.

GM was #2 on the list of companies that got the most money to upgrade their facilities.

Anybody want to guess who was #1?

 

[dct55]

Hello Hoorn,

I've also got a Reed 204R, date stamped 12/42. It has the navy anchors stamped on it.

 

[Jayman17]

Thanks gents. I bought it to flip, saw the tag, couldn't sell it after that. Funny how often that happens with me and vintage tools.. I have an Athol 614 on my main workbench, this one will go on my mobile workbench for light duty.

Horn, I love the finish you chose for that vise, is it BLO or something else?
Nice job, I would keep that one too

Jay

 

[Smitty]

Rk_tek: I took apart this Wilton 600 and popped the cap off of the back. Both pins go through the main nut to hold it in place. These pins should never be tapped in to remove them. It’s awkward but these pins are made to be tapped from the inside out. I’ve used an Allen wrench as a punch and it works.


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[2baditsnotachev]

Just finished up this Chas Parker 974 1/2, it was my grandfathers.

 

[11b30b4]

RK_tek and smitty, here is a quick video I found on YT that shows how to remove the pins from the inside. Honestly, I had no idea until I saw this.

Hoorn and dct55, I also have a Reed 204R; however, my vise does not have any of the fancy govt markings. I did find the date coed on the side (357).

 

[RBarnes]

Hey,
What do you guys think about the email I keep getting from Ebay. Claims they are phasing out PayPal (going to a foreign banking alternative). Apparently if I do not register my social security# and banking information, I will not be able to sell on ebay after May 21st. Since this information is going to be held on a foreign website - (no one would ever want to hack that web site huh). Seems really stupid to me and I am not going to do that. What do you all think (is the email a scam) ? I hardly ever sell anything on ebay, but are you guys that sell on ebay doing that?

After posting above, I looked in the messages folder on the actual Ebay web site and they are sending that email to me I guess, as they have it in the messages folder. Glad I do not have to sell on ebay...never thought I would be thinking of the year 2020 as the good old days.

 

[Inno]

I have a European vise here. My grandfather shipped it to us from the Netherlands back in the 60's.

I don't think NL had much of a vise industry then, so it could be German or other European maker. The only marking is "MM" on the rear casting. My Google searching has not turned up anything under that logo.

I'm attaching some photos. Has anyone seen one like this? Maybe some of the European members recognize it?

 

[Inno]

This one is an Italian Wilton. 22 lbs, jaws a bit over 3". It bears a date of 10-63 on the key-way. I think it's a one-owner vise. It does not appear to have been abused at all and the mechanism is very smooth.

Anyone know the history on these? Did Wilton have a branch plant in Italy?

 

[lucasd2002]

KMScott or anyone that may know - any update on restocking Wilton jaws? I was thinking about ordering some for my 3" bullet and the only ones that are in stock are the aluminum.

https://www.wiltonviseparts.net/3-inch-wilton-vise-jaws/

 

[ed4banger]

Hey,
What do you guys think about the email I keep getting from Ebay. Claims they are phasing out PayPal (going to a foreign banking alternative). Apparently if I do not register my social security# and banking information, I will not be able to sell on ebay after May 21st. Since this information is going to be held on a foreign website - (no one would ever want to hack that web site huh). Seems really stupid to me and I am not going to do that. What do you all think (is the email a scam) ? I hardly ever sell anything on ebay, but are you guys that sell on ebay doing that?

After posting above, I looked in the messages folder on the actual Ebay web site and they are sending that email to me I guess, as they have it in the messages folder. Glad I do not have to sell on ebay...never thought I would be thinking of the year 2020 as the good old days.

I'm always selling on ebay, I've never received such a notification from them. If true, I will be saving lots of money, as not going to give up that kind of personal info.

 

[RBarnes]

I'm always selling on ebay, I've never received such a notification from them. If true, I will be saving lots of money, as not going to give up that kind of personal info.

Thanks for your input. I hope it is not the case, but time will tell...I sure get tired of ebay constantly coming up with new ways for them to make more money. I have been using it since 1998 and they had a runaway success company and they keep trying to screw it up.

 

[KMScott]

KMScott or anyone that may know - any update on restocking Wilton jaws? I was thinking about ordering some for my 3" bullet and the only ones that are in stock are the aluminum.

https://www.wiltonviseparts.net/3-inch-wilton-vise-jaws/

Lucas, sorry to say but the girls that are managing and building the jaws for my old site are not keeping up. I am afraid they may give up if things don't change. Nick has taken over as the go to guy for jaws. Check him out on e-bay. I will be back in Colorado the end of May to build some jaws for a few rare vises and then I can see what changes the company needs to make to get jaws back on the site. Jaw making is not HARD, just have to work efficient and keep the machine running. They are not doing this. I am not happy with their progress. Kevin

 

[Inno]

I'm always selling on ebay, I've never received such a notification from them. If true, I will be saving lots of money, as not going to give up that kind of personal info.

That's definitely a scam!!!

EBay OWNS PayPal. No way are they moving their business out.

 

[Outlawmws]

That's definitely a scam!!!

EBay OWNS PayPal. No way are they moving their business out.

Not anymore. I think they divested to avoid an AntiTrust suit (gee, why would anyone think that?)

 

[leftyz]

Finally mounted my Hollands 6" vise to a stand. That's a 22" semi trailer rim with the brake drum welded inside it, the vertical pipe is 3/8" steel from a nitrogen tank, altogether about 400 pounds.

 

[Hoorn]

Thank you all for the great comments, and Lugz I really appreciate the in depth commentary of Fisher aviation. Yes I was being polite as I had read the P-75 was a disaster.
As for the surface treatment, that is just bare metal with an occasional light oil rub.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Not anymore. I think they divested to avoid an AntiTrust suit.

^ This.

Apparently, the breakup is now causing eBay to perform the legal (i.e., IRS) transmitter functions that PayPay was performing for them. They're calling it Managed Payments and they're using Ayden to do it. Not sure why they seem to be approaching sellers in waves rather than all at once, but it's been happening since 2020. There are innumerable enraged discussions about it on the eBay community, Reddit, Facebook, etc. If you don't hit 200 sales AND $20,000 it doesnt affect your taxes. But apparently eBay will lock your account if you don't comply. The people it really bothers are those folks who got into PayPal many years ago without providing an SSN. You cannot do that now. So there are alot of newer people who don't understand the frustration, and who apparently consider the risk of being hacked to be as common as eventually getting a flat tire.

 

[gearhead1960]

^ This.

If you don't hit 200 sales AND $20,000 it doesnt affect your taxes.

Except if you are in a few states, like Virginia, that have a lower threshold for the number of sales and amount.

 

[ed4banger]

Except if you are in a few states, like Virginia, that have a lower threshold for the number of sales and amount.

Tell me about, had to shell out $1700 this year for taxes for a hobby.....

 

[txlonghorn1989]

Rk_tek: I took apart this Wilton 600 and popped the cap off of the back. Both pins go through the main nut to hold it in place. These pins should never be tapped in to remove them. It’s awkward but these pins are made to be tapped from the inside out. I’ve used an Allen wrench as a punch and it works.

Smitty What the heck did you use to tap the allen wrench INSIDE the bullet vise? And how do those end caps come off? I'd like to try to get the dents out of this end cap but the one time I tried to lightly tap the pins from the outside they didn't budge and I put it on hold.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Except if you are in a few states, like Virginia, that have a lower threshold for the number of sales and amount.

Roger. Thanks for adding that. I'm definitely not an expert. Recently got the same eBay request, ignored it, and now they are giving me the 'or else' deadline warning, so I've been researching it.

 

[Old Radar]

TX--See the video link 11b30b4 posted above in post #83854 to see how to use an Allen wrench on the pins.

As for the end cap, you can knock it out by removing the dynamic jaw and inserting a long blunt rod (or reasonable facsimile) through the nut and tap gently. The cap is just held by friction.

 

[Forgottonia]

Very small clamp-on vise. My first vise! Got it for Christmas many years ago. There's no brand name that I could find. It just says "Made in Japan". Needs a coat of paint and a little rust brushed off. But the jaws are in perfect shape.

 

[Shiftless]

Forgottonia :
Nice that you still have your very first vise. I sure don’t.
Is that your only one? If you spend any time on these pages I bet you’ll get more.

 

[Forgottonia]

Forgottonia :
Nice that you still have your very first vise. I sure don’t.
Is that your only one? If you spend any time on these pages I bet you’ll get more.

Only one?? Ha ha! I got a bunch of them. I thought I'd start with that one. (I think I have a smaller one somewhere—one of those little hobby vices. But I can't seem to lay my hands on it right now.)

btw, This is a great thread. I kind of into vises. Everyone should have a couple or three, right?

 

[txlonghorn1989]

TX--See the video link 11b30b4 posted above in post #83854 to see how to use an Allen wrench on the pins.

As for the end cap, you can knock it out by removing the dynamic jaw and inserting a long blunt rod (or reasonable facsimile) through the nut and tap gently. The cap is just held by friction.

Thanks OR! I missed the post with the video of how to remove the pins from the inside. VERY helpful! Gonna go out an try it now!

 

[drivesitfar]

Tex: cleaning out around the dust cap a bit before hitting it out from the inside with a wood dowel (or I used an aluminum one) works pretty good. that said don't beat on it too hard or you'll punch a hole through the middle of the dust cap.

if you do take the pins out might I suggest that you replace them with screw pins that you'll need to tap threads for. in my opinion (and i'm sure other members) Wilton missed the boat on this upgrade cause removing pins (or a pin in some models) is maybe the poorest design on the vise.

INNO: that Wilton Bullet made in Italy looks almost new and wondering if Wilton had a factory over there or had another company make those for them. that older one sure does look like a BUGGATI which are some of the most expensive vises we've seen here the past 10 years. or i'm looking forward to seeing and hearing what other members think.

ALL: thank you for all the good tips on how to straighten a handle and i'll mention those over on the vise repair 101 thread.

I've had a PAYPAL account for about 20 years and even though I don't use it much i've never had an issue with it. of course i do and have received tons of spam emails asking for information which were easily deleted. if there are changes I need to know about I'll have to log in and see i guess, but other than changing my bank account I probably can't keep my information safe if they don't keep protecting it. I just keep a minimum balance in that account.

 

[Old Radar]

Thanks OR! I missed the post with the video of how to remove the pins from the inside. VERY helpful! Gonna go out an try it now!

TX, I just want to make sure that you don't think you need to remove the pins to knock out the end cap--you don't.

 

[rk_tek]

Rk_tek: I took apart this Wilton 600 and popped the cap off of the back. Both pins go through the main nut to hold it in place. These pins should never be tapped in to remove them. It’s awkward but these pins are made to be tapped from the inside out. I’ve used an Allen wrench as a punch and it works.


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Smitty
Thanks for the photos. It seems that the nut on mine was never drilled. I got it from a guy who pulled it out of the weeds and the first owner didn't seem to know much about it either. I'll drill the holes and get it back together. I just have to track down some pins or drill rod of the right diameter to make some.

 

[rk_tek]

RK_tek and smitty, here is a quick video I found on YT that shows how to remove the pins from the inside. Honestly, I had no idea until I saw this.

Hoorn and dct55, I also have a Reed 204R; however, my vise does not have any of the fancy govt markings. I did find the date coed on the side (357).

That's a pretty slick method. My vise is missing the pins, so I just have to drive in new ones when I find some. I have 2 jaw screws that are original, all the other hardware was missing or broken off. The horseshoe clip also looks like someone torched the holes out bigger. I think I'll have a go at making a new one as replacements cost as much as I paid for the vise.

 

[txlonghorn1989]

11b Thanks for posting the video on removing the pins from a Wilton bullet vise. Came in very handy!

drives I hit the end cap pretty good with an oak dowel rod but I was trying my best to catch it at the outer edges as much as I could. Thankfully it came out just fine. Now I'll try to hammer out some of the dings that were in the end cap.

OR I did realize you didn't need to remove the pins to remove the end cap. But I had been hoping to remove the pins so as to give all the innards a good cleaning. It's amazing how quick and easy it was to get them out after viewing the video posted by 11b! Even though the pins were not inset internally like the video (they were flush in the inside as well as flush outside) but I sighted where they ought to have been, gave the hex wrench a few taps with a hammer and the pins moved easily.

All I am wondering if there's some "magic" to getting everything aligned when putting it back together? I'm thinking it will be easiest to align things if I put the dynamic jaw into the base/static jaw allowing the keyway to align things. Then the flat side of the main nut will line itself up. Thoughts? I'm also unsure right now how easily that end cap is going to go back in without collapsing or denting it.

I guess I ought to be posting all this in the vise repair thread. Sorry!