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Wilton 400S Restore

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Alexbn921

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Wilton 400S Restore 1977
I picked this one up off of craigslist for $80. Was advertized as a bench with an old vise for $120. It had a crappy picture that showed it might be a Wilton. Called him up to find out about the vise and he wanted the whole table gone. He said it was a 4 inch bullet style so I knew it had to be a 400S. Half an hour latter it was sitting in the back of my car.:thumbup:




It’s rust free with no cracks or missing parts. The smooth jaws are custom made. The guy was selling off his retired dad’s machine shop.:D

One of the handles was bent, but the breaker bar fixed that.

One pin needs push in a little.

Stripped and ready for cleaning.


Going to paint it Rust-Oleum Hammered Metal Finish Spray, Verde Green, so it matches my 300s.:rocker:
 
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Alexbn921

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Moved everything outside to start cleaning. I wanted to see if I could save the paint, but 35 years of grim had taken their toll.

Anyone know what this was? The more time I worked on it, the more of it came off.

So out came the wire wheel on a grinder and man it was easer then using a drill. Stripped and cleaned everything in about 3 hours. I was still using the drill and dermal for the hard to reach spots.


Prepped and ready for primer and paint.


I moved it inside and had to keep telling myself don’t touch, don’t touch it!
Wilton 300S for size reference.
 
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Trey T

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very nice.

Has anyone painted their Wilton Bullet in neon color liek their high visibility vises?
 
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Alexbn921

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Worked most of the night finishing up the vise. Chased all the treads and ran all the bolts through dies. Hit the handles and end cap with the deburing wheel. I used anti-seize on the main screw and swivel handles. All other bolts got greased. Waxed all exposed metal and greased the inside of the vise.
Then the hard part, painting. I used a small hobby brush and took my time. Right when I started the second side the brush stuck to the cup with the paint and I poured is all over the place including the vise. Uuhhgg. :eyecrazy: A quit clean up with water, **** that didn’t work, grabbed the WD40 and that took it off. Anyway I’m super happy with the outcome.:D
Before

After



 
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Trey T

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Alex: Can you provide me the diameter (where the two surface meets), as precise as possible, of the base of your vises?

I have a C1 swivel base I bought from a fellow GJ that I want to use in the future on a Wilton.
 
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Alexbn921

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The top of the base is 17 cm or 6 11/16 inches diameter.
Hell yes I'm going to use them!:deathmeta I'm building a Jack Olsen Bench that they are going to mounted on. As soon as I can get another tool box there are big changes coming to my garage.
 
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craftsman47

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real nice. I am not going to restore mine, I like it as is. its ROUGH...LIKE ME...lol...but you did a great job showing the guts of the Wilton.

what did you use to lube the inside? grease or anti seize?
 
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Alexbn921

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craftsman47 said:
real nice. I am not going to restore mine, I like it as is. its ROUGH...LIKE ME...lol...but you did a great job showing the guts of the Wilton.

what did you use to lube the inside? grease or anti seize?
Click to expand...

I used a lite coat of super lube grease on the slide.. antiseize on all the non exposed rotating parts. That stuff sticks to everything and does not want to come off hands/cloths.
Almost ready to mount it.:bounce:
 
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zkling

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Seen this a few times and never commented. Fantastic job on both. :beer:
 
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Alexbn921

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Well its been 6 months, about time I got it mounted.:spit: Picked up some carriage bolts in 3 different sizes. 3 inch to go through the table on the edge. 2 1/2 for the front where it lines up with the lip of the box and I had to recess it into the table a little. 3 1/2 for the back corner to tie the top all the way through the box.

Shot of the whole bench.:bounce:
 
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Waggoner72

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Cabot Arkansas
Alexbn921 said:
Thanks. GJ has been a huge inspiration for the build.:bounce:







Already have. Been using it for a couple weeks now and it is great. Dropped a hammer on it last week and gave it its first small dent.:willy_nil
Click to expand...


Where did you get that butcher block top? Sorry if it had been posted already, I read thru all the comments but didn't see
 
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Catamount

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New England, USA
Beautiful pair of vises there, and love the workbench setup as well. I'd have a hard time bringing myself to bang on things being held in either vise! Great job.
 
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drivesitfar

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Alex: it might have taken you 6 months to mount that vise, but it looks like you did it perfect. great looking bench by the way.

just curious did you make that holder for your Ryobi 18v drills? i really like mine especially the little impact ones since i don't own a big compressor (yet). have you tried the Ryobi chainsaw yet? you'll be surprised how much power it has if you keep the chain sharp. i rarely break out my gas ones anymore to cut down or trim some trees.
 
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