5” York Bullet Vise

[_Ace_]

Something i have never seeen before, a york “bullet” style vise 5inch jaws with a swivel base for $65 is this a good buy i cant seem to find any info on them

 

[CTyankee]

IIRC there's a thread somewhere around here about them and their interesting history. Here's' the one I picked one up a few years ago.



I believe there are 2 different types of YORK "stampings" on them...either perimetered by an oval or a rectangle. Not sure which is the early of the 2.

EDIT: here's the thread...

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=111502

 

[BFBOB]

Grab it!!
unless, of course, the advertised measurement is the jaw opening rather than width. Even then, grab it, but talk the price down.

 

[Maui]

CTyankee, yours looks a LOT cleaner than the York 150 I picked up a few years back. The jaws were so bashed up that when I was finally able to get the screws that held them in place loosened up, the screw heads could not be removed from the jaws because the metal had been deformed over the heads. See attached. I finally got them out by pounding on the opposite ends of the screws. Needless to say, I am in the processing of building a new set of jaws for this vise.

Maui

 

[2oolhound]

Here's a comparison of a 4" York to a 4" wilton:


https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=7382997

 

[Shiftless]

Sounds like a fair price for what it is. I saw the C/L picture and it looks pretty rusty. And you’ll need new jaws of course.
Make sure the slide runs in and out and doesn’t stick due to internal rust.

BTW, don’t post here on GJ if you don’t want somebody else to swoop in and buy something you are thinking about on C/L.

 

[CTyankee]

CTyankee, yours looks a LOT cleaner than the York 150 I picked up a few years back. The jaws were so bashed up that when I was finally able to get the screws that held them in place loosened up, the screw heads could not be removed from the jaws because the metal had been deformed over the heads. See attached. I finally got them out by pounding on the opposite ends of the screws. Needless to say, I am in the processing of building a new set of jaws for this vise.

Maui

If your vise could talk, I'm sure it would have many war stories to tell. Mine on the other hand..seems to have been a conscientious objector It still has most of it's YORK label on it. Funny how many old vises are out there that have apparently seen so little use.

 

[neophyte]

Something i have never seeen before, a york “bullet” style vise 5inch jaws with a swivel base for $65 is this a good buy i cant seem to find any info on them

York, is a Czech company that is still around making vises.
Some members from GJ did some research, and the history is posted somewhere on the site.
Basically, Someone from York was the original designer of the Bullet vise design.
The vise was designed in the 1930s, and a patent application was filed in CzechoSlovakia, but this was right before WW2, and the patent didn’t wind up getting processed till after the war was over.
Meanwhile, the later founder of the Wilton vise Company, was a sales agent or something for York, and also jewish, and he fled to America, with the plans for the vise, where he set up a company to manufacture the Wilton Bullet vise design. Given WW2, I presume he manufactured tons of them.
After the war, York was behind the Iron Curtan, and there wasn’t really recourse for York to enforce their patent.
I may have gotten some of the above facts garbled, but I believe that was the badic gist of the York history with the Bullet design.

 

[JGarcia]

Hello everyone,
Can a new york vise be imported to Canada?
I can find old ones around here but the prices are ridiculous. Sellers want $200 to $275 for a 4 to 5 inch. Seems high for an old vise.

I am new to the forum and it seems that the going price is used here is much lower... what am I missing?

 

[Maui]

If your vise could talk, I'm sure it would have many war stories to tell. Mine on the other hand..seems to have been a conscientious objector It still has most of it's YORK label on it. Funny how many old vises are out there that have apparently seen so little use.

Mine is currently being restored. Here’s where it is right now. The new A2 tool steel jaws have been heat treated and now I need to surface grind them flat. The old jaws are sitting on the vise at the moment, but once the new jaws have been surface ground I’ll swap them out. In the photo you can see a freeze plug I machined that fits in where the end cap should be. Fortunately I found a Wilton end cap that fits my York perfectly. I’ll need to polish it up and then install it. Then it will be finished!

Maui

 

[JGarcia]

I like the colour!

Mine is currently being restored. Here’s where it is right now. The new A2 tool steel jaws have been heat treated and now I need to surface grind them flat. The old jaws are sitting on the vise at the moment, but once the new jaws have been surface ground I’ll swap them out. In the photo you can see a freeze plug I machined that fits in where the end cap should be. Fortunately I found a Wilton end cap that fits my York perfectly. I’ll need to polish it up and then install it. Then it will be finished!

Maui

 

[Maui]

Thanks JGarcia! The photos really don’t do it justice. The paint is just beautiful in direct sunlight.

Maui

 

[Roberts210]

Maui, it's gorgeous. Really beautiful.

 

[thehorse13]

Hard to tell in the picture but there should be a 3 at the end of that patent number. 685,893. It was issued in December of 1939.

This is the patent for the York vise that was widely imported into the US after World War II. Meanwhile, York salesman Hugh W. Vogl, who was Jewish, fled Czechoslovakia for the USA where he patented much the same design for the new vise company he founded, Wilton Tool Manufacturing Co. (See patent D131,498.) Wilton reportedly also copyrighted the bullet-vise design and York had to modify their design before importing their vises into the USA.

 

[Maui]

Roberts210 thanks! Thehorse13, that is that patent number that is cast into the other side of my York Vise. See attached.

Maui