Bench Vise Swap on Craigslist

[Maui]

I don't normally swap or barter for anything. I like to pay cash instead. But several years ago I saw an ad for a vise on Craigslist that the poster said was just too big for his truck. He needed something smaller that could be bolted onto the rear fender for doing repair work out in the field. And he wanted a vise that was handy but not too large. Apparently his buddy gave him a big vise with broken jaws for free. It didn't work for this type of application, and the guy didn't know how or where to source replacement jaws for it. So I met up with him in a parking lot somewhere in town and had two vises in my trunk that I was willing to let go. I told him he could pick either one, and I'd swap him for the vise he had. He picked the Parker 63 1/2 over the Parker 974 because it fit better for the work that he intended to do. I've attached a photo of the Parker that he selected.

And I got a Wilton 1780 vise in exchange. It was in pretty rough shape when I got it. I cleaned up the weld spatter, bead blasted it, and painted it a while ago. I removed the broken jaws and beat up screws and machined a new set of jaws for it out of A2 tool steel. After hardening them and grinding them flat a friend of mine ground the diamond pattern into the jaws using his surface grinder. Now it is finally ready to go back to work again!

 

[Jayman17]

Maui, have you considered changing your username to bandit because you stole that!
Do you have any before photos of the Wilton?

Jay

 

[Maui]

Hi Jay,

I'll take a look and see. It looked nothing like this when I got it. The tail cap was dented in, the jaws were broken, and it had weld splatter on it. There wasn't a Wilton sticker on it either. I had to contact Wilton to get that. It was in rough shape.

 

[Lookin4'67Galaxieconv]

Did someone say "rough shape?".

 

[Maui]

My God! I don’t feel so bad how mine looked now.

I’d like to have seen what you had to go through to get that beast unstuck. Was it something like that youtube video somebody posted here years ago where the guy went through an ungodly number of attempts to free up a stuck Wilton bullet?

 

[NYBODYMAN]

Any pics or details of how your friend machined the grooves into the jaws?

 

[BFBOB]

Procedural question for Maul - Seems to me easier to mill or grind the crosshatch on the jaws first, then heat treat. Any reason you did it the opposite?

P.S. you do ****!

 

[Jayman17]

Did someone say "rough shape?".

Lookin, you really transformed that one, great job.

Jay

 

[Lookin4'67Galaxieconv]

My God! I don’t feel so bad how mine looked now.

I’d like to have seen what you had to go through to get that beast unstuck. Was it something like that youtube video somebody posted here years ago where the guy went through an ungodly number of attempts to free up a stuck Wilton bullet?

No, nothing like that fortunately. I made sure it moved before I bought it. Must have sat outside for years. I imagine it could've been on the Titanic!

 

[Maui]

Any pics or details of how your friend machined the grooves into the jaws?

He set them up on a magnetic base and oriented them at an angle to a dressed ceramic grinding wheel as the jaws were passed beneath it. To gradually create each groove I think he advanced the depth by increments of 0.0005” per pass. The grooves are approximately 0.020” deep each. It took him about 3 hours from start to finish to complete both jaws. It was done this way instead of milling the diamond pattern because the jaws were already hardened. It could also have been done in the prehardened condition using an appropriate style cutter and jig set up. But I had zero desire to fabricate a jig for this job since I didn’t ever plan on using it again. Here’s a close-up of the jaws.

 

[Maui]

Procedural question for Maul - Seems to me easier to mill or grind the crosshatch on the jaws first, then heat treat. Any reason you did it the opposite?

P.S. you do ****!

Lol - I haven't received a "you ****" award in quite a long time! An added benefit to grinding the diamond pattern into the jaws after heat treatment is completed is that there is a much lower likelihood of cracking during quenching. And the pattern on the jaws is exceptionally clean looking too. If you grind the grooves beforehand, whatever discoloration that results from the heat treating process remains on the jaw faces.

 

[BFBOB]

Lol - I haven't received a "you ****" award in quite a long time! An added benefit to grinding the diamond pattern into the jaws after heat treatment is completed is that there is a much lower likelihood of cracking during quenching. And the pattern on the jaws is exceptionally clean looking too. If you grind the grooves beforehand, whatever discoloration that results from the heat treating process remains on the jaw faces.

OK, makes perfect sense.

In the "no accounting for taste" department I kind of like the coloration from heat treating sometimes seen - it screams, I'm Hard!!