cgrutt's Wilton 9500 restore

[cgrutt]

Seeing the picture of G-man's beautiful Wilton restoration got me inspired to restore mine. Figured I'd start a new thread as I have a lot of questions and would like to document progress. Any and all tips, comments and advise would be greatly appreciated!

Here's what I'm starting with after about an hour of scrubbing it with a stainless scouring pad and ZEP degreaser:

 

[cgrutt]

Reasonably good condition for its age. Some dings but no cracks. As much as I'd like to keep this one, my personal situation will require me to put it up for sale when done so my goal is to maximize value. Best I could tell is it's stamped GUAR EXP 12 62. The 62 is really faded but is best we can tell. That would be significant only because I believe it would put this vice as being among first out of Schiller Park facility circa December 1957. Have no idea if this is significant at all and would appreciate any input.

Second major question is how far should I take this when disassembling? Screw seems to be straight and turns freely. End cap is in decent shape but a little dented. Thoughts?

Third is jaws... buy a new set? Try to straighten these out and clean them up? Thoughts?

Fourth is what to do about the dings? Should I try to grind these out or leave them for character? I kind of like it the way it is...

I sourced the swivel base from another vice. Does this add any value or should I keep it stationary?

Anyway, that's it for now. Going to take a wire wheel to it tomorrow and see how much it cleans up. I really like that hammered verde paint that G-man used, but couldn't find it. I did pick up some Hammered Rosemary, which is similar but a little more green-yellow than green-blue. Will probably test it out and see if I like it or not. On the fence with this. Does color matter? Should I just order original spec? Anybody know what this is, lol?

Anyway, thanks in advance!

 

[exmaxima1]

I don't think you have to paint it totally stock. It's an old vise, so you could have some fun with it. I did my 9500 in a Harley theme (as suggested by drivesitfar) and it looks pretty good to me...

 

[cgrutt]

Very nice!

 

[bluebolt]

Reasonably good condition for its age. Some dings but no cracks. As much as I'd like to keep this one, my personal situation will require me to put it up for sale when done so my goal is to maximize value. Best I could tell is it's stamped GUAR EXP 12 62. The 62 is really faded but is best we can tell. That would be significant only because I believe it would put this vice as being among first out of Schiller Park facility circa December 1957. Have no idea if this is significant at all and would appreciate any input.

Actually the earliest Guar EXP date on a Schiller Park vise is 6/30/1961 according to the database in my signature.

I had done some research on Wilton and IIRC Wilton bought the Schiller Park location around 1955. They may have started casting some of the vises there before 1957. Perhaps certain sizes were done at Schiller and certain sizes at Chicago until the transition was complete in 1957.

 

[cgrutt]

Interesting! Thanks for link. Doesn't seem to be a lot of 5" models from this time period in your data. I'm assuming a stamp GUAR EXP 12 62 means that it was manufactured around 12 57. Is that right?

 

[cgrutt]

Well, ordered a new pair of jaws. Serrated A-2 Tool Steel hardened to 54-56 Rockwell.

Scott from WiltonViseParts.net seems like a straight up guy and was very helpful with questions as well as shipping quickly! Should be here early next week.

Also chatted with Nick (Autopts) a bit. He was super helpful as well but didn't have what I needed.

 

[cgrutt]

So here's where I've gotten so far. Not sure if I'm digging the color, what do you guys think?

 

[cgrutt]

Take II, I repainted it but screwed it up again, LOL. I picked it up with a micro cloth and left some imprints in the paint, guess it was not set up completely even though it was dry to touch. Going to let it set up for a few days than sand out a few spots that I damaged and repaint it. Like the color much better now though...

 

[cgrutt]

Other side...

 

[exmaxima1]

Take II, I repainted it but screwed it up again, LOL. I picked it up with a micro cloth and left some imprints in the paint, guess it was not set up completely even though it was dry to touch. Going to let it set up for a few days than sand out a few spots that I damaged and repaint it. Like the color much better now though...

What were the two colors you tried? The first kinda looks like Sage Green, while the new color looks like either bronze or metallic green (??)

 

[cgrutt]

Bet you're going to laugh... first time I primed it with self etching primer and grabbed the can of Hammered Rosemary or so I thought... As I was spraying it I kept thinking this isn't coming out right. I sprayed the damn thing with clear coat, LMAO.... sanded it all out again and this time sprayed it with what I had intended to in the first place... and then messed it up again. Take III coming soon...

 

[cgrutt]

Third time's a charm! Now if I can manage to put it aside for a few days without screwing it up again, he, he... What do you guys think?

 

[exmaxima1]

Third time's a charm! Now if I can manage to put it aside for a few days without screwing it up again, he, he... What do you guys think?

Looks great. Is that Hammered Rosemary?

 

[cgrutt]

Thanks, yes Hammered Rosemary. Sounds like a girl I used to date lol...

Thinking about doing the lettering in a deep blue, navy or cobalt etc... Or should I just leave well enough alone?

 

[exmaxima1]

Thanks, yes Hammered Rosemary. Sounds like a girl I used to date lol...

Thinking about doing the lettering in a deep blue, navy or cobalt etc... Or should I just leave well enough alone?

I think it looks great as is. If you do lettering, I'd stay with a simple color like black or white. Whenever I see bright lettering (ie, Red, Blue, Lavender...) it looks like a doll house IMHO