First vise - How'd I do?

[1982fxr]

"I'm not sure what it's called, but this is the worst piece of the vise. It secures the screw part to the vise body. The screw holes aren't completely covered."

I'm probably misunderstanding you, but if you mean that the allen bolts/screws aren't completely covered; they aren't supposed to be. They are just to screw them inward and lock the vise into normal upright position. Back them out and the vise goes into a "free-fall", where it automatically locks once you tighten the jaws down onto something, regardless of rotated position.

But again, I probably just misunderstood what you meant. When i got my first one of these i think it was Outlaw who explained that part to me.

thanks for the pics, the castings are pretty much what I expected. I don't like to tout chinese ****, but I still think if you get a good price ($30-40 or so) on the heavier versions of these, or the Wiltons, they are a super handy vise to have as long as you understand the limitations. jmho

 

[drummingpariah]

is that columbian vise pictured a quality unit? i was given a red painted 5" with chrome handle. it doesnt have any grease on it and opens and closes very freely. i havent had a chance to mount it and put it to use. ive got a little 4" wilton i have been using. an inch is a lot she says.

I'm VERY happy with the Columbian, it's worth taking my time to restore. Based on the vises I've used (take it as anecdotal evidence), the Columbian is higher quality and more useful than the little Wilton bullet vises. IMHO, Wilton is nice but overrated as being some god-like artifact.

This Cummins though ... I'm not even going to try to repair the mass casting issues. It works, and will continue to work until it breaks, then I'll scrap it (and not feel bad about that at all).

 

[Outlawmws]

On the CLEVELAND . if the weld fails (my prediction) Grind the old weld out, preheat to 450-500 in an oven. have a helper keep heat on it with a torch, (getting it even hotter if possible) ) THEN re-weld. Lastly, bury the weldment in hot sand (Metal bucket on a camp stove....), and let cool slowly. welded like that, I'd guess it would keep going and going and going...

 

[Major Ramifications]

It's been said many times many ways, but you certainly paid WAY too much for the Cummins vise. I'm sure they were nowhere near that much when Cummins was still in business, peddling it's **** at VFW halls around the country.
That thing was probably $20 new.
Cummins used to put full page flyer in the local paper before they came to town. They would list brands like Dewalt and such to draw people in. When you get there, you realize that the recon Dewalt stuff is overpriced and everything else is made more crappily than anyone in a first world country has the ability to imagine.

 

[Outlawmws]

is that columbian vise pictured a quality unit? i was given a red painted 5" with chrome handle. it doesnt have any grease on it and opens and closes very freely. i havent had a chance to mount it and put it to use. ive got a little 4" wilton i have been using. an inch is a lot she says.

As I mentioned before, the Columbian is a shop grade vise, with the U bent slide pressed/cast into the Dynamic jaw. better than an exposed screw vise, but not close to a real machinist's vise....

What Wilton 4" do you have? if a Bullet, then the Wilton is a better vise. If one of the Wilton imports, depends on which one...

 

[Trey T]

Go find a Craftsman Professional 4.5" vise if it's still available at Sears. It's prolly the best bang-for-the-buck for an all-star vise because it looks like Wilton bullet!

 

[stage20]

As I mentioned before, the Columbian is a shop grade vise, with the U bent slide pressed/cast into the Dynamic jaw. better than an exposed screw vise, but not close to a real machinist's vise....

What Wilton 4" do you have? if a Bullet, then the Wilton is a better vise. If one of the Wilton imports, depends on which one...

its a small blue deal. looks like any other cheap china vise but its got wilton stamped into it. its not been my favorite vise by any means. i really like the feel of the other one.

 

[Lookin4'67Galaxieconv]

I forgot (because it took so long to get to me) - I also got this for $30 ... but it isn't nearly as big as that Cummins ... so maybe I just need another workbench for this little guy. A rolling workbench might be nice. Overall less useful, but probably a much better investment.

The Chinese vise was a waste of money. As several have said, consider that one an education.

This vise is sweet, I would've paid $30 for it.

 

[taumac]

I look at this different in that not one vise can do everything. I got some American and Chinese vises. I have this vise also. I got it in a trade but its good for some jobs and I don't hammer on it. I have it cause I like the 360° on base and jaws works for some jobs. I have a lot of vises but only half are good USA vises I say buy what's good for the use you have. I also have the a Columbian D44 and its been a great vise also.

 

[drummingpariah]

This community is great, I can't think of anywhere that a discussion would get this in-depth over a cheap chinese vise.

"I'm not sure what it's called, but this is the worst piece of the vise. It secures the screw part to the vise body. The screw holes aren't completely covered."

I'm probably misunderstanding you, but if you mean that the allen bolts/screws aren't completely covered; they aren't supposed to be. They are just to screw them inward and lock the vise into normal upright position. Back them out and the vise goes into a "free-fall", where it automatically locks once you tighten the jaws down onto something, regardless of rotated position.

But again, I probably just misunderstood what you meant. When i got my first one of these i think it was Outlaw who explained that part to me.

You're exactly right. I think those puny allens just keep it assembled. What I'm saying is that the rear-most piece doesn't have sufficient material to secure those allen bolts, once they're tightened enough to hold the vise together. I'll try to get a photo, but there's enough material to make it work for now, so

On the CLEVELAND . if the weld fails (my prediction) Grind the old weld out, preheat to 450-500 in an oven. have a helper keep heat on it with a torch, (getting it even hotter if possible) ) THEN re-weld. Lastly, bury the weldment in hot sand (Metal bucket on a camp stove....), and let cool slowly. welded like that, I'd guess it would keep going and going and going...

I'm SURE my weld will fail if/when I try to use it. I'm just getting started with welding, and I saw some material that I didn't especially care about to test on.

This vise is sweet, I would've paid $30 for it.

I still haven't even used it. I wanted to get the Chinese Cummins together so I'd have something to work on the Columbian with. I don't know how I survived this long without a workbench and (even a cheapo) vise. I use it all the time now. It's also a great excuse to keep my workbench clean (something I've always struggled with).

I look at this different in that not one vise can do everything. I got some American and Chinese vises. I have this vise also. I got it in a trade but its good for some jobs and I don't hammer on it. I have it cause I like the 360° on base and jaws works for some jobs. I have a lot of vises but only half are good USA vises I say buy what's good for the use you have. I also have the a Columbian D44 and its been a great vise also.

I'm using this as a beater daily driver right now, and I think it'll make its way onto my welding table to soak up all the spatter and handle grinder work. It functions as a vise (I really like the rotation feature), but I don't care enough about it that I'd feel badly about grinding through a work piece and into this vise. Someday it'll be scrap, for now it's my 'sacrificial vise'.

After paint, it even looks ok.

 

[taumac]

Funny i have both both my cheap vises on my work bench and shop king as my kinda show vise on my HF44 bench and my good vises put away.

Only thing I might do to gray one is drill 2 holes on each side for nut/ bolt cause really crank down on it you keep jaws from moving. All in all its a cheap all purpose vise. Its not the greatest thing but it works for what I use it for.