Looking for some vise advice.

[Alienbaby17]

My wife and I are planning to move so I'm attempting to thin out the "tool herd" a bit.

At this point I have three decent vises. My main vise is a 4" Wilton non-swivel model mounted on a semi-mobile stand. This is my 'nice' one and the one I use almost exclusively.

I also have an old Reed 104R (4" jaws) model and a Littlestown model 450 (4.5" jaws.) I'm going to get rid of one of these and keep the other as a backup probably mounted on a bench.

The Reed vise is a big, heavy beast. It clearly can take a beating and I wouldn't be afraid I was going to hurt it if it saw some rough use. (I don't really want to beat on my Wilton.) It is however probably worth significantly more between the two if I were to sell one. This just feels like a quality tool. Maybe it's too nice to have around and not get used?

The Littlestown despite having bigger jaws is far less substantial. It clearly can also take some abuse but I would be afraid I could possibly break this one. I like the fact that the Littlestown is a swivel. If it's mounted on a bench that could be an asset. If I were to sell it it probably wouldn't bring much money, especially compared to the Reed.

Whichever one I keep probably won't see much use unless I need to get rough with something. Both have approximately the same jaw width and opening.

Appreciate any input.
Thanks.

 

[jakemac]

Keep the Reed. The first time you need to use the Littlestown for a heavy job, you'll be thinking about the Reed you let get away. If you keep the Reed, I doubt you'll think about the Littlestown again.

 

[CNGsaves]

+1 to keep the Reed as it's a lifetime keeper.

However, if the wifey goes overboard and you have to divest both, put me 1st on list for dibbs on the Reed !!

 

[Mark in Indiana]

I vote to keep the Reed. Great for putting a tight grip on your workpiece.

 

[sld961]

I vote to keep the Reed.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[G-ManBart]

I would keep the Reed as well....very well made vise. Vises of that size and quality are getting harder and harder to find, and prices are only going up.

 

[Cope]

No need to vote, but keep the Reed without a doubt.

 

[T45]

The other vise also looks like it takes up more volume/space anyway. Agree with keeping the reed. You now have a go-to and a second to use when the going gets tough. The littketon has very little added value IMHO (...give your other options).

 

[Brad54]

This is kind of like saying "They're both good, and they both work well, so which would you keep--the Zippo, or the Bic?"

-Brad

 

[jakemac]

Zippo.

 

[Alienbaby17]

Re: Looking for some vise ad

Well, it looks like I may have been over-thinking it. Thanks for all of the advice.
I think I will keep the Reed. I'm sure I won't have regrets with that decision but I might have if I sold it and kept the Littlestown.

Another reason to keep it is because it was a hard fought prize for me. I went to an estate sale a couple years ago. I saw this there bolted to a workbench in the garage. I think the only reason no one had bought it was because the bolts holding it to the bunch were rounded off and no one could remove it. I got my tools out of the truck and busted my **** for the next thirty minutes in some pretty oppressive heat to get it. The proprietors of the estate sale wanted me just to buy the whole giant, crappy work bench and take it that way. I politely declined. In the end I think I paid less than $20 for it.

The sad thing was there was a scrapper there standing in the garage door watching. He must have been a regular the estate sale people used to get rid of stuff. In addition to a bunch of other stuff he had an even bigger old vise than this one with probably 6" jaws on it in a pile. They sold the whole pile to him for $5! I jokingly asked him if he wanted to double his money and sell me the vise knowing it would be going to good use. He got all bent out of shape at me saying I didn't know what he paid for it and it was none of my business. I said I DID know because I was standing there and heard the whole conversation he'd just had. He didn't respond. Then a minute later he needed help loading some heavy old radiators into his truck. I helped him in exchange for a chunk of railroad track so at least I saved something. Still hated to see all of his load going to the scrapyard. Hopefully my comments made him stop and think that the old vise might be worth more than scrap.

 

[drivesitfar]

AB: i'll put in my vote for the REED and it's sort of like comparing Secretariat to a merry go round pony with the open screw littlestown if that helps. well maybe not quite that far apart, but not a fair fight when comparing those two.

just because the scrapper was the buyer doesn't mean the vise or any good tools for that matter are going to be sold or melted as scrap. A lot of them pick up those big tools and either have clients waiting to hand them cash or they save them for their personal collections. there are more than a few good vises that have been scrapped and i'd like to have saved all of them even if only for a few parts to fix up some of these old well built tools.

nice save on the REED and i've spent a good 30 minutes and longer taking some of my vises off of an old bench. it's good to carry a crowbar, a box of specialty tools and regular tools and bring a trailer in case you have to take the bench and cut it up later to get the vise off. i've bought more than a few benches cause i just wanted the vise attached to it.