New member with a Wilton question

[Billbo66]

I have been lurking here for a few weeks, and have learned quite a bit. I have recently bought a Chicago era 5" Wilton Machinist vice, and have some restoration questions. I have seen a lot of really great restorations and paint jobs. My vice is functionally great, although it could use a paint job. I am also considering just leaving it raw, as I kind of like the rusty patina. I am not sure if I am going to paint it.

I like the hammered look, but I dont think the early Wiltons had that light blue/green paint. From the little fragments that are left on my vice, it looks like it was a light grey, and smooth.

I am considering either Rustoleum Hammered Finish, or the Hammerlite brand stuff. Another option is the local auto paint guys, who say they can mix up any color I want, and even put it in a spray can.

If I do paint, do I spray or brush? If I decide to leave it raw, is there a good clear coat to prevent further rust?

 

[Billbo66]

Also- there are no numbers on the slide to indicate date of manufacture, or any model numbers cast into the body. Weird. Is that normal with the early Wilton stuff?

 

[drivesitfar]

Billbo: welcome to Garage journal first of all and i hope you enjoy the forum learning and teaching us what you know. i for one just learned that maybe a local auto body shop might be able to make some paint and put it in a spray can.

now for your questions:

leaving it naked or bare steel there are many things you can use and i'm finding out, hearing and ready to do a few myself with boiled linseed oil which should do the job an only need to be reapplied every few months or year depending on your weather conditions.

i like the $10 cans of hammered rustoleum spray cans and Wilton colors are a grey, light green and a bluesish green. some like the verde green. my rule is your vise your color unless you are in to restoring like original.

any color you choose should be great. also be careful when taking apart and putting together your Wilton because they can be broken. good luck

 

[bluebolt]

Wilton can be hit or miss with the date codes, some don't have them. I think your vise is around 1945-1947. It looks identical to my 1946 stamped 5" vise except mine has a No. 4 in small raised letters on the right side of the base, would be almost dead center in your second pic. My 1954 9500 5" vise has "14" right after the Chicago which I believe is the postal zone (precursor to Zip Code for large cities, came out in 1943).

 

[Filson]

Billbo66 - Welcome to GJ! I agree 100% with the "your vise, your color" mentality (like my John Deere themed vise lol).

The most important thing to remember is prepping before you paint. When it comes to refurbishing an old vise (or anything really) and it's paint time, 90% of the time and effort should be in paint prep, with only 10% or so of the actual painting. A very thorough cleaning, removal of old paint, rust, etc, taping off the parts you don't want any paint to touch, and so on will really make or break the quality of your paint job.

If you have a guy mix up some paint for you, make sure to ask for his suggestions on how to best apply the paint, as some paints need to be applied a little differently than others.

Generally for me, once all the prep work is done, I'll do a very light coat of paint over the vise, and let it dry until it's still slightly tacky (you can feel a slight stickiness with the paint when you tap your finger on it, but not so much you can see fingerprints.) Then I hit it with another, heavier coat of paint. Depending on the vise, and how the paint is setting, I may do a 3rd coat, following the same method again with waiting for the paint to feel only slightly tacky to the touch (but not completely dry) and hit it a 3rd time.

But like I said before, different paints require a bit different painting styles, so ask the guy who mixes it up for his input.

Look forward to seeing you bring some life back into it, and welcome again to Garage Journal =)

 

[Billbo66]

Thanks for the welcome messages! I am still on the fence regarding painting. It was an automotive paint supplier that could do the custom mix in a can. I am starting to like the Boiled linseed oil idea, since it will allow me to get to work faster. I wire wheeled is a bit more last night, and it looks pretty good raw.

I have partially restored a vintage 1970 Ford (Jacobsen) garden tractor, and learned a lot about paint on that project. In fact, it was that project that exposed my Pony vise as a fraud.. which lead to this website. I have been re-organizing my garage space.... new bench, canoe racks, shelving, etc. I wish I had the space some of the guys on this forum have. I can see how this old iron thing can be addictive.

 

[Filson]

Thanks for the welcome messages! I am still on the fence regarding painting. It was an automotive paint supplier that could do the custom mix in a can. I am starting to like the Boiled linseed oil idea, since it will allow me to get to work faster. I wire wheeled is a bit more last night, and it looks pretty good raw.

I have partially restored a vintage 1970 Ford (Jacobsen) garden tractor, and learned a lot about paint on that project. In fact, it was that project that exposed my Pony vise as a fraud.. which lead to this website. I have been re-organizing my garage space.... new bench, canoe racks, shelving, etc. I wish I had the space some of the guys on this forum have. I can see how this old iron thing can be addictive.

So... Where's all the pictures of your restored garden tractor???

 

[exmaxima1]

I am also considering just leaving it raw, as I kind of like the rusty patina. I am not sure if I am going to paint it.
? If I decide to leave it raw, is there a good clear coat to prevent further rust?

My Wilton is raw and it makes a good working finish. There are a million ways to do it, but this is what I did:

Degreased the castings with Simple Green

Stripped away any remnants of paint (mine had very little left) with wire brushes on drill.

Heated the castings up on my gas grill set, set fairly low, long enough to "sweat" any moisture out. You will see bubbles come out, and then it becomes very dry looking.

While still warm, I brushed on a mixture of turpentine, linseed oil, and carnauba wax (such as Blue Coral, or Butcher's Wax). Keep brushing until all areas look wet.

When cooled, I rubbed it down with rags.

Very easy to maintain, as well.

 

[drivesitfar]

Ex: i do like the idea of BBQ ing vises and i'll have to do that when my bride is out of town or at least gone for the day. as much as i do like cooking a vise and putting all those liquids on them what happens if it drips on your BBQ? or are you using a BBQ that you don't cook on?

by the way any chance you can post a few pictures of your naked vise with your magic done to it so we can see what it looks like??

 

[exmaxima1]

Ex: i do like the idea of BBQ ing vises and i'll have to do that when my bride is out of town or at least gone for the day. as much as i do like cooking a vise and putting all those liquids on them what happens if it drips on your BBQ? or are you using a BBQ that you don't cook on?

by the way any chance you can post a few pictures of your naked vise with your magic done to it so we can see what it looks like??

I'll shoot some pics when I get home.

Regarding drippings, I take the vise off the grill before slathering it with my wax concoction. It does get messy!

 

[drivesitfar]

Ex: sounds better all the time. oven mitts good enough to grab the vise and put it on a table or what did you use?

I've almost been convinced that boiled linseed oil is the best method so have you tried that? i wonder if pre heating a vise and putting the linseed oil on might be better than just rubbing or brushing it on?

i have always heard pre heating a vise before painting works best and also for brazing so not too surprised it works well for oils too.

thanks for the pictures in advance

 

[exmaxima1]

Ex: sounds better all the time. oven mitts good enough to grab the vise and put it on a table or what did you use?

Oven mitts work fine. And an old pc of plywood to handle the mess.

 

[Billbo66]

I didn't see the preheating idea until this morning, but it makes sense. I did a bit of research, and a lot of the blacksmithing guyes use boiled linseed oil as a finish, as well. Evidently, you can bake it up to 500 deg., which will blacken it a bit.

Last night, I rubbed it down with Watco (which is boiled linseed, hardeners, and solvent). I can always go back and paint it. I have too many projects waiting for some holding power. Some people use tung oil, as well. I have some of the pure stuff, so I may give it a coat of that, as well. I am pretty happy with the results, so far.

I hope to re-assemble it tonight. I read about using anti-seize with graphite on the lead screw (I have some). Would adding powdered graphite to regular lithium grease have the same effect? I dont have any paste wax, but do have pure carnuba car wax. Should the slide tube get wax or oil? I was planning on greasing the bottom of the slide.

Also, I plan on getting a 12x12 hunk of 1/4 or 3/8 plate steel to mount it on the bench, which is plywood. Maybe I will bake that before I oil it and see how that turns out. Here are some pics of the freshly oiled vise.

 

[drivesitfar]

i think your Wilton looks great like it is. if you don't like it change as you can or want to. nice idea to put down a piece of steel under your vise to mount it on your wood bench.

 

[Billbo66]

Also, Filson was interested in my garden tractor project, so I sent him a private link to the Flicker album. I am not sure if that is appropriate here. If anyone is interested, I could post it, or send as private message. No vise content, but fun old iron.

 

[drivesitfar]

post as many pictures of old iron as possible. you have my vote while you are finishing up your vise.

 

[BFBOB]

By all means, pix of lawn eqpt. are quite acceptable - I just posted The Junk Trailer in Fabrication, for instance.
But, what's this about a fraudulent Pony vise??? Do you mean Pony as in one of the brands of The Adjustable Clamp Co.? (or is Jorgenson the official name?)
Tell all, show pix!

 

[Billbo66]

Haha... the Pony vise. It is the orange imported cheap casting thing. I think my expectations were a bit too high for a light duty hobby vise. It didnt break, but the swivel lock is not able to hold up to my brute strength. Any 4" jaw vise that weighs in at less than 15 lbs should be avoided, unless you are working on crafts.

Here is a link to my Flicker page that shows some of the resto pics. Maybe restoration is a bit too heavy of a word. I just fixed a few things, painted a bit, and got it running. 12 hp cast iron Kohler 301 engine. Those old Kohlers are stout. I found this on Criags list for 200 bucks. It was rescued from a chicken coop. Yes, that is poop on the seats. Enjoy...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/14477049@N08/sets/

 

[exmaxima1]

by the way any chance you can post a few pictures of your naked vise with your magic done to it so we can see what it looks like??

I took a pic when I got home last night. I brushed it off for the pic but then noticed that my Wilton really is not all that nice compared to all the others' on this forum. In any case, it's my user vise for car repair and I still have my nicely painted ones for my "museum" bench at work.

 

[drivesitfar]

Ex: your Wilton bullet vise looks great with that patina. also looks great on that solid looking wood bench. just curious did you mount it with lag bolts? thanks for posting the picture and for describing how you BBQ'd it.

Billbo: great pictures and nice work restoring your tractor

 

[exmaxima1]

Ex: your Wilton bullet vise looks great with that patina. also looks great on that solid looking wood bench. just curious did you mount it with lag bolts?

Those are indeed lag bolts. The bench top is maple, and the rest of the bench is oak, so the lag bolts hold very securely.