Restoring a Wilton 9400

[KF5LCH]

A good friend of mine donated me a frozen Wilton bullet today. I've been looking for a Wilton to restore for sometime. He wheels & deals with gov surplus, long story short he bought a mess of old equipment & this was in the bottom of the crate. It was locked up & he had no use for it. Can't beat a free Vise!

Not a bad start!




After 5 or so hours of soaking in diesel she broke free with no trouble.

 

[KF5LCH]

Main screw, retainer plate & associated hardware all spiffed up. A quick scrub with a green pad & 3-in-1 oil removed all the scale. I gave it a quick polish on the buffer. Polished up pretty good!



Base plates fresh out of the blast cabinet.



After a couple coats of Verde Green. What a difference!

 

[KF5LCH]

Jaws came out no problem. A quick scrub & they look like new! Very little use on them.



Here's the date stamp. I forget, is this the build date or the warranty expiration date?



That's all for now. I have the dynamic jaw brewing in the electrolysis tank for the night. It had some rust on the slide that needed attention & I didn't want to blast it. I'm going to try & finish it up this weekend. I needed another project like I need a hole in the head, but I've been looking for a Wilton for some time & was eager to get started on it. Priorities you know...

 

[Swan]

Nice vise, nice price. Good work so far and look forward to seeing the finished restoration. You have vise that will last a lifetime.

 

[ADSR]

great start!

 

[TexasT]

NICE!

Great Work.

Can I get a manufacturer and part number on the paint you used?
TIA

 

[jgreen-fsi]

Thats awesome. Good work.

 

[sector9]

So jealous, looking great already!

 

[87Pomona]

What polishing compound did you use on the main screw?

 

[KF5LCH]

WOW! Thanks for the support guys! I got it all finished up today. It turned out flippin' awesome! I'm gonna let the paint cure for a couple of days before I put it to use. I need to order a new set of swivel clamps for it from wiltonviseparts.com. It was missing one & the other was pretty beat up. I would also like to put a set of copper jaw caps on it.

TexasT: The paint is Rustoleum Hammered Finish in Verde Green. Rustoleum part # 7219. It's a special order color. I have never seen it on the shelves anywhere. You can get it from Lowes or Home Depot, but they have to order it. Alternatively, you can order it off the internet.

87Pomona: I used a green 3M pad soaked in 3-in-1 oil to clean all the gunk & scale off the screw & rinsed it with rubbing alcohol. I use Porter Cable compounds from my local Lowes. I started with #1 compound (cutting compound) then stepped up to #3 compound (finishing compound) & finished it off with #5 compound ( High polish compound). Be sure to use different buffer wheels for different compounds. If you have a Lowes local to you the polishing stuff should be in the same section as the grinder wheels.

Now, on with the vise ****!!

 

[KF5LCH]

Static & dynamic out of the blast cabinet. They cleaned up pretty good. Under all the factory blue & nasty OD Green is a pretty rough cast. I was surprised at all the bad spots on the casting. All aesthetic, nothing structural.

Dynamic & static jaw getting a fresh coat. All components received 4 coats total. I cooked everything in the oven at 150 degrees between coats to speed up the dry time.

 

[KF5LCH]

The end result: A perfect like new 1962 Wilton 9400. I'm blown away at how it came out! The grade 8 hardware will be removed once I get some proper swivel clamps. I need to find a proper size freeze plug, as the original dust cap was MIA.

 

[KF5LCH]

A quick before & after. What a difference!

 

[Lookin4'67Galaxieconv]

Tell us your friend's reaction when he sees your 'new' Wilton vise.

 

[Gert]

Really nice !

 

[flashman]

Great job! I really need to buy some verde green paint for my next resto.

 

[ShadowRuleZ]

TexasT: The paint is Rustoleum Hammered Finish in Verde Green. Rustoleum part # 7219. It's a special order color. I have never seen it on the shelves anywhere. You can get it from Lowes or Home Depot, but they have to order it. Alternatively, you can order it off the internet.

I think I've seen it at Menards, although I can't recall if it was Hammered Finish or not.

 

[TexasT]

TexasT: The paint is Rustoleum Hammered Finish in Verde Green. Rustoleum part # 7219. It's a special order color. I have never seen it on the shelves anywhere. You can get it from Lowes or Home Depot, but they have to order it. Alternatively, you can order it off the internet.

Thanks, I need to order some for my vise.

 

[KF5LCH]

Dang, after looking thru these pics I realize my shop is a total pigsty. It needs a good ol fashion weekend shop clean up. I usually keep it quite tidy, but I've had so many projects going on lately. It's been nuts. The sister-in-law just dropped off a cedar chest she wants refinished. Add another project to the list....

Thanks for the compliments guys. I appreciate it. The hardest part was the blasting. My POS oil free compressor just wont keep up, so it's time consuming. The Verde Green is more Blue than Green. It's a pretty color. Reminds me of the old B3 Bahama Blue paint that Chrysler used back in the day.

 

[BearCuda]

That turned out beautiful. That color is very close to the green of a 1965 F-85 Oldsmobile that I used to own.

 

[Bill Ramsey]

Stunning before/after. Nice restoration!

My Dad has one of these that he's letting sit outdoors, under the soffit but not entirely protected. He won't sell it to me or let me help him get it inside his (crowded) garage. He's given me lots of other stuff, but for reasons I won't bore you with, he's got an emotional attachment to this vise. After seeing your restoration, I sure wish I could talk him out of it.

 

[gilbo]

super job there !!!!

 

[blackhawkdriver]

Really nice and for free. I think this deserves a You ****!

 

[KF5LCH]

Thanks guys. I qualify for a You **** award for sure. I have zero $'s in the vise as of right now. My brother is a manager at Home Depot & he got me the paint as a Christmas gift last year. lol. I'll have $75 or so ******* in it when I order the swivel clamps & jaw caps. It was quite a bit of work, but nothing major. Well worth it.

Bill Ramsey, You would be surprised how many good vises I see on a pipe out in the weather down here. I'm sure it's the same way around Tulsa. At least try to get it covered up to keep the rain off of it. A washtub works pretty good.

 

[Alexbn921]

Nice restore. Gotta love bring a Wilton back to better than new. Did you leave the paint on the base where the vise sits? I would think that it would gum up pretty fast. I just did my first Wilton restore and it really make you want to start a collection.
You ****

 

[tedsters]

nice looking vise you did a great job on it

 

[KF5LCH]

Thanks tedsters. It's the nicest thing in the shop right now. Looks like a diamond in the rough.

Alexbn921, I did, but I dont plan on turning the vise. It'll stay stationary for the most part.

 

[cclfn]

GREAT job on the resto and a wonderful thread as well. Thanks for posting it.
Wes

 

[KF5LCH]

Just a quick update, I received my new swivel clamps from Kevin. They look great & are 100% pure American Beef. Thanks Kevin! Keep up the good work.

 

[Slip_Kid]

New swivel clamps look great, enjoy.

 

[drivesitfar]

Awesome job on the Wilton vise restoration and it looks like it only took you a couple days.

I have a few quick questions if you don't mind. Did you totally immerse the vise in a bucket of diesel gas or just spray some inside the vise to unlock it? the metal bowl on the bench doesn't look big enough to put the vise in. or did you immerse half at a time? also since you have an "E" tank would that maybe have worked also to unlock it?

Very Nice Job and my guess is it didn't look that good when it came out of the factory over 50 years ago. Great thread and awesome pictures too.

 

[KF5LCH]

Thanks for the compliments guys!

drivesitfar,

It only took a couple of days, but I worked a full 5 hours on it both days. The slowest part by far was the media blasting. My compressor isn't built for feeding a blaster so it took a while. It had several coats of brushed on OD green paint when I started. They really gobbed it on there.

I had a 5 gallon bucket of diesel outside the shop. I soaked it in there for a good 5 hours or so. The bowl is for smaller items. It was just in the picture by accident.

I tried using the E tank on some parts of the vise, but it's just too time consuming. It's fine for delicate stuff, but heavy shop equipment such as a vise can be blasted. So much quicker.

 

[Trey T]

very nice.

 

[dr_clyde]

Very nicely done. My hat is off.

 

[drivesitfar]

I didn't mean to say you didn't spend much time on your Wilton. just that paint takes longer than that to dry up here in Seattle that time of year. our wife's are not happy if we want to put one in the oven we cook in. thanks for letting me know you have a 5 gallon bucket of diesel because I haven't used that method before.

I saw the tool you need to put on the Christmas list in the Vise thread. one of our members has a Skat system he said that he is into for about $2,000 that looks like it could do most any small and maybe medium sized item. his pictures are awesome and sounds like it works as good as it looks. you get 8 more free Wiltons and sell them for $250 each and it's in your shop replacing the one you have been using.

very nice Wilton and worthy of anyone's bench.

 

[KF5LCH]

I didn't take it that way, no worries. This was a true labor of love project. Time well spent in my book.

The bucket o' diesel is an old farmers trick to break stuff free. Sometimes it has to sit for a week, sometimes for an hour, but it'll creep in & break down all kinds of gunk.

I got lucky, as I had every intention of letting it sit for a few days since it was so filthy. I picked it up by the dynamic jaw & just for grins I thought I would check its progress. One good blow with a rubber mallet & it broke free.

Gasoline works equally well, but I don't recommend it due to the safety factor. Waaay too risky.

What I wouldn't give for a **** Blast setup. We have one of their big cabinets at work, it's fed with a IR screw drive compressor. It's a beast. I could have blasted this vice in 60 seconds with that rig.

 

[drivesitfar]

Nice to know old school fixes can still do the job only a 5 gallon bucket of diesel might set you back $20 these days and $2.00 about 40 years ago. just curious how long that bucket of diesel can still do the job before you have to dump it on the weeds if you don't have a diesel truck handy? lid on the bucket when not in use or is it a good critter and bug catcher? does it actually remove rust like an E tank or just break some stuck pieces apart? maybe a stupid question, but did you just drop Mr. Wilton in the bucket or put a dowel across the top and put some wire through it and hang it in there? some of these questions might sound pretty simple, but some of us old city guys have yet to buy a gallon of diesel. I stopped by a local hardware store the other day and there were a couple electric plug ins for electric cars there.

the Skat is officially on my wish list and it might have been there already. glad you like using it at work and it looks like one of the nicer units I've seen. it doesn't seem like that bad of a price especially if you can use the compressor for other tools since a good compressor might set you back $1000 more or less?

 

[KF5LCH]

Not a problem. Glad I can help. Soaking in diesel will work good for breaking stuff free, but it won't remove much rust. It'll loosen it up a little so it's easier to remove however. At least in my expierence it does.

The only down side to the E tank is the time it takes. It would have took forever to do all sides of every piece of the vise. I do use it on old ratchets, pliers & small tools I come across. It works well for that.

This new diesel won't last too long out in the open atmosphere. It's pretty nasty after a week. I disposed of it as soon as I was done with it. For whatever reason, diesel from back in the day seemed to last longer. I've tried to keep it around for future use, in a bucket with a lid. But by the time I get another project that requires a soak, it's totally nasty & gelled.

My next compressor will be a hoss. Not sure what it'll be at this point, but It'll be big & should last me a lifetime. I figure i'll be in one for 2k or so.

 

[drivesitfar]

Hoss better than IR or was IR your third or fourth choice? I have only had the little pancake style ones to run my nailers so I definitely have a nice shop size one on my radar. I've been reading if I spend a little more for the 7.5 HP instead of a 5 or smaller that I may never need another one. any other specs or things to look for?

I also read a bit more on the Skat and it looks like they can sell us the parts to make our own and maybe save a bit of money and customize it for our needs. there is also a member in the process of building a corner unit now on GJ if you haven't seen his thread.

thanks again for the tips on diesel and haven't seen it in less than 55 gallon metal drums at Gramps house and job sites back in the 60's and 70's. I finally had to throw away a coffee can of grease he plucked out of I think another 55 gallon drum that was full of it that he gave me about 30 years ago. not sure what it was, but it worked great. Gramps was a logger. that was a sad day when the coffee can of grease emptied and now I need to figure out what grease to spend some money on for my vises and other tools.

 

[Seiler]

Curious, does anyone know of any potential hazards when soaking something in diesel? Are there any fumes to be cautious of?

I'm in the same boat as the OP was in post #1. I have a monster vise sitting in my garage that is seized. I'm contemplating a quick trip to HD to buy a container large enough for the vise and then following with a diesel bath.

See photo:

My dilemma - I live in a condo type building where my garage is attached to 5 other garages in a row. Be that as it may, I have to take into consideration my neighbors, their safety and the immediate surroundings when contemplating a project such as this. I could leave the garage door open for a short period of time for ventilation, but anything longer than a few hours during the middle of the day is out of the question.

Should I have any concerns?

To the OP - Thank you for sharing your great write-up. You're thread motivates me to get off my and do something with this chunk of metal ***.

Thanks,

Scott