Vise values near you?

[MatBirch]

What does one expect to pay for a “vintage” vise in need of restoration? I know it’s a loaded question, but I feel like around me, they are asking way too much. At the moment there is a 4” Rock Island (?) available for $100. This is among the least expensive I can find. I’ve been watching for months, and prices are making me want to just go buy a new one from whoever’s cheapest...

 

[RTM]

Depends on where you shop. I got my Reed 203-1/2 for $25 at a yard sale. Fixer uppers of decent caliber start at $100 on Cl. Restored are $175 and up.

Cheap **** or homeowner quality vintage on CL for 65 and up.

 

[exmaxima1]

What does one expect to pay for a “vintage” vise in need of restoration? I know it’s a loaded question, but I feel like around me, they are asking way too much. At the moment there is a 4” Rock Island (?) available for $100. This is among the least expensive I can find. I’ve been watching for months, and prices are making me want to just go buy a new one from whoever’s cheapest...

That Rock Island you found on FB Marketplace is a model 593 (not 683 as listed), and probably worth $100. It's an older style non-swivel 4", and would clean up very well. The jaws are the smooth version, and it looks like virtually no wear where the handle slides into the "meatball" spindle. If you've been looking for a year, and can accept that older non-swivel design, go for it.

 

[macgee]

You're correct!..........................It's a loaded question, for several different reasons.

Not sure about Idaho prices but area does play a significant part of whether it's cheap or not.

Also need to see pics to see if there's any issues with the vise before saying its a good deal. Rock Islands are great vise's, I like them a lot but still need to see pics to know if its reasonable as $100 for a 4" is quite a bit to start off at but really depends on condition.

 

[slowtwitch73]

Vises are trendy the last few years.. sellers think they are worth their weight in gold.

 

[Stevettt]

If your choice is the Rock Island (assuming it's all there and in good condition) or a new vise, the RI is probably a much better vise than you'll find new for $100.
Vise prices seem to have gone up just about everywhere, at least on the common listing sites. Sounds like you've been looking for a while, and it can be frustrating (esp. when GJ guys are posting their $10 Reeds and curb finds). Still, patience usually pays off as long as one is ready to jump when a good opportunity presents itself.
Ironically, with vises and other stuff, deals seem to pop up once you've already scratched the first itch. My first vintage vise was a 3-1/2" Reed with a brazed repair to the slide (well done at least) for $40 bucks. I thought I was overpaying at the time, but I just wanted a d**n vise. A few weeks later a 6" Reed fell into my lap (not literally, thank heavens) at a reasonable price and over the last couple of years I've acquired more vises than one man really needs, mostly purchased only because the deal was too good to pas on.

 

[thehorse13]

You can still find great deals on vises today but you're going to have to look much harder than just a few years back. The great deals online last for minutes so you'll need to be in the right place at the right time AND know what you're looking at.

Rock Island vises are in my top 3 favorites. Reed and Prentiss occupy the other spots. I see great deals on these manufacturers and many other not so well known high quality brands too. Morgan, Monarch (Prentiss), American Scale, Athol, Erie, Hollands and the list goes on and on.

I live close to 3 major industrial cities so vises are somewhat easy to find here. The 593 you found would sit forever at 50 bucks around here but in other places it would be gone in 15 minutes. Your question is far more loaded than you realize.

 

[d42jeep]

I went to an East Bay tool sale today and inquired about the price on this well used Wilton vise that Shiftless said that he thought would be worth about $50.00. The seller quoted me $150.00. Probably still sitting there. All of his prices were pretty high.
-Don

 

[thehorse13]

Here is an example of a normal day around here. 200 bucks for a 6 inch Wilton bullet.

 

[WhoWhatNow]

Here is an example of a normal day around here. 200 bucks for a 6 inch Wilton bullet.

That is not a 6” vise. It is a 350S - 3-1/2”.

 

[thehorse13]

That is not a 6” vise. It is a 350S - 3-1/2”.

I didn't even look closely but you're right. Point is, finding the 6 incher posted on Marketplace for this price is a regular thing around here.

 

[Packard V8]

Around here, GJ has inflated the asking prices. Guys are dragging beat-up-POS out of the junk pile without even bothering to clean them.

.

Rattle can restorations double the asking, sometimes quadruple.

He's asking $650.

jack vines

 

[Oldsoul]

Check this one out that's not so bad of a deal it's gone by now tho.

 

[macgee]

Here is an example of a normal day around here. 200 bucks for a 6 inch Wilton bullet.

I didn't even look closely but you're right. Point is, finding the 6 incher posted on Marketplace for this price is a regular thing around here.

I have to admit I'm scratching my head if your saying 6" Wiltons bullets are being sold regularly in your area for $200.

In my area, I thought we had tools being sold the cheapest in the US, while there's the crazy's trying to sell worn out, rusty **** vises at nose bleeding prices, there's also a ton of a good vises (Athol's, RI, Columb.etc) selling cheap for $50-ish if you look around but a 6" wide jaw Wilton Bullet looking like that for $200 is extremely rare to find at that price, 3" & 4" bullets yeah but a 6", those go for much bigger money.

 

[DD T/A]

Jack, Lord almighty that is awful. I could never own something like that for any price, I'd be embarrassed.

 

[exmaxima1]

Rattle can restorations double the asking, sometimes quadruple.

He's asking $650.

LOL, that looks like a Chineseum import worth less than $50 in the Chicago area.

 

[Corndoggeh]

In the Southwest. I regularly see 4" Wiltons, Reeds, Athols being priced ~$400. Doesn't mean anyones paying for them but the vintage market has gone off the deep end here.

 

[Lookin4'67Galaxieconv]

Around here, GJ has inflated the asking prices. Guys are dragging beat-up-POS out of the junk pile without even bothering to clean them.

.

Rattle can restorations double the asking, sometimes quadruple.

He's asking $650.

jack vines

Now that's funny!

I like it when they paint everything on the vise...

 

[thehorse13]

I have to admit I'm scratching my head if your saying 6" Wiltons bullets are being sold regularly in your area for $200.

In my area, I thought we had tools being sold the cheapest in the US, while there's the crazy's trying to sell worn out, rusty **** vises at nose bleeding prices, there's also a ton of a good vises (Athol's, RI, Columb.etc) selling cheap for $50-ish if you look around but a 6" wide jaw Wilton Bullet looking like that for $200 is extremely rare to find at that price, 3" & 4" bullets yeah but a 6", those go for much bigger money.

Eventually the large Wiltons will dry up, but yes, the 6 inch Wiltons do turn up for 200 bucks on the regular. I know that they sell for a lot more elsewhere.

Development is surging and many of the old industrial sites are being sold off. Same thing with old farms and other properties of value. Tons of this stuff hits the usual online venues but then you have the scrapper/flea guys who also get in on the action. Most don't bother to look past the rust and decide to price it, "about a dollar a pound".

Eventually the high prices will arrive here too. Until then, here is another one from yesterday.

 

[slowtwitch73]

I would buy 6" bullets at 200 all day long....

GJ has certainly contributed to the rise, but I noticed it 15 years ago. Any auction had guys looking exclusively for vises, anvils, and old Delta stuff.

Its coincides with rise of the web. Ebay, Clist, FB Marketplace etc etc. Every blacksmith, knife maker, fab wannabe needs a Wilton... or five.

 

[Whitworth]

They are few and far between around here (central NC) and priced accordingly. $400 and up, nice and rusted, missing base plates and often clearly visible welds.

Unless they are an extremely valuable/desirable vise and priced reasonably, I'll take a pass. You can get a big *** China made Wilton for $200 -$300, brand new, no broke jaws, bad weld jobs or over-torqued screws.

 

[Maui]

The last 6” jaw width Wilton bullet vise I sold a few years ago was in horrible condition and I still got $300 for it. You won't see them sell in my area for $200 any time soon. Hell, they’re asking $400 for 4” jaw bullet vises.

 

[Ilse00]

Around my area in the mid-south, you can sometimes stumble across a "deal" or reasonable price. But for the most part, you can spot the GJ'ers that are flipping or selling off a restored vise...by the pictures and the price.

 

[davethorik]

I collect vises. Here in Ohio they are fairly common due to rich industrial heritage, but that being said...anything rare, any vise with "gizmos" like swivel jaws or extra axes of swivel/tilt/rotate...anything huge, anything tiny...examples in very clean shape or NOS...big names like Reed or Wilton...sell usually lightning fast. The high vise density leads to a high density of collectors and flippers so it is a competitive market.

I like to watch for super rare vises on eBay and see what they sell for. An Odin Universal Vise just sold there for $3k!!!
8" vises are worth $1k plus as long as they aren't broken, and some 6" vises people are paying that money for as well (Reed 4C). Some of the real small vises, like Prentiss jeweler's vises, are approaching that price too. To me that is craziness, but I guess I'm cheap.

Back in Jan/Feb of this year I did snag this Monarch 4.5" for $25 off marketplace, guy I bought it from said he posted the ad, went to bed, and had over 30 messages when he woke up. Took this off his bench for a HF model The last time I bought a $25 vise was about 2 years ago lol. This was really an exception to the rule.

Usually the only things you can find for sub-$100 here are 3.5 or 4" fixed base, or the junky homeowner vises.

 

[slowtwitch73]

It will be interesting to see if there is a flood of cheap vises when the economy next crashes. I mean they aren't getting used up.... given ugly paint jobs maybe, but not used up.

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

I just can't believe the persistence of some of the sellers. There's a few nice ones on my local CL that have been up there for more than 2 years. 4" wiltons for $400 a C0 for almost $600. If it's a collector that doesn't really want to sell why take all the time to keep posting? Now I do have a friend that paid $1000 for a C3 on a steel table. It is in extremely nice condition and he had a previous attachment to the C3 model so it was worth it to him. The seller started at $2000 and still took months to accept the offer. I was lucky enough to snag a pretty nice 600s for $200 three years ago. It was quite a drive and the seller had no idea that it would sell at that price.

 

[Packard V8]

In this area, it's also pulling up the asking price of the homeowner hardware store vises. Small exposed screw stuff I wouldn't give bench space, formerly in the $5 - $15 range, are now out there for $85.

jack vines

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=8960057&highlight=littlestown#post8960057

Somebody on the big vise thread paid $75 for a littlestown exposed thread vise. Too rich for my blood. It was one of the bigger ones though.

 

[ed4banger]

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=8960057&highlight=littlestown#post8960057

Somebody on the big vise thread paid $75 for a littlestown exposed thread vise. Too rich for my blood. It was one of the bigger ones though.

Folks look down on the exposed screw vises, but as a collector, I have no problem paying $$ for a really nice original example. There are also exposed screw vises which are actually pretty darn beefy, look at the Vanderman and the Reed pipe fitters vises, all very very stout vises. I'm now closing in on a complete set of the Craftsman exposed screw homeowners vises, and speaking just for myself, I've paid significantly more than $75 for one wearing original paint and stickers...... $.02. At this point, for me, its not just about how they perform in a shop environment, they are little bits of history.

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

Folks look down on the exposed screw vises, but as a collector, I have no problem paying $$ for a really nice original example. There are also exposed screw vises which are actually pretty darn beefy, look at the Vanderman and the Reed pipe fitters vises, all very very stout vises. I'm now closing in on a complete set of the Craftsman exposed screw homeowners vises, and speaking just for myself, I've paid significantly more than $75 for one wearing original paint and stickers...... $.02. At this point, for me, its not just about how they perform in a shop environment, they are little bits of history.

Ya, missed a big vanderman a while back and still regret it. I would pay up for those craftsmans that you have as well. The Littlestown vises seem to be pretty common in my area is all I meant. I have one that was free, just missing a jaw insert. Original paint and still has the pipe jaws.

 

[tool_scrounge]

Vise prices are high and availability is low in my area. I now see lots of rattle can restorations or very broken vises with crazy high price tags.

Last year someone local put up a unique vise for sale at a good price, not "you ****" material though. I called him, and he agreed to sell it to me for the asking price. I drove right over to get it. When I arrived, the seller had an odd look on his face. He said some.crazy person called and told him he was being ripped off. They he needed to read the Garage Journal vise thread. He should tell me off for trying to steal it from him and sell it to the me, the person who called. He would pay an extra 50%. But if course the seller would need to crate and ship it, because it was too far away for him to drive and get it, which was about a 1.5 hour drive. The seller declined the offer and sold it to me. It was a rather sleezy move I thought.

 

[thehorse13]

Vise prices are high and availability is low in my area. I now see lots of rattle can restorations or very broken vises with crazy high price tags.

Last year someone local put up a unique vise for sale at a good price, not "you ****" material though. I called him, and he agreed to sell it to me for the asking price. I drove right over to get it. When I arrived, the seller had an odd look on his face. He said some.crazy person called and told him he was being ripped off. They he needed to read the Garage Journal vise thread. He should tell me off for trying to steal it from him and sell it to the me, the person who called. He would pay an extra 50%. But if course the seller would need to crate and ship it, because it was too far away for him to drive and get it, which was about a 1.5 hour drive. The seller declined the offer and sold it to me. It was a rather sleezy move I thought.

If I had a dollar for every time I've run into this, or worse, I'd try to buy out Don's party garage in cash money.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Decent, working, vintage US bench vises around here go for $50+ (2-4"), $100+ (4"-6), and $250+ (6") at flea markets. Any well-known brand (e.g., Prentiss, Parker, etc) pushes the price up, and sellers are wise to the Wilton bullet craziness. The only vises that sell for peanuts are exposed screw clamp-ons. You can still get lucky on a big vise with a mom-and-pop table if you arrive early, and you can still get lucky with jeweler's vises with regular sellers, because guys doing garage close outs here are still the old school bigger-is-better guys who sell anvils by the pound, not so much the name, and they don't yet know that tiny vises are trending. If you don't get lucky, you're going to pay maybe 20%-35% off eBay/going collectors rates at best for a run of the mill vise. I don't run around to estate sales and I don't shop on CL, LetGo, etc, so I have no idea.

 

[thehorse13]

Decent, working, vintage US bench vises around here go for $50+ (2-4"), $100+ (4"-6), and $250+ (6") at flea markets. Any well-known brand (e.g., Prentiss, Parker, etc) pushes the price up, and sellers are wise to the Wilton bullet craziness. The only vises that sell for peanuts are exposed screw clamp-ons. You can still get lucky on a big vise with a mom-and-pop table if you arrive early, and you can still get lucky with jeweler's vises with regular sellers, because guys doing garage close outs here are still the old school bigger-is-better guys who sell anvils by the pound, not so much the name, and they don't yet know that tiny vises are trending. If you don't get lucky, you're going to pay maybe 20%-35% off eBay/going collectors rates at best for a run of the mill vise. I don't run around to estate sales and I don't shop on CL, LetGo, etc, so I have no idea.

The online markets are a mixed bag. Sometimes great deals show up but they vanish very quickly. Other times, an item priced to the moon gets a sudden 80% off price cut. You have to be on it a lot to do well.

Your price ranges for local places seem to pace the same as here. Although I have recently run into a new animal that I've never seen before.

Picture a well maintained 100+ year old neighborhood that straddles the relics of old brick industrial sites. The sort of place where you can feel that you're going to find the stuff that makes your heart pump. This was the backdrop to the Ebay garage sale from hell.

I walked up the driveway and found that every single item had a printed Ebay comp taped on top. Some even had hand written notes about why the item is even more valuable. I half wondered about the sanity of doing this given the price of inkjet cartridges and the time it took to do all of this while the broken logic fed the desire. The printouts were not the sold item results. They were the ridiculous asking prices of people who have no idea what an item is worth so it gets priced to the moon.

Also, I should have kept quiet on this thread. Since I revealed the prices around here, I noticed a sudden jump. Coincidence? Maybe. Or maybe Lugz is sniping my hunting grounds!

 

[Tennessee Cattleman]

Prices for good quality vises in good shape seem way higher in my area than what you guys in the rust belt are paying.

 

[macgee]

He said some.crazy person called and told him he was being ripped off. They he needed to read the Garage Journal vise thread. He should tell me off for trying to steal it from him and sell it to the me, the person who called. He would pay an extra 50%. But if course the seller would need to crate and ship it, because it was too far away for him to drive and get it, which was about a 1.5 hour drive. The seller declined the offer and sold it to me. It was a rather sleezy move I thought.

That ***** and have had this happen before several times but in different scenarios.

I found a mill on craigslist, I was pretty much the first to see it (20 mins listed) and called. We agreed to meet at his place in an hour, hand cash and the amount. I stopped what I was doing and hopped in the car and took 45mins to get there. I knocked on the door and guy says sorry, I sold it. He told me someone offered him twice the price and was going to pick it up over the weekend. He could of least called me on the phone while driving there and tell me, Took 1.5 hrs to drive back in bumper to bumper traffic. He called me over the weekend to tell me the guy never showed up an said its still for sale.

Another time I bought a double wide Lista cabinet for $300, paid the man in full and told him I'll come back with a bigger truck tomorrow as it was too big for the one I drove, he agreed. When I came back, he said sorry and gave me my money back, he sold it someone else and they took it. Lesson learned, when needing to come back another day to it pick up, first take some pivotal parts off the machine or box (drawers) with you so it can't be taken or sold under you. No one is going to want a lathe without a tail stock and gears or a Lista with a 1-2 drawers missing. This happened again to me for another mill, after looking at it, I agreed on the sellers asking price, gave the man a deposit to hold it and told him my heavy machinist mover & I will come back later in the week to pick up and pay balance. This time I took all the (Kurt, Suburban, Albrecht, Tapmatic, Hardinge, Troyke) tooling with me. Calls me back the next day and says someone wants to pay more for the mill and if I can bring back the tooling? Yeah right, he come come to my place and pick it up. He ended up selling the mill to someone else and never called me back or picked up the tooling but at least I now have a lot of nice tooling for a good price (it worked out but still *****).

There's a lot of good deals around if your on it me and a lot of very nice people who sell and buy but also a lot of unscrupulous (buyer & sellers) and newbies. It's a buyer beware market out there!

Cracked and welded vises or missing parts are quite common selling/asking for high prices like its pristine with photo's only showing the good side.

Again, Buyer beware!

 

[Whitworth]

Another time I bought a double wide Lista cabinet for $300, paid the man in full and told him I'll come back with a bigger truck tomorrow as it was too big for the one I drove, he agreed. When I came back, he said sorry and gave me my money back, he sold it someone else and they took it. Lesson learned, when needing to come back another day to it pick up, first take some pivotal parts off the machine or box (drawers) with you so it can't be taken or sold under you. No one is going to want a lathe without a tail stock and gears or a Lista with a 1-2 drawers missing. This happened again to me for another mill, after looking at it, I agreed on the sellers asking price, gave the man a deposit to hold it and told him my heavy machinist mover & I will come back later in the week to pick up and pay balance. This time I took all the (Kurt, Suburban, Albrecht, Tapmatic, Hardinge, Troyke) tooling with me. Calls me back the next day and says someone wants to pay more for the mill and if I can bring back the tooling? Yeah right, he come come to my place and pick it up. He ended up selling the mill to someone else and never called me back or picked up the tooling but at least I now have a lot of nice tooling for a good price (it worked out but still *****).

That sounds like a good idea, at least at first thought. But as a seller what if someone walks off with a lathe tailstock after forking over a minimal deposit, and then I never see him again? Potentially bad situation coming or going.

 

[exmaxima1]

. Lesson learned, when needing to come back another day to it pick up, first take some pivotal parts off the machine or box (drawers) with you so it can't be taken or sold under you. No one is going to want a lathe without a tail stock and gears or a Lista with a 1-2 drawers missing. This happened again to me for another mill, after looking at it, I agreed on the sellers asking price, gave the man a deposit to hold it and told him my heavy machinist mover & I will come back later in the week to pick up and pay balance. This time I took all the (Kurt, Suburban, Albrecht, Tapmatic, Hardinge, Troyke) tooling with me. Calls me back the next day and says someone wants to pay more for the mill and if I can bring back the tooling? Yeah right, he come come to my place and pick it up.

That is good advise. I am shocked that someone would sell a machine after taking a deposit. I typically take some key parts mainly so they won't get damaged later, but I will now remember to do that to keep the deal fair.

 

[SamuraiJack]

Picked up a Wilton 4 inch vise that looks like it was painted several times for $160. Not sure if it was a deal or not but I'm happy with it. I have been wanting one for a while and they do not pop up very often.

 

[Bryan Burns]

I sold this five inch Desmond Simplex for $50 (was asking a little more) through social media and it was a harder sell than I thought it would be. Perhaps there's a lot of supply given that I'm half way between Milwaukee and Chicago, which were epic industrial bases in the last century.

I was tempted to sell this in the GJ classifieds but ended up getting a buyer through FB marketplace (my second sale!). Lots more views in FBM.