Wards Powr-Kraft Bullet Vise

[wjv]

I picked up an interesting vise this morning. It is a Wards Powr-Kraft model 5452, maybe missing a first digit. It is in pretty good shape - the paint is nice, if dirty, and the decal on top is nearly complete. The "Made in USA" is cast into the body, so I'm pretty sure it's American iron.

The vise looks similar to a Wilton, but I don't think it is. While it has the same general bullet construction and has similar paint color, there are several differences.

• First, the jaws are just too different. They are not quite as beefy and the dynamic jaw does not have quite the same bulbous shape as Wiltons. The jaws are also quite wide and slim, similar to a Tradesman. It does have some slim pipe-jaws that are bolted on the casting.
• Second, the end cap is screwed on with three bolts rather than pressed in like a Wilton. I haven't seen a cadet in person, so maybe it's similar to those?
• Third, the reverse mechanism is different. Instead of the horseshoe washer in front, this vise has a circular washer and pin accessed through the dynamic jaw.
• Fourth, the handle balls are quite different, but pleasing to the eye and in hand.

Does anyone have additional information or thoughts on this vise? Any idea about the age or original manufacturer? Thanks for any info you might have.

 

[PBCampbell]

That's pretty neat. Look underneath the swivel plate, there may be some info there. I've seen other Power Kraft vises that were Milwaukee Vise Co. and they were embossed there.

 

[Shiftless]

Very interesting.

I suggest posting your vise in the main vise pages of GJ to see if the guys there can help with more info. Here is a link to the last page. To learn a lot about vises, start reading on page #1


https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=8597353#post8597353

 

[Fierljeppen]

The vise was made by Milwaukee Tool & Equipment Co., circa late (1950's-1960's). You can see the similar casting style in the vise below, also check out the casted V# on the driver side, an unofficial Milwaukee trademark.

Montgomery Ward did sell the actual Wilton bullet Machinist and Cadet vises in the late (1940's to early 1950's).

 

[wjv]

Excellent info, thanks everyone!

I'll pull off the base and see if there is any info on the underside.

In any case, I'm happy with it and will put it to good use.

Also, I'm never quite sure about the etiquette of posting a separate thread vs. posting in a large continuous thread. Any general rules of thumb?

Thanks again.

 

[Shiftless]

wjv:
I am a regular contributor to the big vise thread. If you just take your opening post with those pictures and paste it into a new post on the vise thread you’ll be fine.

If you feel like it, you can add a line at the beginning about how you are new to the vise game and are sharing these pics of an unusual find.

I can say with certainty that your Montgomery Ward vise is certainly unusual so don’t worry about that.

Welcome!

 

[M635_Guy]

Excellent info, thanks everyone!

I'll pull off the base and see if there is any info on the underside.

In any case, I'm happy with it and will put it to good use.

Also, I'm never quite sure about the etiquette of posting a separate thread vs. posting in a large continuous thread. Any general rules of thumb?

Thanks again.

I've found the crew in the Vise thread very cordial and extremely helpful, and the level of knowledge there is pretty incredible. It's a fascinating thread. Just do a copy/paste of your original post here into that thread and I'm sure you'll get some good info.

Cool vise BTW - I would have snapped that puppy up in a second. I have a few Powr-Kraft tools that belonged to my grandfather, and my family has a long history in the Richmond area, so we went to Montgomery Ward quite a bit when I was a kid.

 

[lardy1]

There was one of those on Craigslist here but they thought it was gold, I think.

 

[SILVERPLATE]

Very nice piece.

 

[Shiftless]

There was one of those on Craigslist here but they thought it was gold, I think.

A while back, I had the winning (Pretty low) eBay bid on that Montgomery Ward model vise. Instead of honoring it, the seller cancelled my bid after the auction was over with some lame BS excuse like “it got lost”.

 

[Bigdogboogie]

Some dated ads for Powr-Kraft vises- http://vintagemachinery.org/mfgindex/detail.aspx?id=657&tab=6

Possibly some info on yours there.

 

[Fierljeppen]

Well, it's close to the utility vise casting style in the 1958 catalog from Bigdogboogie's link above. So, maybe the 1959 or early 1960's Monkey Wards catalog, which is unavailable on that link.

It must not have been available very long, because there aren't many photos out there. I did find -4- different models, with the smaller one's having a different style base than the larger ones.

 

[wjv]

Thanks everyone for the great info. That's exactly the type of info I was after.

Also, thanks for the advise on posting in the larger vise thread. I'll put a small post of a couple pictures up for posterity now that I know something about it!

I did take the base off and there was no other info. From what I can tell, the Milwaukee vises with information under the base were made in Japan, but that just from a little googling.