Weird Wilton

[Fugio]

I'm new here and thought I say that someone was collecting information about Wilton vises.

Anyway, I have 3 old ones. 2 have never been used and still have the stickers and tags on them. They are from the 70's or 80's.

And yes, I'll be cleaning up the surface rust asap. 3 decades of being sealed in a box isn't good for these things! The spindle screw has never been lubricated or even turned, but that will change soon.

One is a really heavy-duty machinists vise. But the other one is one I've never seen before. So I was hoping someone could identify it for me.

It's a wood vise on one side. But it can swivel 180 degrees and become a regular vise (with pipe jaws built-in too!) with VERY tall jaws.

Anyone have any idea what it is?

Oh, and does anyone actually want to see pics of the others? Or the tags, stickers, mounting templates, screw packs that came with them, or anything else? The only thing I can't show you is the original boxes. Mice too care of those in the shed, so I had to throw what was left of both boxes out last week.

 

[1982fxr]

never seen one of those, more pics!

 

[gtermini]

That looks like Wilton's try at a pattern maker's vise. Looks sweet.

Greyson

 

[Fugio]

More pics of the other ones? I could do that.

I've never heard of a pattern maker's vise (until now!). I guess it's a wood working thing? I know Wilton makes wood working vises, but I've yet to find on with regular jaws like this one.

 

[Fugio]

Here's the Wilton 450 vise that was also new in the box and just sitting in dad's shed for 30+ years. This thing is huge and VERY heavy!

 

[Fugio]

Here's the tags that were on the new ones, plus the screws that are still in their shrink-wrap from Wilton. Actually it's just one tag. Front, back, and open inside view. They came hanging on the spindle handle.

 

[rancherbill]

It's a Wilton Universal Turret Vise

This is all from

In 1959 Wilton invented what they called the Wilton Universal Turret Vise, which is in essence a Patternmakers vise. It had two jaws that swiveled into place on the turret to allow the user to hold large items for woodworking, or with a flip metal working or even pipe clamping jaws could b called into action. The patent was finally granted in 1961, but by then the vise had already been on the market a year. I suppose that's what the term "Patent Pending" is all about.

http://emmert-vise.blogspot.ca/2010/09/wilton-universal-turret-paternmaker.html

And another place

 

[Fugio]

Those 2 belonged to my dad. He bought them when I was a kid and just put them straight into storage in his shed. I was helping him clean the shed out last week and he was going to scrap them! Yikes!

This third one was my grandfathers. It was a rusty mess 25 years ago. I cleaned it up and re-painted it when I was in college. It's been my daily beater since then. No idea what model it is or anything. I just know that it's older than the other 2.

 

[Fugio]

Wilton Universal Turret Vise! Yep, that's it! Dang, you guys are pretty good at this!

Thanks rancherbill! I wonder if it's worth anything? Not that I'd ever part with it, but it's always nice to know what you have.

Now that I know what to search for, I see there's already been 2 others posted this year just like it. Doh!

 

[Mohawk Dave]

you lucky dog! that 450 BNIB is sweet!

 

[CNGsaves]

Any other sheds of "junk" that need cleaned out . . . . I'll provide lots of free labor for some goodies like you found !!!! Can I come by Saturday morning??

The rounder style Wilton with 4.5" jaws is 450S model and LifeTime Keeper vise, that you should clean up and just use forever, and pass on to your kids !!

By the way . . . you've earned YS recognition award . . YOU **** !!

 

[nine4gmc]

Your dad sounds senile, j/k of course but please don't let him scrap anything that's not total junk. Those vises are freakin sweet!

 

[CoopVA]

Brand new old vises! Sweet! You ****...


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Toymeister]

I have the same vise the OP has. It is not a true pattern maker's vise although it is often called one. I have seen them for sale for 250.00 or so. I believe it is a model 61. I was thinking about selling it but now I think I'll add it to the collection. I believe it will be #5.

It would be nice to see the mounting info!

 

[JUNK-MAN]

I think I saw one like that on Ebay once, don't know what it's for though.

 

[rancherbill]

Wilton Universal Turret Vise! Yep, that's it! Dang, you guys are pretty good at this!

Thanks rancherbill! I wonder if it's worth anything? Not that I'd ever part with it, but it's always nice to know what you have.

Now that I know what to search for, I see there's already been 2 others posted this year just like it. Doh!

I just Googled starting with pattern vise that gtermini mentioned.

Somewhere while I was looking, an article mentioned they were from $25-150 which I thought was very low. I would guess, in the for sale section here, that it would be $250-500. It's pretty unique and rare.

 

[tedsters]

I have a wilton pattern vise also, another name is a turret vise your wilton are great heres a pic of mine

 

[Fugio]

I can actually see me using the turret/pattern vise, although I can't imagine that those long jaws are very strong.

And yes CNGsaves, dad's got several more sheds and garages to clean out. He's not senile, but at age 72 (I think!), he's getting to the point where he has way more projects than energy to work on them. If you live in the Houston area, maybe we can work out a visit.

Dad was an auto mechanics and metal shop teacher for more than 30 years at a high school, so yeah, there's some buried treasure there. I know for certain that there's a very old band saw waiting for me on my next visit.

I got a SWEET old Montgomery Wards table saw last visit too. It's a belt drive, but very small and uses a 7.25" circular saw blade. It was amazing for cutting tile recently with a Rigid tile blade.

I also got some sort of old cast iron fan thing my grandfather was working on decades ago, plus an old pocket knife, a big box of broken wrenches, and tons of other oddball stuff. My wife was not happy to see so much "junk" coming into the house when I got home!

 

[Fugio]

Toymeister, here's the scan of the mounting paper that came with your 91A Turret vise, as requested!

 

[n6lrv]

I recently picked up a Wilton turret/patternmaker's vise similar to the greenish one Rancherbill posted a photo of back in December 2014 however, mine is missing the main auger nut. Could someone with the same vise reply with photos of what the proper nut looks like next to a ruler? Based on the shape of the fixed jaw's machined void I think I know what the nut looks like but some photos of the real thing would be best.

 

[TailGunner3000]

I have one of those vises, but it's marked Sheldon, not Wilton. I believe Sheldon was primarily known for making woodworker's vises. How or why is not known to me, but clearly there was some sort of collaboration between Wilton and Sheldon on this vise.

 

[n6lrv]

I came across some history about that yesterday and recall reading that Sheldon contracted for the castings when Wilton reduced or retired production. If I run across it again I'll post a link.

If Wilton catalogs are to be believed, it seems their first model in '59 or '60 was the 93 then starting with their '61 catalog and price sheet they removed the model 93 and introduced the model 91 with the "L" shaped woodworking jaws, etc.

It also seems there may be a slight pitch difference in the Acme threaded main screw compared to modern Acme hardware. I measured mine at 3/4-5 thread then purchased a 3/4-5 machinable nut but it doesn't fit. Yes, I checked the starting threads on both very closely and took new measurements. So far as I can tell there's a slight pitch difference causing the new nut to bind.

If it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have any luck at all.

 

[neophyte]

I have one of those vises, but it's marked Sheldon, not Wilton. I believe Sheldon was primarily known for making woodworker's vises. How or why is not known to me, but clearly there was some sort of collaboration between Wilton and Sheldon on this vise.

Sheldon made a huge amount of “shop furniture” for trade schools, and shop classes, and basic laboratories.
This included workbenches, both basic and more specialized carpentry types, and for other types of trade use as well.

E. H. Sheldon & Co. : Shop Bench and Drafting Table Section of Catalog No. 25 : E. H. Sheldon & Co. : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

40 p., illus., 27.8 cm, trade catalog

archive.org

I honestly wonder how many of the vises they were actually still making themselves, since their main business, and most of the profits, were likely in supplying entire workshops or classrooms for high schools and tech schools, etc., rather than supplying individual components like vises.
The Wilton/Sheldon turret vises are also a simplified version of a patternmaker’s vise like a Yost or Emmert, with a much more simplified design, that may be useful, especially in a classroom setting, were an Emmert design might have been way more complex than was needed.

 

[TailGunner3000]

All good info. Thanks.

 

[Stoney Burk]

It's a Wilton Universal Turret Vise

This is all from




http://emmert-vise.blogspot.ca/2010/09/wilton-universal-turret-paternmaker.html

And another place

I just got a vice like this and made a locking handle for the turret. I need to take it apart and clean it, but was wondering if anyone might have some documentation or helpful information on disassembly and assembly? Attaching some photos.

 

[pelletman]

Here's the Wilton 450 vise that was also new in the box and just sitting in dad's shed for 30+ years. This thing is huge and VERY heavy!

That's regular sized around here

 

[RoninB4]

It also seems there may be a slight pitch difference in the Acme threaded main screw compared to modern Acme hardware. I measured mine at 3/4-5 thread then purchased a 3/4-5 machinable nut but it doesn't fit.

-Your dimensions for OD and pitch may be correct but that's not always enough when identifying threads. Major diameter, minor diameter, and pitch are important but so is thread profile (form). What may appear to be an Acme could be:

1) Square thread-often used for high load applications like on a vise or lead screw.
2) Acme- Trapezoidal shape, easier to manufacture than a square thread. The USA and European trapezoidal shapes are not compatible
3) Modified/stub Acme- Several flavors, that are not always standardized

I haven't (and won't here) include threads like buttress, multi lead, knuckle, or worm. Fitment (Thread Classification) can also be important sometimes. There's far more to threads than diameter and pitch. When mating external and internal threads almost everything is important. Why so many? Application function.

So far as I can tell there's a slight pitch difference causing the new nut to bind.

-I'll leave this to the reader to decide if further information is worth the search.

If it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have any luck at all.

-It's not bad luck, you just didn't know there are different thread types and what to measure.