Wilton 3" Bullet Vise - 1940?

[James Bond]

Hello everyone
Yesterday I bought a 3" Wilton Bullet Vise on Craigslist and when I went to pick it up I noticed the vise is missing the dust cover, and one of the jaws, and the original swivel base locking nuts.
In one side it says " Wilton Vise N0 3 - Pat Pend - Made in USA" and on the other side it says "Wilton Tool Corporation - Chicago"
It functions great, it has a lot of grease and hardly any rust, I paid $75.00 for it, I'm attaching some photos of the actual vise, did I pay too much for it? Where can I fined the missing pieces. there's no marks or numbers anywhere includes the bottom of the dynamic bar. I appreciate any help with that.

 

[Mark in Indiana]

Hi James,
What is the date stamped on the key, at the bottom of the slide?

 

[exmaxima1]

Hello everyone
Yesterday I bought a 3" Wilton Bullet Vise on Craigslist and when I went to pick it up I noticed the vise is missing the dust cover, one of the jaws, and the original swivel base locking nuts.

You didn't notice the missing jaw when you saw it on CL? That will cost you quite a bit---I think I would have walked away at $75....

 

[CNGsaves]

There are no pictures . . . . . .
. . . EDIT 1st post, Go Advcd, Manage Attachmts, Choose File (up to 7), Upload, Close window, Save.

 

[James Bond]

To Mark in Indiana -- There are no marks at all.

and to exmaxima1
When you buy a vise in this condition, and you make a big fuss out of a missing jaw which to begin with are replaceable. then I would say good luck of finding one for yourself.

 

[Shiftless]

JB:
It is true that the replacement jaws are readily available. There is a member of GJ that makes them for any size and model of Wilton bullet vises. (KMScott). He does EXCELLENT work!
Pictures please! Model number?
New 3 inch jaw inserts cost about $50

If you don't want to pursue your project, I bet if you post pictures of your vise, you will find some other member to buy it for what you paid.
Please post your location in your profile. Needless to say, shipping vises costs money!

 

[sld961]

No Facebook account. Can you post pics here?

 

[Mark in Indiana]

James,
As I understand, the keys with no date stamps were sold to the government during WW2.

 

[1930]

No Facebook account. Can you post pics here?

No facebook account Stop living in the dark ages.....Oh yeah I dont have one either

 

[1982fxr]

is the ledge broken off the static side?

 

[James Bond]

Here are photos of the vise

 

[exmaxima1]

is the ledge broken off the static side?

Now that the pics are up, it sure is. On the plus side, the hold down clamps on those WW2 vises were just carriage bolts with acorn nuts, so very low-cost fix.

 

[crguy]

I'd call that vise a leaveright.

 

[Mark in Indiana]

James,
Looks like you have a "challenged" vise. All you can do is to move forward with it. I hope that you don't scrap it. It can be saved with some time, money and patience.

1. Jaw faces are easy to make if you have access to a milling machine and materials. If not, there are some guys on the Vises of GJ forum that can set you up.
2. The cap at the front can be replaced with an engine freeze plug of the same diameter from an auto parts store.
3. The acorn nuts can be bought anywhere.
4. Looks like the static jaw has a broken ledge. That can be fixed with Devcon Liquid Steel. That's an epoxy type product that you can build up a new ledge with. I actually used it to build a prosthetic foot for a vise base (I'll create a thread when it's finished).
Below is a link to the Vise Repair 101 thread. Page 132/Post 2622 is where I used JB Weld to build a new ledge. In this case, I used JB Weld because this vise was made into a bookend set. However, I believe that Liquid Steel will work better for a working vise.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=5516745#post5516745


Good luck. I'm sure that you will get plenty of support here, if you want to take on your restoration.

 

[drivesitfar]

JB: the jaws don't look quite right so not sure just a replacement jaw would do the fix. it might have some cast missing, but hard to tell with my old eyes. better pictures of the jaws is maybe needed if you need help and if you are able to find parts and fix it yourself then post up the pictures of before and after on the Vise Restoration 101 thread i started a while back. that thread might also help you if you need to make a new dust cover.

here's the link for the 101 thread. http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=252830

without a date on the slide guessing that your vise was made for Uncle Sam between 1941 and 1945. there is also a wilton date stamp thread you can post pictures of your vise and slide and also find out more about Wilton vises if you want to.

good luck and welcome to the group. we are really a friendly bunch and willing to help if we feel we are not being used like customer service or abused. give us a look and stick around and you'll find that out. we do get more than our share of HOW MUCH IS THIS WORTH QUESTIONS though so don't take it personally especially when pictures weren't given and it was your first post.

cheers

 

[thehorse13]

You paid too much unless you were looking for a project to keep you busy and have access to milling equipment.

You do have some good parts on the vise so if you part it out, you will should be able to recover some or all of your 75 bucks.

It's a shame that this vise is broken. I like the 1940s Wilton bullets. Good luck in whatever you decide to do.

 

[crguy]

Liquid steel will Not rebuild that ledge and provide any support. It's not economically worth trying to repair that vise.

 

[exmaxima1]

Liquid steel will Not rebuild that ledge and provide any support. It's not economically worth trying to repair that vise.

While I agree that it may not be worth the effort, you can repair the shelf with a milling machine. You can cut a groove into the casting, and glue/pin a block of steel in to make it. I used JB Weld on a Record vise I repaired a few years ago, and it worked fine.

 

[1930]

While I agree that it may not be worth the effort, you can repair the shelf with a milling machine. You can cut a groove into the casting, and glue/pin a block of steel in to make it. I used JB Weld on a Record vise I repaired a few years ago, and it worked fine.

Great job

 

[James Bond]

Thank you Mark In Indiana for the useful info.

 

[crguy]

In the fizzy pics it looks like the complete ledge is gone and the corners are broke farther back into the casting. The ledge should run all the way across the jaw under the insert.

The front ledge looks damaged also.

I still think you're beating a dead horse here.

 

[exmaxima1]

In the fizzy pics it looks like the complete ledge is gone and the corners are broke farther back into the casting. The ledge should run all the way across the jaw under the insert.

The front ledge looks damaged also.

I still think you're beating a dead horse here.

 

[autopts]

Hello everyone
Yesterday I bought a 3" Wilton Bullet Vise on Craigslist and when I went to pick it up I noticed the vise is missing the dust cover, one of the jaws, and the original swivel base locking nuts.
In one side it says " Wilton Vise N0 3 - Pat Pend - Made in USA" and on the other side it says "Wilton Tool Corporation - Chicago"
It functions great, it has a lot of grease and hardly any rust, I paid $75.00 for it, I'm attaching some photos of the actual vise, did I pay too much for it? Where can I fined the missing pieces. there's no marks or numbers anywhere includes the bottom of the dynamic bar. I appreciate any help with that.

If the side with the missing jaw is ok and the support is in tact and also if the original
threaded holes are still there that is going to be a tuff one since Wilton sometimes used 9/32 screws for the jaws. Get a hold of KMScott on GJ. He will set you straight on jaws, as for the base assembly, it all depends on the overall condition of that vise before you invest more then its worth.
Just saw the photos, sell the base assembly and spindle and consider it a loss. Don't fell we've all bought a bad or broken on at one time. I'm probably the leader of the bunch here.

 

[Shiftless]

We haven't heard from the OP in a while, but I sent him a PM offering money for some parts.

BTW... My Chicago era 3 inch bullet date coded 1946 has quarter inch twenty jaw insert screws.

 

[crguy]

We haven't heard from the OP in a while, but I sent him a PM offering money for some parts.

BTW... My Chicago era 3 inch bullet has quarter inch twenty jaw insert screws.

See post #20, today.

 

[Shiftless]

Sorry...
I somehow missed that. Looks like JB will go ahead with restoring that vise. More power to him!