Wilton 600S questions

[DTB]

So I may be jumping on the big vise bandwagon...a guy I know down the road bartered his way into an old Wilton 600s vise and he's looking to sell. I went and checked it out and we had it apart and greased and back together. Couldnt see any rough housing damage, no welds or cracks. Handle is bent but haven't seen a big old vise that doesn't. Jaws have some wear but aren't absolutely ruined. I couldn't see a date stamp. When were they manufactured? He's asking $500, I'm not sure where that stands on a good deal. I meant to take some pictures but forgot to...

 

[Tomthumb717]

I have several large Parker 6" vises and the handles are not bent. I guess they were trying to split an atom or something of that sort. I think his price is somewhat high especially if not restored. If it were me and it was mechanically sound i would not go above 175.00 with the bent handle and that is if i planned on keeping it.

 

[DTB]

Only you can decide if it is a good deal.
Mine was 45 bucks and came with two other vises.
Others here paid a hundred, some paid 600.
It is all but day to day unusable due to size.
If you don't need it, that monster isn't a deal at any price unless you're a flipper.
You say it's an S type, but you didn't mention a swivel. Is the swivel with it?

Yes the swivel base is there. I have a new 1755 I bought on the anniversary sale but sometimes I think the 6" opening may not be enough. I thought it was a little high but it's only 2 miles away so not much trouble involved unlike what some have gone through.

 

[DTB]

And the handle isn't bent much but does have some damage to it. Coming from a farming area the farmers are usually pretty rough on them, at least around here.
Sorry for the picture quality, this is what I was sent. You can kind of see where the handle was hit with a hammer a time or two.

 

[blsnelling]

I wouldn't call $500 a bargain. I bought one brand new for the price.

 

[T45]

Its better to buy the correct vise, than the wrong one for a "good price".

Also not sure 500 is a good price. Spare parts on big wiltons are expensive.

 

[zkling]

You can get a brand new one for $1000 if you play your online sales right, shipped with lifetime warranty. Would be a much better investment in the long run. IMHO.

 

[CNGsaves]

Don't think your neighbor will sell that vise too quickly at $500 price.

I'd work on him to get price into the $250 or so range which would get the "bargaining" started considering it's condition. Offer him $250 cash and something he wants in trade to sweeten the pot. Personally I'd go into the $300 something but that's it.

Good luck. Hope you get it.

 

[matt_i]

Do you really want to buy a new/spare handle anyway? The ends are hydraulically swaged on and then machined so the deformation is smooth...hard to duplicate that in your garage. Its lathe work but then it wouldn't be all original...or maybe the OP doesn't have a lathe.

I'd say 50% of new is a perfectly reasonable starting point for anything functionally equivalent to new. That said its not a screaming deal nor a complete hosing.

Any seller who knows what they have and has done 1 minute of google searching is probably going to start with the above or more. The alternative is to keep turning over stones until you find someone who doesn't know what they have.