Wilton 8400 (9400?) HD

[BuegeCJ]

Hello and nice to meet you all, I am Chris and I just purchased a Wilton 9400 HD. I'm already hooked and this thing works as smooth as butter, especially considering its age.

This forum has been a wealth of information so thank you all for that! The vise is in great shape and has very little rust, though I do plan on stripping the paint and restoring it a little bit to something closer to its original color. It is missing the swivel base, so I'll have to scour the web and find one of those. There is no date stamp on the slide guide, but I did notice a stamp on the vise nut housing that says 6-50 so perhaps it was manufactured in June of '45? I'll attach a couple photos, but there will be more to come once the paint is stripped. If anyone has a swivel base they want to sell, let me know!

 

[BuegeCJ]

I guess the lack of a date stamp on the slide guide might indicate that it was manufactured in 1957

 

[Roberts210]

It is possible your slide didn't get stamped. It's also possible some previous owner pulled the slide off in the restoration and re-installed it upside down. Your vise was made after Wilton moved to Irving Park Rd in Schiller Park, Illinois in 1957. My ballpark guess is your vise was made between '57 and '62. Wilton changed the size and style of their vises pretty frequently over the years. Someone with better knowledge of Wilton changes could date your vise more accurately.

 

[BuegeCJ]

It is possible your slide didn't get stamped. It's also possible some previous owner pulled the slide off in the restoration and re-installed it upside down. Your vise was made after Wilton moved to Irving Park Rd in Schiller Park, Illinois in 1957. My ballpark guess is your vise was made between '57 and '62. Wilton changed the size and style of their vises pretty frequently over the years. Someone with better knowledge of Wilton changes could date your vise more accurately.

That's a good point, I hadn't thought about it getting flipped in a previous restoration. I'll have to do some digging to find out more, but that gives me a good window to work with. Thanks!