Wilton bullet vise question

[JOSH7119]

Hello all! I have been on the hunt for a Wilton vise for a while now. I got lucky today. A very nice gentleman who owns a Napa store about an hour from me posted on craigslist a work bench with a vise. The vise was a wilton bullet. He was shutting down his machine shop that was setup in the back. I just got it home. The jaws are 5" wide. I'm a bit confused though. The date code is 5-945. From what I've read this is the date of warranty and your supposed to subtract 5yrs for the year of manufacturing . My question is, would this be the date of warranty because I thought the company started in 1941, so would the date of manufacture be 1940? Also it doesn't have any numbers stamped on the body, would anyone know what model this is. Sorry about the lighting. I can post better pics tomorrow I

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[JOSH7119]

I'll post better pics tomorrow. I didn't realize how bad the lighting was until I posted it

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[S4cruiser]

Does it just have the date code stamped and no other text? From what I understand the warranty wasn't always offered but for the ones it was there was the text "Guar Exp" stamped as well.

 

[Outlawmws]

There is a whole thread discussing and analyzing Wilton dates, and trying to determine when they started and stopped the "exp on" dating (inconclusive so far...)

Here is a bit more light shed on your pic:

 

[JOSH7119]

No it doesn't have "Guar exp". Just the code I posted. Haha thanks outlaw. I'm new to the group. I'll check the thread out. And thanks for the assistance with the picture sir!

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[bluebolt]

Welcome Josh! I have been running the Wilton bullet date database. Please post more pics! Although I am still collecting data it appears the bullets had no dates stamped from 1941-1944, the date of release from the factory from 1945 to mid 50's, then the ones with GUAR EXP stamped from mid to late fifties were the ones that were released 5 years prior to the date stamp and then around 1960 Wilton went back to no GUAR EXP stamp anymore and the date stamp was date of release from the factory.

Notice I said release from factory and not when it was made. As shown by several examples the stamped date could be a lot later than expected. Baby bullets and some swivel jaws are prime examples.

 

[JOSH7119]

Hey thanks bluebolt. I'll be sure to do that and thanks for the info buddy

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