Wilton shop king vise

[Jyzze]

Hello!
I found this vise in internet sale here in Finland and could resist.. you know. It's been bought from State in 90s and inported here. Someone brobably can tell More about the Pictures? Manufacture year.. is it in pic no.3?

 

[Mark in Indiana]

Great find! Especially with the removable pipe jaws.

I believe they were made in the 1950s. A light duty, home owners, economy vise. Collectors like them because of the art deco design. The stamping on the bottom of your base is likely a part number. I only know of Bullets not made during WW2 to have a date stamp.

 

[Mark in Indiana]

Mine came to me from an old man that I do trading with. I sell him cast iron pans & axes and he sells me vises.
He had a S-K in his garage for several years. I asked about it 2 years ago, and he said he couldn't sell it. A few months ago, he bought a bigger vise and told me he'd take $20 for his S-K. I couldn't get the $20 out fast enough. I also told him that I would never sell it. It would become a "coffee table" vise, after it's restored.

 

[wrenchr]

My favorite vise.
You're too far away for me to trade you out of it.

I screwed up and during a house move threw out a truly broken one with the most God awful repair you have ever seen.
But
It was done with coals and a pieces of brass belt buckle and a bfh in a two man gold mine.
Throwing that out will haunt me a long time.

It was the first of my
'if it takes 15 minutes to explain why it is so cool, IT'S OUTA HERE!' jags.

Someone who has one trade, pm me.
I'm an easy trade.

I passed on one about a month back. $25.00

 

[notlob]

The design patent for the Wilton Shop King was filed Sep 13, 1950:

http://www.datamp.org/patents/displayPatent.php?id=40896

More info here: https://patents.google.com/patent/USD164143

Here's a shop king ad from a 1954 catalog:


Wilton moved from Chicago to Schiller Park Illinois in about 1957. I don't know if Wilton made Shop Kings after the move.

 

[ken w.]

I can get $50.00 for them on Craigslist without o problem. They were a nicely made vise.

 

[Jyzze]

Great find! Especially with the removable pipe jaws.

I believe they were made in the 1950s. A light duty, home owners, economy vise. Collectors like them because of the art deco design. The stamping on the bottom of your base is likely a part number. I only know of Bullets not made during WW2 to have a date stamp.

Thanks for the information, any idea what is the color code? Some one told it's Signal red?

 

[Jyzze]

The design patent for the Wilton Shop King was filed Sep 13, 1950:

http://www.datamp.org/patents/displayPatent.php?id=40896

More info here: https://patents.google.com/patent/USD164143

Here's a shop king ad from a 1954 catalog:


Wilton moved from Chicago to Schiller Park Illinois in about 1957. I don't know if Wilton made Shop Kings after the move.

Thanks Notlob!

 

[Maui]

Here are some photos of my Wilton Shop King. This vise came out of a commercial automotive shop where it spent over 50 years in service. Most Shop Kings I've run across have 3 1/2" wide jaws; mine are 5" across, and I restored it earlier this year. The tops of the jaws have been carefully polished. In one of the photos you can see the reflection from the siding of my house. In another one you can see part of my face and the leaves on some of the trees in my yard in the reflection. It is surprisingly smooth in operation.

Maui

 

[Mark in Indiana]

Thanks for the information, any idea what is the color code? Some one told it's Signal red?

I'm not sure of the exact color. I recommend Rustoleum Safety Red in a rattle can. It's close enough to the original color and readily available. Otherwise, you can find a RAL color chart to maybe get closer. I plan to paint my S-K any color but red. There's already a red Parker 63-1/2 in my bar room.

Maui: Great looking S-K you have.

 

[Jyzze]

Here are some photos of my Wilton Shop King. This vise came out of a commercial automotive shop where it spent over 50 years in service. Most Shop Kings I've run across have 3 1/2" wide jaws; mine are 5" across, and I restored it earlier this year. The tops of the jaws have been carefully polished. In one of the photos you can see the reflection from the siding of my house. In another one you can see part of my face and the leaves on some of the trees in my yard in the reflection. It is surprisingly smooth in operation.

Maui

Maui! That is just pure art!

 

[Maui]

Mark and Jyzze, thanks for the compliments!

 

[Stuart in MN]

Here's a shop king ad from a 1954 catalog:

I wonder what the composition of "semi-steel" is.

 

[Mark in Indiana]

I wonder what the composition of "semi-steel" is.

"Semi-steel casting is a lower cost method to produce a casting that is not quite as strong as a steel casting but less expensive to manufacture. It was used more commonly as a marketing term. The carbon and silicon percentages are reduced to the amount approximately consistent with those in steel. Wikipedia"


I got a chuckle from the statement in the ad; "Ideal for heavy shop work". I don't see it holding a 200# pump.

 

[BFBOB]

I'm not sure of the exact color. I recommend Rustoleum Safety Red in a rattle can. It's close enough to the original color and readily available. Otherwise, you can find a RAL color chart to maybe get closer. I plan to paint my S-K any color but red. There's already a red Parker 63-1/2 in my bar room.

Maui: Great looking S-K you have.

Probably right about the color, but I favor Rusto Regal Red. More dignified.

 

[bubinga]

Nice!!

 

[F124C]

Here are some photos of my Wilton Shop King. This vise came out of a commercial automotive shop where it spent over 50 years in service. Most Shop Kings I've run across have 3 1/2" wide jaws; mine are 5" across, and I restored it earlier this year. The tops of the jaws have been carefully polished. In one of the photos you can see the reflection from the siding of my house. In another one you can see part of my face and the leaves on some of the trees in my yard in the reflection. It is surprisingly smooth in operation.

Maui

Very impressed by the shine on the jaws,
would you be so kind as to describe how you achieved this?

AL.

 

[F124C]

The design patent for the Wilton Shop King was filed Sep 13, 1950:

http://www.datamp.org/patents/displayPatent.php?id=40896

More info here: https://patents.google.com/patent/USD164143

Here's a shop king ad from a 1954 catalog:


Wilton moved from Chicago to Schiller Park Illinois in about 1957. I don't know if Wilton made Shop Kings after the move.

What is purpose of the chisel-like projection on the back of the vise where it would usually be a flat surface?


AL.

 

[F124C]

^^ Thanks

AL.

 

[boeingcaptain]

Thanks for All the detailed information!

 

[Bigdogboogie]

Here are some photos of my Wilton Shop King. This vise came out of a commercial automotive shop where it spent over 50 years in service. Most Shop Kings I've run across have 3 1/2" wide jaws; mine are 5" across, and I restored it earlier this year. The tops of the jaws have been carefully polished. In one of the photos you can see the reflection from the siding of my house. In another one you can see part of my face and the leaves on some of the trees in my yard in the reflection. It is surprisingly smooth in operation.

Maui

Holy cow that's cool!

 

[Maui]

Thanks Bigdog! I lapped the jaws by hand to get them to a mirror finish. It took about an hour to do the pair. These weren’t too bad to handle because they are flat. I have a Craftsman 5163 vise with curved jaws that I hand lapped too. They took a lot longer to do because of the curvature but came out really nice!

 

[TailGunner3000]

What is purpose of the chisel-like projection on the back of the vise where it would usually be a flat surface?


AL.

It's a cut-off tool inserted into the hardy hole. A better idea in theory than practice.

 

[American Iron]

Always have loved the Art Deco type of styling on those old Wilton's

 

[Mark in Indiana]

Happy to see that this thread hasn't died out. Last week I won a SK at an auction. I was like a kid in a candy store because of its overall condition and that it had the original pipe jaws & cut tool.

 

[damon18]

OK, I'm a fan of the Shop King, but what is up with this?

$737.00 winning bid for a 3 1/2" with a coat of paint?

Link to completed auction (41 bids)
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Wilton-Shop-King-Bench-Vise-Restored-/313391231928?nma=true&si=1kPx3uKskdCl4fJPGEvuVwvETyQ%253D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

I'm wondering if this was some kind of Troll bidding? If not, I've got some spray painting to do! Seriously just trying to understand what happened here.

Hope it was someone here who made the sale!

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

I think that one was a member on here that had sold several of those art deco style vises for a pretty decent amount. I don't think it was troll bidding. Was it Balane(?)

 

[PorterCable95]

I’ve bought several of these vise’s over the years. I restore them and then sell them. I’m currently working on one now. I’ve had the 3-1/2” and a 4” before, but the 5” is a bit scarce to find. These are definitely not heavy duty vises. Home owner light duty only, but they do have collector value due to the art-deco nature of the style. More for that than work use.

 

[Maui]

Hi PC, the one I posted above was used in a commercial auto shop for 50 years, and it had no cracks or repairs of any kind. Apparently whoever was using it didn’t abuse it.