Wilton v. Ridgid Vise questions

[Makapuu]

I am still deciding on a 4-4 1/2" vise.

I am redoing my entire garage after moving from Northern to Southern California. Before I left I gave away my vise to a fried who helped me clean up and pack my garage.

In reading through GJ, it can get really confusing over the old USA vs. new import vs. Germany etc. and the tradesmans vs. mechanics vs. machinists etc. I am confused enough that I have started a couple of threads here about vises to give me clarity, but still I can't decide.

I am in early retirement, so am finally writing a book I have been working on for almost 10 years and have more time to work on my cars (two 2008 Shelby GT500's) to get them show-ready. I gave away many of my old tools to friends and family and others, sorta out with the old in with the new. Thanks to GJ I am addicted to Knipex pliers and Wera screwdrivers. But a vise is bigger and I want to upgrade from what I had and get something of decent quality, but also want to have the fit and finish of a new vise because I do not want to add restoring a vise to my backlog of unfinished projects.

So I have ruled out Old USA and Chinese ****. (Sorry purists for putting both in the same sentence!)

Someone suggested the Ridgid 66987 F-45 which I am giving serious consideration. :

http://www.amazon.com/Ridgid-66987-2-inch-Forged-F-Series/dp/B001VY07LQ/ref=sr_1_3?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1406840538&sr=1-3&keywords=ridgid+vise

But for $150.00 more, should I get a Wilton USA 1745?:

http://www.amazon.com/Wilton-63199-1745-Tradesman-Vise/dp/B00004XPVG/ref=sr_1_3?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1406843885&sr=1-3&keywords=Wilton+vise


I will use it for only household and automotive stuff, and maybe some metal fabrication. How does the quality/fit/finish compare between the Wilton 1745 and the Ridgid F-45? The jaw opening width on the Wilton is 4" vs. 4.5" on the Ridgid. Will the 1/2" make a big difference? The Ridgid is 75,000 psi forged steel and the Wilton is 60,000 psi cast iron; does the forged steel give it better strength/durability?

I think I have boiled it down to these two. Does anyone know the dimensions of the vise with the jaws closed? I want to figure out the profile on my 6' Gladiator workbench.

 

[jeremy v]

I think they are both very nice vises, so I don't think you can go very wrong with either one.

I don't know if I am helping at all, but since you are willing to go foreign made by looking at the Ridgid, have you considered the Yost forged steel vises? They were made in Taiwan last time I looked, and they are basically the exact same thing as the Ridgid, but they are a little bit cheaper and they have replaceable jaws which the Ridgid does not. According to Yost, their vise is a 90k psi steel forging.

I have heard that the Ridgid has a lead screw that is threaded more coarsely than most other vises, so one revolution of the vise handle moves the jaw a larger distance. It makes for faster jaw adjustment, but it also cuts down on the jaw clamping force (leverage ratio) you can apply using the handle. They make up for this lower leverage ratio by having a longer handle than most other vises of the same size.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E8IWTHC/?tag=atomicindus08-20

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E8ITETS/?tag=atomicindus08-20

http://www.toolking.com/yost-vises-fsv-4-4-inch-forged-steel-bench-vise

http://www.toolking.com/yost-vises-...0&cadevice=c&gclid=CKzTsu7c8L8CFcZDMgodRAkAYQ

http://www.yostvises.com/mechanics-...vise/yost-heavy-duty-4-forged-steel-vise.html

 

[straightcut]

Some of the guys here on GJ like Autopts and Balane do excellent restoration work and are going to point out any flaws on vises they sell. You could watch some of there auctions and see if something catches your eye. Some of the restored Wiltons will certainly sell in your price range. http://www.ebay.com/itm/WILTON-VISE...ork_Holding&hash=item233e2db029#ht_1872wt_900

 

[Alexbn921]

I have both at work and I would go with the Ridgid, but in a big size like 5.5. Don't get me wrong the wilton is a great vise, but the Ridgid has a lot more space to hold things upright. The slide is smaller and for me working on a motorcycle fork leg or other long vertical piece is harder on the Wilton.
Both are nice vises and will serve you well. As others have said too, there are PRO restorers on this site that would sell you an "old" vise for about the same price.

 

[EOC_Jason]

You can contact Autopts, sometimes he has NIB Wilton bullets that just have like a minor blemish or something.

I would go for the Wilton out of the two... However, I would also suggest you take a look at Yost, the higher-end ones are made in the USA.

http://www.yostvises.com/

Oh yeah, also the Craftsman bullet is given high marks even though its made in China.