wilton vise jaw width?

[94yj]

what is the common jaw width on the older Wilton bullet vises as most i am finding are either 3.5 or 4" so were these the most common size and how is the 4" width doing for holding and securing to break parts from each other tia

 

[larry_g]

You have to treat them just like a crescent wrench, You don't go after a 1/2" bolt with a 6" crescent, you would use a 10" or bigger. Vises are the same, you select one that meets the needs YOU have. That said Wilton vises come in various frames; light, medium, and heavy so all 4" vises are not equal. You will have to be more specific on what your doing and the model number of the vise your considering.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[Ign]

I have a Wilton 4.5" machinist. It might sound small but I would NOT call it a small vise.

 

[94yj]

You have to treat them just like a crescent wrench, You don't go after a 1/2" bolt with a 6" crescent, you would use a 10" or bigger. Vises are the same, you select one that meets the needs YOU have. That said Wilton vises come in various frames; light, medium, and heavy so all 4" vises are not equal. You will have to be more specific on what your doing and the model number of the vise your considering.

lg
no neat sig line

i was thinking about med to heavy duty most of the ones i am finding are 4" jaw width

 

[6PTsocket]

i was thinking about med to heavy duty most of the ones i am finding are 4" jaw width

We had 4 1/2" Reed at work that was massive. It makes my home 6" look like a toy. Duty rating is as important as jaw width.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[CrotalusAtrox]

We had 4 1/2" Reed at work that was massive. It makes my home 6" look like a toy. Duty rating is as important as jaw width.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

What he said.

Jaw size is not the best indicator for job requirement.

 

[zkling]

Yes, ~3.5-4.5" were the most commonly sold into industry. They are a good size for ~90% of machine shop work, which is where their target audience lies. Once you get past the collectors on here you will realize that they are fine for almost everyone's home shop.

 

[bobcatdan]

When you are talking classic machinist vises, 3.5" to 4" overall size and opening is very comparable to the 6" general purpose vises. A 5" Wilton bullet vise is getting to be a big vise that opens wider then a 8" tradesman by 2". A 6" bullet is on the borderline of a oversized hog for many jobs. Out of my three vises, my 3 1/2" Columbian is more then enough vise that I hardly use my 6" Parker or Morgan unless their size is needed.

 

[CrotalusAtrox]

Yes, ~3.5-4.5" were the most commonly sold into industry. They are a good size for ~90% of machine shop work, which is where their target audience lies. Once you get past the collectors on here you will realize that they are fine for almost everyone's home shop.

So me being a vise collector and using one for about 20 years said in not so many words to get a vise to suit the job, my apology if that's bad advise.

 

[94yj]

thanks for all the help i do greatly appreciate it