Wiltons--which to keep, which to sell?

[Brad54]

Hey guys, what's your opinion here:
I have these two Wiltons, but only really need one.
The larger one has a welded rear cap--it's a very high quality weld. Looks like the bosses for the pins broke. There's no other visible abuse or damage.
The smaller one is practically new.

I'm going to strip, clean, and restore the ugly one. Given the success I've had with other vise restos, this one will look real nice, even with the weld. The weld looks so good it'll almost be a shame to paint over it!

One of them is going to get sold, the other is going to get mounted to my race car trailer. It'll be under a box to keep the weather off, but it's still going to be outside.

One is as good as the other, in terms of having a vise on the trailer for when I need it. So it comes down to an economic decision: Once the ugly one is cleaned up, which will be worth more on the resale market? (and what can I expect to get for each of them?)

Thanks,
-Brad

 

[1982fxr]

Generally the bigger one would bring more but hard to tell condition in those pics. That weld won't help the price.

How are the teeth on each?

Straight handles, no slop?? Etc etc

 

[G-ManBart]

I've bought and sold more than a few Wiltons and generally speaking, any sort of damage absolutely ruins the value.

It looks like the smaller one is a 350 and the larger one a 400. For a clean, nicely restored 350 I haven't seen people getting much more than $225 on the local market...maybe a touch more on eBay, but not much because shipping becomes a problem. The larger one...I wouldn't even pay $100 for it in the condition it's in, but you might get $100 for it if you really clean it up, but I doubt it.

I bought a 500S pretty cheap not long ago because it has a very small crack in the jaw supports and I can't even get $200 for it (so far)....it doesn't hurt the function of the vise, but people won't pay for them when they're broken. In this case I bought it for the swivel base to go on another 500 so it doesn't really matter, but if I had bought it to flip, I'd be worried about breaking even.

 

[jywilli69]

Don't know much about vise's, but I would fix it up and keep it. Put one in your trailer and the other in your shop. That is just my opinion. If one breaks to the point of no repair, your not having to spend money to buy a new one.

 

[rsanter]

If it was me I would keep both.
Use the larger one with the weld on the trailer.
The other one I would mount on a mobile base so you can use it in the garage and even take it with you to the track if needed

Bob

 

[RatchetMan]

You should keep the one with the weld and pretty it up, if you want it to look good. I agree with the others that the weld kills the value. Sell the other one and pocket the cash.

 

[Brad54]

Jaws on the smaller one are like-new. The smaller one really is just grimy, and I think with some carb cleaner or an SOS pad, it'll look just about new.

The bigger one, other than the weld, has normal wear on it--jaw inserts have wear, jaws around inserts have "normal" wear for a used vise, etc.

As for keeping both... including these two, I've got four Wiltons (one C2, one the next size down that's been cleaned and painted, then these two that are smaller), a 94 pound Reed 104, a large Chas. Parker, and a small Littleton on my welding cart. Oh, and a Studebaker hydraulic vise mounted sideways to the legs on my welding table.

The Reed, the refurb'd Wilton and one of the two in this thread, are slated sale.

The smaller Wilton is VERY nice... but I just can't keep one because it's nice... I need to keep them for use, and with vises, I've found "The bigger the better" is the rule of the day.

-Brad

 

[G-ManBart]

J
As for keeping both... including these two, I've got four Wiltons (one C2, one the next size down that's been cleaned and painted, then these two that are smaller), a 94 pound Reed 104,

I know someone looking for a C1, if that's the one you're referring to as being one size smaller than the C2.


The Reed has to be bigger than a 104 to weigh 94 pounds. I have a Reed 104 1/2R and 105 and neither one is even close to 94lbs.

 

[fatfillup]

I would keep the welded one as it won't sell well. Clean the smaller one and get it sold.

 

[cajunfirehawk]

Give ya $100 for both ;-) May I ask what that is sitting behind them? looks like either a trans part/case of a blower manifold?

 

[zkling]

I'd keep the smaller/nicer/more modern one.

As mentioned the other really isn't worth much. Might want to offer parts off of it.

 

[Bcom]

Id sell both. The weld kills the value of the one. Yep sell both and get an old Reed to keep at home or something else American that isnt high value to keep at home

 

[Mark in Indiana]

IMO: I'd keep them both. Nothing like a backup vise to use when your main vise is ******* with a project.

 

[senlow]

As for keeping both... including these two, I've got four Wiltons (one C2, one the next size down that's been cleaned and painted, then these two that are smaller), a 94 pound Reed 104, a large Chas. Parker, and a small Littleton on my welding cart. Oh, and a Studebaker hydraulic vise mounted sideways to the legs on my welding table.

The Reed, the refurb'd Wilton and one of the two in this thread, are slated sale.

I have to echo what others have advised. Keep the Reed and sell both Wiltons. The Reed 104 is a bad *** vise. The Reed may not have the same name recognition as Wilton, but it's a great vise.

My main vise is the Reed 205 that I've had for many years.

I sold all of my Wilton vises, except two. I kept the Wilton Tradesman 1750 that was on my bench where I worked as an automotive machinist for 18 years. When they closed my boss gave it to me. I also had to keep my baby bullet.

 

[Brad54]

Well, I'm not going to keep the Reed. It's big, but this Wilton is bigger--and more importantly, it has a deeper throat so I can put things down farther into the jaws to clamp and bend metal, etc.

I've got my grandfather's Chas. Parker on a separate table made with a 1.5-inch piece of steel plate for the table top, made from a WWII surplus half track. It's probably not the biggest Parker anyone has ever seen, but it's big enough that when I was growing up, it was the biggest vice I knew of.

So that's two.
Here's pics of them, and their tables, from another thread.
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=230164&highlight=Reed

Even if I build a much bigger shop, I just don't see myself needing THREE big vises.

-Brad

 

[Brad54]

Also, why do you guys prefer Reeds over Wiltons? I've used both, and disassembled both... The Wilton looks like it's a better design to me. They both have a lot of mass.

-Brad

 

[Roberts210]

Keep the welded one but clean up the welds real good with an angle grinder and a file, etc. Media blast it, prime and paint and you'll have a damm nice vise.

 

[Vantastic]

Haha. I was going to say sell them both and get a reed too.

But yea the weld/repair/mod will lower the value so sell the other one.

 

[oldldh]

Sell them both...

And add what you need to get a good 5" American vise...

A Reed, or a Starrett, or a Parker, etc...

Five inches of American Iron will do all the clamping you'll ever need...

 

[Brad54]

Sell them both...

And add what you need to get a good 5" American vise...

A Reed, or a Starrett, or a Parker, etc...

Five inches of American Iron will do all the clamping you'll ever need...

I've got a big Parker I'm keeping.
I've got a Wilton C2 I'm keeping.
I've got a Studebaker hydraulic vise I'm keeping.

I've got a big Reed I'm selling. (I've used it for several years, and think the C2 will fit my needs better)

I've got three extra Wiltons (after the one I'm keeping)... Two I'm selling for sure, one is going on my race car trailer.

Since the general feeling is the repairs make that one good for little more than parts for someone else, it looks like that one is going on the race car trailer and I'll sell the smaller, perfect one.

-Brad

 

[Bcom]

Keep the Reed and sell all the wiltons