I inherited Dad's Wilton vise very similar to this one. He used it 50 years now I've had it for 10 years . I smile everytime I use it. It makes me think of Dad. He taught me so much when I was young!
I have this exact same model vice. My grandfather found it in a junk yard in the 70's, one of the jaws was snapped off so he brought it home and brazed the jaw back on and I'm still using it to this day!
What a timely project. I was just cleaning up my shop and had decided to clean up my trusty Wilton bullet vise. I'm glad I caught this video before I started the dis-assembly! I had no idea how the screw and nut came out until seeing you do it. I really dodged a "bullet" on this one. Thanks Keith!
You probably dont give a damn but does anyone know a method to get back into an Instagram account?? I was dumb lost my login password. I appreciate any tips you can offer me
@Diego Keegan thanks for your reply. I got to the site through google and im in the hacking process atm. Takes quite some time so I will get back to you later when my account password hopefully is recovered.
Restoring these quality old tools is worth every bit of the effort involved. Great project, Keith. And now I see how to get one of these apart. Thanks for sharing.
+Keith Rucker - VintageMachinery.org The history page on the Wilton website says that the two numbers are indeed the month and year when the vise was made.
I just picked up this exact same vise! I had mine given to me by a lady who's husband passed. I blasted mine also and sprayed it with several coats of machine grey. Looks and works like new. It's a very nice vise.
love the video Kieth. Just rebuilding a 3 inch Wilton myself. 4-46 refers to when the original 5 year warrantee expired based on what I've been told, your vise would have been made in April of 1941. It probably spent it's early life in a shop making things for the war. My little 3 inch was made March of 41. I went with Krylon hammered emerald green, pretty close to the original paint on my 4" Wilton and it looks great.
4-46 is the date it was built. 1941 to 1954 are the date built. they changed to the 5 year warranty expiration in the 1950s, which is why there are none marked 55-59, according to sources on identifying them.
I just picked up a vise made the same month and year! The 4-46 is april of 1946 which was the manufacturer’s warranty end date of 5 years making it produced it 41. Its one of the first ever models! Great find. I just got mine for $135
I just love seeing old stuff brought back to life. I renovated an old leg vice a while ago. Glad you got those pins out - often pins can be a real pain in old stuff. Nice job with the blasting. Look fwd to seeing the vise with its new clothes!
+ChrisB257 I have restored a few leg vises over the years. I found one back in the eighties that had the leg cut off and part of the screw destroyed. I fixed it up to where you could hardly even tell it was ever messed up!
A friend of mine just rehabbed that same, exact model. Disassembly, into the electrolysis tank for a week, further minor bead-blasting and cleanup and off to the powdercoater for a nice dark green finish coat. . High-temp Tape was placed over the anvil and jaw section to prevent adhesion of the powder to those sections. I've found a cheap aluminum muffin pan to work well for collection of small parts when disassembling items, and easily marked with masking tape for part identification. Great job!!
I have similar screwdrivers, made in Germany. I got them from my father, who passed away when he was 89, in 1998, who told me he had gotten them from his father, who passed away when my father was six years old. They emigrated from Hungary in the late 1800s. The difference is that instead of the square drive at the front of the handle, there are two wings, cross hatched, with a raised border. These are for thumbs, for greater torque.
I've been patiently waiting for this project. I have 3 vises I got from an auto shop and plan on restoring to some degree. Thanks for sharing, showing and teaching all you do.
Great video. I just picked up a Wilton 935 with swivel base yesterday for $20. I was soooooo happy. I was wondering where the date stamp was and you showed me that. Mine is 2 47. It's really in such good shape that I think I might just try stripping what's left of the old paint on it, and then as one of your commenters suggested, apply a hammer paint of similar vintage color. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge on this wonderful tool.
I have what looks like the exact same vise. I rescued it from my grandfathers garage before they sold his house. I wasn't able to find any numbers on it but mine seems to be a bit more worn than your example. Thanks for the video!
Keith I don't have the shop like you do so when I restored my vintage Craftsman vise I had to do it with the variable speed grinder, wire cup and polishing cup, painted it, lubed it and put it together. Sometimes you have to compromise, nice video!
Great video and good advice about taking lots of pictures during the tear down of a project. I also take pictures of any serial numbers and model numbers. If it's a hard to read number, I can read it easier by taking a picture and blowing it up to read it. It's also very handy at the parts house when I can pull out my phone and show them all the numbers they need. One thing I do, especially when I have several projects going at the same time, is to bag the small parts and screws in one of those slide lock storage bags with the write on labels. Keeps them together and it makes it easy to figure out what screws go where, when putting something back together 6 months later.
+Tom Wilcox same here. I always assumed that it was press fit with the ends being pressed into that shape like a rivet. I figured you had to cut one of the ends off to get the handle off.
Keith, I’ve not been in RUclips viewer-land in a long time. Got a lot of catching up to do. But your vid on the Wilton vice rebuild was my first after a long hiatus. Loved it! I wanted to share an alternate method of getting those two pins out and I thought it would be easer to explain it with a video rather than an e-mail reply. Turns out; doing a video is hard work, but I did it! It’s on my RUclips channel. It’s the only video you will find there. It may be my last. If you think it has value and is worth sharing with others please do. Your vids rock, Brad
+Brad “HomeShop” Apprentice Thanks Brad - nice approach and a technique that I would have never though of. Usually, when you drive the first pin through, it will just fall out through the hole that the nut fits into. On my vise, the two holes were nearly perfectly aligned and instead of coming out through the hole, it started into the hole on the opposite site. It was not my plan, but once I got that far, about the only thing to do was just punch it all the way through. I "liked" your video so maybe some people will see it in my list of liked videos and go over and watch it. I have already filmed and edited the conclusion to the Wilton vise restoration so sorry, you won't get a mention in that video....
Keith, good advice on the pictures but I have found that regardless how many pictures I take, the one I really need wasn't taken. Good video. thankyou for sharing your time with us..
I know the end product will look great Keith and be a very useful addition to your shop. My Dad always said that every work bench, without exception, gets "christened" with some blood after you take some your "bark" off! The trick being to make the amount of bark and blood as small as possible! Cheers.
blast cabinets are always so adorable to me. i do abrasive blasting for The Gateway Company here in St. Louis and my booth is 60ft long 18ft wide and 20ft tall and we run 4 inch OD 1 inch ID blast hose. but then again we do bridge pieces, industrial machine frames, giant aircraft assembly jigs for Boeing.
Hey, that's my vise! I've got the swivel base for it, though. Mine also has the pipe clamps just below the jaw. Wonderful vise. Nice to see how it comes apart without having to learn on mine. On mine, it appears that one of the balls on the end of the handle is threaded, but that will be something to figure out.
+artgoat I think the ones with the pipe jaws were a big newer model than mine. While this vise is pretty much the same today as it was in the 1940's there have been some slight changes and improvements.
I just bought an old Columbia Vise at Goodwill for $5. I plan to clean and restore it and armed with the video I can see if I can get the a handle apart like you did and see about getting the bend out of it and a nice polish!
Thanks, have some a work on big heavy steal workbenches. The handles and screw head get bent by forklifts bumping into it. Thanks for the screw head fix. Thanks for sharing.
I was given a 1950's 6" Wilton Bullet that was seized up. I soaked it in a bucket of Kroil for a month and it still wouldn't let go. My cousin took it to work with him and let it soak in a hot tank for a week and I was then able to get it apart. It's sitting in my shop now with just a primer coat for rust protection. I am wondering about epoxy paint vs. powder coating. I have told that powder coating has a tendency to chip. I am thinking black with copper jaws and can't wait to see how your project turns out Thanks Bob
So Tom Lipton is not the only Wilton vise man now. Got to keep up myself so now I need to go find a Wilton. I bet the price on ebay doubled just today. Thanks for sharing.
love the old screwdrivers! nice vice. the interesting part of the video is @ 10:32 , the roach that runs right towars the vice when he is driving the pins!! usually they run the other way! LOL !
he must have had such a headache! LOL! the vice turned out nice! I was hoping you would have powder coated.but you could have di hammer tone that you could bake in an oven also!
I realy like your screwdrivers, very cool! I have to say there are so many nice colors of spray paint available, I think I would go with that. May be a nice hammer paint? Mike
Nice strip down Keith. Nice to see you using the steel back screwdriver. I wouldn't bother with the powder coating. When it gets a few chips out of it, it starts to look nasty. A good coat of Rustoleum primer and then gloss paint will last a long time and is easy to repaint. regards from the UK
Looking forward to seeing the end result. You can tell it is early because it is a Chicago produced vise. They moved production elsewhere after the first few years.
I cleaned up and sold an alley found WIlton Baby Bullet with the Pow-R-Arm base a few years ago. I ended up liking how it looked without paint. (I just uploaded a pic of it to my channel if you'd like to give it a look). That is in fact a date code on yours, but as I recall there is something unqiue about the date codes, like maybe some vices feature a date of sale or date of shipping (as opposed to others which bear a build date) which took place once the company resumed production after taking a hiatus or focusing their efforts elsewhere during the war, or something along those lines. I don't remember the details, but I know I enjoyed reading the history of the company somewhere online.
+John Strange indeed, if the vice ends up being used for things such as applying heat , paint will be a mess in no time (such as tom liptons, although he seems to have an alloy one?)
+John Strange Somebody shared a web site with some history on the company. It looks like they stamped the date that the warranty expired, which was five years after when the vise left the factory. That makes mine made in April of 1941. Wilton started making vises in 1941, so this would have to be one of the first ones that they ever made!
Hey Keith great video especially since I'm in the middle of restoring the same vise. Do you think the dynamic jaw and tube could be chucked up in the lathe so I can reface where the screw contacts the dynamic jaw body? I've never turned such an imbalanced part before so I'm not sure if it can be done. TIA!
Hello Keith, As usual a very nice video and never thought that a vise could have so many parts and that it can be dis-assambled. But I asked myself if there is a special reason that the form factor is like an bullet shaped. Looking forward to part 2 and many greetings from Roel !
+RoelTyros I don't think it was designed to look like a bullet, but they wanted the end to be enclosed and it ended up looking like a bullet, hence the nickname for these vises as "Bullet Vise".
I see blood at 9:54 on the wooden block!.... I think. Man I have done some damage to my fingers in the past while trying to punch something out. The worst was when I was trying to get a bushing out of a gear out of a transmission and the punch slipped as I hit it, causing my finger to smash into the sharp gear tooth and gouge a chunk of of my finger out. On that day forward I decided to never use a short punch again. Much safer to hold a long punch. Good video btw! Excited to see the rest of the restoration.
+MattsMotorz Yep, I pinched a small flap of skin on my finger just enough to make it bleed. Good news is that it was not bad and is already almost healed up.
+bfayer You can find them, but they are getting harder and harder to find the old ones. I think somebody is making some reproductions, but I have never bought any.
Love your videos, I heard about you from Abom79 like 6 months ago. Great stuff you do, and you have such an awesome way of explaining everything and the way you film stuff is top notch as well.
I support the suggestion to make soft jaws, if not copper then at least nice flat mild steel. Those original jaws are unbelievably hard and will leave teeth marks on anything you clamp. On the flip side of the coin, the little anvil surface on the back is _not_ hardened, and will dent if you get carried away with your blacksmithing. Finally, the original handle could probably be reused (assuming it can be straightened and the rust isn't too bad) by just turning that shoulder back a bit and swaging the new extended portion into the ball-piece. Of course, it might be simpler for you to just make a new handle. Great video! I have to ask: what color do you have in mind?
+Scott Anderson The nice thing about this vise is that the flat "anvil" is in pristine condition. It does not look like anything has ever been beaten on it. Same goes for the rest of the vise. As for the handle, the rust pitted it pretty bad so I am probably just going to make a new handle and replace it all together. As for color, I am looking at hammer tone green very similar to the original color this vise would have been painted.
If you wanted to save the handle, could you chuck it in the 4-jaw (independent) and turn the shoulder a tiny bit further down the shaft, like 1/16" or so, to give you enough stickout to swage back into the countersink?
Thanks, this and vid 2 are really great!! fun with all that machining etc!!! A few questions that will help me with my own Wilton 1760 6" clean-up. Just picked it up today at an estate sale and it's filthy, grimy, gritty, and needs love: 1- without access to a blasting cabinet, will sanding do? I have a dremel tool. If sanding, what grit? Only sand rust, or paint stains too? 2- what grit is that Emory cloth? 3- that screw shaft that has a "run out"/bend: is there any need to fix that other than a pro restoration? As in, does such a bend kill the vise performance? Any other way to correct if you don't have a big press? 4- I have naphtha for cleaning saxophone mechanism pieces. Will that do for these parts? Should I was the parts in degreaser like simple green+water first?? Any other tips? Thanks Keith!!!
The problem with sanding is that since this is a rough casting, it is hard to get the sand paper down in the texture of the casting. I would recommend a wire brush on an angle grinder or even a drill to remove the old paint and rust as that will get down in the casting. As for the bent screw, you might be able to drop the screw down in a piece of pipe mounted in a vise and bend it back straight. Just make small adjustments at a time and keep messing with it. You can tell how flat it is by rolling it on a flat surface. A for naphtha, that is a good solvent and should work fine.
Too easy for you Keith! everything comes apart and doesnt need to be replaced? at least when i repainted my old bench vise it repaid me by putting my back out after moving it has everyone watched the 'up next' video of the guy who had to go to extreme lengths to take apart his rusted wilton vise?
+jusb1066 I guess I was lucky - it is really in very good shape all things considered. Looks like it sat outside for quite a while but also looks like it saw very little use over the years.
Did you find when reassembling the rear pins in the back that it wasn’t the same fit as before removing them or perhaps the rear cap is a little looser?
Gonna be honest here. I was thinking. Vice? Meh, that a bit simple, but what the heck I'm hooked into watching. Now I'm thinking, Dang Keith, for something as simple as a vice there certainly is a lot to it and you really departed some very valuable information. Can't wait for the next part! Still think Powder coating is the way to go! Try to get the RUclipsr discount! ;)
+William Hayden Thanks William - I hate to disappoint, but I am going to paint it. I want to use the "hammered" type paint and you cannot get that texture with powder coat.
If you don't mind me asking where did you find the vise? It looked liked it was in really good shape, only surface rust for the most part. I can't believe the screws came out that easy!! And nothing was froze up, what luck, such a great find.
+ecleveland1 I found it at a swap meet up outside of Chicago during the ArnFest event that I go to each year. I don't know any of its back story, but it obviously just sat somewhere not being used for many years where it got rusty, but not too bad.
Used Wilton bullet vises in the south are very hard to find in reasonable condition and if you do find one even if it needs a very good restoration they are very expensive. I mean it's like they are priced not to sell. You've really got a nice vise.
Great video as always Keith, always very thorough on restorations, what do You think about Toms ...Wilton vice reproduction? oh.. I don't understand how someone can Thumbs down these videos..appreciate You sharing Keith, Thanks Buddy
nice vise, I own a York vice (predecessor of the Wilton vices) they are really good vices, although I like the York more than the Wilton just because of its history.
+Scotty Mcfalls they are called 'perfect' pattern, they are probably over 50 years old, i had some myself, but mine the handles were a little smaller in proportion to the blade size, making them not so good, i guess Keith has the proper ones!
+Scotty Mcfalls I have four different sizes, and they are all different. Only one of them has a name on it and it was made by Irwin. Sorry, that is about as good as I can do.
Great video as always. I have a Columbian vise I am trying to get replacement jaws for. The original jaws have gotten worn away. I tried removing them and cutting new lines using my little 7" shaper. This worked well but the jaws are softer than I had thought and are now worn again. Can you offer a place that sells jaws? I looked at viseparts but no go. These jaws are pinned into the casting in a tongue and groove with no screws. BTW - have you ever used a "spooge tank" or electrolytic rust removal? I am sure you are familiar with it but I would think putting the vise into a spooge tank would make things a lot easier. Any parts that are rusted together will easily come apart as if it was all just put together.
+howardtoob Not sure about a source for vise jaws. You might try making a set out of some good carbon steel or even tool steel and then get them hardened. Most of the original vise jaws were hardened that way. As for electrolysis, search my web site - I did a video on it a while back.
Hi Keith, I have an old crawford vise and it is missing the screws that hold the pads on. I have tryed various imperial screws and none seem to thread into the jaws. Is there a special screw that hold these on? Txs
+Wes R Just whatever size they decided to use. All I can suggest is keep trying different sizes. And realize that some sizes that were common a long time ago are nearly impossible to find today....
+bldeagle10 I am sure it came out nice none the less. It does not take a lot of special tools to do a project like this. But some things sure make it easier!
I saw a guy up in the mountains of NC that was cleaning up an old rusty vise. He was finishing it the way you would a cast iron skillet. Greasing it and baking it in the oven. Wondering what you think about this. Ever heard of it before?
19:48 - "it's probably not going to matter..." 20:06 "I decided I really didn't like the run out..." And proceeds to straighten it as I laugh until I aspirate. Good to know I am not alone in my sickness.
Keith, Nice job on the vice! It sure cleaned up nicely. Have you decided if you're going to paint or powder coat? Is there any way of finding out what color it was originally? Since this is a restore, that might be a good color choice. Thanks for the video. Have a good one! Dave
+Swarf Rat I have decided to paint it a hammer tone light green color. The color is a near match to a lot of the pictures I have seen for some of the originals. I could not get the same finish in power coat that I was wanting.
I inherited Dad's Wilton vise very similar to this one. He used it 50 years now I've had it for 10 years . I smile everytime I
use it. It makes me think of Dad. He taught me so much when I was young!
I have this exact same model vice. My grandfather found it in a junk yard in the 70's, one of the jaws was snapped off so he brought it home and brazed the jaw back on and I'm still using it to this day!
+Enzo P And your grand kids will probably still be using it a long time from now. They built these vises like tanks!
What a timely project. I was just cleaning up my shop and had decided to clean up my trusty Wilton bullet vise. I'm glad I caught this video before I started the dis-assembly! I had no idea how the screw and nut came out until seeing you do it. I really dodged a "bullet" on this one. Thanks Keith!
+bearbon2 Glad to be of help! I hope that your restoration comes out nice!
Watched this years ago. Just recently got a bullet of my own, so I knew where to go for disassembly instructions. Thanks Keith!
You probably dont give a damn but does anyone know a method to get back into an Instagram account??
I was dumb lost my login password. I appreciate any tips you can offer me
@Jon Terrence instablaster =)
@Diego Keegan thanks for your reply. I got to the site through google and im in the hacking process atm.
Takes quite some time so I will get back to you later when my account password hopefully is recovered.
@Diego Keegan it worked and I now got access to my account again. Im so happy!
Thank you so much you saved my ass :D
@Jon Terrence You are welcome xD
Restoring these quality old tools is worth every bit of the effort involved. Great project, Keith. And now I see how to get one of these apart. Thanks for sharing.
+Joseph Magedanz Thanks Joseph!
+Keith Rucker - VintageMachinery.org The history page on the Wilton website says that the two numbers are indeed the month and year when the vise was made.
I just picked up this exact same vise! I had mine given to me by a lady who's husband passed. I blasted mine also and sprayed it with several coats of machine grey. Looks and works like new. It's a very nice vise.
+Brandon Lund I am looking forward to having some time to finish mine. It is indeed a great vise!
love the video Kieth. Just rebuilding a 3 inch Wilton myself. 4-46 refers to when the original 5 year warrantee expired based on what I've been told, your vise would have been made in April of 1941. It probably spent it's early life in a shop making things for the war. My little 3 inch was made March of 41. I went with Krylon hammered emerald green, pretty close to the original paint on my 4" Wilton and it looks great.
4-46 is the date it was built. 1941 to 1954 are the date built. they changed to the 5 year warranty expiration in the 1950s, which is why there are none marked 55-59, according to sources on identifying them.
I just picked up a vise made the same month and year! The 4-46 is april of 1946 which was the manufacturer’s warranty end date of 5 years making it produced it 41. Its one of the first ever models! Great find. I just got mine for $135
This is the first video I’ve seen of yours. I really like how you explain in a clear way what you are doing and why.
Cleaning up nicely. Thanks again for sharing these projects with us.
+Rouverius Thank YOU for taking your valuable time to watch them!
+Rouverius Thank YOU for taking your valuable time to watch them!
I just love seeing old stuff brought back to life. I renovated an old leg vice a while ago.
Glad you got those pins out - often pins can be a real pain in old stuff.
Nice job with the blasting. Look fwd to seeing the vise with its new clothes!
+ChrisB257 I have restored a few leg vises over the years. I found one back in the eighties that had the leg cut off and part of the screw destroyed. I fixed it up to where you could hardly even tell it was ever messed up!
A friend of mine just rehabbed that same, exact model. Disassembly, into the electrolysis tank for a week, further minor bead-blasting and cleanup and off to the powdercoater for a nice dark green finish coat. . High-temp Tape was placed over the anvil and jaw section to prevent adhesion of the powder to those sections. I've found a cheap aluminum muffin pan to work well for collection of small parts when disassembling items, and easily marked with masking tape for part identification. Great job!!
I have similar screwdrivers, made in Germany. I got them from my father, who passed away when he was 89, in 1998, who told me he had gotten them from his father, who passed away when my father was six years old. They emigrated from Hungary in the late 1800s. The difference is that instead of the square drive at the front of the handle, there are two wings, cross hatched, with a raised border. These are for thumbs, for greater torque.
I've been patiently waiting for this project. I have 3 vises I got from an auto shop and plan on restoring to some degree. Thanks for sharing, showing and teaching all you do.
+Jordan Dunn Thanks Jordan - I am looking forward to getting one done. A vise is a good beginner project for a restoration!
Great video. I just picked up a Wilton 935 with swivel base yesterday for $20. I was soooooo happy. I was wondering where the date stamp was and you showed me that. Mine is 2 47. It's really in such good shape that I think I might just try stripping what's left of the old paint on it, and then as one of your commenters suggested, apply a hammer paint of similar vintage color. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge on this wonderful tool.
Classic vise there. Good tip about taking lots of pictures. Enjoyed the video...
I have what looks like the exact same vise. I rescued it from my grandfathers garage before they sold his house. I wasn't able to find any numbers on it but mine seems to be a bit more worn than your example. Thanks for the video!
+J Eddie I am amazed that mine is really in as good of shape that it is for as old as it is. It looks like it sat not being used most of its life!
I don't work with machinery at all but these videos are so soothing!
+Lennart Nilsen Thanks for watching - I hope that you continue to like what we are doing!
Hello, Keith - am in the market for a Wilton C-2 used or new. I was pleased to see your work and comments - solidified my choice. Thank you!
Keith I don't have the shop like you do so when I restored my vintage Craftsman vise I had to do it with the variable speed grinder, wire cup and polishing cup, painted it, lubed it and put it together. Sometimes you have to compromise, nice video!
Thank you, saved me potentially hours of figuring this out.
Great video and good advice about taking lots of pictures during the tear down of a project.
I also take pictures of any serial numbers and model numbers. If it's a hard to read number, I can read it easier by taking a picture and blowing it up to read it. It's also very handy at the parts house when I can pull out my phone and show them all the numbers they need.
One thing I do, especially when I have several projects going at the same time, is to bag the small parts and screws in one of those slide lock storage bags with the write on labels. Keeps them together and it makes it easy to figure out what screws go where, when putting something back together 6 months later.
+schmidt60410 Totally agree with everything you said!
Enjoyed...did not know that the ball end was removable on the handle!
It has been a mystery to me for many years how they got the handle on a vise!
+outsidescrewball There you go - now you know!
+Tom Wilcox same here. I always assumed that it was press fit with the ends being pressed into that shape like a rivet. I figured you had to cut one of the ends off to get the handle off.
Keith,
I’ve not been in RUclips viewer-land in a long time. Got a lot of catching up to do. But your vid on the Wilton vice rebuild was my first after a long hiatus. Loved it! I wanted to share an alternate method of getting those two pins out and I thought it would be easer to explain it with a video rather than an e-mail reply. Turns out; doing a video is hard work, but I did it! It’s on my RUclips channel. It’s the only video you will find there. It may be my last. If you think it has value and is worth sharing with others please do.
Your vids rock,
Brad
+Brad “HomeShop” Apprentice Thanks Brad - nice approach and a technique that I would have never though of. Usually, when you drive the first pin through, it will just fall out through the hole that the nut fits into. On my vise, the two holes were nearly perfectly aligned and instead of coming out through the hole, it started into the hole on the opposite site. It was not my plan, but once I got that far, about the only thing to do was just punch it all the way through. I "liked" your video so maybe some people will see it in my list of liked videos and go over and watch it. I have already filmed and edited the conclusion to the Wilton vise restoration so sorry, you won't get a mention in that video....
+Keith Rucker - VintageMachinery.org
Thanks Keith!
Brad
Keith, good advice on the pictures but I have found that regardless how many pictures I take, the one I really need wasn't taken. Good video. thankyou for sharing your time with us..
+ww_big_al Oh, I have been there too.....
I know the end product will look great Keith and be a very useful addition to your shop.
My Dad always said that every work bench, without exception, gets "christened" with some blood after you take some your "bark" off! The trick being to make the amount of bark and blood as small as possible! Cheers.
+Rain Coast I made that workbench about 15 years ago and it has been "christened" with blood on more than one occasion. Fortunately, never bad....
Love that flat blade screwdriver you use at the start
+aussie tonner Those are my favorite screwdrivers!
Great video and channel! Those Wilson vises are built like tanks!
+T3hJones Indeed they are!
blast cabinets are always so adorable to me. i do abrasive blasting for The Gateway Company here in St. Louis and my booth is 60ft long 18ft wide and 20ft tall and we run 4 inch OD 1 inch ID blast hose. but then again we do bridge pieces, industrial machine frames, giant aircraft assembly jigs for Boeing.
Excellent job.
Absolutely brilliant, many thanks for posting this, just the information I needed for my forthcoming restoration of a Wilton Snap-on vise😊👍
Hey, that's my vise! I've got the swivel base for it, though. Mine also has the pipe clamps just below the jaw. Wonderful vise. Nice to see how it comes apart without having to learn on mine. On mine, it appears that one of the balls on the end of the handle is threaded, but that will be something to figure out.
+artgoat I think the ones with the pipe jaws were a big newer model than mine. While this vise is pretty much the same today as it was in the 1940's there have been some slight changes and improvements.
sweet stuff....even the roach was interested (when it decided to go under the vise to get a closer look)
+Faisal Abdulaziz That was a dangerous move on his part....
Keith Rucker - VintageMachinery.org
could not agree more
I just bought an old Columbia Vise at Goodwill for $5. I plan to clean and restore it and armed with the video I can see if I can get the a handle apart like you did and see about getting the bend out of it and a nice polish!
+GrandsonofKong Great project there - and for $5 - what a bargain!
Thanks, have some a work on big heavy steal workbenches. The handles and screw head get bent by forklifts bumping into it. Thanks for the screw head fix. Thanks for sharing.
+sam yeates Thanks Sam!
Nice project !
+Fernando Nogueira Thanks!
Looking forward to seeing the whole project!!
+Jeff Moss Thanks!
I was given a 1950's 6" Wilton Bullet that was seized up. I soaked it in a bucket of Kroil for a month and it still wouldn't let go. My cousin took it to work with him and let it soak in a hot tank for a week and I was then able to get it apart. It's sitting in my shop now with just a primer coat for rust protection. I am wondering about epoxy paint vs. powder coating. I have told that powder coating has a tendency to chip. I am thinking black with copper jaws and can't wait to see how your project turns out
Thanks
Bob
+Bob Horton Thanks Bob - I will probably have some time next week to finish up the vise - hopefully....
thumbs up Keith , Love these vises !!
+ShawnMrFixit Lee Thanks Shawn!
Nice find Keith
I have that same Wilton,still works good.
+DesertDigger1 One of the best built vises ever made - they last nearly forever!
Great video as always! I really love to see the internals and result.
+Thomas Wallblom Thanks!
So Tom Lipton is not the only Wilton vise man now. Got to keep up myself so now I need to go find a Wilton. I bet the price on ebay doubled just today. Thanks for sharing.
+cerberus Lots of people have Wilton's in their shops. They made about the best vise out there!
York makes the same vice. They are probably the original makers of this style vice.
love the old screwdrivers! nice vice. the interesting part of the video is @ 10:32 , the roach that runs right towars the vice when he is driving the pins!! usually they run the other way! LOL !
+tc seacliff The funny thing was I did not even notice that until I was editing the video!
he must have had such a headache! LOL! the vice turned out nice! I was hoping you would have powder coated.but you could have di hammer tone that you could bake in an oven also!
I realy like your screwdrivers, very cool! I have to say there are so many nice colors of spray paint available, I think I would go with that. May be a nice hammer paint?
Mike
+Junk Mikes World You have nailed it - I am planning on using a hammered green color very similar to the color it probably was painted originally.
Nice strip down Keith. Nice to see you using the steel back screwdriver. I wouldn't bother with the powder coating. When it gets a few chips out of it, it starts to look nasty. A good coat of Rustoleum primer and then gloss paint will last a long time and is easy to repaint. regards from the UK
+Gary C I have decided to paint it with a hammertone green paint very similar to the original color.
Nice job you've made ...thumb up!
+Time illusion Thanks!
Looking forward to seeing the end result. You can tell it is early because it is a Chicago produced vise. They moved production elsewhere after the first few years.
+Andrew Willard Thanks Andrew - I finished up the vise this weekend and will probably post the conclusion for my Friday video upload.
Loved the blood. Makes you know you went the extra mile.
I cleaned up and sold an alley found WIlton Baby Bullet with the Pow-R-Arm base a few years ago. I ended up liking how it looked without paint. (I just uploaded a pic of it to my channel if you'd like to give it a look). That is in fact a date code on yours, but as I recall there is something unqiue about the date codes, like maybe some vices feature a date of sale or date of shipping (as opposed to others which bear a build date) which took place once the company resumed production after taking a hiatus or focusing their efforts elsewhere during the war, or something along those lines. I don't remember the details, but I know I enjoyed reading the history of the company somewhere online.
+John Strange indeed, if the vice ends up being used for things such as applying heat , paint will be a mess in no time (such as tom liptons, although he seems to have an alloy one?)
+John Strange Somebody shared a web site with some history on the company. It looks like they stamped the date that the warranty expired, which was five years after when the vise left the factory. That makes mine made in April of 1941. Wilton started making vises in 1941, so this would have to be one of the first ones that they ever made!
Ahh yes, it was the warranty. Sorry for the confuzzlement. :)
Hey Keith great video especially since I'm in the middle of restoring the same vise. Do you think the dynamic jaw and tube could be chucked up in the lathe so I can reface where the screw contacts the dynamic jaw body? I've never turned such an imbalanced part before so I'm not sure if it can be done. TIA!
Nice vid Keith. 4-46 is the build date. Rare vise from the first post war run of civilian vises. Prior bullets were all WWII production.
Good video! I'm just looking into restoring a vise. Will be watching some more of your stuff for sure. Just subscribed.
Hello Keith,
As usual a very nice video and never thought that a vise could have so many parts and that it can be dis-assambled. But I asked myself if there is a special reason that the form factor is like an bullet shaped.
Looking forward to part 2 and many greetings from Roel !
+RoelTyros I don't think it was designed to look like a bullet, but they wanted the end to be enclosed and it ended up looking like a bullet, hence the nickname for these vises as "Bullet Vise".
That was fun to watch. Thanks.
+James McCurley Thanks!
I see blood at 9:54 on the wooden block!.... I think.
Man I have done some damage to my fingers in the past while trying to punch something out. The worst was when I was trying to get a bushing out of a gear out of a transmission and the punch slipped as I hit it, causing my finger to smash into the sharp gear tooth and gouge a chunk of of my finger out. On that day forward I decided to never use a short punch again. Much safer to hold a long punch.
Good video btw! Excited to see the rest of the restoration.
+MattsMotorz Yep, I pinched a small flap of skin on my finger just enough to make it bleed. Good news is that it was not bad and is already almost healed up.
+MattsMotorz I suggest using a pair of vice grips to hold your punch. Keeps the blood off the shop towels .
LOVE your vintage screwdriver there :D
+TheChipmunk2008 Thanks!
That screwdriver is clever, I want one.
+bfayer You can find them, but they are getting harder and harder to find the old ones. I think somebody is making some reproductions, but I have never bought any.
Just bought a 9400 for $30 it was so rusted spent last 2 days getting it all free now ordering jaws and going to paint it
nice vise project..what color will it be? and what type paint your thinking ? good video thanks..
+price tagg Hammered Green. This is very close to what the original paint would have looked like!
cant ask more then a great video on your birthday
+David Howard Happy Birthday!
Nice screwdriver!
+Appie Happie Thanks - I just love those old wooden handle screwdrivers....
Love your videos, I heard about you from Abom79 like 6 months ago. Great stuff you do, and you have such an awesome way of explaining everything and the way you film stuff is top notch as well.
Looking good
+wade hicks Thanks!
great video... my bullet is missing one ring on one end of the handle. where can i get one rounded ring like that. My rod is 1/2 in diameter
It looks like you could use some sort of metal horizontal clamping mechanism to hold it in place as you work on it...
Drew Doyer I thought the same thing
Great project. About time buddy
Do I need to remove the nut with the pins or can I just leave it and paint with it in place?
I support the suggestion to make soft jaws, if not copper then at least nice flat mild steel. Those original jaws are unbelievably hard and will leave teeth marks on anything you clamp. On the flip side of the coin, the little anvil surface on the back is _not_ hardened, and will dent if you get carried away with your blacksmithing. Finally, the original handle could probably be reused (assuming it can be straightened and the rust isn't too bad) by just turning that shoulder back a bit and swaging the new extended portion into the ball-piece. Of course, it might be simpler for you to just make a new handle.
Great video!
I have to ask: what color do you have in mind?
+Scott Anderson The nice thing about this vise is that the flat "anvil" is in pristine condition. It does not look like anything has ever been beaten on it. Same goes for the rest of the vise. As for the handle, the rust pitted it pretty bad so I am probably just going to make a new handle and replace it all together. As for color, I am looking at hammer tone green very similar to the original color this vise would have been painted.
Hi Keith 4- 46 is a date code April 1946. Member of OWWM since 2002
I love a good restoration video. And dang-it i sure good use a sandblasting cabinet. As always thanks Like ~M~
+Mike A Drover Thanks Mike - the blasting cabinet is a really nice feature no doubt!
If you wanted to save the handle, could you chuck it in the 4-jaw (independent) and turn the shoulder a tiny bit further down the shaft, like 1/16" or so, to give you enough stickout to swage back into the countersink?
+cooperised Than handle is really pitted up bad, and also bent in various places. I am thinking I am just going to make a new one all together.
Thanks, this and vid 2 are really great!! fun with all that machining etc!!!
A few questions that will help me with my own Wilton 1760 6" clean-up. Just picked it up today at an estate sale and it's filthy, grimy, gritty, and needs love:
1- without access to a blasting cabinet, will sanding do? I have a dremel tool. If sanding, what grit? Only sand rust, or paint stains too?
2- what grit is that Emory cloth?
3- that screw shaft that has a "run out"/bend: is there any need to fix that other than a pro restoration? As in, does such a bend kill the vise performance? Any other way to correct if you don't have a big press?
4- I have naphtha for cleaning saxophone mechanism pieces. Will that do for these parts? Should I was the parts in degreaser like simple green+water first??
Any other tips?
Thanks Keith!!!
The problem with sanding is that since this is a rough casting, it is hard to get the sand paper down in the texture of the casting. I would recommend a wire brush on an angle grinder or even a drill to remove the old paint and rust as that will get down in the casting. As for the bent screw, you might be able to drop the screw down in a piece of pipe mounted in a vise and bend it back straight. Just make small adjustments at a time and keep messing with it. You can tell how flat it is by rolling it on a flat surface. A for naphtha, that is a good solvent and should work fine.
Too easy for you Keith! everything comes apart and doesnt need to be replaced? at least when i repainted my old bench vise it repaid me by putting my back out after moving it has everyone watched the 'up next' video of the guy who had to go to extreme lengths to take apart his rusted wilton vise?
+jusb1066 I guess I was lucky - it is really in very good shape all things considered. Looks like it sat outside for quite a while but also looks like it saw very little use over the years.
Did you find when reassembling the rear pins in the back that it wasn’t the same fit as before removing them or perhaps the rear cap is a little looser?
love the screwdrivers
Gonna be honest here. I was thinking. Vice? Meh, that a bit simple, but what the heck I'm hooked into watching. Now I'm thinking, Dang Keith, for something as simple as a vice there certainly is a lot to it and you really departed some very valuable information. Can't wait for the next part! Still think Powder coating is the way to go! Try to get the RUclipsr discount! ;)
+William Hayden Thanks William - I hate to disappoint, but I am going to paint it. I want to use the "hammered" type paint and you cannot get that texture with powder coat.
10:32 seems you got some insect interested in machinery! ;) Great video, what an awesome classic vise!
+222varminter Yeah, we have lots of interesting insects down here in the south where I live!
the number stamped on the key is the date code. this vise was released for sale in april of 1946. nice find.
Thank you.
If you don't mind me asking where did you find the vise? It looked liked it was in really good shape, only surface rust for the most part. I can't believe the screws came out that easy!! And nothing was froze up, what luck, such a great find.
+ecleveland1 I found it at a swap meet up outside of Chicago during the ArnFest event that I go to each year. I don't know any of its back story, but it obviously just sat somewhere not being used for many years where it got rusty, but not too bad.
Used Wilton bullet vises in the south are very hard to find in reasonable condition and if you do find one even if it needs a very good restoration they are very expensive. I mean it's like they are priced not to sell. You've really got a nice vise.
Great video as always Keith, always very thorough on restorations, what do You think about Toms ...Wilton vice reproduction? oh.. I don't understand how someone can Thumbs down these videos..appreciate You sharing Keith, Thanks Buddy
+TIM WILSON I too am following Tom's build of a Baby Bullet vise. Lots of fun! As for the thumbs down, they don't bother me....
nice vise, I own a York vice (predecessor of the Wilton vices) they are really good vices, although I like the York more than the Wilton just because of its history.
Good job! Did you hammer that little visitor on your bench, you can see it at 10:33.
Thanks! Mine made it through a wildfire and am trying to restore it. The inner cylinder is getting stuck half way as I insert it, I will get it lol
I have to ask... Who's the maker of those screw drivers? They are very nice looking would love to have a set. Great video as always.
+Scotty Mcfalls they are called 'perfect' pattern, they are probably over 50 years old, i had some myself, but mine the handles were a little smaller in proportion to the blade size, making them not so good, i guess Keith has the proper ones!
+Scotty Mcfalls I have four different sizes, and they are all different. Only one of them has a name on it and it was made by Irwin. Sorry, that is about as good as I can do.
cool screwdriver
Powder coat. No doubt.
Great video as always. I have a Columbian vise I am trying to get replacement jaws for. The original jaws have gotten worn away. I tried removing them and cutting new lines using my little 7" shaper. This worked well but the jaws are softer than I had thought and are now worn again. Can you offer a place that sells jaws? I looked at viseparts but no go. These jaws are pinned into the casting in a tongue and groove with no screws.
BTW - have you ever used a "spooge tank" or electrolytic rust removal? I am sure you are familiar with it but I would think putting the vise into a spooge tank would make things a lot easier. Any parts that are rusted together will easily come apart as if it was all just put together.
+howardtoob Not sure about a source for vise jaws. You might try making a set out of some good carbon steel or even tool steel and then get them hardened. Most of the original vise jaws were hardened that way. As for electrolysis, search my web site - I did a video on it a while back.
I'm in the new digital age,Chilton and Haynes can only.give you three black and white photos lol
Hi Keith,
I have an old crawford vise and it is missing the screws that hold the pads on. I have tryed various imperial screws and none seem to thread into the jaws. Is there a special screw that hold these on?
Txs
+Wes R Just whatever size they decided to use. All I can suggest is keep trying different sizes. And realize that some sizes that were common a long time ago are nearly impossible to find today....
+Keith Rucker - VintageMachinery.org Thanks Keith will do.
the copper Jaws would be a nice contrast against the other finish on the vice.
+Chef “Dude with the Food” Bart Gotta find a good piece of copper to make some from....
+Keith Rucker - VintageMachinery.org Maybe you want to take it one step further like Tom Lipton did and make that captive peace out of brass....LOL
'
i did change old T handle to new long extension set plus base with 2 locks...
better and stronger...
can use 2nd extension, lock and more tighter
Hi Kieth,
Did this vise have a swivel base or does it bolt to the bench in a fixed position?
Thanks for all the advise and tips!
Tony
+Anthony F. “Tony” De Leo They sold those vises with and without the swivel base. Mine did not have one, at least when I got it!
I just restored my dads Wilton bullet vise a few weeks ago. Makes me wish I had better tools to do a better job,.. One day
+bldeagle10 I am sure it came out nice none the less. It does not take a lot of special tools to do a project like this. But some things sure make it easier!
Thou shalt paint that vice baby pink!! See Stan Zinkowski's take on that! Besides it will match the colour of your blasting grit!
+Mike Clayton Or not....
I saw a guy up in the mountains of NC that was cleaning up an old rusty vise. He was finishing it the way you would a cast iron skillet. Greasing it and baking it in the oven. Wondering what you think about this. Ever heard of it before?
Im sure that would work but I am not sure that is the way I would want to go about it.
Has anybody noticed the bug crawling on the table at 10:33?
Yep, lots did! Funny thing was I did not see it until I edited the video...
You busted up it's rusty vice home that's been in the family for generations. You should be ashamed of yourself sir!
No i was to busy looking at the bloody pinky and drop of blood on the wood block!
19:48 - "it's probably not going to matter..." 20:06 "I decided I really didn't like the run out..." And proceeds to straighten it as I laugh until I aspirate. Good to know I am not alone in my sickness.
I was thinking the same thing. I also thought that maybe he should take a pass with a cutting tool to clean it up some more.
Keith,
Nice job on the vice! It sure cleaned up nicely. Have you decided if you're going to paint or powder coat? Is there any way of finding out what color it was originally? Since this is a restore, that might be a good color choice. Thanks for the video.
Have a good one!
Dave
+Swarf Rat I have decided to paint it a hammer tone light green color. The color is a near match to a lot of the pictures I have seen for some of the originals. I could not get the same finish in power coat that I was wanting.
At least it isn't PINK!!!!!!!!!