I am now looking for a general purpose vise, as my Harbor Freight vise
seems to be in a not so good shape after I overtightened it.

Here are two typical Wilton vises. Is the "bullet" style vise any
better than the other?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=150178715277

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=250186118708

On Wed, 14 Nov 2007 11:59:50 -0600, Ignoramus28622
wrote:

I am now looking for a general purpose vise, as my Harbor Freight vise
seems to be in a not so good shape after I overtightened it.

Here are two typical Wilton vises. Is the "bullet" style vise any
better than the other?

This one is what I think they call the "Tradesman" line, so-so
quality:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=150178715277


This is a POS, probably made in China:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=250186118708


This is the type you want:
http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.d...m=300169857622
or with pipe jaws...
http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.d...m=200172273745

--
Ned Simmons

On Nov 14, 5:59 pm, Ignoramus28622 ignoramus28...@NOSPAM.
28622.invalid wrote:
I am now looking for a general purpose vise, as my Harbor Freight vise
seems to be in a not so good shape after I overtightened it.


I have a Columbian vise that I like better than either of the Wilton
vises in your post.
Apparently Columbian is now owed by Wilton, but I don't think it was
when my vise was made ( made in the USA ). Mine has " 504 -M2 "
stamped on the side.

For a really heavy duty vise look for a " 624 1/2 Athol " vise. The
1/2 does not have the slash there. I think that Starret bought the
company and sells the same vise. There is one for sale on ebay that
will close in about 7 hours. It is in Indiana and weights 54 lbs.
$98 shipping to Seattle 8-(

Dan

On 2007-11-14, wrote:
On Nov 14, 5:59 pm, Ignoramus28622 ignoramus28...@NOSPAM.
28622.invalid wrote:
I am now looking for a general purpose vise, as my Harbor Freight vise
seems to be in a not so good shape after I overtightened it.


I have a Columbian vise that I like better than either of the Wilton
vises in your post.
Apparently Columbian is now owed by Wilton, but I don't think it was
when my vise was made ( made in the USA ). Mine has " 504 -M2 "
stamped on the side.

For a really heavy duty vise look for a " 624 1/2 Athol " vise. The
1/2 does not have the slash there. I think that Starret bought the
company and sells the same vise. There is one for sale on ebay that
will close in about 7 hours. It is in Indiana and weights 54 lbs.
$98 shipping to Seattle 8-(

Dan



I am in Illinois, do you have ebay id of that Indiana item?

i

On Nov 14, 6:30 pm, Ignoramus28622 ignoramus28...@NOSPAM.
28622.invalid wrote:
On 2007-11-14, wrote:



On Nov 14, 5:59 pm, Ignoramus28622 ignoramus28...@NOSPAM.
28622.invalid wrote:
I am now looking for a general purpose vise, as my Harbor Freight vise
seems to be in a not so good shape after I overtightened it.

I have a Columbian vise that I like better than either of the Wilton
vises in your post.
Apparently Columbian is now owed by Wilton, but I don't think it was
when my vise was made ( made in the USA ). Mine has " 504 -M2 "
stamped on the side.

For a really heavy duty vise look for a " 624 1/2 Athol " vise. The
1/2 does not have the slash there. I think that Starret bought the
company and sells the same vise. There is one for sale on ebay that
will close in about 7 hours. It is in Indiana and weights 54 lbs.
$98 shipping to Seattle 8-(

Dan

I am in Illinois, do you have ebay id of that Indiana item?

i

I just searched on " Athol vise ". It was the only thing that showed
up. I happen to have one that I am planning on selling, but knew you
were near Chicago.

Dan

Dan

wrote in message
ups.com...
On Nov 14, 5:59 pm, Ignoramus28622 ignoramus28...@NOSPAM.
28622.invalid wrote:
I am now looking for a general purpose vise, as my Harbor Freight vise
seems to be in a not so good shape after I overtightened it.


I have a Columbian vise that I like better than either of the Wilton
vises in your post.
Apparently Columbian is now owed by Wilton, but I don't think it was
when my vise was made ( made in the USA ). Mine has " 504 -M2 "
stamped on the side.

For a really heavy duty vise look for a " 624 1/2 Athol " vise. The
1/2 does not have the slash there. I think that Starret bought the
company and sells the same vise. There is one for sale on ebay that
will close in about 7 hours. It is in Indiana and weights 54 lbs.
$98 shipping to Seattle 8-(

Or a Morgan #140, which is about the same size. There have been a couple on
ebay from time to time. That's the one I have.

--
Ed Huntress

On Nov 14, 6:34 pm, " wrote:

I just searched on " Athol vise ". It was the only thing that showed
up. I happen to have one that I am planning on selling, but knew you
were near Chicago.

Dan
There is another one ebay number 270185626169 , but it is in
Arizona. Shows up under Starrett Vise.

Dan

Ignoramus28622 wrote:
I am now looking for a general purpose vise, as my Harbor Freight vise
seems to be in a not so good shape after I overtightened it.

Here are two typical Wilton vises. Is the "bullet" style vise any
better than the other?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=150178715277

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=250186118708

As with any other workshop tool you need to decide what you want to do
with vt.
A cast iron vice is ok for what Id call light duties,
then if you can find one,
a cast steel is much the best. for a bench vice. Wether you can still
buy anew one is doubtful. Tho second hand is probably your best bet.
The best for heavy work is the wrought iron smiths vice.
these are called leg vices and are dsigned to be used as chipping
vices and or hammering upon. Ive used one every day for some 25 yrs and
never had a days problem with it, they come in weights from light @
25lbs up to 200 lbs with 8 in jaws.
You need a real bench to fix it to!!

On Wed, 14 Nov 2007 11:59:50 -0600, Ignoramus28622
wrote:

I am now looking for a general purpose vise, as my Harbor Freight vise
seems to be in a not so good shape after I overtightened it.

Here are two typical Wilton vises. Is the "bullet" style vise any
better than the other?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=150178715277

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=250186118708

Which HF vise did you toast?

I've beat the crap out of one of the China Multipurpose
Swivel vises and haven't managed to hurt it too badly just
yet (20+ years). See:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...temnumber=5655

Every one and their brother sells these. They weigh ~66 lbs.
The pipe jaws are crap and the bondo/filler may crack off
the casting. It still works fine though...

Get one on sale, don't pay more than $40 for one.

Some of the big names make a similar vise. I can only guess
that they are a bit better quality

--
Leon Fisk
Grand Rapids MI/Zone 5b
Remove no.spam for email

On 2007-11-14, Leon Fisk wrote:
On Wed, 14 Nov 2007 11:59:50 -0600, Ignoramus28622
wrote:

I am now looking for a general purpose vise, as my Harbor Freight vise
seems to be in a not so good shape after I overtightened it.

Here are two typical Wilton vises. Is the "bullet" style vise any
better than the other?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=150178715277

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=250186118708

Which HF vise did you toast?

I will try to write the number down tonight.

I've beat the crap out of one of the China Multipurpose
Swivel vises and haven't managed to hurt it too badly just
yet (20+ years). See:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...temnumber=5655

Every one and their brother sells these. They weigh ~66 lbs.
The pipe jaws are crap and the bondo/filler may crack off
the casting. It still works fine though...

Get one on sale, don't pay more than $40 for one.

Some of the big names make a similar vise. I can only guess
that they are a bit better quality


OK... Thanks...

What I did was that I tightened the vise so much that the screw now
moves with quite a bit of difficulty, I supposed that the thread
became distorted.

i

On Wed, 14 Nov 2007 14:29:09 -0600, Ignoramus28622
wrote:

snip
OK... Thanks...

What I did was that I tightened the vise so much that the screw now
moves with quite a bit of difficulty, I supposed that the thread
became distorted.

Usually the handle will bend before you can toast the
threads. Did you try using it in place of an Arbor press
maybe? That is really hard on them. That being said I have
done that a few times myself My vise is an older one, but
the new one still looks pretty much the same. You know there
is some iron in it going by the weight. China iron isn't
always the most wonderful, but if there is enough of it...

I really like the rotating head on these. They are nice to
have around even if they aren't necessarily made all that
well.

There is another version of it around that uses a separate
handle to lock the rotating head in position. I haven't
used/tried one of those.

--
Leon Fisk
Grand Rapids MI/Zone 5b
Remove no.spam for email

Ted Frater wrote:

a cast steel is much the best. for a bench vice. Wether you can still
buy anew one is doubtful. Tho second hand is probably your best bet.

I have an OLD Craftsman cast steel vise, and it is sweet.
Don't know how old it is, but I've had it almost 20 years.

Then after someone posted here a link to some vises
Starrette was closing out a few years ago, I bought the 6"
Machinist's vise with the swiveling back jaw. Was NOT paying
attention, and I got a 200lb monster vise that lives on the
floor behind my Hardinge. I don't have a bench I can mount
it on, and renting, I can't secure it to a pipe set in the
floor. For what I paid for it, I'm willing to store it until
I do have somewhere to set it up properly.

BTW, I worked at NASA Ames in the 70's, and the welding shop
had a vise of unknown origin, I think the jaws were 8-10"
wide. The sliding bar handle was probably 1-1/4 or 1-1/2"
dia! That's the biggest vise I have ever seen, had to weigh
at least 500lbs!

Jon

On Nov 14, 10:59 am, Ignoramus28622 ignoramus28...@NOSPAM.
28622.invalid wrote:
I am now looking for a general purpose vise, as my Harbor Freight vise
seems to be in a not so good shape after I overtightened it.

Here are two typical Wilton vises. Is the "bullet" style vise any
better than the other?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=150178715277

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=250186118708

Haven't seen anything but chink stuff on the local shelves for a long
time, even with "name" brands. I picked up an 8" Record brand vise
awhile back, Eagle Hardware had just gotten bought out by Lowe's and
was dumping all the good stuff to make room for Lowe crap lines. It
had a Really Good Price. You see them every so often in the
auctions. If they're British-made, they're good stuff. Record has
now become another line of crap.

As far as round vs. square internals, all mine have had square
innards.

Stan

On Wed, 14 Nov 2007 15:25:48 -0500, with neither quill nor qualm, Leon
Fisk quickly quoth:

On Wed, 14 Nov 2007 11:59:50 -0600, Ignoramus28622
wrote:

I am now looking for a general purpose vise, as my Harbor Freight vise
seems to be in a not so good shape after I overtightened it.

Here are two typical Wilton vises. Is the "bullet" style vise any
better than the other?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=150178715277

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=250186118708

Which HF vise did you toast?

I've beat the crap out of one of the China Multipurpose
Swivel vises and haven't managed to hurt it too badly just
yet (20+ years). See:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...temnumber=5655

I got one 25-30 years ago and have put it through the wringer,
including using a pipe extension on it sigh, but it held up. If you
have to overtighten a vise it means you're not holding the object
properly and you should step back and figure out why before breaking
it. I learned to use a similarly sized object on the other side of the
jaws to even out pressure and it increased the pressure on the object
I was holding, enough to do what I needed to do. A similar one:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=95574

Every one and their brother sells these. They weigh ~66 lbs.
The pipe jaws are crap and the bondo/filler may crack off
the casting. It still works fine though...

Get one on sale, don't pay more than $40 for one.

There ya go. I gave $24 or something similar for mine in the 70s.


Some of the big names make a similar vise. I can only guess
that they are a bit better quality

That's a possibility vs. a probability.

--
Real freedom lies in wildness, not in civilization.
-- Charles Lindbergh

On 2007-11-15, Larry Jaques novalidaddress@di wrote:
On Wed, 14 Nov 2007 15:25:48 -0500, with neither quill nor qualm, Leon
Fisk quickly quoth:

On Wed, 14 Nov 2007 11:59:50 -0600, Ignoramus28622
wrote:

I am now looking for a general purpose vise, as my Harbor Freight vise
seems to be in a not so good shape after I overtightened it.

Here are two typical Wilton vises. Is the "bullet" style vise any
better than the other?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=150178715277

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=250186118708

Which HF vise did you toast?

I've beat the crap out of one of the China Multipurpose
Swivel vises and haven't managed to hurt it too badly just
yet (20+ years). See:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...temnumber=5655

I got one 25-30 years ago and have put it through the wringer,
including using a pipe extension on it sigh, but it held up. If you
have to overtighten a vise it means you're not holding the object
properly and you should step back and figure out why before breaking
it. I learned to use a similarly sized object on the other side of the
jaws to even out pressure and it increased the pressure on the object
I was holding, enough to do what I needed to do. A similar one:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=95574

Maybe I wil buy it, a trip to HF is way overdue.

i
Every one and their brother sells these. They weigh ~66 lbs.
The pipe jaws are crap and the bondo/filler may crack off
the casting. It still works fine though...

Get one on sale, don't pay more than $40 for one.

There ya go. I gave $24 or something similar for mine in the 70s.


Some of the big names make a similar vise. I can only guess
that they are a bit better quality

That's a possibility vs. a probability.

On Nov 14, 2:29 pm, Ignoramus28622 ignoramus28...@NOSPAM.
28622.invalid wrote:
On 2007-11-14, Leon Fisk wrote:

On Wed, 14 Nov 2007 11:59:50 -0600, Ignoramus28622
wrote:

I am now looking for a general purpose vise, as my Harbor Freight vise
seems to be in a not so good shape after I overtightened it.

Here are two typical Wilton vises. Is the "bullet" style vise any
better than the other?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=150178715277

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=250186118708

Which HF vise did you toast?

I will try to write the number down tonight.

I've beat the crap out of one of the China Multipurpose
Swivel vises and haven't managed to hurt it too badly just
yet (20+ years). See:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...temnumber=5655

Every one and their brother sells these. They weigh ~66 lbs.
The pipe jaws are crap and the bondo/filler may crack off
the casting. It still works fine though...

Get one on sale, don't pay more than $40 for one.

Some of the big names make a similar vise. I can only guess
that they are a bit better quality

OK... Thanks...

What I did was that I tightened the vise so much that the screw now
moves with quite a bit of difficulty, I supposed that the thread
became distorted.

i

Ig,
You should try Craigslist. I've bought 2 really great large vises on
CL. They are frequently listed.
-Mike

On 2007-11-15, mlcorson wrote:
On Nov 14, 2:29 pm, Ignoramus28622 ignoramus28...@NOSPAM.
28622.invalid wrote:
On 2007-11-14, Leon Fisk wrote:

On Wed, 14 Nov 2007 11:59:50 -0600, Ignoramus28622
wrote:

I am now looking for a general purpose vise, as my Harbor Freight vise
seems to be in a not so good shape after I overtightened it.

Here are two typical Wilton vises. Is the "bullet" style vise any
better than the other?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=150178715277

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=250186118708

Which HF vise did you toast?

I will try to write the number down tonight.

I've beat the crap out of one of the China Multipurpose
Swivel vises and haven't managed to hurt it too badly just
yet (20+ years). See:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...temnumber=5655

Every one and their brother sells these. They weigh ~66 lbs.
The pipe jaws are crap and the bondo/filler may crack off
the casting. It still works fine though...

Get one on sale, don't pay more than $40 for one.

Some of the big names make a similar vise. I can only guess
that they are a bit better quality

OK... Thanks...

What I did was that I tightened the vise so much that the screw now
moves with quite a bit of difficulty, I supposed that the thread
became distorted.

i

Ig,
You should try Craigslist. I've bought 2 really great large vises on
CL. They are frequently listed.
-Mike

There is a liquidation sale coming up with a nice bullet vise, I will
try my luck. The vice comes with an ugly table that I will not take if
I win it.

i

On Wed, 14 Nov 2007 14:33:58 -0800, wrote:

On Nov 14, 10:59 am, Ignoramus28622 ignoramus28...@NOSPAM.
28622.invalid wrote:
I am now looking for a general purpose vise, as my Harbor Freight vise
seems to be in a not so good shape after I overtightened it.

Here are two typical Wilton vises. Is the "bullet" style vise any
better than the other?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=150178715277

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=250186118708

Haven't seen anything but chink stuff on the local shelves for a long
time, even with "name" brands. I picked up an 8" Record brand vise
awhile back, Eagle Hardware had just gotten bought out by Lowe's and
was dumping all the good stuff to make room for Lowe crap lines. It
had a Really Good Price. You see them every so often in the
auctions. If they're British-made, they're good stuff. Record has
now become another line of crap.

As far as round vs. square internals, all mine have had square
innards.

Stan
I have been very happy so far with my investment in a new to me vise a
couple years ago. It is a Henry #3 which was made sometime during or
after WW II and operates smooth as silk. I never had any desire for a
swivel type vise so do not miss this feature. I bought this vise in
the early summer and didn't get around to cleaning it up and mounting
it on my bench until late fall; once I tried it out, I couldn't wait
to pass it's Chinese predecessor on to second son. Oh Yeah, my cost?
Five loonies.
Gerry :-)}
London, Canada

On Wed, 14 Nov 2007 20:27:49 -0600, Ignoramus28622
wrote:

On 2007-11-15, mlcorson wrote:
snip
Ig,
You should try Craigslist. I've bought 2 really great large vises on
CL. They are frequently listed.
-Mike

There is a liquidation sale coming up with a nice bullet vise, I will
try my luck. The vice comes with an ugly table that I will not take if
I win it.

i
I've got a 5" Wilton machinist's vise (heaviest bullet style),
Christmas gift. They're pricey as hell, but very stable, almost no
slop, lots of bearing surface for great rigidity. Plus there's lots
of soft jaw accessories. If you grab the movable jaw and shake it,
you can hardly detect any movement.

I've used the same model at work for 20 years, bought it after busting
my knuckles on a brutalized old vise that looked like it had been used
as a welding fixture. The only thing I've had to do to the Wilton was
lube it every decade or so.

Pete Keillor

On 2007-11-15, Pete Keillor wrote:
I've got a 5" Wilton machinist's vise (heaviest bullet style),
Christmas gift. They're pricey as hell, but very stable, almost no
slop, lots of bearing surface for great rigidity. Plus there's lots
of soft jaw accessories. If you grab the movable jaw and shake it,
you can hardly detect any movement.

Thanks Pete. I will definitely try to get one that is coming up next
week on a local liquidation.

I've used the same model at work for 20 years, bought it after busting
my knuckles on a brutalized old vise that looked like it had been used
as a welding fixture. The only thing I've had to do to the Wilton was
lube it every decade or so.

Very nice. That's the kind of thing that I want.

i

On Nov 14, 11:59 am, Ignoramus28622 ignoramus28...@NOSPAM.
28622.invalid wrote:
I am now looking for a general purpose vise, as my Harbor Freight vise
seems to be in a not so good shape after I overtightened it.

Here are two typical Wilton vises. Is the "bullet" style vise any
better than the other?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=150178715277

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=250186118708

I've got a very nice Starret 624 that I will be auctioning off
after the holidays. My ebay ID is "autopts"

On Nov 14, 12:42 pm, "Ed Huntress" wrote:
wrote in message

ups.com...





On Nov 14, 5:59 pm, Ignoramus28622 ignoramus28...@NOSPAM.
28622.invalid wrote:
I am now looking for a general purpose vise, as my Harbor Freight vise
seems to be in a not so good shape after I overtightened it.

I have a Columbian vise that I like better than either of the Wilton
vises in your post.
Apparently Columbian is now owed by Wilton, but I don't think it was
when my vise was made ( made in the USA ). Mine has " 504 -M2 "
stamped on the side.

For a really heavy duty vise look for a " 624 1/2 Athol " vise. The
1/2 does not have the slash there. I think that Starret bought the
company and sells the same vise. There is one for sale on ebay that
will close in about 7 hours. It is in Indiana and weights 54 lbs.
$98 shipping to Seattle 8-(

Or a Morgan #140, which is about the same size. There have been a couple on
ebay from time to time. That's the one I have.

--
Ed Huntress- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

The Chicago Morgan is a excellent vise. I have a big Morgan 450
with the swivel rear jaw with a big anvil that I will also be listing.

On 2007-11-28, wrote:
On Nov 14, 11:59 am, Ignoramus28622 ignoramus28...@NOSPAM.
28622.invalid wrote:
I am now looking for a general purpose vise, as my Harbor Freight vise
seems to be in a not so good shape after I overtightened it.

Here are two typical Wilton vises. Is the "bullet" style vise any
better than the other?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=150178715277

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=250186118708

I've got a very nice Starret 624 that I will be auctioning off
after the holidays. My ebay ID is "autopts"

I think that I bought a pipe vise from you a month ago.

i

On Nov 14, 10:34 am, " wrote:
On Nov 14, 6:30 pm, Ignoramus28622 ignoramus28...@NOSPAM.

28622.invalid wrote:
On 2007-11-14, wrote:

On Nov 14, 5:59 pm, Ignoramus28622 ignoramus28...@NOSPAM.
28622.invalid wrote:
I am now looking for a general purpose vise, as my Harbor Freight vise
seems to be in a not so good shape after I overtightened it.

I have a Columbian vise that I like better than either of the Wilton
vises in your post.
Apparently Columbian is now owed by Wilton, but I don't think it was
when my vise was made ( made in the USA ). Mine has " 504 -M2 "
stamped on the side.

For a really heavy duty vise look for a " 624 1/2 Athol " vise. The
1/2 does not have the slash there. I think that Starret bought the
company and sells the same vise. There is one for sale on ebay that
will close in about 7 hours. It is in Indiana and weights 54 lbs.
$98 shipping to Seattle 8-(

Dan

I am in Illinois, do you have ebay id of that Indiana item?

i

I just searched on " Athol vise ". It was the only thing that showed
up. I happen to have one that I am planning on selling, but knew you
were near Chicago.

Dan

Dan

I've got a real nice Starrett 624 that I will be listing on
ebay after the holidays..Nick