Some of you may remember my complaints quite a few months back when I
got a Shop Fox woodworking vise and couldn't clamp stuff in it securely.
I was out of town this weekend and decided to peruse the aisles of
Lowes (there are no Lowe's in or near San Jose) for something useful. I
spotted a Wilton vise for $99.99 that has a pivot plate. They had one
in stock and I decided to replace the POS Shop Fox with it. If it
didn't work out I would have about an 80 mile drive to return it so I
knew I was going out on a limb.

Today I installed that sucker and put it to the acid test. I miked a
Porter Cable #20 biscuit and then squeezed it in the new vise. I easily
got it compressed by 4 to 5 thousandths. I had been unable to compress
biscuits with the old vise no matter how hard I reefed on the handle.
This one was a breeze. Then I placed about a 3 foot long piece of 3/4
maple in it and did the wiggle test. It held! Hallelujah!

It turns out my suspicion was correct regarding the first vise I bought.
I couldn't get anything to hold fast in that one no matter how hard I
tightened the handle. The Wilton holds on tenaciously. Plus it has the
quick release feature which I sorely missed on the cheapy.

Morale of the story is if you have a cheap vise, a better made one is
like night and day when it comes to holding power.

dave

On Tue, 09 Mar 2004 03:08:14 GMT, Bay Area Dave wrote:

I spotted a Wilton vise for $99.99 that has a pivot plate. They had one
in stock and I decided to replace the POS Shop Fox with it.

Today I installed that sucker and put it to the acid test. I miked a
Porter Cable #20 biscuit and then squeezed it in the new vise. I easily
got it compressed by 4 to 5 thousandths. I had been unable to compress
biscuits with the old vise no matter how hard I reefed on the handle.
This one was a breeze. Then I placed about a 3 foot long piece of 3/4
maple in it and did the wiggle test. It held! Hallelujah!

Morale of the story is if you have a cheap vise, a better made one is
like night and day when it comes to holding power.

dave

Is this Wilton vise a patternmaker's style vise? I'm not familiar
with a Wilton.

Your are surprised by this revelation?
I read thread after thread asking, "Is the $10 such & such as good as the
$100 one?
Nope.

Dave

-Snip-
Morale of the story is if you have a cheap vise, a better made one is
like night and day when it comes to holding power.

dave





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Lazarus Long wrote:
Is this Wilton vise a patternmaker's style vise? I'm not familiar
with a Wilton.

www.wilton.com
They're a conglomerate now. A long time back they bought Columian
Vise Mfg Co. of Cleveland, OH. This was after the 1925 name
change by Columbian. That's why they can call their vises
Columbians. I've got one of the early Columbians, great vises.
Columbian, Morgan and Wilton all made comparable vises at the turn
of the century. The Wiltons were lighter, but better than most of
the present day vises. It is a patternmakers vise, with a 15 deg
tilt as I remember. Present day Wiltons tend to be even lighter
than the old ones were. Not as good as a good Record, but
definitely usable. IMO. YMMV.

Dave in Fairfax
--
reply-to doesn't work
use:
daveldr at att dot net
American Association of Woodturners
http://www.woodturner.org
Capital Area Woodturners
http://www.capwoodturners.org/

only surprised by the HUGE improvement in holding power. OF COURSE,
most expensive stuff is better in some ways than cheaper stuff, but
that's not always the case. in this case, it's true...

dave

TeamCasa wrote:

Your are surprised by this revelation?
I read thread after thread asking, "Is the $10 such & such as good as the
$100 one?
Nope.

Dave

-Snip-

Morale of the story is if you have a cheap vise, a better made one is
like night and day when it comes to holding power.

dave






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part of WMH tool group which includes Powermatic , Jet, and Performax
dave

dave in fairfax wrote:

Lazarus Long wrote:

Is this Wilton vise a patternmaker's style vise? I'm not familiar
with a Wilton.


www.wilton.com
They're a conglomerate now. A long time back they bought Columian
Vise Mfg Co. of Cleveland, OH. This was after the 1925 name
change by Columbian. That's why they can call their vises
Columbians. I've got one of the early Columbians, great vises.
Columbian, Morgan and Wilton all made comparable vises at the turn
of the century. The Wiltons were lighter, but better than most of
the present day vises. It is a patternmakers vise, with a 15 deg
tilt as I remember. Present day Wiltons tend to be even lighter
than the old ones were. Not as good as a good Record, but
definitely usable. IMO. YMMV.

Dave in Fairfax

On Tue, 09 Mar 2004 17:50:31 GMT, dave in fairfax
wrote:

Lazarus Long wrote:
Is this Wilton vise a patternmaker's style vise? I'm not familiar
with a Wilton.

www.wilton.com



I went to the above site, but it appears to be all about baking
cookies and so forth.




They're a conglomerate now. A long time back they bought Columian
Vise Mfg Co. of Cleveland, OH. This was after the 1925 name
change by Columbian. That's why they can call their vises
Columbians. I've got one of the early Columbians, great vises.
Columbian, Morgan and Wilton all made comparable vises at the turn
of the century. The Wiltons were lighter, but better than most of
the present day vises. It is a patternmakers vise, with a 15 deg
tilt as I remember. Present day Wiltons tend to be even lighter
than the old ones were. Not as good as a good Record, but
definitely usable. IMO. YMMV.

Dave in Fairfax

Lazarus Long wrote:
I went to the above site, but it appears to be all about baking
cookies and so forth.

That's a different Wilton. My wife mentioned them when I was
talking to her about Wilton. If you have a Lowes or HD near you,
they both sell Wilton vises, so does Woodcraft come to think of
it, and the URL is printed on the side of the box the vise comes
in. I'm doing this from memory, Silvan, do you still have the box
I sent you that stuff in? Or anyone else that has a Wilton box
handy? I didn't go looking for their site, I just read it on the
box. I picked up one of their vises to put on the side of a
workmate that I use for portabel stuff. It's a lot lighter than
my Record or my Columbian. Sorry about the bad URL. Might want
to show it to your wife though. %-)

Dave in Fairfax
--
reply-to doesn't work
use:
daveldr at att dot net
American Association of Woodturners
http://www.woodturner.org
Capital Area Woodturners
http://www.capwoodturners.org/

dave in fairfax wrote:
Lazarus Long wrote:

Is this Wilton vise a patternmaker's style vise? I'm not familiar
with a Wilton.


www.wilton.com

Try instead: http://www.wmhtoolgroup.com

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto, Iowa USA

dave in fairfax wrote:

It is a patternmakers vise, with a 15 deg
: tilt as I remember.

Which is not as much tilt as a real paternmaker's vise, like the
Emmert or the clones sold by either Woodcraft or Lee valley.

I checked out the Wilton today, and was put off by the heavily greased bar
that the vise moves in and out on -- seems like it would gunk up the
workpiece.

-- Andy Barss

Andrew Barss wrote:

dave in fairfax wrote:

It is a patternmakers vise, with a 15 deg
: tilt as I remember.

Which is not as much tilt as a real paternmaker's vise, like the
Emmert or the clones sold by either Woodcraft or Lee valley.

I checked out the Wilton today, and was put off by the heavily greased bar
that the vise moves in and out on -- seems like it would gunk up the
workpiece.

I bought the Woodcraft offering. It came with that glop smeared
everywhere. It took two days to clean it completely but was worth
the effort.

I actually liked the LV better; but couldn't justify spending
that much on a vise.

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto, Iowa USA

the Wilton I got has a metal cover over the screw. I wiped the oil off
when I installed the vise. kinda like when you get a new table saw or
jointer and have to clean the tables of cosmoline.

what model Wilton did you look at? this one mounts under the bench and
is designated a 7" woodworker's vise. It has a removable pivoting plate.

dave

Andrew Barss wrote:

dave in fairfax wrote:

It is a patternmakers vise, with a 15 deg
: tilt as I remember.

Which is not as much tilt as a real paternmaker's vise, like the
Emmert or the clones sold by either Woodcraft or Lee valley.

I checked out the Wilton today, and was put off by the heavily greased bar
that the vise moves in and out on -- seems like it would gunk up the
workpiece.

-- Andy Barss

"Andrew Barss" wrote in message
...
dave in fairfax wrote:

It is a patternmakers vise, with a 15 deg
: tilt as I remember.

Which is not as much tilt as a real paternmaker's vise, like the
Emmert or the clones sold by either Woodcraft or Lee valley.

I checked out the Wilton today, and was put off by the heavily greased bar
that the vise moves in and out on -- seems like it would gunk up the
workpiece.

-- Andy Barss

The "Tucker Vise" - which won a Pop Mech Design and Engineering award in
1992 (co-winner with Boeing, GM, Xerox etc) is most certainly not a
"clone"...

Sheesh.

Cheers -

Rob

Andrew Barss wrote:
Which is not as much tilt as a real paternmaker's vise, like the
Emmert or the clones sold by either Woodcraft or Lee valley.
I checked out the Wilton today, and was put off by the heavily greased bar
that the vise moves in and out on -- seems like it would gunk up the
workpiece.

I guess I wasn't clear enough. The Wiltons were the low end of
the three I mentioned. The vise the OP mentioned is designed
after a patternmakers vise, but expecting it to be an Emmert
equivalent is, huh, excessive. It's made in China for openers.
The Indian vises would probably be a better idea if you could find
one in a patternmaker's style. At least that'll keep you in the
same price range. As for the grease, kerosene will cut it pretty
well and if you have a parts cleaner, it's very easy.
Dave in Fairfax
--
reply-to doesn't work
use:
daveldr at att dot net
American Association of Woodturners
http://www.woodturner.org
Capital Area Woodturners
http://www.capwoodturners.org/

On Wed, 10 Mar 2004 07:28:28 -0500, "Robin Lee"
wrote:

The "Tucker Vise" - which won a Pop Mech Design and Engineering award in
1992 (co-winner with Boeing, GM, Xerox etc) is most certainly not a
"clone"...

Sheesh.

You can say that again. Tell you what, why don't you just send me one
of them and I'll post a report on all of the differences and
improvements so we don't have any further confusion.

Sincerely,
JP



Cheers -

Rob

dave in fairfax wrote:

in. I'm doing this from memory, Silvan, do you still have the box
I sent you that stuff in? Or anyone else that has a Wilton box

No, but I googled a bit. They're owned by the same Corporation Corporation
that swallowed JET.

http://www.wmhtoolgroup.com/

I didn't see anything particularly useful about their vises there, other
than a brief mention of them in general.

box. I picked up one of their vises to put on the side of a
workmate that I use for portabel stuff. It's a lot lighter than
my Record or my Columbian. Sorry about the bad URL. Might want
to show it to your wife though. %-)

Probably the Wilton that makes all the cookie presses and whatnot. That,
um, SWMBO uses....

The vise you're talking about is rather worse than "a lot lighter" I'd say.
It's one step up above being made out of papier maché, and a well directed
fart could probably shatter it. It's a lot better than nothing though, and
I still use mine as an auxiliary vise to support the free end of a board,
in lieu of a board jack.

I think the Wilton-branded vise in question is one of the ~$100 jobs I seem
to remember seeing at Lowe's. No opinion as to whether it would be better
than a Record, but it might be. It looked like a reasonably nice vise, but
too spendy for me at the time, so I came home with one of the $7 papier
maché versions.

Either way, I think either one of our turn of the century battleship anchors
could whoop any of these namby pamby modern vises any day. Considering how
often I see them on eBay for a lot less than $100, that's probably how I
would go if I needed an additional vise. I've fallen in love with my
seriously overbuilt Morgan, but I think it wouldn't be much of a reach to
fall in love with your old Columbian. Anything with a 1" screw and a
crank rod thingie that can survive being whacked repeatedly with a sledge
hammer without bending can't be bad.

Here's an example, for the Wreck's edification:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tegory=20 761

Caveat emptor! The original unbreakable steel rod has been replaced with
wood, and the mounting plate on the far end is missing. It probably won't
work properly without the plate, and it would be somewhat difficult to
fabricate a new one since the holes are so huge, and you can't exactly cut
steel with a fly cutter or Forstner. (If anyone buys the vise, I can
provide a trace of the plate in question. Mine would probably fit, I
think. This vise is a quick-release version, but it seems to be the same
size as my 10A.)

--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/