I stopped by. Asked to take the vise out of the original box. Looked
at the Wilton 1765 vise. Though it was never used, I noticed a crack
in the base (the part that bolts to the table). That is a vertical
crack (I can take pictures).

Most likely it was because the vise was dropped or something dropped
on the vise. The base, obviously, is cast iron and not "cast steel",
or else it would not crack.

The seller acted all surprised and quite possibly he was genuinely
surprised.

I decided that I could either do something about it, or that it is not
a very big deal, and knocked off a further discount off the original
$200 price, since the vise was not as represented.

Other than the crack, the vise is all very solid and heavy and has a
quality appearance and smooth function.

So the obvious question is, what to do with the crack.

I can see two alternatives:

1) Do nothing with the crack, simply make sure that the vise stands on
a perfectly flat and rigid surface, such as a 5/8" thick steel plate
(which I have), and bolt it tightly but without going overboard. That
would make sure that stresses around the crack and in the base in
general, are minimal.

2) Try to nickel weld the base, I have some nickel based cast iron
welding rods.

I am tending to go with number 1) since it is the most conservative
approach and, also, no one will know that I am a lousy cast iron
repairer, by looking at the vise, if it does not show fscked up welds.

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