On Wed, 26 Mar 2008 20:33:52 -0500, Ignoramus13009
wrote:
On 2008-03-27, Pete Keillor wrote:
On Wed, 26 Mar 2008 14:27:16 -0500, Ignoramus13009
wrote:
Here's something interesting that I learned regarding Wilton Tradesman
1765 vs Wilton Machinist vise like 600S.
- Machinist vise costs $1,150 at McMaster and $1,300 at Amazon
- Tradesman costs $289 at Amazon and is not available from McMaster
- They are made of the same 60,000 PSI ductile iron
- Both made in USA
- Very similar construction and parts breakdown, according to drawings
at wiltontool.com:
* http://www.wiltontool.com/PartDetails.aspx?BDID=663
* http://www.wiltontool.com/PartDetails.aspx?BDID=655
- The machinist vise has a much larger throat width up to 10", vs. 6.5
for the Tradesman
- Same applies to throat depth
- Machinist vise weighs 158 lbs, Tradesman is 73 lbs. Much of the
weight difference must be accounted for due to length difference,
but the machinist is probably thicker
I finally decided to bite and will likely buy a new Tradesman for $200
cash locally, if all goes well today. That's kind of expensive by my
standards, but whatever, I live just once and the vise has a greater
chance of retaining its usefulness than the money.
i
I got the 500S for less than $600 on sale from J&L, but that was 2-3
yrs. ago. Today, it's $730, weighs 96 lbs. It was a birthday present
to myself. I've installed a couple 500S's at work over the years.
That's plenty big for what I do. J&L's price for the 600S is $1199.
Pete Keillor
Amazon right now has an insane sale on the 800s vise. I could not
believe my eyes. $870 for a 800s. Way outside my price range though.
i
What a beast, 238#! Dad picked up a monster like that once, intended
to mount it on a buried telephone pole in the middle of the barn. He
never did anything with it.
I can tell you from experience the Wilton machinist vise, and probably
the tradesman, will hold damn near anything without any wiggle,
rocking, flexing, or any other unacceptable behavior. I find them
perfect for hand filing, sawing, etc. If you grab the jaw at full
extension and wiggle it, you'll see very little play at all.
Also, magnetic aluminum soft jaws and many other jaw accessories are
available, as well as replacement jaw inserts.
Pete