My next project

A number of years ago we had a renter that brought this old Wilton vise home from work- he worked at an autoparts store with a machine shop. They were gonna pitch it, so he gave it to us.

We put it on the bench and used it, but the threads on the solid jaw side are stripped and the support under the jaw was busted off. They drilled & tapped it and put in some bolts under the jaw for support.

I cleaned it up in the parts washer, stripped it down, and next thing is to sand blast it. I've got a bunch of Ni-rod from my FIL who retired from the foundry a year ago (almost a 40 year supply for how little I weld on cast) so I'm gonna put a bunch of weld under the jaw and build it up. I'll probably also fill in some other chunks that are gone. Before welding, I'll stick it in the oven at 400 for a couple hours to bring it up to temp, and then after welding I'll stick it back in to get it up to temp, and then shut it down and walk out.

Once it's cool the next week, I'll probably blast it again and paint it, then machine the jaw surfaces again and install thread inserts for the screws. Get some new hardware, make up some new serrated jaws out of some scrap tool steel we have in the shop, and it'll be good as new.

By the time I'm done with it, I might have a total of $20 in it, and my time which at this time of year, I enjoy tinkering on things. Already had a couple guys comment that I should just go buy another one from Harbor freight... Aint gonna happen as long as I can fix this one.

Donovan from Wisconsin

Don't blame you a bit! Looks like it has had a hard life, but also looks like it may have quite a bit of life left in it with a little TLC. As they say, they don't make 'em like they used to.

Don,

Forget the nickel on that job , use the
torch.

I just made an ear for the base of one of

those vises.

george

Wow, that is "hammered", LOL, amazing, I have a very large Columbian in Ford blue, from one of our dealership work benches, and it was in service before we owned the place and it don't look like that, nonetheless, one of the most useful tools a person can have, shop, service truck what have you, I've got a few other smaller ones, I find the ones listed on CL that are not over priced, preference is Columbian

If that vise was actually cast iron (and needing nickel rod) would it have stood all that hammering over the years? I'd think if it was cast iron it would have been in pieces long ago. Not saying you haven't checked, but it's certainly been in "service" and done well.

Should be under warranty

I did a quick spark test on it and it is in fact steel, so that actually makes my job even easier. I may still preheat it but it isn't so critical now.

Donovan from Wisconsin