Vise recommendations

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Chris said:
I agree! I think maybe the problem is I am only looking at Wilton, and they seem very highly priced. I have to imagine there are other high quality vintage vise manufacturers. I mean hell, even a vintage Craftsman from the 50s is probably better than a Chinese vise.
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I wouldn't take issue with and older vise regardless of manufacture.
 
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Chris said:
I agree! I think maybe the problem is I am only looking at Wilton, and they seem very highly priced. I have to imagine there are other high quality vintage vise manufacturers. I mean hell, even a vintage Craftsman from the 50s is probably better than a Chinese vise.
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You would be correct. Wilton is just the top of the heap, plenty other good ones.


And really, if your not beating on it, pressing u-joints and holding things thr cheap one might just be fine for those idea
 
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we had a cheap vise on the farm. It made every job harder. A good vise is worth it.

A bad vise never fully tightens, the mechanism is loose and sloppy. Eventually you bend the handle tightening it with a cheater bar.

This truly is a buy once cry once purchase.
 
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Chris said:
I agree! I think maybe the problem is I am only looking at Wilton, and they seem very highly priced. I have to imagine there are other high quality vintage vise manufacturers. I mean hell, even a vintage Craftsman from the 50s is probably better than a Chinese vise.
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This is my early 70’s vintage Craftsman. It was all I had for many years. It’s done many u-joints.
It’s an excellent vise. It’s far superior to many imported vises available today.
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It’s still in great shape even though it’s been relegated to an outdoor vise when I want to keep the dirty work outside. Yes, it’s stored indoors.

Deals are out there. I paid $12 for this Wilton woodworking vise years ago.
When I got this vise it was covered in hardened fiberglass resin.
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I got lucky and went to my grandparents house last Christmas and my grandmother said go get anything out of the garage you want of grandpas stuff.. he passed back in The late 80s.. most of the cool stuff was gone but I got a old Coleman camp stove and his craftsman vise.. I love this vise and it will hold up the house if I needed it to!!.. talk to your grand folks Chris and see what’s in grandpas shop...
 
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jgaz said:
This is my early 70’s vintage Craftsman. It was all I had for many years. It’s done many u-joints.
It’s an excellent vise. It’s far superior to many imported vises available today.
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It’s still in great shape even though it’s been relegated to an outdoor vise when I want to keep the dirty work outside. Yes, it’s stored indoors.

Deals are out there. I paid $12 for this Wilton woodworking vise years ago.
When I got this vise it was covered in hardened fiberglass resin.
View attachment 204120
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Same exact vise that I have. I bought it in Baja after I'm sure it had a long life in the states. I had to fix the rotating base but the rest was fine and works great. $15.
 
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Nothing fancy here. Just picked one up at home depot that opened to 6" and bolted it down. Works for what I do in the garage.
 
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tworley said:
Nothing fancy here. Just picked one up at home depot that opened to 6" and bolted it down. Works for what I do in the garage.
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The more I think about it, the more this seems like what I’ll do.

I don’t have time to go vise hunting, and even then there’s so many to choose from. I just need something that works and I don’t want to go down another rabbit hole.
 
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You want a home shop vese. You don't need to invest more in a Wilton. Many others work very well.
The vintage vices showen so for are not what I consider vintage although they many be old. A vintage vise to me has a round noise.

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This is an old Wilton, "Shop King" that was an entry level vise when new. Its gone through 2 refurbishments since I've owned it. 4 inch model, most are 3.5 inch. Pipe jaws were optional, and this one didn't originally have them - but I was able to make an unknown pair from eBay work on it.
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I think it dates from the late 1950s, it was originally tossed out at my high school. It has a crack at the bottom of the moveable jaw where it joins the guidebar, typical high school metal shop abuse.

I put brand new (main) jaws on it this time.
 
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5632 said:
Chris - This could be a great opportunity for you if you would come up to Scottsdale Goodguys tomorrow. He also has more knowledge than anyone I have ever talked to about vices.

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I have an old vise that looks similar to one of those in the first picture. Back in the early 2000’s they were tearing down an old building on Shaw AFB. Part of it was used as a warehouse for some of our bomb racks and missile launchers. They had already started some of the demo so our flight chief send me and another guy over there to make sure all of our stuff was out of there. There was a wooden crate with sides about 5 feet tall in one of the bays. Inside of it was a bunch of trash and some random hand tools, stands and that vise. As soon as we looked in we looked at each other and I said “I get the vise”. He said ”I’ll be right right back, going to get my truck”. LOL. We ended up with a lot of useful stuff for free.
 
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