Vise for my Daughter

[steamer]

OK there's a title!..

My Daughter is showing a good bit of interest in making Jewelry...like ear rings and bracelets...very interesting!   She said she needed a vise....well....we can do that

Below is a picture of a rather interesting 3 1/2 vise with anvil and hardy hole I got off the bay just for this occasion for about $26.   It's a Wilton as far as I can tell....and a good bit worn...but we'll fix that!

I intend to clean up the jaws so that they close parallel, and dress off the anvil, and make some stakes appropriate for what she want's to do.

If your wondering why I'm doing this....go to Rio Grande.com and check out the prices for a vise that will do the same with stakes..... .....

Most importantly ....it's something we're making together...and she's excited about helping!....

Dave

[b.lindsey]

That should clean up very nicely Dave. If it is a Wilton it may be old enough to have been made before they started sending production offshore. Some of their later ones I have seen sure aren't the Wilton's I remember from my younger  days. Kind of sad for such an iconic name in vises. I am sure she will be pleased after you work your magic on it

Bill

[steamer]

Thanks Bill.....you are right....They aren't like they used to be which is why I bought this one...it's a Stout...vise.

It appears the screw is bent a bit....might be making a new screw too......

As far as I can tell, the nut is perfect, and all the wear is in the screw.

Dave

[b.lindsey]

Is it an acme thread Dave?
Bill

[Don1966]

Nice find Dave and she should like that. She will appreciate it a lot more helping you restore it. By the way a Pillar tool is great for jewelry work. 

Don

[steamer]

Oh yea.   It's not too bad at all.  I may leave it be...

The guide bar is loose in the moving jaw though....Not sure if the pin is partially sheared or if it's supposed to do that...I'll have to research that a bit.

I know Don....would be great for jewelry work....Dad needs to live about another 50 years to get to the whole list though



Dave

[Dave Otto]

Looks like a fun project Dave,

Take some pictures along the way; it will be fun to see how it turns out.

Bill, As far as I know Wilton sending vises off shore was much to do about Jet purchasing the company (sad never the less). I did a quick search and found this.

"Swiss conglomerate Walter Meier AG has agreed to sell the subsidiary that produces and markets Jet, Powermatic, and Wilton tools. The buyer is Tenex Capital Management, a New York based private equity firm.

The tool companies are part of Walter Meier Manufacturing, which is headquartered in La Vergne, Tenn., about 60 miles from Powermatic's original home in McMinnville, Tenn. Jet was acquired in 1988 and Powermatic in 1999. Wilton, which produces hand tools, vises, and BASH sledge hammers, was acquired in 2002."

Now I'm not sure who own who but the fact still is that what was once a great American brand is (at least partiality) manufactured in the far east.

On the round ram machinist and tradesman vises Wilton stamped a date code on the Key; here is a shot of the key on my baby 2" machinist vise. It was made in May 1978.

Dave

[steamer]

Thanks for that Dave.   It appears that the screw retainer is an after mod.   The bar is loose in the moving jaw and it is NOT supposed to be.   So I'll need to address that too.

whether I fix the screw retainer or not....don't know.   I may just leave what is there as it seems to work well enough.

I'll need to set up on the mangled guide bar pin and drill it out and replace it.  I suspect once I get it out, it will show lots of wear on the end.

 

Oh well....I'll get on with it.

Dave

[mklotz]

It's a wonderful father-daughter project but, frankly, the vise looks a bit large for jewelry work.  Once you have it restored, consider making some smaller vise-clamps to mount in the big vise and hold smaller pieces for more delicate operations. 

Verburg's book has plans for a style that I've found immensely useful for small work.  The one I made, pictured below, has the wide jaws but for her purposes I would make the jaws about 1/4" wide to allow easy access to small pieces.

[zeeprogrammer]

Take some pictures along the way; it will be fun to see how it turns out.

 

[Alan Haisley]

Every daughter should have a small vice. 

Seriously, I think Marv has the right of it and a couple of Elmer's small vises should also be in the works for your daughter.

Alan

[Jo]

I've been questioning if this is the right tool  Sexy in his previous life did jewellery, mainly gold and  platinum in all the cases the clamps are fascinating but specialist.

So what type of jewellery has she been thinking about? Each type of jewellery lends it self to slightly different type of clamping devices. Which I am sure we could find examples to start her off  .

Is it worth spending time to learning how to work in precious metals using cheaper materials like lead and woods metal 

Jo

[steamer]

Well she wants to make Silver ear rings and charms.  One of the charms she wants to make is leaves.   So I figured a nice stable anvil would be good.   Also she makes wire earrings and uses her new wire plier set for that, but is always holding the assembly in a pair of pliers, which seems very cumbersome, as she is down to 1 hand to do anything.   So I figured a small stout vise was in order.

I started by disassembling everything and taking stock of the wear and tear.   There was  a good bit of that.    I found the screw was bent so a trip to the arbor press sorted that out.   I found the keep for the screw to be rather ugly and the vise looked so much better without it.   I actually think it's a repair.


I found the retaining pin partially sheared off and worked loose, so I removed it.


I find the screw keep to be rather ugly and I think it is a repair.  so I removed the groove from the shaft and made up a bushing to replace it.  I'll also make a opposing thrust collar.  But first I needed to clean up the back thrust face as it was just as cast.




I decided to clean the guide bar up, and bond it in with JB weld with a angle plate keeping the axis of the screw parallel to the guide bar.

I'll pin it with a dowel pin in the morning.    That problem is sorted.

Here's the cleaned up and modified shaft with the collars.








More later...once the JB goes off.

Dave

[steamer]

Oh and Jo....think copper wire...readily available.

Dave

[mklotz]

An inexpensive fly-tying vise works well for fine wire holding.  I frequently use one for holding multi-strand electronic wires while tinning them.  Think of it as another opportunity to make a tool.

[steamer]

An inexpensive fly-tying vise works well for fine wire holding.  I frequently use one for holding multi-strand electronic wires while tinning them.  Think of it as another opportunity to make a tool.

 

Thanks Marv.

I told my daughter......if you lose interest...I get a new vise!.....I'm sure I'll be making all kinds of things for this effort too......

Dave

[steamer]

And Marv, that little vise could have a 3/8 shank on it and go right in the Hardy hole at the back of the vise.   

Dave

[steamer]

Tomorrow, I'll pin the moving jaw, and the thrust collar.   I'll then set up the whole vise and remove the hard jaws, put a parallel block in just below the jaw mounting surfaces and tighten the vise.   Once that's in, I'll set it up in the mill and take a very small cut across these faces to bring the jaws dead parallel to each other.     Then I'll set up a fly cutter and clean off the anvil surface, and draw file, sand and polish the surface.   

Then.....it's off to dip it...to remove the paint, and then paint her.


My daughter is very excited about painting it. She want's to paint it Black.   I think that's a great color!...should look good with some polished parts ect.   Should be a great vise.

Dave

[zeeprogrammer]

I think it's great. She'll have a great tool to start with. Then she'll start thinking about better or more appropriate or more specific tools...and then you'll really be hooked. 

[steamer]

I think a well made and rugged bench vise is something every bench should have.   It can hold all kinds of work, or other tools...even smaller vises.

Having 20 pounds behind the small planishing hammer...I think will be weight well put also.

I will be mounting this to some quarter sawn oak I have laminated in two layers for stability, and urethane varnished.   From there is can be mounted to her bench.

Dave

[steamer]

OK ...good progress today.
Dressing the pin.


The jaws were pretty much as cast, I set a bar in the jaws and machined them to clean them up.



Next I strapped the vise down and cleaned up the anvil.   It had some real hard spots, so I used a large carbide end mill.


I then draw filed the surface smooth and flat.



I then pinned the thrust collar with a piece of heavy paper in the stack to give some room to move.   I drilled through .120" knowing the drill would cut large, and then drove home a piece of drill rod and peaned the ends over.   And here we have it.


It moves nice and smooth, and closes nice and tight and square.    Next is to clean it up ready for paint.

Dave

[steamer]

I like the look of it with out that plate much better.

Does anyone recognize the "W /W " emblem....I want to say Wilton...but I could be wrong.

Dave

[Kim]

The vice looks great Dave!  You're daughter will undoubtedly be thrilled!I know I would be

Kim

[zeeprogrammer]

You're daughter will undoubtedly be thrilled!

Made by Dad. It will be treasured a long time.

[steamer]

Thanks Zee and Kim.....She likes it a lot...but I ran out of steam...and she's on me about getting it ready to paint.....

Dave

[Dave Otto]

Looking good Dave

Thanks for the update.

Dave

[ths]

The colour may be the most important thing! Great work on it, better than when it was new.

Cheers, Hugh.

[Danny M2Z]

G'day Dave.

I recently restored a vice for a friend who is a pen maker. (His son had abused it).

As a bonus, I made an additional set of soft jaws from aluminium, with a few vertical and one horizontal 'V' groove.

He came by last week, donated a slab of beer and told me that the soft jaws were all he uses nowadays.

Worth considering for working with delicate materials.

Regards * Danny *

[Alan Haisley]

Dave,
I'm sure that the tapped hole is from a hack repair and no part of the original. Before painting I'd fill that up with JB  and do some gentle shaping of it after it stiffens up.
Alan

[Don1966]

Nice job Dave and it's looking good. I am sure she will treasure it because dad did it.


Don

[steamer]

Don,Alan, Danny, Hugh and Dave,

Thanks for the interest.   Yes I'll fill that hole and sculpt it a bit. 

Aluminum Jaws seem a good idea too.

She'll need some stakes to use....

Dave

[chuckey]

  I am a typical Grandad, have to fix all sorts of stuff for the grandchildren, so have to hold so really queer stuff (plastic fairy with broken wings!...).
   One gizmo I find useful is a very large right angle bracket, about 4" in all directions but with a 2" diam hole in the centre of one face. So I can clamp things down flat with the clamp going down through the hole.
    The other things I am about to make are a pair of extension jaws for tool makers clamps out out of 1/8" gauge plate which will be screwed to  the sides of the conventional jaws. The extensions will  overhang the jaws by about 2" and will have a variety of business ends. So in use they can be used as needle nosed pliars, but with the ability to be clamped to my vice angle plate. Once I have the holes drilled and tapped into the sides of the clamps, I could make any sort of ends, such a 1" diam "hole" between the jaws for holding such a thing as an egg cup.
    Frank