3" Wilton Machinist Vise and It's Alligator Jaws

[Dave Otto]

I have wanted a small Wilton (Bullet) machinist vise to mount on the small work bench by my machines and recently scored this little 3" gem on eBay; 1987 model still the original box with paperwork! It wasn’t exactly cheap but I’m happy to have it. For those that don’t know, Wilton stamps the last two digits of the year that it was made on the key.


It had a little surface rust here and there but cleaned up nicely.


The problem is that it has these alligator jaws that pretty much destroy anything you put in it.
Every time I wanted to use it I would end up using the big vise that has aluminum jaw covers.


So I finally decided to do something about it and made a set of copper jaws.

 
Now I still can’t use it because I don’t want to scratch up my pretty new jaws.
Just kidding.

Now I need to make some decent jaws for the 6" vise.

Dave

[b.lindsey]

Nice find Dave, looks to be in near mint condition too!!

Bill

[Don1966]

Nice vise Dave and in great condition but you know that bench is way to clean buddy..........


Don

[Dave Otto]

Thanks Bill and Don,

Bill yes it is a sweat heart, and had never been mounted or used; like I said, I'm happy to have found it.
Sorry about the bench Don; its between jobs and I tend to tidy things up. I will see what I can to do to trash it and then take a picture. 

Dave

[toolznthings]

Nice vise and great job on the set of jaws. 

Brian

[zeeprogrammer]

Interesting. Why did you choose copper over making jaws from aluminum or steel?

And geesh...see all the marks on the table? There's a lot of stories there.

[Dave Otto]

Thanks for the comments Brian & Zee

Zee, either steel or aluminum would be a good choice for material; people who weld use copper so things don't stick to it. I occasionally watch Tom Lipton's videos on YouTube and have both of his books. it seems that all of his vises have copper jaws and I like the look and utility of them.

This vise will never be used for welding; but I thought that it would be fun to have a vise that Tom might approve of. 

Now that I have the CAD and tool paths it wouldn't be too much trouble to make some from different materials like aluminum or maybe mild steel.

I have a Wilton hydraulic vise from the seventies that the previous owner made a very nice set of tall aluminum jaws for, that are tapered similar to what I have done with the copper ones.  That vise is very nice to use and where I got the idea to make these jaws taller than the originals.

Not sure how many of the hydraulic vises survived but it is pretty cool.

Thanks again guys,
Dave

[Tennessee Whiskey]

That is just too sweet Dave.  Since Lipton's baby bullet build,  prices have been reported to be climbing rapidly. I keep hoping to find one at an auction where people are interested in other stuff.

Cletus

[Dave Otto]

Hey Eric,

I do have a baby bullet and the a Powrarm Jr. to mount it on; maybe it was good thing that I was able to buy them before the price spike. It was fun being able to see Tom's work at NAMES this year; he is an amazingly talented guy.



And there is always this little guy on the right; not many of them around. There are a number of the vises having been made but the little Powrarm is a one of a kind, as far as I know.

Thanks for the comments buddy,
Dave

[Flyboy Jim]

Nice vices you have there Dave.

I just went over to Ebay to check these vices out. I noticed some in nice shape that didn't have ser. no.'s like yours. Makes me think.................KNOCKOFF!

Jim

[mikemill]

Inspired by the ball based universal vice shown above, I looked for one in the UK but no joy. But I did find this little beauty on ebay which arrived today, and I am delighted with the vice. It is well made of alloy castings, as the ball is large it allows for lots of clamping area and is solid as a rock. The jaws are removable, so I made a set in 1”X 3/8” steel to allow more versatile use.
Usual disclaimer

Mike

[b.lindsey]

I am thinking that in more recent years, Wilton has gone offshore for the manufacture of some if not most of their vises. That could explain the lack of serial number, or as you say it could be just a knock-off.

Bill

Edit: I did a little looking around today at MSC and it seems their lower priced vises (say $300 or less) are imports. There is a huge price difference though when you get to the ones that have the Wilton name cast in or have the made in USA badge on them...those start at $900 and quickly go up to as much as $5000. Guess you can still get the old time Wilton quality if you can afford it I know the one we bought a few years back for the school machine shop was one of the lesser priced ones and while it does the job, the handle is obviously inferior.