Good Bench Vise Recommendations

[chim]

Bought this old Wilton a few years ago when I built the welding table.

 

[ruffdog]

I have this vise ready in case I have work out in a field somewhere. It slides into a 2" receiver and is long enough to be away from the tailgate. The neighbors seem to use it much more than me.

 

[drivesitfar]

Chim: while I won't deny Wilton bullets are good vises that job you are doing there probably would be best in what I call the CHINESE WONDER VISE (CWV). it's jaws can be turned 360 degrees so you could have placed that heavy piece vertically and not had it's weight on the vise. Wiltons have hollow jaws towers so they'll break a lot easier than some old vises when doing jobs maybe a bit on the industrial side. looks like you might have got that job done without breaking your Wilton so congrats and maybe put that on a bench inside your shop that is a bit more light duty work.

Ruffdog: I'm not surprised your trailer hitch vise is popular. since that Wilton Tradesman you have is a spendy vise unless you don't care if it breaks i'd also consider bying a CWV for about $100 or less used and put the CWV on the hitch. i've seen a lot of hitch mounted vises, but that's the first one I've seen with a long piece of tubing and a nice handle to carry it so I might have to steel that idea.

ALL: while the CWV is far from my favorite vise and it is maybe more liable to break than some of the vises I've yet to find a user that doesn't love them and they are willing to fix them when they break them or it's not a ton of money to replace one new or find a used one.

 

[LD1]

You're kidding right? Save a Wilton bullet vise for light duty stuff? Probably the funniest thing I have read in Awhile

 

[ruffdog]

Ruffdog: I'm not surprised your trailer hitch vise is popular. since that Wilton Tradesman you have is a spendy vise unless you don't care if it breaks i'd also consider bying a CWV for about $100 or less used and put the CWV on the hitch. i've seen a lot of hitch mounted vises, but that's the first one I've seen with a long piece of tubing and a nice handle to carry it so I might have to steal that idea.

Mostly, I use the vise when I'm out cutting a bunch of firewood and it works great to hold the saw. If I have to sharpen the chain, it sure is nice to have something to clamp the saw into.

 

[chim]

Chim: while I won't deny Wilton bullets are good vises that job you are doing there probably would be best in what I call the CHINESE WONDER VISE (CWV). it's jaws can be turned 360 degrees so you could have placed that heavy piece vertically and not had it's weight on the vise. Wiltons have hollow jaws towers so they'll break a lot easier than some old vises when doing jobs maybe a bit on the industrial side. looks like you might have got that job done without breaking your Wilton so congrats and maybe put that on a bench inside your shop that is a bit more light duty work........................

I did make it through that project without a catastrophe. Guess I was lucky. Thanks for the advice. From now on I'll just use it indoors and have Wifey tighten the handle.

 

[ruffdog]

I did make it through that project without a catastrophe. Guess I was lucky. Thanks for the advice. From now on I'll just use it indoors and have Wifey tighten the handle.

^^Better safe than sorry! :laughing:

 

[goeduck]

I did make it through that project without a catastrophe. Guess I was lucky. Thanks for the advice. From now on I'll just use it indoors and have Wifey tighten the handle.

Maybe even just small kids :confused2:

 

[ruffdog]

I also have a big Craftsman and a Columbian vises. Those may be the ductile versions as they were old vises from a shop.

Wilton 4" #1740
Columbian 4" #504 M2
Craftsman 4.5" 391.5197 looks like Re-badged Columbian

 

[drivesitfar]

funny thing is I went to give a kid $1,500 for his big 250 pound vise that a friend needed for his shop and when I got there it was welded maybe 4 times. he said it worked better than it did when he got it so welds shouldn't matter. he'd put tractor bumpers in that huge vise to straighten it out and the vise would break so he'd pull out his welder and fix the vise and do the same thing again. well needless to say I didn't pay him for the vise and he NEEDED the cash cause he had an operation to pay for, but he completely ruined the value of a $3000 vise.

so if you think your hollow jaw Wiltons will handle anything you are mistaken cause i've helped hundreds of guys try to find parts for theirs cause they couldn't find a cheap replacement and didn't have $400-1300 to buy a new Wilton made in USA vise. sure Wilton sells their Chinese vises for $100, but they are not worth that in my opinion. I do like Wiltons but they weren't meant to be used for tractor bumpers or blades.

Ruff: yep using yours to sharpen your chainsaw is the job it can surely handle. i've seen and heard of two many guys using those vises on their hitches to bend something they did to their 4x4 or helping a friend and i've got more than a few broken vises pics i've seen that the guy wanted help cause he had no idea how much a Wilton bullet or Wilton Tradesman is to replace.

my bench vise weighs 178 pounds which is overkill now for my little garage, but it works on small jobs too and my wife and grandkids don't play with it. If you google Wilton vise diagram you might see a cut out of them showing their jaw towers are hollow.