Archived from the Tools In Action forum (Hand Tools). This thread is read-only.
So I posted on here that I had purchased a Wilton vise. It is the 1745 tradesman made in the USA. Conductor advised that I open it up and check for metal shavings. So I did and this is what I found…..
I know it’s a vice and not some precision instrument but I’m disappointed and it’s not even mine. Makes you wonder how bad the cheap vises are in comparison. What are you planning on doing? I’d personally clean it up, break out the file and then re-grease it…but I’m also a little(a lot) more OCD than the average person.
I plan on taking all apart and cleaning it. Use some brake cleaner on it the lube and reassymble. I just don’t understand why they could not use a little compressed air on it before the grease.
That’s pretty lazy, but I don’t think even after 300 years of use that would have any negligible effect on a corkscrew gear like that. The shavings would turn to powder before so much as marking the gear.
Just being realistic. It wouldn’t bother me past the first 30 seconds.
O I still think they make the best vise. And I know I will not wear it out. Just don’t understand why they would leave shavings in there.
I agree, it’s not going to effect short-term or long-term use on a vice but it’s rather lazy of them to not finish in better. It’s probably worth cleaning it up just to put in some clean good-quality lube.
Wait until you remove the lead screw from the dynamic jaw. There’s probably a bunch of those chips.
Remove the 3 Phillips screws around the horseshoe collar on the nose of the vise. Once you remove the collar you can turn the lead screw out of the dynamic jaw. This should be all the disassembly you need to do.
You don’t need to do a full tear down for cleaning. Just wipe all the grease and chips out of the threads on the lead screw, re-lube, and re-assemble.
IMPORTANT: When re-installing the horseshoe collar do not run the Phillips screws all the way back in. you need to make sure it has a proper amount of play. When the jaw is ran in you should be able to wiggle it just a bit. It’s only under load when opening the jaw. Use a good business card or matchbook cover to set your gap like so:
Also, remember to use blue locktite (removable) on these screw and the hex jaw screws any time you are re-installing them. There are lots of videos on YouTube dealing with Wilton disassembly. Half are from people who have no idea what they’re doing, but it will give you an idea and you can adapt your method accordingly.
Also, if you ever need to remove the butt cap, do not beat it out with a drift punch like most of these YouTube morons. Simply remove the lead screw from the dynamic jaw, them run it in the static jaw by itself to pop the cap out. If your careful, it won’t damage the cap at all.
Wilton still makes the best vises available. Yost USA vises are great vises too, but the don’t have that Wilton sex appeal.
And yes, I’d file that nub off the lead screw. My tool OCD would’nt let me sleep knowing that thing was there.
Neither the nub nor the chips are going to impact performance or longevity, but it’s pure laziness. How long does it take to blow chips out and grind the end of the lead screw?
The Tradesmen are the exact same iron as the more expensive Wilton’s at half the price. Quality control is the obvious difference. Even so, you’d think an extra 30 seconds of manufacturing would be feasible on a $500 vise.
Conductor562 wrote:
And yes, I’d file that nub off the lead screw. My tool OCD would’nt let me sleep knowing that thing was there.
Neither the nub nor the chips are going to impact performance or longevity, but it’s pure laziness. How long does it take to blow chips out and grind the end of the lead screw?
The Tradesmen are the exact same iron as the more expensive Wilton’s at half the price. Quality control is the obvious difference. Even so, you’d think an extra 30 seconds of manufacturing would be feasible on a $500 vise.
I’m glad I’m not the only one! I’m worse with my hockey equipment, I will get out small sewing scissors and clip long threads…won’t ever effect anything but it still bothers me for some reason. I may have just been born in the wrong era, I really appreciate the details put in old USA made everything. You see industrial machines with elaborate designs in what would now just be a flat MAYBE dimpled plate of steel. You even see it in some old vices, some are very art deco.
Example:
[External image (i.imgur.com), not copied]
Charles Parker made nice vises. Is that yours?
Conductor562 wrote:
Charles Parker made nice vises. Is that yours?
No, I wish! I saw it elsewhere and it was just the first thing that I thought of as an example.
Thanks for the help guys. I will take it apart further when I get some garage time in. Thanks for the pic of the gap. I seen an old timer do that trick with a match box and a coil on a lawn mower one time. Learned something new that do. And I agree, these vises are sexy.
Conductor562 wrote:
IMPORTANT: When re-installing the horseshoe collar do not run the Phillips screws all the way back in. you need to make sure it has a proper amount of play. When the jaw is ran in you should be able to wiggle it just a bit. It’s only under load when opening the jaw. Use a good business card or matchbook cover to set your gap like so:
Good to know!
May not affect long term operation, but is disgusting just the same. Made in the USA used to mean something! Not all the old stuff were works of art, but anything you paid good money for was.
maybe way back they sold them by the pound, leaving the chips in helped their bottom line…..lol….
if you are pulling apart a 65 yrs old vise and find chips or filings it obviously didn’t hurt it…….