Colt Case Ingersoll Garden Tractors

I picked up a 5 1/2" Wilton Tradesman vise for $50, which I consider an incredible price. It's a step below a Wilton Bullet, and those are the holy grail. This one is similar to a Bullet, but were sometimes sold as a Wilton, other times as a Snap-On. It opens to something like 8", and has nice pipe jaws. It's a very nice vise.

But part of the reason it was so cheap is that it's missing one of its serrated jaw inserts.
I looked into buying replacements, and what's available for about $30 probably won't fit. It's hard to say.
And what will definitely fit are approaching $200. And that just ruins the whole bargain.

I measured the existing jaw insert and guesstimated that the cross-hatch grooves are .025 deep, and .100" apart.

So I took some 1/2" steel plate and cut it to shape on the bandsaw.
Then mounted it in the milling machine and face-milled it to the proper dimensions.
Then I milled a step/tab on one end to allow me to clamp it down at that point.
Then I drilled and counterbored the mounting screw holes to match the existing jaw.

Then I took my adjustable angle table and set it to 45 degrees and clamped it perfectly parallel to the mill's table.

Holding the existing jaw against the angle table, I find the angle to place the jaw to get the cross-hatch channels to be horizontal. It turns out to be 28 degrees down from parallel.

I mounted the new jaw insert on the angle table at that angle. The upper portions is bolted down through the mounting screw hole, and the other end is clamped down to the step/tab I left for that purpose.
I used a CAD program to figure out that to move the groove .100" up the face of a 45degree plane, for each step I need to move the table .071" in, and raise the cutting head up .071"
I ran through however many passes it took to mill all the channels in the first direction and took a look:
So far so good!

So I flipped the part to the other 28 degree orientation and ran through it again.
I made the mistake of trying to start at the top and work my way down. I don't know if it was an error in backlash or just backwards thinking. But my initial two grooves at the top were way too deep. I'll just hide that corner down on the inside bottom. Once I did the smart thing and precisely repeated my first steps, I got precisely the same result the second pass. Funny how that works.
I'm very pleased with how it turned out.
As a final "why not try it" step, I grabbed the acetylene torch and heat treated it: Harden it by heating to bright orange, quench it, then sand the diamond faces just enough to see shiny metal color, then temper it by slowly heating until the shiny metal turns a straw color.

I don't know if it has enough carbon content to be hardened at all, but I can hope that I at least toughened it a little bit.
As long as we're messing around with it, we'd might as well disassemble it, wire wheel the whole thing

and and give it a coat of paint
A little white lithium grease here and there, a few minutes' reassembly, and it's ready to use:

(continued)
... ready to use:
Like @Eugen 's current 644, it's more of a "refresh" than a full "restore".

Bob

Here's the question: either this vise or the chinese rotating vise back behind it is going on the workbench in my covered trailer/portable workshop.

This Wilton is higher quality and opens wider. It has better pipe jaws, and this is where I cut pipe threads. The rotating vise is taller, and rotates, which can be handy, and has a ring roller attachment added to its underside.

They weigh similar, the rotating is probably a bit heavier.

I'm struggling to decide.

Any advice, points I haven't considered?

Bob

That's a lot more refresh than I think I'll do. Hat off to your fab skill. That turned out awesome! I love old big strong vises!

If there's any chance your portable shop gets broken in put the crappier on in there!

Unfortunately, that's very possible. Good point.

Bob

thebuildist wrote: ↑Sat Sep 10, 2022 2:00 pm Unfortunately, that's very possible. Good point.

Bob

Around here they just steal the whole trailer. I see Craigslist ads fairly often: "To whomever took the trailer from X address..." "It's how I make my living..." "Please bring it back, no questions asked..."

I doubt that has ever worked for anyone. But you feel so desperate when something like that happens.

Bob

Another great save of good equipment!
I would have to agree with @Eugen cheaper one in the trailer, good one in the home shop. The shame of it is if it were stolen they wouldn’t even have the good taste to use it. It would go straight to scrap.

I know there is a following for old tools but I’m ignorant about what’s good or bad.

I have an old vice in my shop that we had at home in the tool shed on the farm. I had a friend make new jaws for it years ago. Maybe you can tell me if it’s a good one or just an old vice. It says PARAMO. Made in England.

Nice Saturday project Bob, I changed oil in my truck.

JSinMO wrote: ↑Sat Sep 10, 2022 2:29 pm Another great save of good equipment!
I would have to agree with @Eugen cheaper one in the trailer, good one in the home shop. The shame of it is if it were stolen they wouldn’t even have the good taste to use it. It would go straight to scrap.

I know there is a following for old tools but I’m ignorant about what’s good or bad.

I have an old vice in my shop that we had at home in the tool shed on the farm. I had a friend make new jaws for it years ago. Maybe you can tell me if it’s a good one or just an old vice. It says PARAMO. Made in England.
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A2D3A630-65E4-4C64-9CE0-BB292FD84A04.jpeg

I'm not familiar with that brand, but it reminds me of a "Record" vise made in England, and those are very highly regarded. So it looks like a very nice old vise to me.

For the most part, anything made in USA or Canada or England means high quality raw materials and high-standard workmanship.

Beyond that, there are levels of features/expense. I have a wonderfully huge made-in-USA Columbia 8" vise that opens up to more than 12 inches. It weighs over 100 lbs and is invaluable for clamping/bending/squeezing even very large objects. I don't know how I ever lived without it. But if it were the Wilton Bullet in the 8" size, it would weigh nearly 200 lbs and be able to squeeze almost twice as hard. So my Columbia is wonderful. But the Wilton is legend.

Bob

Got a Record vise locally for about $50 two years ago, could not believe my luck. 5" wide jaw, not huge, but good enough for small stuff like I do. I once got a steel table from an industrial pump repair shop in Toronto, and the table came with another 5" wide jaw Record vise. They just didn't want to bother to take it off the table But, the vises I have seen they have in that shop, they were gigantic, all USA made. Not for sale, not that I could afford any.

When it comes to vises, if you want something of quality and new, lots of $$ can be spent. The cheaper, Harbour Freight types are pretty weak. One of my tool cabinets came with a Princess Auto fairly large vise (again, a 5" wide jaw). Last week I wanted to straighten a piece of pipe that was flatten somewhat. Tightened the spindle and suddenly, snap! The spindle axle just snapped. I'm not that strong!

I admire the vises you guys got.

Terrific refurb of your new to you Vise Bob. You can't beat old tools that will last a few lifetimes. You can never have enough vises in my book. I have four which I believe I posted before. I'm planning on mounting one on a piece of four inches sch. 80 pipe with a plate on the bottom so I can use it around the shop.

Keep the Peace
Harry