# shop vise advise



## Calixt0 (Feb 27, 2017)

hello all, I blew out my 4" harbor freight vise last night..  looking at getting something else want something quality but not super expensive.  I've looked at the wiltons and their usa made stuff is just too much.. the shop vises and mechanics are ok but still pretty expensive.. 

Any and all advice would be appreciated!

Shaun


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## wlburton (Feb 27, 2017)

In my area (Minneapolis) there are almost always good older (the older the better in many cases) U.S. made bench vises for sale on Craig's List, including Wilton, Reed, Parker, Craftsman, etc.  There's no need to buy a new vise.  Except for Wilton, which tend to be overpriced, they're always under $100 and frequently under $50. 

Bill


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## mikey (Feb 27, 2017)

Calixt0 said:


> ... looking at getting something else want something quality but not super expensive.



So would we all! As Bill said, if you want quality then you are not going to find a new one that is comparable to vises of the past. Yost is currently made in Taiwan, Record is now Irwin and they are made in China. Only Wilton makes some of their vises in this country nowadays. If you want a high quality vise, you are looking for vises from days past and they will all be used vises. They will also be relatively expensive unless the seller doesn't know what he has and is selling it on Craigslist or ebay. 

There are some vise designs that have stood the test of time (not to mention incredible abuse) and the strongest of these are referred to as a T-type. The jaws looked like a "T" with a very wide and stout vertical leg. You will find this design on Parker and Reed vises, although I'm sure others used it, too. These vises were made of cast ductile iron and are tough as hell. Accordingly, they are heavy for their size. My 4" Parker weighs about 75#. 

I'm with Bill. You best chance at a good vise at a decent price is to look for a used vise in good shape locally. Makers with good reputations are Parker, Reed, Prentiss, Athol, Yost and Columbian. Wiltons are also good but they are more costly for some reason. 

At a time when the best vises made were from the USA, Parker was considered the best of the lot. If you can find one in good shape, grab it. Prices vary widely. Mine, shown below, cost me $50.00. Most will go for somewhere in the mid to high $200.00 range.


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## StonewellMark (Feb 27, 2017)

Search Craigslist!!...they always seem to pop up in groups or nothing at all so keep looking...they'll show up!


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## Ken from ontario (Feb 27, 2017)

Let me tell you all a story on a YOST vise I almost had:
A couple of years ago I saw an ad on our local classified (Kijiji) of an older model/rusty YOST vise with a couple of attachments for $25, that ad was on for 3-4 days and all this time I was debating with myself whether I let the owner know what a gem of a vise he had and he was not asking nearly enough for it, anyhow I finally emailed him and told him the story and gave him my opinion on how much he should be asking, ( at least $150-$200) he emailed me back and said it was his grandfather's he didn't realize it was an expensive vise, he thanked me and said:"I think I'll keep it".
PS, I already had a couple of good Record vises  so I wasn't devastated for missing the chance but how often an opportunity  like that comes up to buy an old Yost?, not often in my neck of the wood.


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## talvare (Feb 27, 2017)

Shaun,

There are a lot of good used American made vises on eBay. I have a 5" Columbian that is a great vise. I've had several other vises including Wilton and Craftsman, and the Columbian is by far the best of those I've owned.

Ted


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## Joncooey (Feb 27, 2017)

I find that the Record is a real good vise; especially if you can get one that was still made in England.


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## ACHiPo (Feb 28, 2017)

Great thread!   I'm looking for a bench vise as well.  Previous vises I've owned(cheapo imports) have had sloppy swivels, so I'm leaning away from that capability, but rotation and the ability to clamp round stock seems attractive.  A swivel with two locks could be ok, too.

The good vintage brands seem to list for $200-$500 in the Bay Area CL, which seems high, but shipping a 90 lb hunk of iron isn't cheap, either.


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## mikey (Feb 28, 2017)

Quite often, these old vises will have a heavy layer of rust all over them. They look unsalvageable but they can be brought back to life with an electrolytic bath. The important thing is that there is no structural damage to any part of the vise and the jaws must close precisely. This is my Parker as found:






I like rusty vises - they're cheaper to buy and they clean up nice!


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## scwhite (Jun 16, 2017)

Calixt0 said:


> hello all, I blew out my 4" harbor freight vise last night..  looking at getting something else want something quality but not super expensive.  I've looked at the wiltons and their usa made stuff is just too much.. the shop vises and mechanics are ok but still pretty expensive..
> 
> Any and all advice would be appreciated!
> 
> Shaun


I have two wiltons they are very good vices 
I bought one brand new for $560. 
I bout the other one used $200. 
They both a $600. Plus vices now


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## joshua43214 (Jun 17, 2017)

It is really hard to go wrong with Wilton.
When I was a mechanic, Most shops I worked in had Wiltons. They can take an unbelievable amount of abuse.
Mechanics love their 4lb (1.8Kg) beaters, and don't hesitate to clamp something in the vise and go at it with full intent.
I have broken Record vises - they are an excellent vise, but are not as stout as a Wilton.
IMO, the Record is best used as a clamping fixture for holding things, the Wilton is best used for hard work.
I have found the Wilton deals easily with minor abuse like forming or bending material over the jaws, or taping the handle with the hammer to snug up the jaws. The Wilton also tends to have better rotation clamps than other vises and will not skip during heavy filing or moderate hammering.


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## ezduzit (Jun 17, 2017)

Just bought Wilton's 8" drill press vise; made in Taiwan. Very impressive.


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## Silverbullet (Jun 24, 2017)

I'd keep cking craigslist , eBay and any other used item store. Pawnshop . You'll save money and get better vises that way.


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## Jonathans (Jun 25, 2017)

I use Wilton vises now because I can afford them and enjoy old iron.
I have to say though, years ago I purchased one of thos real big Chinese rotating vises.
Beat the hell out of it for years (20) and its still going strong, albeit it with a little bondo
missing here and there. Best 80 bucks I ever spent on a vise.


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## Cheeseking (Jun 25, 2017)

Love my little 4" Wilton bullet vise️. Got it at an auction.   Apparently nobody wanted the ugly painted 2x6 constructed wooden bench laminated with a 1/4" steel plate for a top.   $50 LOL.   I just demolished the bench tossed the wood in the dumpster and kept the top plate and vise.    I really need to mount it to a more sturdy bench with all four screws to get full utility.  IMO the Wilton bullet vise is what every machine shop should have at least one of.    They are goofy expensive new and the quality may or may not be the same as the older ones.   Like others mentioned, I would keep a watch out for one locally on CL/ebay or like I did at industrial auction.  Patience.....


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## scwhite (Jun 25, 2017)

I have two Wilton Vises I bought one new it is the biggest one a 450. I have had this one about 20 years 
   The other one I bought used but it had never been used or even bolted to a workbench I guess you could say it was new also it has the pipe jaws . I think it would be a 350 both are Machinist Vises


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## Old junk (Jun 25, 2017)

Wilton is the way to go.pricey,yes but you will only buy one.my dad told me a long time ago "good tools are not cheap,cheap tools are not good"


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## ddickey (Jun 25, 2017)

Yost still makes vises in the US.


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## 4GSR (Jun 25, 2017)

ddickey said:


> Yost still makes vises in the US.


Bought a new one off of Amazon about six years ago.  Castings were from Taiwan. Machined in USA.  Fairly nice and decent or the money.  It's one of the one's painted yellow, if that tells you anything.  Still haven't setup and used the vise. Still laying under the surface plate stand.  Need to drag it out and mount it to the workbench my son & I built last year.


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## Splat (Jun 25, 2017)

I've been pleased with my 6" Phase II vise.


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## randyjaco (Jun 26, 2017)

Yard sales, estate sales and flea markets are excellent places to find quality vises. Over the past few years I have picked up over a dozen Wilton, Charles Parker and other old quality vises for cheap. 
Randy


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## Joe P. (Jun 27, 2017)

randyjaco said:


> Yard sales, estate sales and flea markets are excellent places to find quality vises. Over the past few years I have picked up over a dozen Wilton, Charles Parker and other old quality vises for cheap.
> Randy



I was going to mention flea markets. A couple of weeks ago I picked up a 4" Colombian vise for $5!
	

		
			
		

		
	





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## royesses (Jun 27, 2017)

Craftsman still sells a made in Japan vise that gets great ratings. About $120 or so. I went with a 4" and a 6' regular craftsman. Ace hardware gave me a deal on them 4"-$24.00, 6" $34.00 If they break I'm not out a lot of money. They actually look pretty decent.
Roy


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## ddickey (Jun 27, 2017)

Do you have a link for that vise Royesses?


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## royesses (Jun 28, 2017)

ddickey said:


> Do you have a link for that vise Royesses?



The link I had is now dead. Sears must  have discontinued them in their fall to the bottom.

Here are 2 links to ebay  for the 1:USA version
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Craftsman-3...993391?hash=item489e826e6f:g:7uMAAOSwY3BZG7Kq

And the Japan version:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Craftsman-3...993391?hash=item489e826e6f:g:7uMAAOSwY3BZG7Kq

Roy


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## markba633csi (Jun 28, 2017)

The old Sears vises were made by Columbian and they're tough. I abused my Dad's for years.  Unfortunately it looks like the leadscrew nuts (which strip) are not available new from Sears anymore so beware if you buy a Sears vise thinking you can get it fixed easily- you may have to make the part
Mark S.


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## KBeitz (Oct 6, 2018)

I love reading about vises... Over the years I kinda turned into a vise collector.
It just happened. At one time I had over 200 vises. I think I'm just in a good area.
Here is some of my favorites....


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## DiscoDan (Oct 6, 2018)

My recent CL purchase. Parker 63-1/2.


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## KBeitz (Oct 6, 2018)

Thats so cool.... There was a factory in Pa called Scranton Lace that employed 5000 people.
When it closed up I bought 150 parker vises to resale. I kept 3 for myself. I was told that some
of the Parker family work there and thats one reason they had so many Parker vises,.


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## Allan (Oct 6, 2018)

Vises are one of my vices. 
I have a few- none of them great but adequate for most of what I do. Always keeping my eye out for another one.  If you live in an area that had foundries or oil field work they seem to be more plentiful. Most of them around here are farmer grade junk or worn and beaten to death.
Still waiting for the deal of a lifetime. But, like Ken in Ontario, I probably wouldn't feel right about paying so little and would have to let them know the true value. Then I wouldn't be able to afford it.


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## Allan (Oct 6, 2018)

Speaking of vices... a friend of mine had a great idea. He mounted a receiver hitch tube under his work bench and mounted the vice on a tube that slips into the hitch tube. The fixed tube has a nut welded on the bottom of the tube and a largish "wing nut" to tighten it down. He can rotate the vice in 4 different positions and slide it in handout a bit. It is great for welding- especially with the swivel base. He also has a bench grinder that he can slip in so his bench top is not cluttered with tools. 

On the opposite wall he fabbed up a folding bracket for a vice which keeps usable floor space high. Not a very heavy duty rig to be sure but for some lighter work- hacksawing or drilling or grinding it works a treat.


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## HarryJM (Oct 6, 2018)

Craigslist is a good place to find a good used USA vise and I purchased a 5" Columbian for $65 this year.

The GarageJournal has a good thread on vises called "The VISES of Garage Journal".


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## Tim9 (Oct 6, 2018)

Yea...Same here. If I see a good old American Vise for sale on Craigslist cheap...I just can't help myself. I buy it. I've got way more than I can use right now. But, hey...Maybe one day I'll build a big shop and put them to use. LOL


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## Cooter Brown (Oct 6, 2018)

Look for a Charles Parker Vise I have a monster weights 75lbs.


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## Dabbler (Oct 6, 2018)

My compromise is that I have a 5" Record (made in England in 1979) for my bench vise, but I have a monster Chinese vise (6", weighs 125lbs +) for beating on and welding.  I also have several other specialty vises scattered about for various types of delicate work holding.


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## mikey (Oct 6, 2018)

Dabbler, your Record is a great vise; I've used one in the past. I wanted a decent vise for my son and bought him a Record from Amazon not more than two years ago - it is NOT of the same quality. Not sure if its made in China or not but I wouldn't be surprised.


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## Buffalo21 (Oct 6, 2018)

About 20 years ago now, I bought a both a Wilton 6” and a 4-1/2” bullet bodied vises for $500, as a package deal. While at the time the cash was a struggle, I’ve never regretted the purchase.


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## HarryJM (Oct 6, 2018)

For really beating on something then maybe a blacksmith post vise would be the best choice.


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## T Bredehoft (Oct 7, 2018)

Not for beating on, but I've found that what I thought was a cheap little vise turned out to be my go-to  vise.  I found at auction a few months ago, a 3 1/2" Columbian vise, It and a used 750 Drill Doctor for $25.  I wire brushed the faded red paint off, masked and sprayed it with two coats of Rust O Lium bright red, let it cure over night and baked at 150º for 2 hours in the  kitchen oven. It has  an Acme (or square, I'm not sure right now) thread,  Much quicker than the HF   4" it replaced, also much more stable. I'm really pleased with my little $12 vise.


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## Nogoingback (Oct 7, 2018)

Dabbler said:


> My compromise is that I have a 5" Record (made in England in 1979) for my bench vise, but I have a monster Chinese vise (6", weighs 125lbs +) for beating on and welding.  I also have several other specialty vises scattered about for various types of delicate work holding.




Another good brand of British vises is Woden.  Not very common (I've come across two.) but very nicely made.  I bought mine at a 
garage sale for $11.00.  It's pretty small, but I keep it on a bench in the garage for small stuff. 
If I could find a bigger Woden, I'd buy it in a heartbeat.


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## Dabbler (Oct 7, 2018)

That Woden is a beaute.  And for a steel!  I paid over $140 in 1980 for my Record...

How wide are the jaws?


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## Nogoingback (Oct 7, 2018)

3 1/2" across the jaws.  This one was a steal, and it looked like it had very little use.  It's nicely machined, so
there's very little slop anywhere.


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## projectnut (Oct 8, 2018)

This may sound a bit strange, but I was able to find a Masterforce 6" vise at Menards that works as good as any I've had and at a price I couldn't believe.

https://www.menards.com/main/tools-...75-c-9135.htm?tid=-6989421187051196392&ipos=2

I was working on a job one weekend about 10 years ago when the cheapie bench vise failed.  As would be expected all the tool houses were closed and I needed to get the job done.  I searched around for something to use on a temporary basis and came across the one above at Menards.  I assumed it was going to be junk, but needed it in a hurry so I went for it.

Maybe I just got lucky, but it's lasted over 10 years with regular hard use.


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## Nogoingback (Oct 8, 2018)

You never know, do you.   My other vise is an Asian import  that I found  bolted to a workbench in the basement
of my first house.  I suspect it's Taiwanese, but really don't know.  What I do know is that it's worked fine for me
for the last 25 years.  Would I like an old American vise?  Sure, but I haven't bought one because I really don't need
to replace the one I have.  'Course, I'm still looking for a cheap Wilton at a garage sale...


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## hman (Oct 9, 2018)

Kbeitz -
This vise I saw in your post is fascinating.  It looks for ll the world like it might be some kind of horizontal drill press!  Have I guessed right?


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## Dabbler (Oct 9, 2018)

What you have there is a triple geared vise.  The handle moves to all 3 shafts, giving progressive mechanical advantage...  Very nice find


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## hman (Oct 10, 2018)

OK.  That makes sense.  I didn't notice that all 3 shafts had cross pins.  How does the bottom shaft connect to the leadscrew (handwheel on the far side)?  Are there more gears hidden inside the housing?


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## tjb (Oct 10, 2018)

Allan said:


> Speaking of vices... a friend of mine had a great idea. He mounted a receiver hitch tube under his work bench and mounted the vice on a tube that slips into the hitch tube. The fixed tube has a nut welded on the bottom of the tube and a largish "wing nut" to tighten it down. He can rotate the vice in 4 different positions and slide it in handout a bit. It is great for welding- especially with the swivel base. He also has a bench grinder that he can slip in so his bench top is not cluttered with tools.
> 
> On the opposite wall he fabbed up a folding bracket for a vice which keeps usable floor space high. Not a very heavy duty rig to be sure but for some lighter work- hacksawing or drilling or grinding it works a treat.


Can you get photos?


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## Tozguy (Oct 10, 2018)

Could anyone positively identify the make of this vise? My guess is its a Record.
Thx.


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## BaronJ (Oct 10, 2018)

Hi Tozguy,

Yes its a UK made Record vise.
Woden was another that came from the same design.  
There were a couple more, but I can't remember the names at the moment.


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## Dabbler (Oct 10, 2018)

Wow.  Every Record vise I've ever seen had cast in letters spelling "Record".  I had no idea!


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## Tozguy (Oct 10, 2018)

Dabbler, I suspect that it had a brand sticker on it at one point. It was bought new in the mid 70s around the same time you bought your Record. Are they the same colour? Does the No 3 cast into the side betray anything? It is a 4'' jaw, a staple size for hobbyists at the time available in most hardware stores. Sure is a tough little bugger.


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## Dabbler (Oct 10, 2018)

I'm sure you have an excellent vise.  I'm also sure you have another brand, but here's photos of my 4" Record vise I bought in 1979, and it still is going strong.  I'm sure it will be just as good in 100 years.

Here's my Record vise:


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## BaronJ (Oct 10, 2018)

Hi Guys,

Its just popped into my head "Paramo" vise !  I just wish I could remember the other.
These were made from the same patterns as the Record ones, they just changed the name.


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## Dabbler (Oct 10, 2018)

OMG! when I was a very little tike I saw a Paramo vise (or a word much like it - maybe a 'panama'  I was pretty young) - thanks for bringing back a great memory of my Dad taking me to a shop somewhere - I had completely forgotten it!


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## eeler1 (Oct 11, 2018)

I find estate sales are often pretty good for old tools, especially hand tools.  Most old timers had a bench in the garage and had a vise of some sort mounted on it.  Sometimes they are not even priced separately and you can just make an offer based on your budget.  Newer suburbs may not be as productive, but it's a good bet that an estate sale in a rural are will have some type of old US made vise.


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## KBeitz (Jun 6, 2020)

Hman... 


	

		
			
		

		
	
The vise above is made by Stewart. I have two of them...


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## Dabbler (Jun 6, 2020)

Update...  I inherited a Record 6" vice for free.  Through a long series of giving it from one person to another, it ended up with me.  I intend it for my welding table...  It was a discard from a power plant and found outside.  Still a nice vice!

--- it seems I'm getting quite a few vises.  My 4" record is still my go-to workhorse.


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## Nogoingback (Jun 6, 2020)

Dabbler said:


> Update...  I inherited a Record 6" vice for free.  Through a long series of giving it from one person to another, it ended up with me.  I intend it for my welding table...  It was a discard from a power plant and found outside.  Still a nice vice!
> 
> --- it seems I'm getting quite a few vises.  My 4" record is still my go-to workhorse.




All we need are pictures now.  Of all of them.


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## Tim9 (Jun 6, 2020)

Keep your eyes open locally on. Craigslist for used USA vise. I’ve broken about 3 import vises over the last 30 years. And these were big vises.  USA vises still going strong. 
  Also...any shop closing tends to have an excess of vises.


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## Aukai (Jun 6, 2020)

Did I bring a knife to a gun fight? Not mine yet waiting on the owner....


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## ddickey (Jun 7, 2020)

Mr. Pete is making on of those.


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