# How Old Is My Baby??



## Susan_in_SF (May 3, 2018)

Hi guys,
I recently bought anot her vise to add to my mountain of vises - a baby bullet vise.  I originally thought this vise was really old since it says Chicago on the body instead of Schiller Park.  However, when I opened up the vise to see the date stamp, it says 173.  Since it doesn't say "guarentee" or "gar," I would interpret 173 to mean it was made January 1973.  However, Wilton moved from Chicago to Schiller Park 1957.  Is my baby a Frankenvise?  How old is my baby??






Thanks everyone :')
Susan


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## Ken from ontario (May 3, 2018)

I don't know the age but even if it's a 1973  vise ,to me that's old  ,anyhow it's a cool looking vise and a great find.


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## Dave Paine (May 3, 2018)

I also do not know the age of your vise, but I do love Wilton Bullet vises.  One day I will get one if I can find one for a decent price.

Your vise looks very nice.   A good purchase.

I have a Wilton Columbian style bench vise sold under the Craftsman name.    I was frustrated that I could not lock this vise to prevent from swiveling under load.   Showing my solution in case this is of future use for your vise.

My original locking screw looks very similar to yours.  The front part of the vise removed for this picture.




I replaced the original hardware with carriage bolt and all-thread coupler nut.  You may need to file the sides of the carriage bolt to get it to fit in your slot.




I needed the height of the coupler nut so I could use a normal wrench to tighten the nut.  At the time I made this modification I did not have a mill to remove metal from the bottom radius.  This is working much better than the original hardware.


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## Susan_in_SF (May 3, 2018)

Dave Paine said:


> I also do not know the age of your vise, but I do love Wilton Bullet vises.  One day I will get one if I can find one for a decent price.
> 
> Your vise looks very nice.   A good purchase.
> 
> ...


Very nice!  Thank you for the helpful info.  I probaby will need to refer back to your reply when I get to working on it


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## Eddyde (May 3, 2018)

I doubt the number is a date stamp but it is a very nice vise! You can try to contact Wilton and ask them? Some companies are good at relaying this type of info, others not so much... It's worth shot.


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## Charles Spencer (May 3, 2018)

Dave, I'm gonna do that with my vise.


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## Tozguy (May 4, 2018)

Dave, just so I understand your modification, it allows you to use a long handled wrench on the coupler nut for more torque?
Would using a bolt with a finer thread have any merit?


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## Dave Paine (May 4, 2018)

Tozguy said:


> Dave, just so I understand your modification, it allows you to use a long handled wrench on the coupler nut for more torque?
> Would using a bolt with a finer thread have any merit?



On my vise I did not have clearance for the diameter of a regular nut and even it I had filed off some of the vise for clearance, I would not have been able to use the ring end of a wrench and the open end would have limited movement.

The coupler nut solved both issues, it is thinner wall so smaller diameter, and the length of the nut allows me to use the ring end of the wrench.

I recall a thread some weeks ago on the pros and cons of coarse vs fine thread.   Some folks feel coarse thread can take more load since the thread is deeper, some folks feel fine thread can take more load since more length of thread engaged.

For this application I do not think any difference between coarse and fine thread.   When I did this modification I was trying to use purchased hardware.   At the time I had metal lathe but not a mill or hex stock to make a nut.


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## dennys502 (May 4, 2018)

This is something I copied from a webpage of a person who restored a vise. 

You can tell the age of the vise by looking at the bottom of the guide rail (with the vise opened wide).  As can be seen, it is stamped with 4-53.  Wilton provided a 5 year warranty on their vises with the expiration of the warranty stamped on the vise, so this vise was made in April of 1948. 

And a link to the page.  http://www.instructables.com/id/Restoration-of-Wilton-Bullet-Vise/


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## Dave Smith (May 4, 2018)

Susan--that is a very nice vise you have added to your mountain of them--we would really like to see a picture of all your vises--we all have many vises of all sizes and would enjoy seeing yours--Dave


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## vocatexas (May 4, 2018)

There is a long thread at Garage Journal about Wilton vises. Some of those guys are very knowledgeable about them. I'm sure if you posted there you could get it dated.


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## Susan_in_SF (May 7, 2018)

Dave Smith said:


> Susan--that is a very nice vise you have added to your mountain of them--we would really like to see a picture of all your vises--we all have many vises of all sizes and would enjoy seeing yours--Dave


Hi Dave,
My 1 car garage shop is still under construction, lol.  However, I think I am near the end of adding vises to my collection.  I am right now in "negotiations" with a seller who doesn't realize how valuable his vise is.  The seller is 350 miles away.  The vise is probably the longest bullet vise made.  Fortunately, I have a friend who lives near the seller who will pick up the vise for me.  The vise is 32 inches long, has 6" jaws, is hydraulic, and COMES COMPLETE WITH HYDRAULIC PEDAL!!!!   Yes, my 1 car garage, where I can barely squeeze through to get to my washer and dryer, can totally accommodate a 32" long vise.  I will post pics once I have it.  I will probably keep it for bragging rights until I should need emergency money.  I am sure this will sell fast on Ebay.  The vise is a WiltOmatic.


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## Susan_in_SF (May 7, 2018)

Thanks everyone.  I appreciate all friendly comments and info.  After some further research, I now can say my baby bullet was made in 1973.  Turns out that, when Wilton moved from Chicago to Schiller Park in 1957, they had a ton a baby bullet body castings already made.  So, they continued to used these premade castings that said "Chicago," even though the vise was assembled at Schiller Park. Hense, this explains why almost all baby bullets will have Chicago imprinted on its sides (some will say "Schiller Park," but they are less common than the "Chicago" babies.


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## Ray C (May 7, 2018)

All I can say, is that's the cutest little baby (vise) I've ever seen!

Ray


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## olcopper (May 7, 2018)

I agree, that's a pretty baby Suze!
olcopper


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## markba633csi (May 7, 2018)

Just make sure the dingo doesn't eat your baby (vise) LOL
Mark


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## dlane (May 7, 2018)

I have one just like it, I’m older


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## Silverbullet (May 7, 2018)

I have his bigger brother and at one time I had the giant gran daddy 8" , but needed money and sold it God I wish I still had it . But my 6" will do .


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## dlane (May 7, 2018)

Here’s mine next to the Reed


But the Reed looks like this now, and the baby might get a face lift eventually 


Got a small Columbian  vise today $15.00


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## Susan_in_SF (May 8, 2018)

Well, there is now a slight delay in getting that WiltOmatic vise.  I ran into a cute, yet powerful, horizontal mill at a deal of a price.  It is from the tool room of some corporation that closed down.  I have a 1977 Jet mill drill, and have been wanting a horizontal mill for awhile.  The seller accepted my $500 offer for the mill, arbor and cutters.  I have til the end of the week to pay him.  I have come to the point where I can no longer have the best of both worlds.  I kept on saying I would somehow be able to have a full woodworking and metalworking workshop in my 1 car garage.  I originally was focused on woodworking, then I got bit by a metalworking bug where I bought more machinery than that was physically possible to fit in my garage.  Given this realization, and the fact that I offered $500 when I only have $200 right now, I will have a Craigslist and ebay sell off of woodworking stuff, and some metalworking stuff.  One item I will mention here.  Maybe one of you guys would want to buy it, or maybe not.  I think it has the potential to be a little valuable.  It is a vintage gooseneck lamp that was specially made to clamp onto a metal lathe carriage and ride along as the carriage moved towards the spindle.  According to my old friend who gave me this lamp, and a million other things, the lamp originally was sold with a South Bend 10.  I don't know if it was the 10 heavy or light.   I searched everywhere online, and only found 1 picture of a similiar lamp.  So, if you want to buy this unique and rare old lamp, have PayPal, and want to help me raise money so I can buy that Multi Miller 1940's horizontal milling machine, please send me a private message.  I can also send you a long list of other things up for immediate sale and shipping, including Kurt brand spring loaded parallel keepers for 6" Milling vises, and a NOS, never used Airlux welding fume eliminator (source capture).  Here's your chance to get it before it goes on Ebay.   Thanks


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## benmychree (May 16, 2018)

Here is a close cousin of the tiny vise; it has a 2" jaw, and has the Chicago address and what would seem to be a date stamp, which is 6  15  64, I also present my "piggyback" mounting, which fits over the lower vise's (also a Wilton, but not "bullet") jaws; this raises it up to a level that particularly suits it for fine work, at a reasonable eye level without stooping over too much.


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## Susan_in_SF (May 20, 2018)

benmychree said:


> Here is a close cousin of the tiny vise; it has a 2" jaw, and has the Chicago address and what would seem to be a date stamp, which is 6  15  64, I also present my "piggyback" mounting, which fits over the lower vise's (also a Wilton, but not "bullet") jaws; this raises it up to a level that particularly suits it for fine work, at a reasonable eye level without stooping over too much.


I like that setup!  Anything to help me with my back is a blessing


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## benmychree (May 20, 2018)

Your back, and MINE!  I'm just getting over a bout with back problems (again)


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## jdedmon91 (May 21, 2018)

Dave Paine said:


> I also do not know the age of your vise, but I do love Wilton Bullet vises. One day I will get one if I can find one for a decent price.
> 
> Your vise looks very nice. A good purchase.
> 
> ...



I too don’t have a Wilton vice, I picked this small one up at an auction, made me some aluminum soft jaws for it. Here is the video of it 





Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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