As you can see, this old guy came to me in a pretty sorry state. It’s a Wilton 9400 which means it’s a machinist vise with 4″ wide jaws. The handle had a huge, ugly ball welded to it, the swivel locks were missing the handles, the jaws were worn and the owner had stripped all the paint off, and left it that way. It wasn’t much to look at, but I could see through all of that and imagine it all fixed up, so I bought it it and haven’t regretted it for a second.
For those who don’t already know, the slide key on most Wilton vises has a date stamped on the underside to indicate the date the vise was ready for release (sale), but it isn’t exactly that simple. First off, the date stamp isn’t necessarily a manufacturing date because castings sometimes sat unused for months or years, so a vise could have been date stamped long after it was cast. In addition, Wilton history isn’t exactly crystal clear, so there is some debate about the details.
Most people seem to agree Wilton started making vises in 1941 and several sources indicate they were dedicated to government contracts, or companies with government contracts, until around the end of World War II. What seems to be certain is that from 1941 to early 1945 the vises didn’t have a date stamp on the slide key. Starting in 1945 the slide key would have a release date stamped into the key that generally coincides with when it was sold. A few years later, Wilton changed the date stamp, as well as how they advertised their product guarantee. Current data suggests that starting in late 1954 Wilton decided to stamp the date when the 5-year guarantee would expire, rather than when the vise was released for sale. They added “GUAR EXP” to the month and year date stamp on the slide key to indicate the change. This created some confusion, and enforcing/honoring the guarantee would have been challenging, since it added a qualifier that the vise wasn’t subjected to abuse, so Wilton ended the practice in 1960. In short, it now appears that the date stamp on Wilton vises is the release date unless the slide also has “GUAR EXP” on it. What is fairly certain is that if it has “GUAR EXP” the actual date of manufacture was five years prior to the date stamped on the slide key.
Back to this 9400, I was lucky because I didn’t have to do much stripping to get it down to bare metal. I got it all apart, did the last bit of cleaning/stripping, primed it, then painted it a hammered light blue which isn’t historically correct, but isn’t too different from original, and looks really nice. I added new OEM swivel locks from Wilton, a new set of amazing jaws and handle from Kevin at Wiltonviseparts.net and the final result is dead sexy! A while after I took these photos I decided I wanted to replace the modern swivel locks with historically correct locks that have a hexagonal lower section, so I ordered a set from Wiltonviseparts.net as well, and it was a nice finishing touch.
If you look closely at the pictures showing the jaws, you’ll see a rainbow of colors showing through. That’s the result of nitrogen introduced during the heat treating process the jaws go though after they are made. If you want jaws that will last for ages, get in touch with Kevin. Similarly, the handle material Kevin uses is far superior to what Wilton did, and you would really have to work to bend or break one of his handles.
In many ways this is one of my favorite projects because it’s so dramatically different from how it started out.
Beautiful Restore Job On The Vise!
I have a Wilton 9400 with 12-51 on the key.
What was the original color?
Hi Ken,
The topic of Wilton paint colors is always a bit contentious with folks. Every Wilton I’ve seen with original paint and stickers was some shade of green. Some had more of a gray tint, and others more of a blue tint, but always some sort of green. The problem is that all of them have some degree of fading after all these years, and I suspect they used paint from more than one vendor as I’ve seen two with original stickers that had close date stamps on the key and the color was obviously a bit different.
I have yet to find a stock paint that closely matched the early green/blue/gray colors. I have taken a vise with original paint and stickers to a shop to have the paint color-matched, but it was around $30 for a single rattle can and wasn’t really all that close. I have seen a color on current Jeep vehicles called “Anvil” that was pretty close….might be worth looking into.
Very interesting. I have a Wilton 9400 that I got out of my Grandfather’s tool shop. I know that he started the business in 1952 but often wondered the year of the vice. I couldn’t even finish reading this article. As soon as I read where to find the date I was taking it apart. Turns out to be pretty interesting wihen you read about the date stamp changes Wilton made. With a magnifying glass I clearly make out 6 15 54. That’s where it ends. There is no GUAR EXP stamp to be found. So this partially confirms the time when they started the GUAR EXP dating. Thanks so much for the information!!! Also for letting everyone know where to get replacement parts. I will definitely be ordering a set of jaws!
Hi Shane,
Thanks for the kind words and I’m glad I could help out with the date on your Grandfather’s vise!
I ‘inherited’ a Wilton 9400 HD vise when my Dad passed. The thing I’m curious about as far as dating it is that is has Schiller Park cast into the body. The key date has no mention of ‘guaranty” and the date is mostly worn off from lot’s of use. It says 6-30-55 or 65, can’t make it out due to the wear on the first digit of the year. Any ideas based on this info and the casting?? Thanks!
Hi Tom,
Wilton moved to Schiller Park in 1957, so yours is almost certainly stamped 6-30-65. A few years later Wilton did away with the standard 9400 model and all of the 4″ vises essentially became the HD model which weighs a bit more and has a larger spindle diameter (same as the 4.5″ jaw vises). Glad to hear you’ve still go your dad’s vise!
Still use it almost every day, thanks for the info!!! Now trying to get a hold of that guy Kevin for a new set of smooth jaws! Thanks once again!
Don’t delay on the smooth jaws….Kevin is retiring and has stopped making new jaws. He’s just selling what’s left in inventory and when they’re gone, they’re gone! That was a good reminder for me and I just ordered some jaws from him while there are a few left!
Hi, I have a 9400 vise. Is the 9300 swivel base fits the 9400? Thx
Hi Jim,
No, the swivel base from a 9300 is much smaller than you need for a 9400. There is a gentleman with the user name of “autopts” on eBay who sells complete swivel base assemblies a lot cheaper than most online sources, so it’s worth checking there.
Nice restoration. I have an early 4” Wilton that not date on the slide but on the fixed jaw. Date 1-45. I’ve done some research and I can’t find another one that’s been texting like that. Have you say that before?
Hi Dwayne,
I have seen quite a few vises without dates on the key. Some were worn away, some were missed by the factory, and even some had replacement keys, so it’s not all that uncommon. I can’t recall seeing a Wilton with a date stamped on the fixed jaw, but if it really was January of 1945 that would have been when they first started stamping them with dates and maybe they tried more than one location, or someone wasn’t sure where it was supposed to go. I have seen some other numbers on the body of the vise, but those were usually raised up, so part of the casting, and not a date, just a casting code. One thing is certain…you just never know what you might find on an old vise!
Sir,
I love your vice. I have a 9400 with EXP 1959. My jaws do not make contact with each other when closed. I am looking to find a replacement set that would be just a bit thicker. Any ideas on where and what I need to find. Thank you for your time.
Hi Jason,
Thanks for the kind words! Unless the jaws have been modified, or very badly worn, they should make contact when closed all the way. Just to be safe, I’d remove the slide and make sure that nothing is blocking the path of the slide in the body of the vise. I’ve even seen them with years of grease and dust back there that built up over time and was very hard to it felt like the slide was as far in as it should go. If that’s not the problem, or you need new jaws anyway, the only source I know for the correct size is http://www.wiltonviseparts.net. This era vise had jaws which were 1″ tall and Wilton hasn’t made them for many years. Good luck!
Nice resto. I have a vise that was my dad’s. My son broke the spindle assembly. Do you have any idea where I could find an assembly for the vise? It’s a 9400 like yours. Thanks. Charles James.
Hi Charles,
Sorry to hear about your broken vise! The first step in finding a replacement is determining if it’s the standard or heavy duty 4″ vise. The standard model had a 3/4″ diameter screw and the HD had a 7/8″ screw. Can you check and let me know? If it’s easier, you can send me a note at [email protected]
I have a wliton 9400 hd HD vise, the guar exp is 12/31/60.
It’s marked Chicago
Where can a swivel base be found?
Did these come with swivel bades?
The mounting holes are 5″ apart
It’s about 7″ in diameter on the base bottom
It has an A stamped below the number 9400
It is stamped B with a circle on the lower front bottom below the jaws,Jaws, raised numbers.
The the b stand for the style?
What the difference between HD and standard
Vises.
Hi,
Thanks for the note. Your 9400HD was available with or without a swivel base when new with no difference between them so you can add a swivel base to yours. The best source I know of for a new swivel base is a gentleman named Nick who sells Wilton parts on eBay under the user name “autopts”. He has a current listing for the base you would need right now and I’ll try to add a link below.
I don’t know what the B with a circle stood for, but most of the various letters and numbers on Wiltons were simply casting codes to track batches or molds during production.
The HD model had a heavier body and a larger diameter screw (7/8″) compared to the standard model. Before long Wilton stopped selling the standard duty version and since then all 4″ machinist vises are essentially the HD configuration. Here’s a link to Nick’s eBay listing (you may have to copy and paste it):
https://www.ebay.com/itm/402796034025?hash=item5dc883b7e9:g:Y6MAAOSwJnxgOAff
You did an excellent job on your restoration. I was wondering – can you tell me how much it weighs? I’ve been searching for an old Wilton and I’m trying to narrow my search to particular models. I like the 4″ jaws, but those models can be too heavy for me to move. Any help would be gratefully received. Thanks!
Hi Marian,
The 9400HD models like this weigh around 55lbs going off memory. You might consider either a C0 or 350S (9350 if it’s an older model) as they are much, much better than the imported vises you normally find and not terribly heavy. I have a 300S (3″ jaw) on one of my benches and it’s a really nice size for a lot of common tasks. What’s nice is the smaller vises don’t waste much bench space, so that’s a bonus. Good luck finding the right vise!