I stopped by an estate sale late on a Friday on my way home after work, and found this little gem of a Wilton 935 still bolted to a workbench where it had obviously been for decades. Usually you have to get to an estate sale very early if there are any good vises available, and this estate sale had been advertised pretty well in advance, so I had little hope of finding anything, but it was right along my way so I figured it was worth a shot. This estate sale had a LOT of tools and the barn out back was packed even at the end of the first day. There were three or four old vises originally, and someone had purchased a very large Parker 976 before I got there, but this was the vise I was hoping to buy, so it all worked out.
The estate sale was being run by family members who were surprised I was buying the little Wilton 935 and didn’t even try to negotiate. I told them I like to restore vises and then they started asking me questions about it. I showed them pictures of my prior work that I have saved on my phone and they were really interested, to the point of quietly asking me about pricing on the Parker 976 they sold as well as the other vises they had for sale. This Wilton had been bolted down so long it didn’t want to come off the bench and we actually had to take a chunk out of the bench to get the last bolt free!
A few details about this little guy that are interesting. Wilton started making vises in Chicago in 1941. They stayed there until moving outside of the city, to Schiller Park, Illinois in around 1957 (sources say it was a gradual move). The vises made in Chicago are getting harder to find in good condition, and other than cosmetics, this one was actually quite nice. Another tidbit about Wilton vises is that if you unscrew the dynamic jaw (the one that moves) all the way, and flip it upside down, you’ll normally find a date stamp on the flat key that runs along the bottom. This vise was marked 7-51, which means July of 1951, but that isn’t the actual production date, that is the released for sale date. That means the vise was final assembled and ready to ship when they stamped the date. The main parts could have been cast weeks, months, or even years prior. Regardless of when the parts were cast, it was sold around the middle of 1951 and I found it in the summer of 2016, so it had been in service for roughly 65 years and still worked like it was supposed to. That’s pretty impressive for any tool!
I stripped it down to bare metal, primed it, painted it, replaced the acorn nuts with stainless steel versions, replaced the jaw screws with stainless hex drive bolts and smoothed the top of the 3.5″ wide jaws with a flap disc to get rid of some welding spatter and file marks. About the only thing I didn’t do was try to get rid of the pitting on the handle and spindle. I could have replaced the handle, but in this case I thought it better to keep it since it was original and wasn’t bent. Sometimes looking pretty isn’t as important as originality and I try to balance the two whenever I’m working on the older vises. As I described it to someone else, this old girl girl just needed a new dress and someone to take her to the dance. I think there’s a good chance this vise will be around for another 70 years!.
I have the sister of you 935 also dated 7 51 and was wondering why you chose the color you used? My handle is slightly bent and don’t know how to separate the handle from the spindle. I’m also interested in your choice of hex screws for the jaws and how finish the unpainted parts. Any advise would be appreciated.
Thanks
John McCarthy
405 249-7301
Hi John,
Sorry for the delay, I must have missed this. I honestly don’t put too much thought into color. I’ve tried to match the color I’ve found on some early Wiltons and never really felt it was close to the original, so I stopped trying. For this vise I picked a hammered light blue that isn’t really that close to what Wilton used, but I thought it looked nice, and was at least in the blue/green range that Wilton used. As far as straightening the handle, you can do that using a press without removing it from the spindle if it’s not bent significantly. I have two blocks with a bit of a channel cut in them that I set the handle in, rotate it until the high side is up, then lower the press ram slowly and go just a bit past level because the steel will spring back somewhat.
If you have to remove the handle, you have to grind material off the end of one of the balls until you see the round shank of the handle. At that point you can put the handle in a vise vertically, and have the jaws support just the ball end on the handle while you drive the handle out of the ball with a drift. That will require you to weld the ball back on when you reassemble the handle onto the spindle. I like to use a Tig welder and just add a touch of filler rod while running the arc around the ball end where it meets the shank of the handle. After that I smooth it with a flap disc on a grinder and then polish it with a unitized wheel on a grinder and if you didn’t know what to look for, you’d think it was original.
I use staines hex bolts for the jaws as the most common problem I find on old Wiltons is jaw bolts rusted in place. A unitized wheel or a non-woven abrasive wheel on a grinder will do a good job of polishing the undated parts of a vise.
nothing too it. I rebuild vises at work in my spare time. (I work Maintenance at GE Aviation). Unscrew the 3 screws near the handle and then lift the “c” clip out. Hold the jaws together while unscrewing the Main screw. you can buy new main screws from Irwin tool. for the base clamps I use HSS drill Blanks then hear the ends and compress them in another vise or arbor press or a flat surface and heavy hammer works too
My neighbor is moving ..I offered to buy the Wilton 935 vice in excellent condition body wise..just needs cleaned and painted..I won’t sell it ..any idea what it is worth? If I decide to leave it outside I will definitely build a box cover for it..I seen what new ones are worth..wow
Thanks Ed
Hi Ed,
Value really varies a lot with condition. If you have pictures of it I might be able to give you a better idea of what it’s worth. If you use the Contact tab you can send me a note and I’ll respond with my direct e-mail where you can attach pictures.
Hey this is Ed ..with vice 935
Hey this is Ed ..with vice 935 [email protected]
Ed
Can you please help me out with the value of this Vice? My grandparents passed away and a lot of people are asking me for this.
I can’t attach a picture here please
Email me
Hi Crystal,
You can send me a note through the “Contact Me” section, but I’ll try to reply to your CL ad.