RESTORING A WILTON BULLET BENCH VISE pt 1  

That's an awesome video. I have a Wilton vise that I restored not too long ago. It was completely seized up. The guy that owned it before me goes to alot of auctions. He said he had bought it about 20 years ago. It was in a large batch of shop equipment. He wasn't interested in the vise. So it had sat outside for the entirety of him having it. IN THE WEATHER ON A SCRAP PILE. So you can imagine it's condition. It was completely seized up. It took a lot of heat and a large hydraulic arbor press to get it to separate. Anyway to keep a long story short it turned into my favorite vise in the shop. I believe it was stamped 47.

I came across my dad's old vise in a box in the back of my mom's garage. (My dad died in a motorcycle accident around 25 years ago.) He was a machinist and has a lot of tools I have no clue what they do. I'm just glad you made this video so I can get some information and have a better idea how to clean this old vise up and put it to use. I'm glad my mom didn't get rid of anything.

God bless old men who spend their time on sharing expirience with young people, I ve watched this with big pleasure, thank you very much. Have a long years!

Dang, what a beauty. I'd almost be inclined to just knock off the rust and use as is to preserve that original paint job. I like how you kept the bottle of "rust remover" with label facing away and didn't mention the name. If these companies want their products featured in your videos, they should be paying for it at this point.

Never get tired of vise videos! I prefer paddle switches on grinders also. I was trained early on in the trades by the old timers to NEVER set the grinder down with the wheel facing the bench or work surface. Always put it down with the wheel facing up so it can't take off on you. And, "unplug it when your not using it kid"! Your outtake was great. Done that myself more than once.....

Another gem Sir.

Well coffee and conversation with the wife came first then Mr Pete. I always like your historical background you give on the tool at hand. Thank you Lyle have a great day.

Tube, This is a great day! Glad to see you cleaning and painting some machinery. She’s gonna be a beauty.

Another great restoration from my favorite shop teacher. Wilton should have given your school brand new vises for those that bent. If they’d had that foresight users would still be bragging about Wilton’s superior quality.

Great video of a not over restored vise. Most of my tools are de=rusted, cleaned, oiled and used. I have two Wilton vises that are a common design, not bullet vises. Not a fan of China products, but I have a Wilton bench grinder that I found new in box at out local Habitat Restore for $15.00 plus tax. It is very quiet with no vibration. After turning it off, it takes 1 minute and 50 seconds to come to a stop.

Hi Mr Pete nice vises . My grandad used gas to clean the garage floor one day back in the 60's and had the doors open also the garage was empty all but the water heater and washing machine . so i was watching him mop the floor and was almost done when it lit on fire there was flames about foot high and he went running for the hose to wet the inside walls down as the flame got small and smaller and finely went out . next time he used dry soap and a broom . Thanks for the videos . JM

Only for professionals! I laughed hard and needed it today! I'm very interested about lubing that vise when you put it back together. I'm over you repainting it already. Good stuff sir.

I've the same philosophy on restorations--the so-called Defects of mold joints, casting sand fall-off, etc are part of the origins of the device, giving it character. And btw--you're still in your prime.

This channel is the best, thanks Mr. Pete.... great video

Gotta love those USA Wiltons!!! You have a beauty there my friend!

I enjoyed the out take Mr. Pete. I wish I could tell you that never happens to me, but then I'd be lying. Great looking vice, I am "wilton green" with envy over it.

That vise is in pristine condition besides the corrosion, it looks like it had very little use over the last 45 years. Great find in the motherlode of tools.

Beautiful, even unpainted. You could give that as a wedding present. Frank

Cheers, Mr Pete.

I’m with you on the level of restoration. These vises were made to be used. I like the simplicity of Wilton jaws. Very easy to make a few sets for special purposes. Usually I skip the dowel pin.

Grind off the flash…. Pfft! I agree. It is vise. A tool to be used to do work with. Nice video. All the best. Chuck

I just did a full restoration on my 1963 4-1/2" swivel bullet. Polished all the metal on a wheel, sandblasted primed and painted the rest. Filler primer made for a great finish. These are beautiful shined up or not, those 60,000 psi jaws were meant for workin!

Some people have vices but you, Mr Pete, have vises! Pretty neat tips on the rust remover, and how to date the vise, and casting lines. OMG.. those DeWalts are wrist breakers..you need to read the Safety card in your shop! LOL....

Nice video. May they stay made in America in the lovely state of Illinois. Alas, many of their brethren have decamped these shores. If you put washers on with the bottom of the stamping away from the vise's surface, they won't mar the paint nearly as much. You want the side *without* the burr touching the vise.

I remember when the community all helped build a Baby Bullet. I liked that vise so much that I hunted one down and overpaid but am glad that I have it now. Great to see you still doing it Mr. Lyle. You are a true classic sir!

I recently bought a Wilton 6" general purpose (beam) vice off amazon for ~$150ish. Made in China but it is pretty good. Certainly not up to the vintage US stuff, but it is solid. As a woodworker (lathe turner) it is really all I need in my shop. Not unhappy...

I have a 6" on my bench in the barn , bought it new many years ago at a tool resale shop. it has treated me well over many projects. Thanks Mr. Pete!

Happy Birthday Mr. Pete

Good morning Mr Pete. I have one in the shed waiting on a restoration at this very moment!

I now know a little more about a vice. I was working with my brother in law once on a car part we needed very tight in a vice. I torqued it as hard as I could and the cast iron body broke. Didn't realize I was so strong or the vice was junk. Probably the latter. Thanks for the nice video.

I have several Wilton vices and I love them. Thanks for the video!

Thank you for sharing. Very much enjoyed it. Nice vise.👍👀

Love my wilton vise and drill press , great products

Still have my 4” Wilton Tradesmen that I bought new in 1980. I was a little hard on it and broke the clamp dogs inside the swivel base. Lol, I threw the swivel base out in disgust. Fast forward to 2020 and after moving I decide to mount the vice on a new bench. Kind of curious I get online and start searching around, end up on Wilton’s website and low and behold they have the swivel base assembly for vice available as a replacement part. I went ahead and ordered it because I kind regretted throwing out the old one. Plus having the vice mounted on a bench which is up against the was it’s very handy to be able to swivel the vice.

My first angle grinder was a black Black and Decker like yours. I used mine for 20 years before it burnt out. I never had an issue with the paddle switch cause I always laid it on its side or upside down. Also Wilton vises if any good sell high at auction around here.AL B.

Nice job and nice vise! Your spirit is GREAT!! Hope all is well with your health. Thanks for ALL the videos! At the end, lefty= loosey, righty = tighty! HA!

It is always easier to correct the rotation direction than it is to check it first. Thanks for the great video.

I have the same model made in 64. It the best vice I own.

I use Coffee Filters to filter my gas. You can see lots of little fine particles of something in the coffee filter after straining gas through one.

During my naval shipyard career, we were sometimes sent out to the "Mothball Fleet" to service dehumidification systems. Every ship had complete metal shops: machine, welding, fabrication, sheet metal, etc. Every work bench had a Wilton vise bolted to it. Sadly (depressingly), most of those ships were used as target practice and those gorgeous metal shops all went to the bottom with all the machines and tooling.

I want one of these... loved the video.

Awesome Mr Pete. Always nice to see you

Thanks for keeping the Wilton sticker intact! I've restored a few of various sizes and have four in service including a swivel jaw from the 1960s. Wilton moved to Schiller Park in 1957. Sadly, their Tradesman model is now made in Taiwan.

I have one like the small one you have. Top of the line vise!! If you ever sell those hope you do Pete bay!!! That one is worth 600 or probably a lot more.....

Great Saturday morning to you Lyle!

Thanks for your efforts🤗😎🤗😎

Wilton still makes vises in the US, but they also have a lower priced line made in China. I believe both are available on Amazon.

Great video Lyle, especially the Corrigan scene. That's something that I would do (on a far to regular basis). Thumbs up for sure.

Good stuff thanks for sharing Mrpete

I would consider this vise practically new! great find and lovingly restored. I love Wilton, think they are the most beautiful with all those curves and very organic looking, no abrupt cutoffs or squared ends, just clean continuous lines seamlessly joining and ending in curves. Did not imagine the vise to be that big for a 4". I personally prefer the older wiltons from the mid 1900s as they had a more bulbous globe like shape on the bottom of the removable jaw, just amplified the beauty of the vise.

Good Morning Mr Pete! Hope your keeping cool and dry!

Nice outtake

Nice vice.Thank you.

Thanks for the video.

You are indeed a man with many vises...............

Good stuff! I'm like you, tools are for using, not for painting like a 57 Crown Vic. I do like the Wilton, but I'm in the wrong place to find them for a decent price. Maybe someday! I did the paper towel trick on a flat surface and found that the pattern of the paper transferred very nicely onto the flat surface. :/

cant wait for part II

Wonderful video! I restored the holy grail of Wilton bullet vises (800N) last fall after looking for one for about 15 years. What a beast! I checked the build date and it was 1996 which was a lot newer than I would’ve guessed when I first got it.

I always liked your long and "boring" videos, but the short-format for the modern ADD viewer is okay too, just keep doing what you do and we'll keep being edutained. Thanks for all you do.

Looking great! (I mean both the repairman and the vise! Greg

Thanks Mr. Pete. I just happen to think about the applying the oil after it come out of the chemical. It a lot like when you use gun blueing.

Thanks for sharing 👍

Thanks for the very nice video.

Great video work and explanation. You remind me of my Industrial Arts instructors.

I have the wilton pipe vise..Bought it used for 100.00...I never took it apart. Might be my new project . Thanks.

Those restorations you mentioned I call "son of the owner restoration" when the factories will take aside one unit and made them cosmetically perfect. :)

I have a three inch I bought at a rummage sale. It's missing one jaw insert. Need to restore it. Thanks for the video MrPete.

NICE!!!

Talking with someone the other day, we believe that Wilton named their vise appropriately. Wilton- cause you “Wil” pay a “ton” for one 😉

Thanks Mr Pete !! (You have gotten a lot of use from the microwave turntable )

Top of the morning!

The representative sounds like a salesman, not a manufacturing representative. But either way, he definitely left an impression. Fortunately for the Wilton company quality trumped character. Al always I totally enjoyed your video ... Thanks for Sharing ... Stay Safe and Well ....

read somewhere , I think a Wilton vise research web site , that the dates on the older vises were the expiration dates of the 5 year warranty ......so its actually 5 years older than whatever date is stamped

Cool STUFF Lyle. I have an old Huge Vice. Of about 50 Lbs that I need to restore.. Mike M.

Very nice vise well worth the effort to clean up. Nice shirt. Boy I have never done that before. LOL

The Outtake. ... 9.3 on the execution, but you stuck the landing !!

Bubba says hey I still have mine in the shed out behind the barn Bubba likes the last seen

lol, I was at your gasoline crack, you said but gas is too expensive. I paused the video, chuckled and told my wife (who LOVES listening to your videos) that I was going to have to read the comments now, that using gasoline as a solvent is sure to yank more than a few chains. Unpaused the video and you said just kidding, of course you NEVER use gasoline as a solvent...Hah! The leaded stuff worked best!

I believe they moved in early 50’s. I just did two Wiltons using the same process, just clean and paint. They look original and have been put back into service.

Love your gloves while using the rust remover!!please mr Pete mill the flat part of that vice and take off Bubbas signature PLEASE ty

That vice is in very nice condition for its age. Hope you did not damage your wrist and hand when you were using the drill, it looked quite violent.

Mr Lyle, I thought I had a lot of vices.......wishing you an wonderful weekend , give your wife a hug for me........Paul

Some Wilton vises still have "Made in U.S.A." in/on the casting (Bullets in particular).

as more and more goes digital so too does my appreciation for your channel and these analogue tools. hope that drill didnt cause you any injury at the end clip, take care sir

I love the older Dewalt drills before they put the torque limiters in.

Wrong way - Corrigan 🤣🤣🤣 Hope you didnt get hurt 😉

Mr Pete you have a back for performance which is needed

Funny outtake at the end. One of the downsides of using the power tool. :-)

Wow ! 🙂🙃😉

Nice vice. Use an impact for bolts so it doesn't spin your arm off. I know because I have done it too many times.

These Wiltons are tragically beautiful. Every time I see one for sale near me, its always in well-worn condition and they usually have an asking price of at least $300 despite needing a few dozen hours of restoration. What a shame some old tools will be reclaimed by the earth through oxidation instead of being restored.

What a score! If there is a better vise I have never seen one. Same with the grinder. Have you priced either lately? Astronomically compared to my time, but what isn’t?

Better than oil - use a industrial hot air dryer to dry and apply paraffin wax.

The Wilton is, in my opinion, the best vise made in the USA. Have you had any contact with a German made LEINEN or BOLEY vise with dovetail guide? I would be very interested in your opinion. Best regards from Germany...

Nice job, Mr. Pete! I think I would have cleaned up the anvil part of that vise if I had a mill handy, Have you looked at what those vises sell for? At least what people are asking?? Holy ****!

Wow! Is right. Righty tighty lefty loosy.

you can just use the rust remover on a rag with plastic wrap over it too.

I'm sure many people have made that mistake in the outtake before. Even worse with brushless drills these days. Take it easy on your wrist Lyle :P

My neighbor worked for caterpillar they were throwing their vises out no reason why he brought a couple home and gave me one the one I have is identical to the one you are working on but has no marking on the body no rust and in good condition works good but very stiff hard to turn handle any suggestions on how to make it easier to turn

Hope your wrist is OK. Made mine hurt to watch it!🤣