Wilton vs Columbian Bench Vises TIPS 554 tubalcain 

There are very few people I would walk across the street to meet but Mr. Pete is a national treasure.

Mr Pete, please do not stop making these videos....your insight and knowledge is one of the main reasons that I never miss an upload. 👍

The Best Vise? Easy, its the one you have in the shop!

My choice would be one of each. They look great. Personaly I have the old British made RECORD Vise’s and they are really good.

Wilton, my grandfather had one on his bench his entire life, I have the vise on my bench It will be there till I die, and then my grandson will have it on his bench. He was a frugal man, a welder, he got the vise broken and free, he fixed the broken jaw with nickel welding rod to repair the casting, it has been in service for over 60 years since his repair, a testament to his skill. Miss you grandpa.

Lyle, I thought I was alone in remembering the old Earl Scheib commercials. I remember hearing them in Phoenix when I was in grade school in the late 1950's.

I like Record vices. Might be more of a UK item though. Also as a lefty most vices are mounted on the wrong edge of the workbench for me. At least mounted centrally everyone suffers.

Earl Scheib special , only I mask mine 🤣🤣🤣 great video, thanks

I was a forklift mechanic for thirty years and my boss bought me a new Wilton for my service truck when I started. The company went out of business and I bought that vice from the sale (I was the only one who ever used it and treated it like it was my own) I absolutely loved that vice, unfortunately I had to sell it a few years ago when I became ill. I now have a small OLD Sears (not Craftsman) vice that was gifted to me by a friend, it is nothing like that old Wilton but much better than the import junk or beaten up stuff you see at the auction these days.

Perfect video. “An Earl Scheib special….Only I mask it”…. Good one! I’m guessing you were/are a beloved shop teacher.

Please make more of these comparative videos. Who would have a better perspective on ordinary tools than an old H.S. chop teacher?

I once found a 6” Wilton 746 in great shape in front of a pile of old washing machines, chain link fence, lawnmowers and other assorted junk at a scrapyard and purchased it for all of $3! All it needed was the swivel base, and I was able to purchase a replacement directly from Wilton for $27. She has given me 4 years of fantastic service thus far and I expect many, many more. I watched the Fireball Tools vise test video and was shocked to see how poorly the Wilton vises performed in comparison with many of the others considering how fantastic mine has been.

I am glad you showed the proper way to mount a vise, and great restore. My favorite is the one that is closest and works. I have both in the shop.

Thanks Mr. Pete for all your videos. This is my second time watching this one.

I am spending way too much time spent trying to get caught up your videos. It is a heck of a legacy you have filmed. Thanks.

Both those vises are nice. I have both but prefer the Wilton.Thanks for the video Lyle 👍

I finished my little restoration of my Wilton this morning. I used the same color and brand of paint that you used. When I originally watched your vid I wasn’t sure what color to do. But I really liked the color you did so I went with it. Love it! I polished all the handles, straightened one handle and used a light coat of grease to put it all back together. Everything It’s so nice and smooth now. It’s like brand new. I don’t have a mill so I had to use a file to get rid of some of the old hammer marks. Polishing the handles took the longest. It just looks nice to have them polished. It wasn’t totally necessary to do it. Although with them polished they just slip and slide right thru their holes which makes everything feel fine. Thanks again for making this video. It was inspiring for sure.

Watch out for Abom the vice and oil can horder!

I have a 1955 4 inch machinists Wilton vise. LOVE it

Having taken high school shop in upstate NY, "Bubba" wasn't present in our shops,however,his Northern or Yankee cousin, "Primitive Pete" was certainly in attendance.

Great video sir! Sounds like you were and Industrial Arts teacher. We didn't have "Bubba" we had Primitive Pete.

Good video. My dad worked for a large highway construction and limestone mining company. Columbian vises were everywhere. I worked for a crane company and we had all reed brand. Never saw any failures at either company

Retired aircraft toolmaker here. I have used Starret, Wilton, Parker and many more. A quality vise is a joy to use, a cheep one is a pain in the back side. I own vises made from the late 1800s post vise to the 6 inch Wilton Bullet made in the late 1980s. At the moment I have 7 mounted and ready for use not counting several milling or drill press and electronic use vises. Some reflect decades of use, others I have rebuilt. My FAVORITE vise is a quality one. I do like the enclosed screw on the Wilton bullet because it is VERY dificult to damage. My post vises also have enclosed screws. The Starret is a similar design to the Columbia in your video. Funny though, the Columbia post vise I have does feature an enclosed screw... well when closed anyway. When open it has the screw exposed. As to the machining of the "anvil" section of the vises you showed, uh, I would have just kissed them with a file to remove high spots and left them alone. If I need an anvil I have 4 mounted and ready for use ( I teach blacksmithing on the side, no collection here, the tools get used!)

I always had cheap vises, I was lucky to get a Wilton from my buddies uncle who said it was junk. I took it home cleaned it up and has been working fine the past 3 years.

There was a 6" Columbian in the garage which I grew up with on the farm, and a 6" Wilton in the shop where I worked as an adult for 20+ years. Both great Vises. The Wilton had the Pipe jaws which made it more useful, but both vises did their jobs well.

Great video! I really enjoy watching all of your videos keep them coming!!!!!

There is nothing boring about any of your videos. I enjoy each and every one of them and by the way I have almost caught up watching them since finding your channel. I look forward to seeing the notification of a new video from you each time it pops up. Keep doing what you are doing

Teacher , I have many vices but lean to the bullet . Forty plus years ago I got a giant 8" bullet out of a dumpster pile of a government contract shop. Nothing wrong or broken just throwed out. Well my dad said keep it you'll never get another like it. He was right we need money and I sold it for $75. . Worst thing I've ever done and I've regretted it . But I have a 4-1/2 - 5 " bullet it's done plenty and still in great shape. My Parker vice I like also even have a 3" Colombia vice . My beater vice is a China swivel jaw I bought thirty plus years ago. Might be Taiwan not sure. Thanks Lyle I to have to many vices more then I mentioned.

I have worked in a pretty large Machine shop for 30 years. My father worked in the same machine shop from 1971 to 2004. All the large machines have Colombian 605's firmly planted to the floor via 5" round 3/8s wall tubing with 1" thick 10" round flanges on both ends making a very stout vice pedestal . During my tenure I have witnessed the strength of these 605s during normal heavy machining work and the Government jobs the machinist brings in from home. All the smaller machines have USA made 4" Yost's circa 70's throughout 80's vises. The Older Yost's are friggen fantastic vices as well. After years of using imported "heavy duty" vises for home use I decided I too am going to plant a 605 somewhere in my home shop. I'm to the point in my life I am done using inferior tools. I have had to look a little harder for decent old school quality tools but most of the time after you find them you have spent about the same for them versus a PRC pot metal piece.

I have a 5" Athol vice on a swivil base that I like. It's built like the Columbian vice. It's heavily built though one downside is that it doesn't have replaceable jaws. The jaws in my vice are in good condition and I do take care not to damage them. I've never been comfortable using the "anvil" on any vice. The vice material really isn't suited for it and the surface gets bashed up and damaged even if you are careful. What I do is keep a homemade anvil made from railroad rail next to each vice. The other thing you can do is go to Horror Freight and get one of the magnetic parts holders for $1.50 and put it on the vice's anvil pad. This gives you a place to put the small parts you are working on and reduces the temptation to smack the anvil pad with a hammer. I noticed that HF will have a 15lb bench anvil on sale for $15 with their 25% off coupon on Monday. It's cast iron, but for $15 if you bash it up you're not out much. Blacksmiths will complain that steel rail does't make a good anvil. That's true, but it's much better than beating up your bench vice. While you wouldn't be too happy with a rail "anvil" next to the forge, it does pretty good on the shop bench for cold working small material. Cheers from NC/USA

Another excellent edutainment video. I was glad to see you repaint the vises. They are now "restored".

Mr Pete I was indeed troubled by the fact that you did not mask off the anvils on these vices, only to promptly see them set up for machining! now we can sleep at night.

While painting, the screws were compared. The round washer shaped part with the notch cut out for the Wilton, I know that part of a vice as a "garter" 😁

Perfect subject and good intro.

I Really Love Both! But i also really like this very old Craftsman vise i have (Made in the U.S.) Thanks for Sharing Lyle, hope you and your Wife have a Wonderful day! God bless.

Those both came out nice Made in the USA who could go wrong with either, nice mill cutting on the anvil mr.pete. We do not know this Columbian we do know the Wilton one would have to live under a rock LOL, to not know that name. Nice video great lesson and share Lyle. Lance & Patrick.

To All my Old Shop Teachers - THANK YOU! Thanks for all your videos which I watch religiously. Brings back a lot of memories.

I am 63 and have never even seen a Wilton, except online. I grew up using my father's Columbian which we couldn't destroy as kids. Now I have my grandfather's Athol which I love. great video, keep goin!

Both look great would be proud to own anyone

The Wilton Tool Manufacturing Co. was at the Chicago location until the 1955 to 1957 time frame when they transitioned to the suburban Schiller Park, Illinois location in the metropolitan Chicago area. Vises were cast with either the Chicago or Schiller Park location on them and this can be helpful in determining their age. But the best method to determine production date is to remove the dynamic jaw, turn it over and wipe any grease to see a stamped date on the key-way. It is also possible that there will be “GUAR EXP” stamp instead of the date code. The Company started out by stamping, not casting, their vises with dates, but these were originally not manufacturing dates, but dates when the 5-year guarantee would expire. In other words, if your vise is stamped with 9-46, it was made approximately in September of 1941. However, it is possible to see where Wilton would run into trouble using this method. If there was ever a backlog of vises due to a recession then many would be sold later with a shorter guarantee period. As a result, Wilton changed their method at some unknown date (more or less in the 1960s). And, since that date, they started using actual production dates.

Another very entertaining video! I also have a Columbian and a Wilton. The deeper opening jaws on the Columbian come in handy a lot. The Columbian is the one I use the most.

I’m late to this party, but want to say how much I enjoyed this video. Thank you!

I enjoy these videos were you find a everyday shop items and go through it in detail. Love to see how they went about making things.

Love my Wilton, but also love just as much my big bad Chas. Parker... Nice video... Thank you

Have both and couldn't say ones better than the other ,both are great !!!

Not boring at all,really informative. Thanks

Excellent presentation as always.

I enjoyed the video, great info!!! Thank you

Really great video of both the Wilton and Columbian !. My dad had an old Columbian vise in his shop and I am going to disassemble it as you did, inspect and reassemble andcpait with all I learned today. Thank- you.

I have the exact same model Wilton Bullet.....and a big chinese vice with swivel pipe jaws. The Wilton is my favorite.

I really like the depth of that larger Wilton from your garage as well as the pipe jaws it has..that would be my favorite. On my bench is an old wilton bullet similar to the one you showed first. Thanks, Mr. Pete! :-)

Great video Mr. Pete! I have yet to come across one of those Wilton bullet vises in my price range. I'll struggle along with all the vises that can be found for a quarter the price: Reed, Prentiss, Columbian, etc. They seem to do the job for me.

I have my Dads swivel Colombian he bought in the late 40's. I remember him mounting it on the corner of the bench and trying it out by saying" we'll see what this is made of" and cold bent 1/2" bar stock 90 degrees with a hand mall. He was impressed.lol

I’ve had a Wilton for years! It works great in my shop and keeps the chips out!

THANK YOU...for sharing. No matter, just happy to have a vise. Earl would be proud :)

This is great always knowledgeable and helpful tooling and operation is so fascinating and the quality of workmanship that went into the production, keep up the good work, thanks from Minnesota....

I am grateful to have two old, beat up vises that came out of a weld shop, a Columbian and a Chas Parker, both are 4" size. Great video.

Thank you for the Wilton date stamp location. I have a used one I was always curious about how old it was I’m going to check tonight

Lots of great vises are/were made in the USA. Wilton, Colombian, Rock Island, Yost, Morgan, Craftsman, Barrett, Prentiss, Starrett. The list goes on an on. Love them all.

Interesting comparison. I have used my 6" Craftsman vice for years and it has served me well. I also have some cheap Harbor Freight smaller vices and they do well enough, but I can feel the difference. And "student proof" is definitely a good selling point for almost anything! Thanks.

Good ones. I have a Rock island 😊

I just checked downstairs. I have a four inch Parker #874 that can't be killed. Ive cleaned and greased it but your video has inspired me to paint it. Also I have a cute little three inch Colombian.

Great video I too am a man of many vises. I found a craftsman 05196 a few years ago, it is built like no other vises I've rebuilt in a few ways. I wish I could find more info about them.

Interesting video, thanks. I have a 4in Columbian vise sold under a Craftsman badge purchased in the 80's. Still going strong. My favourite vise is a Wilton wood work vise with a swivel front jaw and unique quick release mechanism. I love this vise for the design. The Craftsman gets most of the use in my shop. Dave.

Great comparison. I have a 20's vintage 3-1/2" Ridge vise (pre-Ridgid) that I recently restored. Very solid, well built vise.

I'd enjoy a wilton, we have 4 different size at work, all badly treated and neglected. I hope when they replace them I can accumulate 2 of them. I have old vices as does Mr Peterson. Dated from 1880 thru the 40's all work . Some hold up to abuse better. Good video!

Mr. Pete we had a wilton in our welding booth at work cant you imagine how many welds was on it but it still worked amazing.

I did enjoy the video! I do use the swivel feature often. I noticed a 5" Wilton in the trash can at a friends house, retrieved and refurbished it. Bubba had bent the screw, handle and swivel handle. The base was broken in 5 places. Now giving me good service on my second workbench in my garage. I do like Wilton.

This was fantastic. Thank you so much

He said let me know if these videos are too busy. , just as I was moving the screen closer to my face to study and listen closer. Incredibly interesting!!!

The Rust-oleum "hammered" paints give a nice OEM look to vises. My friend gave me a Craftsman vise that he refinished in Hammered Gray that l couldn't be more happy with.

I went back through your videos , on vise restore . Thank you for making these videos . I have just completely tore down my Columbian bench vise , and plan on a complete cleaning & painting . Thanks again , Mr. Pete .

Good video. I use whatever I am closest to.

Great video Mr Pete!!! You make the ordinary interesting! My favorite vice? I'm not fussy, I've had a bunch over the years. My coolest vice I just gave to my son so I don't have access to the manufacturer. I think it was sold by Montgomery ward in the sixties. Maybe 9 inches long with a flattop anvil, green. I've got a big Parker that I have repair, I'm also not a restoration guy. 🖖

I have a Columbian on my bench and I like it very much. I have never owned a Wilton bullet vice. Thanks for pointing out the pros and cons of both. I enjoyed this and learned something as well. Thank you.

A great comparison video. I have neither, but I have Columbia type vises.

I like them both.

Great video. Thank you.

I like the Columbian vises. The post office contacted me about the Bernard pliers that got lost in the mail...long story short, if they find the mini bernard pliers they will either get shipped to you or me, i'am not sure who. I really like my tubalcain shirt. Cheers! Joe

My favourite vise is my 150 mm French made Sambre et Meuse. This thing is at least 40 years old, indestructible and, contrary to you, I use the swivel base a lot :)

I liked what David Darnell said! I have a 4 1/2" Morgan, similar to the Columbian. It has been a great vise. I bought it at a yard sale 30 years ago. I also have a 3 1/4" Cheney Anvil & Vise No. 20 Pat. Nov. 18 1879. This was my Dads vise that he picked up in Chicago about 1930. It dose not have removable jaws. I have just drilled and taped holes and i'm in the process of making a couple jaws for it. Great video Lyle.

Love the detail and history in your video...

Both being excellent tools, I do like the styling of the bullet. I have a 3” Wilton and plan to make some soft jaws for it. I’ve been using aluminum angle “iron” for soft jaws and am tired of picking them off the floor 🤓

My two choices are the Wilton and the older Crown Craftsman Vices. My main two are a 5.5" Mechanics (with pipe grips) Craftsman Crown and a 5" Machinists Bench Top, also a Craftsman Crown. The two Wilton Vices I own are not mounted and more for on sight jobs than anything else. Great walk through Lyle and Great Freshening Up as well! Gave me the idea to face the Anvils on my two Craftsmen Vices! Another task to add to the ever growing list lol. So Thanks For That! lol Cheers! Zip~

My farther bought a Colombian vice back in the 1970 s It cost him in the $300.00 dollar range. It had a swivel base and pipe jaws. We still have it today.

I like angled offset jawed vices. Also like your comparison videos Mr Pete.

I've been collecting FPU vises and the art deco style Stanley clamp on vises. Just got a Stanley 766 3" vise from ebay that is in near new condition.

Great tutorial on vises but I had to laugh at the Earl Schieb reference except it was $99 when I was in high school and you are right,they didn't tape off anything. I had them paint my '68 Chevelle and I removed oversprat for weeks.

That's a tough choice Mr. Pete! I'm going to pick the Wilton partly because of the enclosed screw. The other thing is the finer thread. That's a curse when you have to move the jaws a long way. However, it's a blessing when you want to clamp something really tight. Being an old guy with more time than muscles, I think it's more often an advantage.

Nice job, I managed to dream the bottom swivel plate on Wilton 5” vise, and can’t find a replacement one.

Interesting comparison. Thanks for the adVICE.

I like my 5.5" Wilton tradesman vise that I got from industrial surplus, but I often see Colombian vises mounted on power company trucks.

I've got an old Record vice which I love - AvE also has one so they must be skookum!

Wilton all the way! Thanks Mr. Pete for all you do for us!! Take care!

I went to ISU same time as you, but went into industry and never taught. I admire your patience with the kids. I'm sure they learned a lot and many are probably following you on RU-vid. Great job finding interesting stuff to talk about.

Garden hose washers may fit your vise handles as pinch preventers. The red vinyl ones stretched over the ball on the Yost vise I used for years. It had hard smooth jaws that I far prefer.

Improper vice placement is a pet peeve of mine glad to I'm not the only one.

Oòoo you made the G clamps look like a heart xxxxxx

Got a 4inch bullet vise in my garage mounted on a tire rim base and steel pole in my shop

I have several Dawn vices all made in Australia Ihave a wood worker vice two enginers vices and two pipe vices in addition they made many outher products like sash or bar clamps g clamps post drills to name a few Ray