# Wilton 3" Vise Project



## 2manyhobbies (Dec 18, 2011)

All this talk of model Wilton vises got me interested in them, but rather than build a model I decided to pick one up a used one and clean it up a bit. I purchased this 3" model 9300 Wilton vise on ebay. I disassembled and bead blasted all the components prior to priming and painting. It was missing the back "plug" so I made a new one, machined off the cast surface behind the fixed jaw, and replaced the nuts with "quick swivel" levers. Not as involved as making a new vise from castings, but I really needed a small sized bench vise.
Brad


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## lazylathe (Dec 18, 2011)

WOW!!!!
It looks like it is brand new again and ready for another 50 years of duty!!!

Excellent work!

Andrew


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## johnmcc69 (Dec 20, 2011)

Nice job, those are fun little projects. Kind of 
"cheap" & "easy", but it makes you so proud when you finish it.

What did you use for paint?

John


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## 2manyhobbies (Dec 20, 2011)

Thanks for the kind words!

The paint is Rust Oleum Hammered finish 7218 Dark Bronze. To me the color looks to be more of a gray than bronze.

http://www.rustoleum.com/CBGProduct.asp?pid=180

Brad


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## johnmcc69 (Dec 20, 2011)

Thank you 2manyhobbies,

 I have an old Kennedy tool box project that will look
Great in that color.

 Whats your next project?

John


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## Lamachina58 (Dec 20, 2011)

That is what got me excited about building one! Nice restoration and I am wondering if that back nut holder was pinned in place? Did you look up the history of the vise? Neat story.
Good job!


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## 2manyhobbies (Dec 20, 2011)

Well this was kind of an aside from what I am working on: a 1/5 scale 25 hp F/M engine which I would say is about 75% complete. Today I finished making the connecting rod. I still have a few more details to make along with turning the flywheels and making the cooling tank (which should be a challenge for me.) 
Every once and a while I have to do some of the small projects to get some immediate results to keep me motivated! The last quick hitter project was cleaning and repainting an old pot belly stove ash tray ( I didn't take a picture of that one.)


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## 2manyhobbies (Dec 20, 2011)

Lamachina58  said:
			
		

> That is what got me excited about building one! Nice restoration and I am wondering if that back nut holder was pinned in place? Did you look up the history of the vise? Neat story.
> Good job!



I did not read about the history of the vises (yet).
The back nut holder was pinned in with two opposing pins roughly 3/16"dia x 3/4" lg with a fine straight knurl on about 1/2 the length. Looking back I should have taken a picture with everything disassembled. Maybe next time. I am usually pretty bad about taking pictures to document my work.
Hope this helps,
Brad


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