Vintage Wilton vise and Atlas drill press resto

[Stevehose]

My neighbor gave me his work bench so obviously it leads me to needing a vise. A vintage one of course. Not knowing a damned thing about vises, off to Craigslist and Facebook marketplace I go. Discovered the Wilton bullet style-very cool looking. Want. Apparently there is quite a collector following for these. Many for sale but not cheap. Stumbled upon one on FB that the PO painted everything flat black and priced right. Looked promising to this blind squirrel. Off to the Garage Journal forum for some research. Apparently this is a 1940’s model. Purchased it even though it was frozen. As found:

Paint stripped and disassembled for cleaning:

Forum experts tell me I have a rare pre-war casting, all Wilton vises during WW2 were sold to the govt for war effort. Cast in 1941-1942 based on markings. After the war ended they sold surplus to the public. Original jaws. Mine was sold in Jan 1946:

So I disassembled, cleaned, primed, painted, satin cleared, greased, and bare metal dressed with boiled linseed oil. Smooth as butter after 80 years. American iron. Weighs 40lbs. B-17 livery as an homage to it’s cast period. Lights make it look more glossy than it is. I’ll be putting it back in use keeping the E9 on the road!

There’s also a date stamp on the anvil pad, 2-18-1946, apparently this is when the purchasing company put it into service. Fun stuff!

 

[JMinPDX]

Now we’re talking. So cool. Looks like it came out of Harley Earl’s GM Styling Section.
Nice work!

 

[dave v. in nc]

Most excellent restoration...great vise, love the color

 

[Stevehose]

Looks like it came out of Harley Earl’s GM Styling Section.

Yes - form and function meets Mae West. This was fun to do, I might find the "baby" 2" version of this vise and paint it like a P-51D hah.

 

[Dick Steinkamp]

I might find the "baby" 2" version of this vise ...

You can never have too many vices!

 

[eriknetherlands]

Nicely done! Cool to know it's history.

You might want to invest in some aluminium jaws for the vice. The convenient ones have strong magnets to keep them in place.

Very handy if you want to clamp, for instance a thread without damaging it.

I make my own from a piece of angled stock and a screw on magnet. I replace the alu part every few years as it gets gnawed.

I also enjoy the rotating base under my vise, as it allows you to better position your body relative to your workpiece .

 

[Stevehose]

You might want to invest in some aluminium jaws for the vice.

Agree, Wilton still makes copper ones that fit so I ordered a pair of those.

 

[Ohmess]

Very cool. I've been looking on and off for a bullet vice for a couple of years now. Unfortunately, you need to find them locally as the ones for sale nationwide are very pricey. I probably should ask some of the family back in Wisconsin to help out in the search since the Wiltons were made in Chicago.

 

[CSteve]

Given their age and beauty and practicality I would love to see an exhibition of tools like your vice. Something for MOMA to put up? Anyone here have any connections with museum curators?

 

[jefflit]

My wife doesn't allow my vices in the kitchen. Lucky man.

 

[autokunst]

I have a newer Wilton vise on the bench in Raven's Nest, but have always lusted after an earlier, bullet model. This thread has thrown gasoline on that idea.

 

[Stevehose]

Very cool. I've been looking on and off for a bullet vice for a couple of years now. Unfortunately, you need to find them locally as the ones for sale nationwide are very pricey. I probably should ask some of the family back in Wisconsin to help out in the search since the Wiltons were made in Chicago.

yes, this was made before they cast Chicago into the bodies, later Schiller. I am presently up in central NJ, between Philadelphia and Newark, lots of old manufacturing in this area so I figured it is better hunting than in FL which would require the vise to be lugged down there vs thrown out locally. I’m now on the hunt for a vintage bench drill press because, you know, I need one

 

[Stevehose]

Finished the vise and now mounted on my bench. Who knew they make repop decals for these things? Had to get one. Copper soft-jaws also arrived.

This old tool resto stuff is fun, so now I’m moving up in class with this 1946 Atlas drill press. I bought it for $60 from the original owner’s grandson. It’s so freakishly cool with it’s War Of The Worlds art deco design:

For those wondering, the setting is my daughter’s kitchen this time It has no “arc of shame” which I’ve learned is drill press lingo for no one drilled through the table along it's axis. He said it works fine but the switch has been broken for ages so it starts when plugged in. I took an hour today to fix it by drilling the rivets to disassemble, cleaning and bending the contacts back in place, regrease, and replaced the crusty old cardboard internal insulator with thin plastic gasket material. The bakelite insulator is in perfect shape and the "Hurst 4-speed" ball head switch is also brilliant in its design and now works as new. Before and after pics:

I removed the pulley guard to asses whether to repaint the entire press 1940’s hammered silver/pewter (WW2 era Mercedes/Auto Union look), try to match the paint, or leave the patina. So I punched out the press screws (never seen these before) from the back side and freed the metal emblem to reveal the original color, a green/grey not too far off from one of the E9/E3 air cleaner colors:

I cleaned half of it to compare and it has come back so nicely I am considering the patina look. Looks like 77 years of cigarette smoke and diesel fumes preserved it pretty well. What would you do?

This drill press is original and in amazing condition the more I inspect it.

Came with original chuck tool!

Next up for analysis is the late 30’s - early 40’s Sears Kenmore 1/3 hp motor (actually made by the Sunrise/Packard company) that powers it. These machines are built like tanks. I will clean and de-rust the metal, inspect the bearings in both the press and the motor but I won’t be surprised if re-lubing is all they need. I’m going to clean out, rebuild, and repaint the motor.

 

[autokunst]

Love the patina. What a great find.

 

[rsporsche]

looks great Steve ... i think you need to repaint it e9 air cleaner gray or csi air cleaner green / gray ... maybe a combination of the two

 

[Stevehose]

Love the patina.

Me too as I progress. When I bought it I figured a full resto/repaint was in order like I’ve seen in various Youtube videos. Now not so sure.

 

[jmackro]

You guys are making me feel guilty about selling a couple of my father's old tools on Craigslist earlier this year. I had his old Chas Parker vise and a 1960's era Craftsman drillpress. I have duplicates of both, wanted to reduce the clutter in my garage, so out they went. I was surprised at how many inquiries I got about the vise; the buyer explained that they are collectable.

 

[Stevehose]

I was surprised at how many inquiries I got about the vise; the buyer explained that they are collectable.

Me too when I started looking, I think it is a combination of quality and nostalgia. The Parker is definitely collectable, I almost bought one but was too big for my needs. Atlas made the early Craftsman drill presses then they moved to another manufacturer for that era press. Both were well made.

 

[JMinPDX]

This drill press is original and in amazing condition the more I inspect it.

It looks amazing. I think the it was likely used by a home hobbyist on the occasional project. If it had been in a professional shop situation where it was used (and abused) daily, it would be in much rougher shape. Like cars, the key is to find lightly used examples. Nice going.

 

[Stevehose]

It looks amazing. I think the it was likely used by a home hobbyist on the occasional project. If it had been in a professional shop situation where it was used (and abused) daily, it would be in much rougher shape. Like cars, the key is to find lightly used examples. Nice going.

Thanks, but dumb luck factored high in this purchase.