School me on a vise.

[Yota Up]

Any vice is better than no vice. Start with a cheap one. All mine have come from flea markets.

On another note, how the hell did you go this long without one?

Yeah, I know. I tend to do things the hard way and torture myself.

But I picked one up while on our camping trip a few days ago.
It's a Wilton 111103. Paid $120. Did I get ripped off or do alright?
Swivel base, stamped "made in USA", weighs 43 pounds I think. Works fine.

Someone mentioned chinese copies. How do you tell?

 

[300sniper]

Yeah, I know. I tend to do things the hard way and torture myself.

But I picked one up while on our camping trip a few days ago.
It's a Wilton 111103. Paid $120. Did I get ripped off or do alright?
Swivel base, stamped "made in USA", weighs 43 pounds I think. Works fine.

Someone mentioned chinese copies. How do you tell?

They’re not Chinese copies, Wilton has domestic and Chinese vises. If it’s forged (or cast? I’m not a viseologist) “Made in USA”, chances are pretty good that it is legit.

 

[Yota Up]

What's up with the bolt pattern?

oo___o
o_____o

 

[Blugreenformula]

Love my Wilton. Got it about 17 years ago. It's been beaten on and is still working perfectly.

 

[Ebs]

What's up with the bolt pattern?

oo___o
o_____o

One side is 'flatter' so the vise can be mounted closer to the table edge. You want the back jaw to clear the table edge so your workpiece can hang below the table top if it has to.

 

[JR4X]

Yeah, I know. I tend to do things the hard way and torture myself.

But I picked one up while on our camping trip a few days ago.
It's a Wilton 111103. Paid $120. Did I get ripped off or do alright?
Swivel base, stamped "made in USA", weighs 43 pounds I think. Works fine.

Someone mentioned chinese copies. How do you tell?

I’d gladly pay a buck twenty for that vise. Does it work? Opens closes swivels? Post some pics, it should be fairly obvious

Edit: the Chinesium ones look like this.

 

[JR4X]

Also, is there another number on the opposite side of your vise from the number you gave us? Mine is a 1745 but has 111804/111803 stamped on the opposite side. 111804 doesn’t really crossover to anything but 1745 comes right up.

 

[Yota Up]

One side is 'flatter' so the vise can be mounted closer to the table edge. You want the back jaw to clear the table edge so your workpiece can hang below the table top if it has to.

So do the holes that are further apart go closer to the edge or do the holes that are closer to each other mount closer to the edge?
I understand about the overhang, but there must be a reason for different spacing of the bolt holes.
You can see the difference in spacing here, right now my guess is the bigger spaced ones should be close to the edge like I have it.

I’d gladly pay a buck twenty for that vise. Does it work? Opens closes swivels? Post some pics, it should be fairly obvious

Opens all the way(checked before buying), closes nicely. Swivel works and it rotates freely. The bar for the swivel has a little dent.

Also, is there another number on the opposite side of your vise from the number you gave us?

645

 

[JR4X]

So do the holes that are further apart go closer to the edge or do the holes that are closer to each other mount closer to the edge?
I understand about the overhang, but there must be a reason for different spacing of the bolt holes.
You can see the difference in spacing here, right now my guess is the bigger spaced ones should be close to the edge like I have it.

Opens all the way(checked before buying), closes nicely. Swivel works and it rotates freely. The bar for the swivel has a little dent.

645

Looks like the real deal made in America to me. And the base bolts that are furthest apart go toward you, however your going to stand facing it, the gap between the two bolt holes furthest apart go toward your belly

 

[JR4X]

Cheap Lowe’s Irwin Chinesium in the junk pile at work

 

[Texas97]

Y'all got any recommendations on a small footprint vise? 4" jaws etc?

 

[budget76]

small footprint and 4" jaws doesn't really match, unless its a tiny vise body with way oversized jaws on it.

I did this with my smaller vise (3.5" swivel jaw) a couple years back so I could move it between shops. I never do, but I did the same for dad (without the dowels) and he moves it all the time. It lets you clamp it down to the workbench, but tuck it on a shelf out of the way when not needed

 

[billybob_81067]

honestly I forget what brand mine is and I use it at least once a year

Finally remembered to look at that shaper of mine. It is a Whipp 12" And that's about all I know about it at the moment!