Wilton 400S bench vise worth the price?

[Dragos80]

I am looking for a bench vise, but sure if this old one is worth the price. The 746 (made in China) model costs the same brand new and it has a 6" jaw vs 4" for the old one (made in USA).

Here's the old one for sale

And the new one is advertised on their site, of course.

Mechanics Vise 6" Jaw with Swivel Base

 

[Steve83]

Before you plunk down that kind of money for a Chinese vise made of crappy 30Ksi cast Iron, take a close look at this German one made of 75Ksi forged steel:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001T9J68I/

The Wilton 6" vise opens 5.75"; the Ridgid 6" (with 6.25" jaws) opens somewhere between 8.8" (spec) and 10.5" (last thread). The double-lead screw means it takes about the same number of turns to get double the opening. Yes, it costs half again as much, but it's worth it. I couldn't justify the cost of the big one, so I settled for the 5" version, which cost about the same as this Wilton, but still has the better steel & wide opening. I'm 250#, and I can crank on it without stretching the screw, so it's stout.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001VXW490/

If you want the cheaper Taiwanese copy (which claims 90Ksi), it's less than the Wilton:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DMDO9AE/
...even with jaw covers:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BHJ3D7O/

 

[Dragos80]

I know one other vise which looks very much like the Ridgid and Yost you posted above. My guess is that they are made at the same factory in Taiwan under the Capri name. Apparently they are not bad, according to some reviews.

I am attracted to the design of the Wilton bullet vise. From what I have seen on youtube, the quality is not all that great as people make it sound to be... "Made in USA" I guess in the 60's and 70's people did not really give a damn about quality. Some of the 70's US made cars are pure crap.

The newer technology for forged steel is somewhat better. Taiwanese made products also seem to be better in terms of quality than the Chinese made (mainland) ones.

Although on the same page, on Amazon I already found a discrepancy:

90,000 vs 75,000 PSI

 

[Steve83]

I know one other vise which looks very much like the Ridgid and Yost you posted above. My guess is that they are made at the same factory in Taiwan...

I'm not sure how you meant that, but it seems like you're saying the Ridgid comes from Taiwan. It's definitely German, and it's definitely a helluva vise (at a commensurate price).

I hadn't noticed the contradiction on the Yost listing (because I never considered buying it), but I'm about to report it to Amazon. Thanks.

 

[Dragos80]

No, I meant the Yost and Capri might come from the same factory.
The color is different, otherwise the shape and origins are the same. Even the prices are within a few dollars of each other.

Ridgid seems spendy though.

 

[Steve83]

Definitely. But definitely worth it, if you need a vise that big. But considering how much stronger it is, and how wide it opens, you can probably get away with the F50 or F45.

The only customer pics on Amazon for the F50 are mine, showing it beside an old Larin POS.

 

[Dragos80]

I find it interesting how they seem to share some features.
Is the base on yours similar, as far as the angles for the mounting holes are?

 

[Steve83]

No, as my pic on Amazon shows: the Ridgid base's 3 holes are 90° apart. The knock-off base's holes look to be 120° apart. It's not visible in any of the vise pics, but if you look at the replacement part for the Ridgid, its swivel bar isn't simply a flat piece of steel; it also has a perpendicular rod that keeps it centered under the base.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0042T3DCW/
Not phenomenal (you wouldn't even notice it during normal use), but it shows that they put a little more thought into building it.

I'm sure the Taiwanese factory just made a mold of the German vise, and cast their own copies of it. But I guess their copy of the base ring didn't come out round enough, so they made their own with the mounting holes evenly-spaced.

 

[e9999]

I have a vintage Wilton bullet, got it mostly for the nostalgia of it, I love it, but honestly, I would not spend $700 or so for a new one. Most vises will do fine for routine holding jobs I would think.

 

[FJ60Seth]

I’ve been searching CL for months, with no luck, for a deal on a large US made vice in good shape. I’m going to buy the Ridgid you linked to. Thank you.

 

[Dragos80]

I’ve been searching CL for months, with no luck, for a deal on a large US made vice in good shape. I’m going to buy the Ridgid you linked to. Thank you.

It all depends on how much you are willing to pay for it. I see plenty of them listed.

 

[Dragos80]

It seems the Ridgid vise has no removable jaws.

 

[FJ60Seth]

It seems the Ridgid vise has no removable jaws.

I didn’t notice. That kind of sucks.

 

[Steve83]

Why? How many times have you needed to remove vise jaws? (For me, it's about 0.) How many times have you been frustrated by loose, missing, wobbly, broken, worn, or misaligned vise jaws &/or vise jaw screws? (For me, it's about a million.) I still have 2 vises with removable jaws, and they kind of suck.

The only reason vise jaws are removable is so the mfr. can make the jaw out of decent steel (but not great, because they still wear & mash down), and the rest of the vise out of garbage cast Iron. The Ridgid vises are made completely of high-grade steel.

 

[Dragos80]

I am not a professional mechanic, I don't fabricate anything really. I just need something to hold my project while I work on it. Most of the time my foot acts as a vise together with the garage floor, or just hold it with my hand against the edge of a table. It is far from perfect, it is very frustrating, but it gets done.
I thought, for any future projects, a vise would be better for the little things I take on.

The only reason I was looking at the Wilton bullet vise is simply that classic vintage look.

I did consider other options too, a lot less expensive.
This Post 445 (5.5")

and this Wilton 675 (5.5")

They are both under $90.

Again, going from nothing to something like this would be a huge improvement in my case.
Not a machinist, not a hobbyist, no serious work done at home. Maybe have a rifle in there, a piece of wood, a plastic pipe or a piece of metal in need of some filing.

I know both of these cheaper ones are made in China, just as the 746 is too. Probably better quality than the HF variety. I don't see the point in using one, no matter what brand or origin, as an anvil.

 

[Steve83]

If you're buying a tool just for the way it looks, then only you can choose what looks good to you. But I've never seen a pretty vise, so I only shop for them by how they work & last.

BTW
Those vises are identical; just on different bases again, and the Yost has rubber silencers on the main handle.

 

[Dragos80]

The only vise I would consider to buy based on it's looks would be the bullet type by Wilton.
There is something special about it, I think.

 

[Dragos80]

I found a Bessey vise which looks similar to the Ridgid mentioned above.
Apparently "Made in Europe" in this case means Turkey. Technically it could be true if it was made in Western Turkey, which is part of Europe. But nonetheless, very deceiving using "Europe" instead of the specific country or "European Union" for that matter.

Bessey is a German company as I understand.

BESSEY Tools North America


https://www.amazon.com/Bessey-BV-DF5SB-Heavy-Bench-Hammer/dp/B00WGY309Q

 

[Steve83]

It looks like a slighly-better rip-off of the Ridgid than the Yost, but still just a rip-off. The cosmetic (fake) weld-line on the body is just sad.

 

[bigredmachine]

the wiltons are lifetime warranty so theres something to be said for that. a buddy of mine found an old wilton in the heavy iron pile at the scrap yard, bought it and sent it back to wilton for repairs, only had to pay for shipping.

we have some of the chineese wiltons at work and their pretty good and we beat on them all the time and they have held up well, i dont think theyll last as long as the us made, but they have done well so far