Replies

1. 
   lare | Nov 26, 2006 11:31pm | #1

   Yes, I have one of those vises. It has held up really well for three years now, but that's what I expected from a Wilton vise because I've had really good service from their vises.

   The swiveling front jaw can be raised on a pin to raise the jaw so you can clamp the edge of a board laying flat on the bench. That's nice I like that feature. The swiveling front jaw can also be removed and you're left with a "regular" parallel jaw vise and I actually will do that about a third of the time because of what I'm working on.

   I also like the covered screw because it keeps wood chips and sawdust out of the screw.

1. 
   DavidCockey | Nov 27, 2006 01:21am | #2

   Thanks for letting me know about your experience. A couple of questions:

   1) How well does it work for clamping on one side without the swiveling jaw in place?

   2)  How parallel is the front jaw with the rear jaw as the vice is tightened? Is it tipped so that the top tightens first as in Record vises?

   Thanks again.

1. 
   lare | Nov 27, 2006 03:02am | #3

   The vise works very well when clamping on one side. The way it's built is very similar to a machinist vise and there is very little deflection when clamping on one side of the jaws. Yes, the vise is made so the top meets first when closed. That's true with the swivel pad in place and when using the vise without the swivel pad.Hope that helps, if I can answer more questions please ask.

2. 
   user-28642 | Nov 27, 2006 09:50am | #4

   Hi,

   I have had a Wilton with the swivel jaw for about five years, but have only started to seriously use it over the last two.  Most of the time (90%) I have had the swivel jaw removed because I find alot of my work is on one side of the vice.  When used on one side, the vice works ok, but the skew of the two jaws is significant and one has to make use of the square screw housing as a stop to prevent the work from rotating around the gripped edge.  I have had no experience with any other woodwork vice so I don't know if the Wilton is better or worse than the usual twin bar vices. 

   One problem I am just beginning to experience is that when I tighten the vice on shallow work gripped near the top of the jaws (such that the bottom of the jaws near the screw are narrower), undoing the vice becomes difficult and it feels as if the screw is binding in the split nut (of the quick release mechanism).  Again I don't know if this behaviour is any different from other vices (with quick releases).  I will have to disassemble to vice to check for any damage.

   A part of my problem is that I find my hardwood jaw inserts have lost much of their friction and consequently I tighten the vice probably too much, to stop the work from pivoting.  I will change them to softwood for better grip, or perhaps glue some thin rubber to each surface.  

   Apart from all that, I have found the square metal housing for the screw to be convenient (once I wrapped some thick material around it near the front jaw to stop bruising the work pieces).  The flat surfaces of the housing provide a good support when the workpiece dimensions allow their use.

   Good luck,

   Bevin