"Bubba"

[SoftHeart]

It's a Wilton, but it'll always be "Bubba" to me.


What's this got to do w/handguns?


May be circuitous logic, but I bought this 5 yrs. ago to accomplish several objectives; buying American, buying overkill which would handle any tool/shotgun/handgun I threw at it.

It's the star of my itty bitty basement shop.



I've had a gun in this thing where I realized I had my feet almost off the ground getting something loose and this thing won't budge.



B4 anybody starts talking about me, it's not anchored in the plywood, I screwed in 2x12's crosswise underneath the bench and "Bubba" is anchored to that.


I'm not gonna lie and say I always buy American, I can't afford to, but I try to pick my spots.


5 yrs. later, after it's held a boatload of guns in place, it's just as right and tight as the day I bought it. A day I'll never forget, as I jacked my back up for 3 wks. lugging this from the delivery truck to my basement.


When I go, it goes to my Son, who loves using it.


Anybody else have a favorite tool they use on their guns.

[Dan_Eastvale]

That area is obsessively clean

[SoftHeart]

JUST 4 the Pic

[Barang]

with a thing like that, i can make my handguns look like this;

[JTROKS]

Heck yeah! My favorite:

[naz]

I love my soldering iron. It makes my Glock look so tactically operationally operational

[G. Freeman]

You can eat from your bubba. I have a 20 yr old Wilton. Not as heavy duty as yours but I bought it at a time their vises were still American made.

[SoftHeart]

I deep dived into the history of the American made vice B4 I got this one, which increased my admiration for the American made vice.

A long time ago they were really built, and that was the norm, not the exception.

['ol shooter]

That vise is worth more than my car. $$

[SoftHeart]

What's a bummer is that the Chinese vise will run you some money and from the reviews I read, will break/crack/just aren't going to last, so this vise was more than I wanted to spend initially, but thinking in terms of my lifetime, and then lasting my Son's lifetime and on and on, I swallowed hard, and sprang for it.

[pacrat]

Well Done Sir.

Not only is a good vise hard to beat. A good vise is impossible to beat.

I have a massive ATHOL in my home garage. A comparable to "Bubba", WILTON in my shop. And a BIG 50 or so yr old COLUMBIA in my garage down in the desert.

Does "BUBBA" have pipe teeth under his jaws?

[ar15barrels]

It's a Wilton, but it'll always be "Bubba" to me.

Anybody else have a favorite tool they use on their guns.

Is that a 4" wide jaw with a 6-1/2" opening or a 6-1/2" jaw vise?
A 6-1/2" bullet vise is way too big for most gun work.
I had a 5" for a short time and it stuck too far out off the workbench and constantly was jabbing into my side when I walked by the bench.

I got a 3-1/2" bullet vise for my inside workbench which has been about perfect for gun work.
I have a 4-1/2" for heavier work outside on a heavier steel workbench.

[SoftHeart]

Yeah...It has the pipe teeth below the jaws, and the jaws are 6 1/2 inches across.

I have a smaller vice left to me by my Dad which works great, but if something is frozen/too tight/jammed, it just won't hold whatever you've got in it still, if you're throwing all the leverage into getting it whatever's in it to bust loose.



Bubba will hold anything you can fasten w/the jaws still, and you can exert quite a bit of leverage pulling/pushing/twisting.

I think it's the fact the vice is big and heavy and the jaws are 6 1/2 inches across holding whatever in place.

I had shotgun that had something on it I had to get unstuck which I wouldn't have been able to do w/o Bubba.



One thing I thank myself for doing 1st was testing a piece of metal bet. the jaws, which immediately left the prettiest "grille" pattern STAMPED into the metal from the pressure of the jaws.



I immediately sprang for the magnetic rubber padded cushions for the jaws.

[SoftHeart]

Well Done Sir.

Not only is a good vise hard to beat. A good vise is impossible to beat.

I have a massive ATHOL in my home garage. A comparable to "Bubba", WILTON in my shop. And a BIG 50 or so yr old COLUMBIA in my garage down in the desert.

Does "BUBBA" have pipe teeth under his jaws?

Like I said, I did a lot of research on the Classic American Vice, also some of the British Classics, and some of these old Vises sell for a fortune nowadays.

Just learning of their "old school craftsmanship", I've got new respect for the well made Vice.

[pacrat]

Like I said, I did a lot of research on the Classic American Vice, also some of the British Classics, and some of these old Vises sell for a fortune nowadays.

Just learning of their "old school craftsmanship", I've got new respect for the well made Vice.

I think my WILTON is a 4 incher. IHDR ever measuring it. But couldn't pass it up at garage sale for $25 somewhere bout 30 yrs ago.

A tip I hope you and possibly others may find useful. Big vises are a big advantage when they are needed. But can be a cumbersome PIA when doing "little things". That's why I have one of these fellas, hiding on the shelf under the Big Fella.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/897310607/vintage-mini-table-bench-clamp-on-vise?gpla=1&gao=1&&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=shopping_us_a-craft_supplies_and_tools-tools_and_equipment-tools-other&utm_custom1=_k_CjwKCAiAm-2BBhANEiwAe7eyFHjuem6M6lRJk8ms80892QPydCzHwbpfJujYDkoTLJVorMhmgpHV5hoCJ7EQAvD_BwE_k_&utm_content=go_1730729683_66599076886_337577547594_pla-295604191622_c__897310607_12768591&utm_custom2=1730729683&gclid=CjwKCAiAm-2BBhANEiwAe7eyFHjuem6M6lRJk8ms80892QPydCzHwbpfJujYDkoTLJVorMhmgpHV5hoCJ7EQAvD_BwE

Ground and filed the mounting flange parallel. So it locks up square and tight in the big vise's jaws.