So, my FIL is trying to clear out some stuff. This was his FIL’s, and has been sitting on the floor of a damp garage for the last 10 years.

It’s obviously rusty, though the mechanism seems to work ok (grease has prevented rust).

It’s heavy.

Worth saving? Oh, and anyone know what make it is?

The lettering and handle look the same as the old Record vice that was my father’s and his father’s before him.

What is written on the last photo – is it a registered design number ? If so, searching for that might confirm things.

It is some sort of number.

I’d assumed the maker’s name would also be stamped/embossed, but I couldn’t see anything. And just as I was clearing stuff out of my garage….

There is no such thing as a vice that isn’t worth saving… Wash your mouth out!

A few minutes in a bead blaster and it’ll be reet .
Handle shape suggests a pretty vintage model.

Yes, I agree. Not sure why I wrote that!

TBH, I think I will save it (and store it pending the garage being dealt with when we extend the house next year).

My FIL is an odd one. Rather than leave it in his (second) garage that he barely enters for another 12 months until I can take it, he’ll throw it away if I don;t take it before the weekend. And then he’ll tell me I have too much stuff in my house…. *sighs*

Came here expecting coke and hookers 🙁

Handle shape suggests a pretty vintage model.

Assuming my grand-FIL bought it new, it’ll be more than half a century old. And there’s every chance he’ll have acquired it second hand.

It’s a Reed vice and it’s not that old. 1979.

Aren’t Reed vices US made, rather than England? The OP’s pic doesn’t look like a Reed 3c on google images or the 3c in that cataloge pic. I’m going with an early Record.

Edit. Here’s an old Record on ebay which has a RD serial / model number, like the OP’s pic.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RECORD-No-36-ENGINEERS-BENCH-VICE-CAST-STEEL-SHEFFIELD-MADE-VERY-VERY-STRONG/131219157761

I’ve just been looking at Reed vices. They certainly made a 3C model, but it doesn’t seem to match up.

Cheers Mark.

Anyway, whatever it may be, it’ll be rescued, restored and used. I’ll just need to mega-strengthen the workbench to take the weight.

Same writing as my Record Number 36. The Rd in the serial number would support this too. My Money is on it being a record vice although there seems to be no record of a 3c model. Definitely worth saving. New Record 36 vices cost around £700

Thanks welshfarmer – it’s definitely going to be saved. And, if it’s worth that much, I think I’ll redesign the whole garage around it..! 😉

I have an old rusty vice here that was my FILs, says DAWN on the side.

Quick google shows they are Australian !

The ownership of a bench vice is what really separates the men from the boys, bead blast, lick of hammerite and that’s got centuries left in it.

i dont think its a reed based on the fact that reed had a unique jaw mounting system – that vice is missing it.

it does look like a record.

The ownership of a bench vice is what really separates the men from the boys, bead blast, lick of hammerite and that’s got centuries left in it.

..and fix the handle . 😉

hhmmm maybe it is a Record after all. Can we start a “What vice jaws” thread?

..and fix the handle

the grand-FIL weighed around 9 stone pretty much all his life (though he was exceedingly strong). I can only conclude he hit it with something very heavy to have bent it like that!

Nice. A lot to be said for vices that aren’t too clean….

Thanks everyone. I’ll hazard a guess it may be a record, but mainly I’ll retrieve it and allocate some time to return it to its former glories.

Well, this thread did not deliver the promise of its title.

….and not a single mention of Crockett and Tubbs 🙁