mcmoontertrackworld……. Vices

its not a vice but it is big heavy machinery…..

I’ve been using the works 10 ton press for the last 5 years to change out wheel bearings and bushes on vehicles…… the press is moving to another office where it will be a nightmare to use…..

so – logical step a 20 ton hydralic press…..

not mine just a photo representation – its a 12ton. Instructions in the worlds best chinglish and a box that says FRANGILE on it…..

but it does what i need and at worst ill need a new bottle jack if it packs up….

first step will be to jimmy rig a scattershield like….

I have the perfect piece of an old fire pit mesh to make it from.

Glad I stumbled into this thread.

Happened to be passing the old buy opposite yesterday who was loading his car ready to go to the tip. All sorts of old tools, soldering irons, chisels etc. which he was happy for me to take and save him the journey. An hour later he turned up at my door asking if I wanted his old vice. Turns out its a Woden 186b/2 which I gather is a good make.

More impressive was he carried it down in one hand (he had a caravan towing winch in the other) from his garage 50 yards away ……….. he’s 96 in a couple of months !

It’s about time this thread was resurrected!

I’ve recently inherrited my Grandfather’s workshop, full of old tools. Bolted atop the workbench is a Woden 4″ vice, marked with 185B/3 (not sure what that means). There’s loads of play in the operation, and the jaws have been thrashed, so it’ll be perfect for a refurb one day.

There are also a couple of drill press vices in there; currently none in this thread!

We made our own press with a bottle jack and steel framework, the Jack is a 100 ton railway engine jack!

And a bit more thread resurrection on a rainy Saturday.

Just reassembled this after restoring as best as I could. It belonged to my late grandfather-in-law, who had it bolted to a railway sleeper in his shed. He was a man who made tooling at British Leyland in its heyday. Unfortunately the remainder of his tools went when he died 10 years ago. My father in law had this sitting on a damp garage floor and was ready to throw it away 😯 so I rescued it around a year ago and have finally got round to restoring it.

Not sure what it is – various people guessed it might be a Record, but there’s no proof. Either way, it’s a beast of a thing and the next job is to reinforce my workbench so that I can mount it.

From this:

To this (original colour looks to have been blue over red oxide primer):

And finally to this (light grey because I like the colour):

Here’s mine..

I think I have said, possibly earlier in the thread, that I used to work as a design engineer at Record and vices were one of the products I worked on. I don’t remember the 3c from the range or the history although it has some similarities and vices were numbered – the no. 3 was a cast iron bench vice with 4″ jaws. The slide looks very much like a no. 3 but the body doesn’t and the Tommy bar looks too narrow.

The 36 is a different beast – ‘unbreakable’ cast SG iron and a quick release using a lever and cut thread/half nut system and ‘lifetime’ warranty.

I could tell you more if you have a photo of the underneath or can remember anything about the nut or how the slide works.

I N R A T S but has anyone made the “its my only vice” joke?

It’s my only vice.

@ gravity slave – that rings a bell! I’ll photograph the underneath and post up here tomorrow. TBH I don’t think it is a Record. Am not worried – it’s painted up nicely and the action is smooth enough (but not as precision as a Record).

Our man…
Looks like a paramo to me?

No vice here yet – but have enjoyed my trawl through

For gravity-slave, some “up skirt” photos of the vice….

And in situ on a rather oily workbench top (I could have flipped it over when I installed the bracing underneath that the vice is attached to, but I rather liked the patina….

(This is quite enough photography of a blinkin’ vice..!)

Just waiting for the grazed fingers/ fist from those long threads!!

Just waiting for the grazed fingers/ fist from those long threads!!

Yes! The plan was to to have a coach head on the vice and the nits in the bench, but (for various boring “design”) reasons that didn;t happen.

I’ll cut them down at some point and put a cap nut on each of them.

Yet another resurrection! As I’ve picked up a cheap angle grinder, I thought I’d give in and put a wire brush on it and give my Record No 4 a going over. I think it had been repainted at least four times, looks lots better now, needs a small wire brush to get into some smaller nooks and crannies, and some wire wool.
Anyone know what would be a close match to the original blue they were painted?

In the process of fixing up a sheet of kitchen top with a strip of 2×4 screwed underneath and two 12mm bolts inserted from underneath so I can clamp it in the workmate then drop the vice onto the bolts and use wingnuts to secure it.

In the process of fixing up a sheet of kitchen top with a strip of 2×4 screwed underneath and two 12mm bolts inserted from underneath so I can clamp it in the workmate then drop the vice onto the bolts and use wingnuts to secure it.

Just use a couple of 4×50 screws and you’ll be fine 😉

some “up skirt” photos

Missed this until now but those photos show it’s not a Record. Record vices have a separate nut for the screw. The nut is SG iron (for lubrication and strength) and sits in a dovetail groove in the body and is secured by a pin. There’s no pin hole on that one, looks like the nut is cast as part of the body. If it fails or wears then the vice is done.

Record used to sell a spare nut kit. The pin is knocked out, nut replaced, pulled tight then a new pin fitted. The curves on the dovetail allows the nut to self align with the main screw.

My Record No 4 after two coats of smooth Hammerite:

Does look better than when I first got it.

Another thread resurrection! I’ve been looking for a vice since this thread started but they’ve either been too far away to collect or had really expensive postage (for obvious reasons).

Anyway, I started looking again last week and found this 5 minutes down the road with no bids on it. Won for the princely sum of £22. Its in fill working order, just needs a derust if the non-painted parts and a bit of grease.

So, did everyone just wire wool the bare metal or did you treat it afterwards?

No to build the workbench to fix it to…

I’ve been looking for a vice since this thread started but they’ve either been too far away to collect or had really expensive postage (for obvious reasons).

Same here, had given up looking…

It start as a bit of “that might be quite useful, maybe I should try and get one” and the harder they became to find the more it was “I really need a vice, this would be so much easier if I had a vice, I must find a vice”. I had given up after losing a couple on eBay to a dodgy seller who clearly didn’t like my winning bid so just cancelled the sale and relisted them. Being in the south London they are few and far between so I got lucky with this one as the guy was clearing out his Dad’s shed

“So, did everyone just wire wool the bare metal or did you treat it afterwards?”

Nope mine looked similar – so i bolted it to the bench and started using it.

Its not supposed to look pretty.

Cheers trail rat, I’m happy with the main body as it is I just want to get rid of some of the rust from the bar as every time in touch it I get orange hands!

I have a Record No. 3, and a Record 52 1/2 woodworking vice in my workshop. Paid about £30 for each. I was insistent on getting something like proper old Record vices, as the quality is far, far better than any of the cheap tat you seem to get these days. Having seen a big Clarke vice shear, and the bubble ‘Aero’ metal within, I’d never buy a cheap vice.

Refurbishing? I thought about that with mine, then common sense kicked in and the fact they will be subject to heavy use and not stay pretty for long. If you actually use a vice, rather than just have it on your pristine bench for your mates to admire as you pretend to be a ‘proper’ man, then you don’t need it looking pretty. 😉

The only problem with the No. 3, is that I need to reinforce the bench it’s on; trying to welly a stuck seatpost out of a frame and I can see the whole bench twisting. I wouldn’t mind, but it’s got a 3×3″ frame and 45mm worktop. 😯

Cool, think I’ll just rub down the bar to get rid of the worst of it, I don’t have the patience for a full refurb

A quick wash and wd40 will have it looking good.

I’ve been thinking of sorting out a vice to mount up on a Workmate* for portable workbench duties. I was talking to my dad about it the other day and he tells me he’s had this old Vono (nope, never heard of them either 😕 ) No.5 lying under a bench waiting for a home for years…

It’s maybe a tad chunky for what I have in mind but for the price I ain’t bothered! If needs be I might have a look for a wee Record No.0 or similar as a back up for “delicate” work.

I haven’t had a chance to do much more than de-grease it but I’m liking what I’m seeing so far.
Needs new jaws making and a couple of the holes for the jaw screws drilled out and re-threaded but otherwise it’s in pretty good nick…

It’ll get a good wire brushing and then a couple of coats of Hammerite and then I’ll mount it on a removable worktop that’ll clamp in the Workmates jaws (an idea I read on STW 🙂 ). Thinking of making that from 2 layers of 18mm Plywood glued and screwed together…

Decent quality castings and a good big thread/nut!

*Not the one in the pictures. I have one of the older, mostly metal (ok, not plastic!) ones to use for this.

And the thread comes back again….

So these are up for auction tomorrow:
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They look brand new apart from some light surface rust and one of them has a lug missing. They are 2 separate lots, I only need one and I can’t attend the auction so I need to put in a bid by tomorrow morning. What would you bid?

Mark

You could easily find yourself paying over £75 if eBay prices are anything to go by.

I got a 52 1/2 E for £26 and a 60 minute round trip to collect off eBay.

Not in that sort of condition though..!

Come on you lot, it’s not like you have normal, healthy, social lives outside of STW! 🙂

They have a quick release which you might not be able to see and they pretty big, probably about 10″ wide? I know they’re ‘new’ and therefore not going to last more than 5 minutes in the hands of a real man but I think for a bit of bodging in the garage they might suit my needs ok.

I’m thinking £25 (which will be +20% fees), place your bets now!

Funny this thread should pop up today ive got a collection of vices to remove from benchs in the workshop all have been in place since the 70s.

Thanks OMITN, there’s such a big difference between the new prices (who buys them?) and second hand prices. I guess I just have to see how it goes.

Parkesie, are any of them for sale? I think you’re quite near me (stoke).

Update:
So I didn’t win either of the woodworking vices, there was a glitch and my bids didn’t get placed.

However, next day, another auction, this pops up:
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And I won! £22 + fees! Wondering if I can sneak out this afternoon to collect it… 🙂

Think most are ear marked for my garage and friends will post some pics up when i get on with it. If any are left ill offer them up. Yeah im in the stoke area shin print.

I might as well add to the general collection of vice pron on this thread. Not a Record, but a Woden (I know nothing about them). Picked it up locally on eBay about 2 years ago for the princely sum of £15 if I remember rightly.

2017-02-10 16.06.24 by Dave W[/url], on Flickr

I can’t find any pictures of it in its original state but I cleaned it up and gave it a coat of hammer effect. It’s had a fair bit of use since though. It’s bloody massive (6″ jaw?) but whilst a smaller vice might be more appropriate for some jobs, there’s not really such thing as a vice that’s too big in my book.

Oh, and it had no jaws when I bought it either, hence the bodged-on bits of steel plate.

And it’s attached to the bench with coach bolts, of course.

Picking it up was an experience. It was in a village about 10 miles away and I went with my homemade bike trailer to pick it up, which was ambitious. Unfortunately, or possibly fortunately, the trailer snapped a spindle just as I arrived in said village. A local fencer passed in his Defender and saw me with my now single-wheeled trailer and kindly offered to transport me home. I picked the vice up (which I could barely lift) while he had his tea and then he stuck the trailer and vice in the van and ran it back to mine for me. I rode back and stopped at the supermarket on the way to buy him some beers.

After years of looking on ebay, I’ve just landed this little beaut. Needed something for chainsaw-sharpening duties, the No.4 is the perfect size but they seem to be the most popular, so often go for silly money.

I set my self a limit – it had to be within 25 miles for collection, and less than 50 quid. This one came up right on the boundary, with no bids and a starting bid of £45 which won it!

It’s absolutely mint, the jaws are unmarked and it even has the original Record transfer on the front. 🙂