for general shedding?

this one? https://www.axminstertools.com/axminster-trade-vices-all-purpose-engineer-s-vice-125mm-106191
looks pretty solid, quite like that you can spin it & it’s got a pipe/v side.

or some manky old Record off eBay? (not seeing anything at the moment that takes my fancy!)

also, what general purpose type of clamp are people finding most useful?

Looks like a good all round vice IMO reviews seem good
the ability to spin it in all planes is a good idea as long as your not planning on cutting up 6 meter lengths of 50x50x6 angle as I guess it would slip

I like that double head thing.

I went kind of the other way, I’d had cheap ones that were OK in the past but a recent cheap purchase broke first use… And I didn’t really want to spend a fortune on one vice. So I spent a reasonable amount, on two of the entry level Records and put one on a bench outside and one in. It’s cheap enough that I don’t mind it rusting up a bit (I put a cover on it but it’ll still go) but good enough for every job I’ve wanted to do, and having the two has been incredibly useful.

And I didn’t really want to spend a fortune on one vice. So I spent a reasonable amount, on two of the entry level Records

new Record stuff is cheap isn’t it (compared to old-school Record anyway)? or is that what you’re saying? Not gonna be leaving it outside, and only need one, so don’t mind spending a bit on something decent that’s going to last!

Check gumtree in your area(or within driving distance) These things are heavy, so postage via ebay will be pretty expensive, and finding a pick up one a better idea.

I wouldnt pay any more than 30 quid, so ignore the ones folk are asking lots for. They cost a lot new, but theres so many out there some are just being a bit scammy with the pricing.

I’ve not had any issues with my £25 B&Q vice. Used it for ~10 years but I’d like some more adjustment and that one look very useful. The pipe side would be great if it had soft jaws for clamping forks / seatposts.

You can buy soft jaws, they’re usually folded alloy with a bit of rubber glued to the front. Magnets hold them in place.

Which is something i should have considered, I hate it when the damn things fall off 😆

The pipe side would be great if it had soft jaws for clamping forks / seatposts.

could probably just 3d print something in flexible material for each specific use 🤔

I wouldnt pay any more than 30 quid, so ignore the ones folk are asking lots for.

It’s likely that in the current market you’ll not be buying one with that ideal.

My experience with rotating vice even when they are high end is either… They are impossible to move or they are impossible to get to stay still.

Unless I had a specific requirement for it to be rotating…I’d buy. A good fixed vice.

I’d buy. A good fixed vice.

thanks. Any further clues… 🤣

Superficial
Free Member

I’ve not had any issues with my £25 B&Q vice. Used it for ~10 years but I’d like some more adjustment and that one look very useful.

See, I just had to replace a cheap Clarke from about 15 years ago, and it’s been absolutely great. I broke it but to be fair I’d totally loaded one side of the vice and put a stupid amount of force through it so it was a totally unfair test. It did great. But I tried to replace it with a similar modern cheap vice and it was absolute junk. Maybe I got a bad one but it basically felt like cheap doesn’t get you the same quality as it did 10 or 15 years ago.

It’s likely that in the current market you’ll not be buying one with that ideal.

I’ve already got one thanks Record No3, and a nice quick release Parkinsons 14 joiners vice, both cost 20 quid.

Thanks though for your input, have a nice day now y’hear 😉

i also have some nice cheap record 4 and 5s

but you realise that past pricing is not relevant to now – your comments suggest your long out of the market for them.

when you were a lad a penny chew cost a penny y’know. – they dont now 😉

I’d buy. A good fixed vice.

thanks. Any further clues… 🤣

almost anything you buy at the same price point as your all singing all dancing rotatable vice will do you fine.

just had a flick through the offerings from RS who helpfully list both weight and country of origin. The cheapo stuff is pretty lightweight (the basic Record/Irwin one is under 4kg) and basically just pig-iron from China. Their cheapest own-brand offering looks solid enough.

The more expensive own brand (RS Pro) stuff looks like re-badged Kanka from Turkey (don’t know if they’re any good though) which is forged rather than cast (stronger I think).

for £450 though you can have a “proper” (made in GB) Record vice which is a hefty 24kg! Then for £800 you go back to 43kg of Chinese cast iron!

Still not really any the wiser 🤣

flip it on its head – have you ever broken a vice ….

how many entry level vice could you buy before one great all singing all dancing still no idea if its good vice ?

If the action is good (and this is the key, its not sticky and provides good even clamping force) then roll with it till you find out what your using it for and if it breaks replace it with a great one once you have an understanding of what YOU need

it seems like your trying to find a vice to cover every option without understanding what your using it for.

General rule of thumb in the tool room – the more functions a bit of kit has – the less useful it is at any of those things.

FWIW i go to the No5 for most things because it has a deeper area between the clamp pads and the base of the vice. just makes the things i’m using it for easier.

Or save yourself a few quid with a Clarke:

https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/clarke-cmv125b-multi-purpose-cast-iron-vice/?gclid=Cj0KCQiA-aGCBhCwARIsAHDl5x8iuTsYq6wOA9rw5X97aCVD8Pq5V2HBXUzrEBMhOgB-FAhhG4t1UUAaAvJ_EALw_wcB

Or save yourself a few quid with a Clarke:

that looks really suspiciously similar to the more expensive Axminster one 🤣

flip it on its head – have you ever broken a vice ….

I haven’t, and at work I have a cheap-ish Draper one which I bought over 10 years ago which has been absolutely fine, but then people have commented that they’ve bought cheap vices more recently which have been shit, so I suspect things have changed a bit and the lower end of the market may be flooded with cheap crap which might not have been the case previously.
So just want to avoid that really!!

that clarke looks good to me tbh but the proofs in turning the screw and seeing if the slide is smooth .

hard to judge from photos

reviews are positive.

your comments suggest your long out of the market for them.

and your comments… well really.

Just have a look on gumtree, as i suggested in my original post and lo and behold theres a pile the 20-30 quid mark.
Heres one, a Record No1 and it is 20 quid.
And I’m sure if I knew where the op was from I could probably find one suitable for him close at hand. Or maybe next week or whenever
Take a look, though I’m sure you’ll be able to find fault with it.
https://www.gumtree.com/p/clamps-vices/record-no.-1-engineers-bench-vice-medium-/1399115075

Incidentally penny sweets still cost a penny, or they wouldnt be called penny sweets now would they ?.

are there any that are not shrunk in the wash ? 😉

I actually agree that an old vice would be best – if its in decent nick

But its worth having a realistic budget rather than buying unpopular limited size ones just because they are cheap to get the name on the side.

flip it on its head – have you ever broken a vice

Me, me, me!

A vice is not a hydraulic press!

Snapped the moving jaw clean off at the bottom. This was years ago, when you had to use a telephone to order stuff. I rang Record and was put through to the ‘stores’, where a man in a brown work coat (I assume) asked me to hold the line as he went off to check the shelf. I swear I could hear him walking down the aisle of some dusty warehouse in Sheffield, that must have been full of Record vice spares. He returned, said there was one left and and put me through to accounts who took payment from my ‘Access’ card. Can’t remember how much, but this was the late 1980s and I never thought twice about it.

Still have the vice and used it today.

That axminster and clarke are utter shit and a waste of chocolate aero pig iron. I wouldn’t even waste my energy bolting them to a bench if they were given free of charge.

Seriously save your money and put less or more depending on what’s available in your area for an original old school record.

This is from someone who regularly pulls heavy box section old school workshop benches around the workshop when swinging off 60″ stilsons and extension tubes onto something in a Record vice.

That axminster and clarke are utter shit and a waste of chocolate aero pig iron. I wouldn’t even waste my energy bolting them to a bench if they were given free of charge.

fair enough!! 😂

This look any good (on eBay)? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Record-No-3-Engineers-Bench-Vice-refurbished-4-jaws/193945906709?hash=item2d2813ae15:g:4lIAAOSwpqFgSKWT

Or this one, bit heftier, sort of local to me
https://www.gumtree.com/p/clamps-vices/paramo-no-4-bench-vice/1398196622

Me, me, me!

Yes I’m aware they can be broken. I’ve had two shatter -one embedding it’s Bust bits in the OSB next to my foot. It was a more – don’t look for a race car when you have not got a driving license yet comment.

The paramo looks the more honest of the two vice you’ve linked to tbh. Either would be grand. And both are about what I’d expect to pay unless on a freak someone doesn’t know what they have deal. Or on some pointless unpopular model

But depends if your going to be misusing it by swinging off inappropriately sized tools or not while “general shedding”

Paramo looks OK.

I’d avoid your original multi pivoting ones – I can’t say I ever see a decent workshop that uses them (as opposed to a fixed one) and I can’t think of many jobs that need the adjustable positions in the first place.

Peak vice porn would be an original Bugatti.

This is interesting on YouTube. But I wouldn’t have left the delicate loadcell and readout on the bench whilst battering with the hammer….

Just seen a record no3 in Ashford on Ebay, 1 day left, no bids yet, bit closer to you isn’t it?

So what are you going to attach it to? Hopefully something sturdier than a 1980s veneered mdf cupboard shown in the Axminster engineers vice photos?

So what are you going to attach it to?

How about Trail_rat’s big book of engineering,nothing will budge that.
😉😂🙃

For just holding things under 2kg, screwing into small bits of wood, holding a bike axle etc, you can get away with a cheap one. If you want to hit something with a lump hammer, get one like record. there should be no/little play in the jaws. Basically, heavier is better.

@sirromj oooh good spot, don’t know why I didn’t see that, yeah it’s just up the road from me 👍 Although the chap is offering postage for only £12 which isn’t too sad

Got a sheet of 1” marine ply I picked up from somewhere, was going to bolt it to that!

I usually drop long bolts thru the bench then thick steel plate underneath.

mcmoontertrackworld……. Vices

There’s a wheen of vice advice in this thread. I’d still buy an old Record over any modern vice. I use my 75 almost daily, it saw service in the metalwork ‘shop of the old Stromness academy for generations before I bought it.

Refreshingly honest to see people reveal their preferred vices.

There’s a wheen of vice advice in this thread. I’d still buy an old Record over any modern vice.

ta, good read that!

Big thanks to @sirromj (who found the auction), I’m the new owner of this:

bit squeaky so needs lubricating but otherwise seems absolutely fine, action is very smooth, jaws look like they have plenty of life in them! Very pleased for £40!
(not bolted down yet, going to build a new workbench for it to live on shortly!)

Good work. Just don’t be a fanny and paint it in natty hammerite. Looks honest as it is.

Good buy👍

Now that’s a vice! A quick wire brush to get rust off the bare metal, wipe over with wire wool and WD40, job jobbed! £40, bargain. 👍🏼
When I bought mine, it had been repainted, badly, a couple of times, so I wire brushed it with a whizz-wheel and painted it with blue Hammerite, looks almost new.

Try wing nuts underneath, or place it in such a position where you can easily remove the front 2 and turn it to face 90deg. Always something that needs to be worked on better if facing a different way.