And a matching Woden 186b/3 to smarten up a bit
My first vice was a Woden like the one above, after year so of service I gave it to my brother when we built his shed together.
Quite excited currently as building my first workbench. My Dad surprised me last year when he just dug out an old vice languishing under his workbench and said have it for my shed. I've not even looked at it properly yet, it's covered in a layer of dust encrusted grime and is well used. Will take a look at weekend and get photos.
Have been making do with a Record no 0 or (double 00) bolted down to a wooden frame resembling a chair. Birthday present from over 30 years ago. Used on the floor of the porch until we moved last year and I got a shed. Will keep it bolted to the wooden frame as it can be used anywhere and on either left or right sides, pointing up in the air, as well as normal orientation. Very handy for small things.
Had a closer look of it this evening. It's a Record no3. I'm curious about how to fix it to a bench. The underneath looks like this no2 on mig welding forums looks like it's meant to go onto something, do you know what? I plan on fixing it to a wooden bench so could maybe just pad it out with an extra bit of wood or something, or, just bolt it and not worry?
Just bolt it down. It’s doesn’t need any other material between the cast base and the bench
@sirromj I imagine the tab/sticky outy bit on rhs of your photo goes up against the front edge of your bench.
Not sure, though.
Edit
Bunkum, take no notice of me.
But yes, that'll tend to tilt the vice.
@sirromj
Get some nice carriage bolts to mount it and try to have the back jaw over the edge of your bench.
Thanks thought perhaps was over thinking it.
I have some M10 coach bolts to hand and fancied the dome part of the head on top of the vice but holes not large enough and of course there's the other problem with that idea.
Will probably sit on 2 x 18mm MDF bolting through 38mm CLS but think the bolts are only 100mm so might need longer. Plenty to do building bench yet though. Not sure how well my design will work out for mounting a vice didn't really think about it when starting, but will find a way.
This:
Now looks like this:
Picked this up a couple of days ago...
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Will pick up some coach bolts this week.
Then in the future perhaps a strip down, clean and a fresh lick of paint if I have the time.
I've just picked this up from a lady nearby. I think her husband died recently, she seemed quite reticent to let it go but had offered. I'd like to refurbish it a bit and let her know it will be looked after. I think it's quite a steal for a giveaway.
@umop3pisdn - How did you go about restoring yours? Looks great
@jimmy - there’s some photos a ways back of a Record I bought that was about like that one, and I cleaned it up with a wire whizwheel I bought cheap from Homebase ‘cos it was a display model without packaging. Did a brilliant job, but eye protection is a must, and a mask would be a good idea too, something that pretty much everyone is going to have handy! I used flat blue Hammerite paint, rather than the metallic hammered finish, it’s almost exactly the same colour as the original paint.
To be honest, though, looking at yours, I’d leave it alone, other than giving it a thorough clean with WD40 and wire wool, or maybe white spirit, just to remove all the old dirt and muck, it’s still got original paint, and it’s been well used, and deserves to show that wear and tear - mine had several layers of grubby paint of different colours, was a black-ish red/grey, and filthy, so needed stripping back to metal, but yours looks great, just give it a clean!
Yep. That doesn't meet refurbishing, it just needs a clean and maybe some light oil on the mechanism.
@jimmy I stripped it down fully, cleaned, left it in citric acid to remove the rust (waste of time) then attacked it with a wire wheel in an angle grinder. Paint was hammerite spray paint, a few thin coats. Then regreased and reassembled.
Seems a lot of people don't like the idea of refurbishing vices, not sure why!
That looks great! I've picked up a No3 to restore as a gift for someone, trying to decide whether to just oil it, or paint for a lower maintenance finish. However, I want a dark blue, not that bright Hammerite a lot of people seem to use. Any recommendations?
Recently installed,
Bought this 52 about 10 years ago from a car boot for a fiver as it was seized, built a man cave around it in summer lockdown 😁
I believe the vice is about 80 years old and will probably still be here when I’m gone so I engraved a little message on the ‘service hatch’ for the next owner.
don’t have time for jobs that don’t need doing! Got a no.3 off eBay recently, works fine as-is 😀 👍Seems a lot of people don’t like the idea of refurbishing vices, not sure why!
I need a vice, there's only so much stuff I can take to work and work on in their time...
I'd like a Record or Woden but they can be rather spendy. Just how bad is something like likely to be; https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-4-100mm-Jaw-Bench-Vice-Workshop-Clamp-Work-Bench-Table-Engineer/203243210280
Yeah well mine is red AND rarer AND exactly the same as one of the steel Record vices (No. 84) posted.
Parkinson Model F
Just found this;
It still works apparently and it's only 25 quid, so I can see a bit of wire-brushing in my future.
I started to dismantle the Record No1 to clean it and have broken the pin that holds the spring and washer to the handle rod. Anyone know how to get a replacement - do they exist?
Doomanic, those jaws don't look aligned properly, and that's their display model! I'd go for a rusty old English one and clean it up, paint and grease. A bit of history and patina will improve your work no end!
In answer to my own question, as usual it's just a matter of knowing what to Google. Hopefully ordered the right sizes from here
https://www.paigntontools.co.uk
1/8 X 1"
3/16 x 1-1/4
I bought a tatty condition but mechanically sound Record Imp table vice a while back.
Really only needs a lick of paint, but the question is what kind. Any paint recommendations or the right colour red, assuming a brush on enamel paint would be easiest?
Machine enamel from here:
https://www.paragonpaints.co.uk/BS381C-110-Roundel-Blue-Record-Vice-Blue.html
Seems a lot of people don’t like the idea of refurbishing vices, not sure why!
Mostly as in most cases your removing the hard as nails factory coat and replacing it with a coating of easy chipped poorly adhered machine enamel or even worst. Daubing it in hammerite.
@drnosh - Thanks, the Imps are red not the nice blue you normally think of with the record vices.
This looks to be close though.
https://www.paragonpaints.co.uk/BS381C-537-Signal-Red.html
Not mine but similar in terms of paint condition.
Bought a Record 24 and a little table from work - combined mass 854kg.....
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After the woodscrew vice attachment abomination on page 1, I decided to do it properly 🙂
Mag base drill and M16 tapped holes. Then a 22mm centre hole so it can be lifted. Then a first row of tapped M12 holes (more to follow) so it can be used for framebuilding, aligning etc. Cast iron and good quality taps made it pleasant work.
Table will eventually be white with cleaned up steel top. Vice will be cleaned but left in original paint. Getting it home is a work in progress....
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854kg - holy moly!!! 😳😳😳. How did you move it? Bet that ain’t goin up to the second floor!
Moving it at work isn't a problem (cranes, fork lifts etc).
I've made a very substantial shelf that mounts to the bottom half of the legs (75x150 timber - unfortunately wood prices seem to have doubled at the moment so that was a bit spendier than I imagined). That should let me move it around with a pump up pallet truck. For the eventual journey home I think an engine hoist boom trolley thing will just manage it from the centre lifting hole. If too heavy then unbolt the legs (will be doing that for paint anyway)
Hoping to find a cast-in date somewhere.
That is fabulous. Want one.
The 1 tonne table now has a grid of 30 M12 tapped holes. Legs also removed ready for paint stripping (35kg each).
About 35* minutes in they used a gauge like the one I posted up here the other evening.
* Can't belive I just spent over 1/2 an hour watch a man refurb a vice. My mind is relaxed and I am ready for the weekend. Sure beats eating yoghurt and saying Ohmmmmm for mindfulness
I need some advice please (no pun intended)
I've had an old Record 23 for a while, never bothered cleaning it up but thought I'd have a go with WD40 today. Turns out there's more paint than rust - I thought it was the other way round. I found a video showing how to disassemble it, looks easy so I've done so and done more cleaning.
Given the amount of rust, would you put rust inhibitor on it and leave it or wire brush and re-paint? If paint, where can I get matching Record paint?
I've covered the ways and thread in way oil for now to stop it rusting before I reassemble it.
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Grease the bits that need greased
Oil the rest with an oily rag when you use it.
Or heinously ruin it with a slathering of hammerite like everyone else "refurbing" and make it look nothing like new - look good on the bench though.
Thanks - oily rag treatment is what I've done for tonight.
What needs greasing on a vice?
Got a record 2 or 3 that my school refurb threw out. I did donate £10 to cake fund and everyone was happy.
If metal work -based of the thrust washer at the handle , thread and screw box with molybdenum grease.
If it's a woodwork vice. Wax the same.
The what?
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Clean of rust and put oil where rust was 🙂
Seems a lot of people don’t like the idea of refurbishing vices, not sure why!
Or heinously ruin it with a slathering of hammerite like everyone else “refurbing” and make it look nothing like new – look good on the bench though.
As I pointed out with mine, it was in a shocking state, covered in several layers of different coloured grubby paint, crazed and filthy, and really not a nice thing to look at. Just cleaning up with the whizz-wheel wire brush made a huge difference, giving it a couple of coats of flat blue Hammerite that was a close match to the original made sense.
The one the poster got as a gift, showed honest wear, with original paint, so in no way did it need stripping and re-painting.
Two completely different situations. Why spend several hours doing something that isn’t needed?
On the other hand, spending the time refurbishing something that had just been crudely painted but didn’t show much actual wear through use was well worth it for the end result, where wear of the paint from use will show a proper patina over time.
I’m a bit obsessive about painting things, I like to do a decent job and I didn’t ‘slather’ the paint on, one careful coat, masking the jaws, let dry for a couple of hours, another coat, checking for any missed bits, let dry, then a final coat. Looks like oven-dried enamel.
If mine had looked like the freebie one, I’d have been chuffed to bits, squirt of WD40 with a rag, job jobbed, minimal effort.
The what?
Where metal rubs against metal. So the bit where the handle rubs against the jaw and where the threads are engaged.
Vice is back together, greased and wiped with an oily rag
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Finally got the vice my Dad gave me firmly mounted on the workbench, used a pair of M12 130mm bolts! With the vice itself, the 2x18mm MDF top, then 39mm CLS, there's 100mm of material to get through, but just in case that wasn't enough to support it (FFS LOL) there's a 5mm metal footplate as well.
So far I've used it to bend some galv builders band into right-angled brackets with a pin hammer.
After cleaning it up I rubbed with some bike grease to keep the rust at bay. How would you finish it?
Now this is a pretty funky vice being restored. I would love one of these for sure....
@sirromj that looks rather smashing. I’d leave it exactly as it is - lovely patina…although the bolts are a bit bright!
I just pulled this old Woden out of the local tip. Unfortunately it's not in as good condition as it looks - the jaws are wonky, the bolts which hold them have stripped the holes in the casting, and the slide has a crack in it. It does still function for holding things tightly whilst you wallop them, but it's definitely seen better days.
Not decided what to do with it yet. I have a couple of decent vices already, and not sure it's worth my time rfixing this one up. If anyone in Sheffield it interested, let me know before I make plans for it!
@sirromj - finish it? That’s finished, that is! Clearly well used but looked after, a quick spritz with WD40 every now and again and a wipe over, that’s an heirloom item you’ve got there. Nice. 😎
Quick query on sizes - found a Record 84 and Record 6 to go an look at. Is bigger really better? General workshop fettling and the 6 is a few quid more but not much. Any reason not to go bigger? I've just built a 3m long workbench out of substantial reclaimed timber so I have the space (although slightly worried it's a bit high to then stick a 6" vice on top!)
I wanted a quick release vice and this popped up for sale.
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Record 113 - It's enormous, FAR too big for my use but I couldn't just leave it there for the price they were asking....
What to do with it though? I thought outside workbench.... but can I resist a refurb?
Finally after months of searching, 2 come along at once!!
The 84 is a steel version - fitters vice so designed to take a beating (not as brittle as cast iron). Some Neanderthal had painted it (badly) Red over the original blue so stripped that back and will give it a lick of paint.
The 23 is a beast but had a harder life. Wonder if it once used to be quick release as the threads have the same angled cut and “half screw” as the 84. Still works fine though.
No idea which one to keep but £45 each can’t complain!
Free! To good or bad home - well worn Paramo fitters vice going for scrap.
Collection only from Rossendale.
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Another thread revival!
Funnily enough I was nerding out trying to find information on a vice that I've been given (karma for giving my old one away and then regretting it I guess), and ended up here.
It's a Woden 186/3 S in green. I've seen it listed in a 1957 brochure but no note on colour. From what I can tell, the green vices were older though. Anyone here nerdy enough to know?! Sounds like Woden went to blue vices at some stage and the green ones were early models?
It seems to be in structurally good condition and no rust, but not surprisingly after probably 50+ years, not great paint. I'll probably just clean it up though.
@walleater - difficult to say without pics, and I’m no expert anyway, but just from your description, so long as it moves in and out smoothly, (quiet at the back, there!), and doesn’t seem to try to slip or jump when tightened, then a spray with WD40 and a wipe over, job jobbed.
If the one I picked up had looked like sirromj’s, I’d have been thrilled to bits, but it really looked a mess. At least four different layers of different types of paint, maybe more, so cracked and crazed, and filthy dirty to boot, and even with a whizz-wheel wire brush it took ages to get all the crap off.
Lets see if this picture works:
👍 nice one
WD40 will get rid of the old oil and muck, if you really want to repaint it a flap wheel in an angle grinder will take the paint off. I haven't bothered with mine, I like the patina.
Yeah just clean it, mine looked like that when I got it. And to be fair it still looks exactly the same
Nice little record. 50 years old
You can buy dichloromethane, which is the active ingredient of old nitromors, pretty cheaply, but it's terrible to work with in liquid form, presumably you can thicken it but i don't know what with. I experimented with sugar and that kind of worked. Or dichloromethane based strippers are still available "for professional use only". Evil stuff but it works great.
TBH though I might be tempted just to wire wheel it? It's a pretty simple shape, you should be able to get into most of the nooks.
Saw this at Sea Otter and thought of you all.
very pretty but £1499.00
for something that might get in the way of a hammer or saw..
Neighbors were chucking a lovely record number 3, so I rescued it and gave it my mate over the road, I already have a no4 which is one betterer.
Seeing this thread has reminded me that I still haven’t used the Samsonia that I inherited a few years back. It’s crying out for a bit of grease 😄
It’s crying out for a bit of grease
Snap. I acquired this a short while ago. It's taken a beating, needs a bit more than a spot of grease!. The quick release doesn't work, some deepish saw marks in the jaws. Summer project!
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Must be pretty old, it's got older versions of any markers I've seen discussed - sunk logo, round turning knob, round "3" rather than flat top. 50's? Earlier?
I’ve pulled my neglected Record Irwin No6 out of the hedge where I’d forgotten I’d stashed it 4 years ago!
It’s not in bad shape considering. I’ve got a spring repair kit from The Viceman, so it’s time for a sympathetic tidy up.
A bit of filing, wire brushes in a drill and maybe a bit of mild angle grinding. Then to decide on what oil to protect it Certainly not going to cover it in blue paint.
It’s a big old lump too, so it maybe up for trading for a No4?
So many things wrong with that Orange Vice Co device, like a gap of about a millimetre at the back of the dovetail joint for the jaws!
And a cylindrical slide for the jaws? I can only imagine it’s all alloy for transportation to allow for some (very) light bike fettling.
I can’t imagine it standing up to someone using a length of scaffold pole to encourage a recalcitrant bottom bracket bolt to undo…
Hmmm, I’ve underestimated it, it weighs 50lb and can supply some serious pressure, just don’t use it as an anvil!
Thats not a vice, THIS is a vice(or vise if you live across the pond)
That^^ looks like it should be hauled behind a steam train 😉🙃
Anyway,move over Orange Co and meet the lovely Bugatti 😁
Great thread, OK two years on from top pic and have oiled once the thread and the top bit of the vise that slides underneath the static part with fully synthetic 0/30 oil from the secretion of un-flowered sea creatures. Any other maintenance suggestions?
Just "inherited" a couple of vices from a skip. Been outside for years in a neighbour's garden.
Still working though.
Paramo 1 and York 100.
Not sure what to do with them now. I've already got a couple of Records.
Is this one of the oldest threads? Probably one of the handiest things I couldn't do without in my garage.
It's a bit like a frying pan in a kitchen or a radio first thing in the morning
Seem to be getting vice suggestions in my instagram feed now. Here's a tiltable/rotatable wood-working vice:
The Paramo could really do with taking down to bare metal, stripping down and wire wool applied to all moving parts, followed by lots of lube.
The York, well, that’s a monster and no mistake! What it needs most is lots of bench space! 8-0
Seem to be getting vice suggestions in my instagram feed now. Here’s a tiltable/rotatable wood-working vice:
Thats called a pattern makers vice.
