Parkinson Woodworking Vice Restoration

[Dieselman 63]

A total 'back from the brink' project this one. I got it for $25 as a garden ornament - it was caked in rust and mud and plasticky grease under that, spider nests and flecks of ancient paint. Still, everything was there although nothing was moving. Worth a punt? I thought so.

It sat on my 'do it later' shelf with the other vices soaking in oil for about three months, perhaps more. I managed to get the screw loose and out, then the quick release all unfastened, and then finally the rear of the slider was unbolted, with a few choice taps of the ratchet screwdriver.

This is it on the shelf - the halfnut next to the Record 52 belongs to the Parkinson as does the buttress thread beneath the monster 53 screw

I don't have many before pictures at all, only work in progress, but I thought it was (just about) thread worthy.

First up, a sandblasting for the rear

A complex piece of cast but the openings made the gun easy to get inside and blast away everything

There is a crack in the back, perhaps someone tried and failed to restore this before relegating it to the garden?

It's not a problem though as the rest of the cast is extremely rigid. When I got home, this was slapped into primer

Next up I took the entire qr assembly and screw to uni. This was the second buttress thread I'd done in two days along with the Woden one! The little bits came up good, though that bar needed a go with the flapdisk as it was seriously pitted and made the sliding motion a bit stiff later on

I couldn't believe how well the thread came up though. All the hard plasticky grease that was lurking in there (and was even difficult to shift with a knife) was blasted and then brushed free

The tommy bar was a bit bent, but luckily there are vices aplenty at uni so I used a Record No4 to press it back into shape. I wanted to use their Record No25 but the qr assembly has been put back together wrong and it clicks and flicks the handle on every turn.Perhaps I should volunteer to rebuild it for them?

 

[Dieselman 63]

My attention then turned to the front. I had a 'lunch hour' on Friday during *the-most-boring* day of critiquing artwork, so I was delighted to have a play on the blaster. I had to be quick though as the workshop shuts down at 12:30 and powers off for their lunch!

Sliders all done - the black flecks are casting defects, air bubbles. You have to appreciate that this vice is likely 100 years old.

The front came up a real treat. Just look at that.

It was then time to put it all back together for a test fit - and it works! Given it's a bit clunky, it's a bloody good little vice this.

I put the rear section into paint first, then had to file all the internal surfaces to get them clean of any splashed paint. It's such a nightmare to mask in here that I just tried to be careful with the paint.

I put in a test jaw to see what kind of compression it could stand - good as it happens. There is a bit of racking from the sliders not being a snug fit (like the Record 52 next to it) but this disappears when the jaws meet. The wood is scrap rimu - I thought it was a poignant meeting of something very NZ with something very old English

Finally up to speed, this morning I put the first coat of red/burgundy on the front. I like to leave the face behind the front in primer, from experience if you paint this and then put a wooden jaw on, it gets a bit sticky when you want to remove it.

And finally the money shot, that lovely lettering all in topcoat once more.

I saw one of these going for $300 here once - unsurprisingly it didn't sell. I have some friends who are building a travelling caravan and want a little workshop onboard, they like early NZ/Victorian things, so I've offered to do it for $60 which I think is a very good price and certainly it would make that on the open market. We shall see what happens though!

 

[p0689109]

I would have thought you would have had a go at welding the crack as it is a welding forum!!

 

[Dieselman 63]

I would have thought you would have had a go at welding the crack as it is a welding forum!!

Non structural and too risky as a first time job. A good way to muck up something rare-ish imo.

 

[p0689109]

Well yes but I thought you might have known somebody who can do cast and learn a bit in your part of the world. There must have been a reason for it to crack unless it was dropped on the edge of that flange.

 

[Dieselman 63]

The reasons could be endless. 100 years is a long time. Perhaps it was thrown in a scrap heap, or fell during an earthquake, or someone tried to use a ratchet screwdriver and failed to get it apart...

The way I see it on any project is this - does it affect the use of the item? If so, fix it. If it’s okay, leave it alone. I’ve ‘fixed’ enough things which would have been alright in my time and made them a whole lot worse.

There is a back piece which screws into both sides of the casting providing a mechanical fastening, so I think it’s rigid enough.

 

[MattF]

I’ve ‘fixed’ enough things which would have been alright in my time and made them a whole lot worse.

Too true. I've managed to drop that bollock again tonight. Twice now I've got caught by the same thing. A taper pin, (joining a handle to a shaft), which just refuses to budge. Drilled it out, and gone on a sllght skew, so the holes are now elongated. Thinking of attempting a braze fill and redrill. I detest taper pins in that application. Sidewards pressure, 50+ years in the same place etc. and they become nigh on impossible to knock out.

I'd guess that crack is possibly due to it being bolted to an uneven surface, at some pont.

 

[Dieselman 63]

Too true. I've managed to drop that bollock again tonight. Twice now I've got caught by the same thing. A taper pin, (joining a handle to a shaft), which just refuses to budge. Drilled it out, and gone on a sllght skew, so the holes are now elongated. Thinking of attempting a braze fill and redrill. I detest taper pins in that application. Sidewards pressure, 50+ years in the same place etc. and they become nigh on impossible to knock out.

I'd guess that crack is possibly due to it being bolted to an uneven surface, at some pont.

Interesting how bollock is uncensored but ******** is!

 

[Dieselman 63]

Back on topic (actually off topic!) I'm also restoring three other vices simultaneous to this one. I'm going vice crazy, cleaning and repainting parts almost every day. Bedroom has turned into a small factory! I plan to build a woodworking bench and I bought two matching vices, a 52 and a 53A. 52A's seem virtually unobtainable, I've never seen one for sale here in the later 1950s style minus the RD number, but should one come up I'll buy it and sell my mere 52! I want the big 53 on the side and the 52 on the end.

So anyway, I thought I'd share with you the vastly superior casting of the 52, and show you the size comparison to the same part of the 53. Remember, the smaller one has a seven inch jaw, so quite large already.

Like a child in comparison! Btw if anyone has a good copy of that 'dust excluder' info box and a 'Genuine Record' oval, I would greatly appreciate it. I'd like to clean it up and replace the transfers ideally, but until then they are staying.

And just to curveball the thread even further, here are two more different woodworking vices which I have since sold. First up a Woden wood vice, pretty much a copy of the Record and a poor one at that. The quick release holding piece (bent steel stock on the Record) is made of cast iron on these.

You can see the moulding isn't cast to receive the dust excluder plate

Which allows situations like this to occur (photo of when I picked it up and first dismantled it)

Then the other vice, a Ward & Payne (who made great chisels and edge tools). I strongly suspect this wasn't made by them as it looks a bit 'generic'

The W&P is on the right. It was a qr vice but the mechanism is much simpler and clumsier than the Woden, which in turn was clumsier than the Record. The castings were also much rougher and needed flash removing. In the end I committed the cardinal sin and nicked the qr lever to repair the Woden one, fixed the halfnut so it locked in permanently and then cleaned it up back to bare metal, rattle can painted it and picked out the lettering in red. It sold instantly for what I paid originally!

I promise the next post will either be a completed Record 52 or some progress on the namesake vice of this thread!

Cheers

 

[Dieselman 63]

Thread resurrection and recap.

My joinery apprenticeship didn’t happen, so my plans to build a woodworking bench with the 53A as the main vice and the 52 as the tail vice went out the window. The 53A was sold (after restoration) and the 52 languished in my workshop.

I bought a 52A with broken rear piece from a boatyard and swapped over the good bits from my 52 and sold that. Then the 52A just sat for years until I restored it for a customer last week. Thinking I would never find another 52A as they’re rather rare, one of course immediately turned up for sale so I bought that. The cycle continues…

 

[Dieselman 63]

My skills at restoration aren’t much better but they are quicker. A little vice like this can be knocked out in a day and paint three days, then out the door. It’s just finding a buyer that’s the hard part.

The Parkinson was restored but I fell out with those people rebuilding the caravan and instead gifted the old vice to a friend.