Show us your bench vice(s)

[Cobbler]

Sure stick a picture up, always good to see older ones still in use.

Just for you

 

[candor]

Just for youView attachment 62754

Not a whole lot wrong with that in fairness! Must stick up a pic of the woden I picked up recently.

 

[Maker]

There's nothing wrong with that vice, it certainly doesn't look abused. Your bench looks a bit cluttered though.

 

[CwazyWabbit]

It's in better condition than my No7 I picked mine up from the local tip 10 or 15 years ago and despite the other vices I have it's still my main one, although I may give it a break and a spruce up soon.

 

[MattF]

Those are some impressive gouges, CW. Those marks mid slide on this 8A are drill marks. The rear end of the slide has the usual hammer dents and chisel marks. There was a minor amount of weld spatter too, but that filed off.

Just for youView attachment 62754

That looks quite tidy. Was expecting it to be under a mound of weld spatter or such, the way you described it.

 

[Maker]

The rear end of the slide has the usual hammer dents and chisel marks.

Someone at school a couple of weeks ago was hammering on the slide, I just looked at him in (feigned) horror and shock, and declared "That's a Wilton!". He was so confused.

 

[CRB]

?Penelope?

 

[CwazyWabbit]

Yipeee

It can go in the tank in the morning now

 

[MattF]

Good to see you topsided them. Were they just tight in or corroded in?


Latest addition to the stable. Cheers to T0rnado69 and zzr1200 for helping to get this up here to me.

4-1/2" jaws, approx. 17" long. It's a quirky thing. It's akin to a woman whose looks scare the crap out of you yet you feel yourself nonetheless strangely attracted to their personality. I've quite taken to this one already.

 

[Turbo]

Thought it was time I showed my small collection.

My first vice, a cheap market stall special bought by my Dad many years ago. It has withstood a lot of heavy agricultural abuse over the years but has survived remarkably unscathed.

At the other end of that bench is mounted this antique specimen.

My Dad says it was bought at an auction by my Grandfather, so quite old. It's quite unusual as blacksmiths vices go as the jaws are only 3.5" wide, any others I've seen are 5" or more.

These are my 2 record vices.

I inherited the top one, a No 3, from my Uncle and it's older than I am. It was mint when I got it and has got some really serious abuse since but is still in good condition. Most of the paint is still good, just hidden by years of grease & dirt. I got the big one to replace it and everyone told me to sell the small one but it has a lot of sentimental value as have all the other quality tools my Uncle gave me. I'm going to give it a light restoration and maybe mount it on a portable bench I'm planning.

The bottom one is a No 6 I bought at a local auction for £100. It looked like it had never been mounted on a bench as it was unmarked but it had been stored somewhere damp as it had a lot of rust patches. I stripped it down, put it into the electrolysis tank to strip the rust, painted it with tractol aircraft blue and assembled it. I mounted on a piece of 10mm plate and left a section exposed at the end of the bench to use as a mini anvil.

On the other side of the vice I cut the 9"x2" boards to sit flush with the base of the vice.

Spotted this for sale, the number looks like a 40, never heard of that model. Can any of you more knowledgeable guys shed any light on this model? Could it be a No 110. Texted the seller for more info but no reply yet.

 

[MattF]

Nice collection. Like that leg vice. Regarding that bottom one, I'd guess one of the 11* series too, from the styling.

Regarding cleaning up that No.3, my preferred method for tasks like that is one of those green nylon pan scourers and some paraffin/kerosene. The paraffin degreases as well as keeping the effect of the scouring subtle. Should bring that up a treat with a bit of elbow grease added.

 

[MattF]

Must stick up a pic of the woden I picked up recently.

Still waiting for that photo.

 

[CwazyWabbit]

Nice vices and nice history to Turbo, that last vice looks to say 111 on the jaw, that's a worthwhile vice to get. It's less common than the 112 but not a lot smaller, the 112 will sell for anything up to £200 or as little as £50 if you are lucky. New 112's are around £800 so that should give you an idea of the quality of a 111 which is no longer made.

 

[CwazyWabbit]

Good to see you topsided them. Were they just tight in or corroded in?

The pin holding the scroll is a taper pin and the thin end had been riveted over a little, the other pin looks just to have been rusted solid.

Both got heated for removal, rear pin got grabbed in the No.7 and a little leverage pulled it out. The taper pin was removed in the arbour press while heating the scroll (no idea why I didn't think of using the press on the rear pin :/ ).

 

[clueless77]

Nothing flashy, took these whilst having a tidy up today.

 

[CwazyWabbit]

A nice honest looking 112 you have there How do you like it?

 

[clueless77]

A nice honest looking 112 you have there How do you like it?

I like it a lot especially as it was given to me for nowt by an old guy I do odd jobs for, also for nowt. He also asked me to skip a couple of home made compressors for him, when I said I would rather find a good home or re purpose some of the parts he seemed a lot happier.

 

[CwazyWabbit]

Even better, I prefer tools with history or personal connection ..... even better when it a good quality tool to

 

[Turbo]

that last vice looks to say 111 on the jaw, that's a worthwhile vice to get. It's less common than the 112 but not a lot smaller, the 112 will sell for anything up to £200 or as little as £50 if you are lucky. New 112's are around £800 so that should give you an idea of the quality of a 111 which is no longer made.

So it's worth the £70 he's looking for the vice and a 6" bench grinder? It's a 170 mile round trip but it might be worth it.

Even better, I prefer tools with history or personal connection ..... even better when it a good quality tool to

I used to do odd jobs for my Uncle over the years and he taught me to use and respect tools. He was in the RAF and the army all his life but never married. He was good with his hands and when he retired he passed on some of his skills to me. He didn't buy many tools but anything he had was top quality. In his later years I helped look out to him but when he needed to go into a care home he asked me to look after his tools. Those tools are now some of my most treasured possessions, some in daily use.

 

[CwazyWabbit]

I reckon it's worth the money with a bench grinder, make yourself an electrolytic rust removal tank and leave it in there a few days and it will be like new and you'll love it, or you could hit it with a fire wheel on a 4 1/2 inch grinder but be careful of the corners ... the e-tank is much easier and gives a nicer result.

Here's a 36 I cleaned up in an e-tank ....









Nice to hear that you got to look after your uncles tools , too many end up just getting thrown away