Show us your bench vice(s)

[CwazyWabbit]

That looks like a Parkinsons Model F No.7 Perfect Vise, I'd say it's worth 25 quid. If you make the jaws out of something soft you won't damage your work piece but they will wear out. I'd use some tool steel and leave it smooth, will last a long while without damaging anything.

What you describe on your No.3 sounds like little more than the slide sticking, give it a clean and oil and it'll probably sort it. There is a spring between the screw and vice that compresses when your opening the vice if the slide sticks then when it overcomes the friction it jumps as you describe.

You are getting taste in your vices as you get older ... the parkinson is a lovely vice and I use one as my main vice

 

[CwazyWabbit]

To strip your No.7 just undo the two screws holding the quick release plate, then using the quick release you can pull the main screw and qr lever right out of the front of the vice, a washer will drop out of the back of the vice. Now just slide out the dynamic jaw.

Cleaning gives you the choice of electrolytic rust removal, wire wheels, elbow grease. Electrolytic is the easiest

 

[paulmitchell1984]

Yeah I plan to strip them.both down and give them a good coat of tlc but need to clear work bench 1st hehe..I seem to have caught the bug but have nowhere to store them haha..

I really ike my uncles iv been using it years and I know it's been roundly Germany than I have im 31 this year :S haymer or haymer I think it is. I keep trying to get it off him lol.

The 1st is a parkinson as you say I only read about them on here a few days ago and went on the hunt...landed on this on Gumtree a mere 5 miles from my house so even better lol.

 

[paulmitchell1984]

Il have a look into that method then and see what's involved

 

[CwazyWabbit]

My earlier post on this thread http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/show-us-your-bench-vice-s.52872/page-16#post-632492 shows the results you get, MattF is a bit of an expert on it. Once you get it out of the tank it needs a good scrub whilst still wet.

Always great when you don't need to travel far to pick up a vice.... delivery/collecting expenses are the killer for lots of vices I see for sale.

 

[MattF]

A Samsonia 38? for £25 is most definitely a good buy. Like CW, my main vice, (currently undergoing a fettling), is a Parkinson. Lovely vices they are. This page gives a decent write-up on the basics of electrolysis:

http://antique-engines.com/electrol.asp

You can actually use anything from bicarb through to caustic for the solution, but washing soda, (sodium carbonate), is readily available and quite cheap from pretty much any shop which sells laundry powders & detergents.

 

[CwazyWabbit]

Oops you are right Matt, I should have zoomed in! The Samsonia is the Parkinson unbreakable range so theoretically better than the the standard Parkinson.

 

[MattF]

On a slight aside regarding the Samsonia's, is the body cast with more hollow space on those? Was looking at this little Fortis last night again and noted the body on that has a lot less metal in the body than you'd expect with a cast iron vice, and wondered if that might be where some of the weight disparity comes from between the Samsonia and the C.I Parkinson's too.

 

[CwazyWabbit]

Good question, I must do those comparison photos between the Samsonia and Parkinson that I have. From memory the Samsonia is physically smaller than a Parkinson of the same capacity.

On the subject of your Fortis, that design is definitely the newer unbreakable design of theirs, the older design is the same as the Record 11* series.

I have some adverts for them from different years.

 

[paulmitchell1984]

Yeah I got the wrong g vice it is a samsoni struggling to strip it at min got the quick release off but can't seem to get the main screw mech out hmm more tinkering required

 

[Flathead_Dave]

If it's rated as unbreakable,it's prob cast steel,and is strong enough to use a box type construction.
Cast iron types rely on bulk for strength.
Odd that the price list shows a model J,but all the models in the list use numbers.
I thought that sort of thing only happened in modern computer compiled catalogues,where they input the data,but never read what it says.
I asked the manager in Screwfix one day,why a fan heater that "requires a 3 phase supply",came with a 3 pin plug.
"Oh it's just a mistake" he said,and seeing the look on my face then said "too late now,they've been printed".

 

[CRB]

I asked the manager in Screwfix one day,why a fan heater that "requires a 3 phase supply",came with a 3 pin plug.
"Oh it's just a mistake" he said,and seeing the look on my face then said "too late now,they've been printed".

I got some castors from them a fortnight ago. Not a single one in the catalogue or online had the load rating mentioned, the weight of each castor yes, but not how much each could handle. A major omission I said. Girly agreed.

 

[MattF]

On the subject of your Fortis, that design is definitely the newer unbreakable design of theirs, the older design is the same as the Record 11* series.

I have some adverts for them from different years.

Any idea what the changeover point was on date/year, approximately? I obviously have a fairly exact date on this one, but I've not been able to find one jot of info so far regarding the ones with no anvil portion. Is there any info on this specific one/range in any of your catalogues? This one is intriguing me now, and I can find naff all regarding it.

Yeah I got the wrong g vice it is a samsoni struggling to strip it at min got the quick release off but can't seem to get the main screw mech out hmm more tinkering required

Post a photo of it showing where you're currently at on the disassembly. There's little to play awkward on those.

If it's rated as unbreakable,it's prob cast steel,and is strong enough to use a box type construction.
Cast iron types rely on bulk for strength.

Seems weird when you note all of the empty space though. I'd have thought they would have upped the metal content slightly, especially in the upper jaw area. I'd be damned unwilling to put the unbreakable aspect through its paces personally, looking at one. Saying that though, I don't believe this little No.10 actually says unbreakable on it anywhere, merely steel, so this could be a lighter build version/model.

Odd that the price list shows a model J,but all the models in the list use numbers.

J may just have been their variant of X or N.

 

[MattF]

A major omission I said.

Just a little bit. It's like having a clothing catalogue with no sizes.

 

[MattF]

Odd that the price list shows a model J,but all the models in the list use numbers.

Just been having a look at some Samsonia photo's, and that "Model J" is correct, and on all of them. The No.3* denoting size is cast above the text on the front jaw.

 

[Flathead_Dave]

Just been having a look at some Samsonia photo's, and that "Model J" is correct, and on all of them. The No.3* denoting size is cast above the text on the front jaw.

Thanks,I think.
Now I'm going to wonder what the J stands for.

 

[CwazyWabbit]

Any idea what the changeover point was on date/year, approximately? I obviously have a fairly exact date on this one, but I've not been able to find one jot of info so far regarding the ones with no anvil portion. Is there any info on this specific one/range in any of your catalogues? This one is intriguing me now, and I can find naff all regarding it.
....

The old style was shown in the B&H 1953 catalogue and the new style is shown in the 1958 catalogue, so I guess that narrows it down to 5 years, makes yours one of the first.



Hmm, can't see unbreakable mentioned in this catalogue, although it is on the page of unbreakable vices, I'll have to dig out my number 12 and see if it is on the casting.

.....
Seems weird when you note all of the empty space though. I'd have thought they would have upped the metal content slightly, especially in the upper jaw area. I'd be damned unwilling to put the unbreakable aspect through its paces personally, looking at one. Saying that though, I don't believe this little No.10 actually says unbreakable on it anywhere, merely steel, so this could be a lighter build version/model.

....

As I understand it casting steel is much harder than iron, it is much more prone to inclusions and is very difficult to cast thick parts. So the lack of mass is most likely to increase the success rate of the castings.

EDIT: apologies for the poor photo quality

 

[CwazyWabbit]

I'll try at some point to make decent digital copies of the vice section of all the B&H catalogues I have (1930,30 abridged,35,53,58,64,71/72) and the Record ones (No 16 and No 17).

If anyone has the 1923 B&H catalogue for sale I'd be interested

 

[MattF]

Thanks,I think.
Now I'm going to wonder what the J stands for.

If you figure it out, hopefully you can then figure out what the Model F stands for on the cast iron vices.

 

[paulmitchell1984]

Any idea what the changeover point was on date/year, approximately? I obviously have a fairly exact date on this one, but I've not been able to find one jot of info so far regarding the ones with no anvil portion. Is there any info on this specific one/range in any of your catalogues? This one is intriguing me now, and I can find naff all regarding it.



Post a photo of it showing where you're currently at on the disassembly. There's little to play awkward on those.




Seems weird when you note all of the empty space though. I'd have thought they would have upped the metal content slightly, especially in the upper jaw area. I'd be damned unwilling to put the unbreakable aspect through its paces personally, looking at one. Saying that though, I don't believe this little No.10 actually says unbreakable on it anywhere, merely steel, so this could be a lighter build version/model.




J may just have been their variant of X or N.

No piccys as of yet...iv removed the 2 square bolts from underneath and the 2 flat head screws from the front of vice and removed the quick release the jaws open fully now bit stops on the big washer I can see how to remove the big screw


Il try get pics tomorrow