Show us your bench vice(s)

[doubleboost]

I need to make a stand for this one
Going to be very handy outside
Thinking about a 3 leg affair

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

Not a bench vice per se, but still a vice and able to be bench mounted. It’s a Stanley No400 miter vise. Tilts through 90deg and rotates through 360. This one is off to a picture framer.

View attachment 315952 View attachment 315953 View attachment 315954

They are a good bit of kit.
I have one myself.

 

[Lewis_RX8]

View attachment 315871

Is that painted on , Or whatever else how did you get a mirror finish like that I am looking to paint something for a car similar that needs that finish but haven't found much

 

[GraemeVW]

Is that painted on , Or whatever else how did you get a mirror finish like that I am looking to paint something for a car similar that needs that finish but haven't found much

No, they are electroplated!
It's a replica chrome which is nickel with cobalt. Not as yellow as nickel but still not quite as blue as chrome. But even side by side they look ok mixed.
I did all the chrome on the bike apart from the headlamp rim, the rims and the exhaust. All the other chrome are original parts stripped, we rusted, linished, polished, copper plated, polished again and then replica chrome plated.

Steel levers with brass mounts before and then after straightening, holes welded up and refilled, we rusted, polished and plated.

 

[GraemeVW]

Horn before and after

You get the idea

 

[Lewis_RX8]

Wow , very nice.

Do you have to polish it up or is it just having to get a good surface finish before you plate them

 

[GraemeVW]

Wow , very nice.

Do you have to polish it up or is it just having to get a good surface finish before you plate them

Has to be mirror polished. Brass and copper can just be mirror polished and then plated. Steel needs to be as good as you can get it but if you can't mirror polish it you can copper plate it and then polish that instead. Thing is, the home done copper can't go direct onto steel so you nickel plate the steel, then copper it. You can repeatedly copper it to build up any pitting if need be, just takes ages. Then once you have perfect mirror polished copper, you can do the final plating.

 

[GraemeVW]

Haven't got a final pic but even stuff this bad can be sorted. Just keep copper plating and then sanding it mostly off.
Easiest to get as much pitting out first though. This is steel, but already in copper plate. This came out perfect in the end but was ALOT of work.
I just didn't want to fit new repro parts.

 

[MattF]

That sounds like a lot of work.

 

[Arc Tourist]

I need to make a stand for this one
Going to be very handy outside
Thinking about a 3 leg affair

As you are going to use the vice primarily for beating on, are you going to bolt the feet down to a concrete slab ?
If so, and the slab isn't perfectly flat, may I suggest anchoring the feet first and then welding the legs to them for a more rigid bond less likely to work loose.

 

[GraemeVW]

That sounds like a lot of work.

It really is!
At least it is if what your plating starts as a rusty pitted mess.
Plating brass is easy. Plating new made parts would be easy too (well, you still have to learn the plating bit).
Repairing bad steel is hard!

 

[GraemeVW]

Here is that copper plated tube part, the lower half of this push rod tube. Bit oily in this pic.

You can see in that pic too, the 3 fins on the left, behind the horizontal small pipe, was my learning to weld aluminium. No one would take it on so I chucked some alloy wire and pure argon in my hobby mig and built up the missing fins myself.

Edit, these ones...

 

[doubleboost]

As you are going to use the vice primarily for beating on, are you going to bolt the feet down to a concrete slab ?
If so, and the slab isn't perfectly flat, may I suggest anchoring the feet first and then welding the legs to them for a more rigid bond less likely to work loose.

It will mainly be used for grinding
To keep the dust out side
I need to be able to move it around
The beating was a one off lol

 

[25.4_mechanic]

lthough these are of the second to last design I believe the critical dimensions have remained the same.

Question answered. Thank you!

Did anyone make contact with the seller of that partable #6 ??? Thanks.

Good night

Carsten

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[Dieselman 63]

A question.

Does anyone (perhaps @CwazyWabbit or @MattF ) have a definitive answer (ie with proof from the catalogue) of the colour vices marked ‘RECORD STEEL’ should be? I know the AutoVice, imp, 74 & 75 were red as they were originally cast steel and the other range was blue (this is back in the 1930s) but I’m unsure of this big 36 I’m doing. It was so weathered and rusted there wasn’t a single fleck of paint left anywhere. I can find info on some vices in the books that says ‘finished in stove enamel blue’ so I’m looking for something similar. Thanks I’m advance

 

[SteveB58]

Horn before and after

You get the idea
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Nice pair of hooters.

 

[GraemeVW]

Nice pair of hooters.

Yep, though its just one, but then the gag doesn't work.

Hard to find and silly money in restored working condition!

Correct for the bike though. Took a while to track one down.

Cast iron for reasons unknown to modern man!

 

[SteveB58]

Yep, though its just one, but then the gag doesn't work.

Hard to find and silly money in restored working condition!

Correct for the bike though. Took a while to track one down.

Cast iron for reasons unknown to modern man

As you say people want silly money for restored working parts. However if you've done it yourself you know it's done properly and if it fails you know how to fix it.

Steve

 

[GraemeVW]

As you say people want silly money for restored working parts. However if you've done it yourself you know it's done properly and if it fails you know how to fix it.

Steve

Indeed.
Had to solder the contacts back onto the points to get it working.
Sounds great.

 

[25.4_mechanic]

Horn before and after

You get the idea

What process did you use to get the black disc in the middle like that? Thank you.

Carsten

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