Show us your bench vice(s)

[Turbo]

Remember the Paramo No 5 that I refurbished?

I sold it tonight and it's destined for Africa! Guy who bought it is involved with a company who buys up tools old & new to fill a container. Container is shipped to Africa and they go to schools where they are used to teach kids and young people practical skills or a trade.

He also bought this welder.

So do I win a prize for selling something the furthest?

 

[winchman]

Remember the Paramo No 5 that I refurbished?
So do I win a prize for selling something the furthest?

Not sure I sold a Atco lawn mower fuel tank to a bloke in California!

 

[slim_boy_fat]

I sold a used golf ball [yes....really! ] to a guy in America. But I think it was to the East Coast, so winchman beats me.

 

[Rig Pig]

Apparently, this beast cost the company the wrong side of £1k

View attachment 72516

Nice little job for the apprentice to fit it while taking lots of pics for his logbook.

Lovely, I wish mine looked like that!

 

[Rig Pig]

RRP is £1240.
Being Irwin, not "proper" record, I wonder if it's even spherical graphite.

They are cast steel

 

[Solo]

Remember the Paramo No 5 that I refurbished?

I sold it tonight and it's destined for Africa! Guy who bought it is involved with a company who buys up tools old & new to fill a container. Container is shipped to Africa and they go to schools where they are used to teach kids and young people practical skills or a trade.

He also bought this welder.

So do I win a prize for selling something the furthest?

I sold a compressor once . Got served almost exactly the same story! Thought it was a scam , but I got my money. He never showed up though... Sold it again.

 

[Turbo]

I sold a compressor once . Got served almost exactly the same story! Thought it was a scam , but I got my money. He never showed up though... Sold it again.

I thought it was a scam too, he was just too keen to buy them. Offered me nearly the full asking price over the phone, no haggling. Even offered to send me the money via western union to hold the items. I wasn't too worried if he was a no-show as I had 4 others wanting the welder if he dropped out!

He showed up & after me demonstrating the welder he was happy enough & paid me what we agreed. Even asked me to keep in touch if I had any more tools for sale. What made me fairly sure his story was genuine was when he spotted a Parkside angle grinder on the bench he asked me what I thought about them. I told him they were quite good and he replied that's good, I just bought 5 to send out in the container!

 

[davidjohnperry]

Hear lads my little bad boy nothing special it came out of a bin I was sorting for dad if I look hard enough I can find loads of vices dotted around the yard

 

[MattF]

Apparently, this beast cost the company the wrong side of £1k

View attachment 72516

Nice little job for the apprentice to fit it while taking lots of pics for his logbook.

Out of curiosity, what's the quality appear to be like on the modern Record gear Robo'? Is that a 6" or 8"?

 

[Robotstar5]

Out of curiosity, what's the quality appear to be like on the modern Record gear Robo'? Is that a 6" or 8"?

Seem quite well put together and finished, haven't had a chance to "test drive" it yet, it's an 8" model and it's HEAVY, took 2 of us to safely lift it.

 

[MattF]

Let us know what you think of it when you get a chance to put it through its paces. Never had a play with one of the Irwin Records, so it'd be nice to know whether they've retained some semblance of quality or not.

 

[lotus_esprit_s1]

My friend has a Irwin record 25 on one bench and a proper old 25 on the other. The casting is very rough and porous on the Irwin, but other than that they seem exactly the same in use.

 

[MattF]

They are cast steel

Seems they may have been both, at some point, unless there was a cockup in the description. Just been looking at one of the old B&H catalogue pages, (the ones which CW scanned), and they were listed as pearlitic malleable iron in the 1953? one, yet they're listed as steel on another B&H page.

Seem quite well put together and finished, haven't had a chance to "test drive" it yet, it's an 8" model and it's HEAVY, took 2 of us to safely lift it.

On a tangent, you big girls blouse. Just seen one of the catalogue pages listing the weight of the 114. It's only 95lb, you jessie.

 

[Robotstar5]

Yes it could be a one man lift, but as the apprentice wanted to document the job for his logbook we had to follow the company safe lifting practices

 

[MattF]

I'll believe you....

 

[MattF]

Picked this one up today, (well, yesterday now ).

6" jaws, 42-1/2" high, 24" deep. Weighs a fair old bit.

 

[MattF]

Couple of photo's of the one which came down here from Taitsie, now that it's going through the derusting/stripping process. Finally found the makers tag on it too. It's halfway along the slide, which is why it hadn't been readily visible. This vice also has the largest nut I've come across so far on any vice. It's sat just to the left of the mug in the first photo. It's slightly tapered at the bottom, so that it wedges up into the housing. The bottom plate is currently in the vat. Looks like the original colour on this one was something close to Mid Brunswick. There's a fleck of the original paint visible in the second photo, underneath the W in Glasgow.

This vice looks to be in good condition physically, with little wear. The only slight damage is that portion of the insert shelf which is broken off on the rear jaw, but that's not something which'll be of any detriment, as it's only a relatively small chunk which is missing.

 

[Farside]

I think Mathieson's were, or became, an engineering supply house, iirc. Maybe this was made by them early on, or for them, later.
Here's some info, but not much on the later years, where they rang a bell with me...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Mathieson_&_Sons

 

[MattF]

I'm guessing it was made by them, fairly early on. Going by the styling and such, and just general gut feeling, I'm guessing this may have been early 1900's or thereabouts. No way to know for definite unless a catalogue ever crops up showing one though. One thing I can say for definite though is that it's a stout piece.

 

[TAITSIE]

I never looked that far along for the makers name, looks good condition considering its age.