Show us your bench vice(s)

[StevieO]

Been busy this morning

Nice Woden 190/8 steel with 5 1/4" jaws & QR
£40
Lytham St Annes (if anyone is around that way....)

Woden 190/8

 

[StevieO]

Jaws missing - that is another £40 quid

Poops - missed that! Too much money !

 

[premmington]

Poops - missed that! Too much money !

Is it...?

Nice new set of jaws on refurbed vice - £85

You would not buy a new 24 for that sort of money - nothing is cheap in "vice world" now...

 

[GraemeVW]

Took a while to get this finished, had other things on. Couldn't decide what colour to paint it so just used some left over paint from the lathe.

Wanted a 6" jaw one of these for ages as a replacement for my record 112. Now its done, i thinknl the record may be better made. 10mm extra jaw depth on the fortis though.
Bolted it down, I'll see how i get on with it.

 

[ranger08]

unusual Record 774 vice - cannot find in any Record cats.. maybe a bit rare?
Record 774
View attachment 411814

That is seriously collectable, I would jump on that if I was there

 

[MattF]

I would jump on that if I was there

It may be nice, but there are limits old chap.

 

[ranger08]

marples eclipse no1

 

[Viceman]

Aquired this yesterday, its only a 52 D wood vice but what I thought was a repaint job seems to be the original colour RED its even red inside the dog slot, I've had a few of these, always blue, just wondered if I was having another senior moment, again

 

[SteveB58]

Took a while to get this finished, had other things on. Couldn't decide what colour to paint it so just used some left over paint from the lathe.

Wanted a 6" jaw one of these for ages as a replacement for my record 112. Now its done, i thinknl the record may be better made. 10mm extra jaw depth on the fortis though.
Bolted it down, I'll see how i get on with it.
View attachment 411850

Nice looking vice, though I'd be tempted to replace your holding down bolts, they don't look man enough to me.

 

[GraemeVW]

Nice looking vice, though I'd be tempted to replace your holding down bolts, they don't look man enough to me.

10mm all thread bolted through 3" of timber. It's fine. My 112 was bolted in the same place, with the same bolts, and I've beat the hell out of stuff in that vice with long handled club hammer. Nothing has ever moved or broken.

 

[CwazyWabbit]

Aquired this yesterday, its only a 52 D wood vice but what I thought was a repaint job seems to be the original colour RED its even red inside the dog slot, I've had a few of these, always blue, just wondered if I was having another senior moment, again

View attachment 412101

I've got two of those in original paint, and they are red like yours.

 

[Viceman]

I've got two of those in original paint, and they are red like yours.

Thanks for that, at least I haven't lost it completely..............yet

 

[JOEPRO]

Wow must watch for vice fans

 

[CwazyWabbit]

Well I won the auction and she's an early one.

Hard to see but it looks like it is using the 'Vice' spelling.
The base is very similar to the brass Parkinsons I have, the two ears that stick out the front to support the dynamic jaw are of different lengths like my brass one.

The big washer is not original, it has threads on the inside so looks like something that was repurposed for the job.

 

[CwazyWabbit]

Definitely has the 'Vice' spelling.


And it appears original grey paint in places, this might just be getting a light clean rather than an electrolytic bath. I've got it all free and working now, only repair needed was a broken spring.

 

[Mecres74]

Love pix of old vices in place/on the job - so couldn't resist buying this v fine and sharp photo for somewhat more than I'd normally pay for an anon photo (normal max £5? or £20 for an album?)
View attachment 387368

This is a very sharp whole-plate photo.
What's going on here? - they don't look like apprentices or practicing woodworkers to me - my best guesses - 1. teacher training, 2. a 'gentleman's' hobby woodworking class, 3. something like officer training (instructor wouldn't like the mess in this case) or engineer/architect training where they have to do a bit of shop practice.

The benches appear to be 'English style' but with thick cast-iron legs.

The phot, as I say, is very sharp - on it I can see that the pictures at the back are of various trees and tree-trunks.

Best till last: the vices are all Parkinson's Perfect (yes, for the anoraks like me, I can see the apostrophe before the s, which means that these are version 1 (from approx 1888-1898?)) - in good nick, so maybe up to 10 years old at most?

Dress, vice type, whole-plate photo - I'd guess pre WWI

To my knowledge, all manufacturers moved away from this design before the 1920’s.

 

[Mecres74]

AMES Carpenters Vice.
I have done exhaustive searches for information on this with no results. Anyone have any leads on where this unit came from?

 

[dannysheff]

View attachment 412807
To my knowledge, all manufacturers moved away from this design before the 1920’s.

wow

they yours?

 

[SteveB58]

View attachment 412807
To my knowledge, all manufacturers moved away from this design before the 1920’s.

But that doesn't mean that they weren't used for years after. A set of vices for these benches would be a considerable financial investment for an educational establishment.

This is the fitting shop where I spent the first 9 months, of my apprenticeship, 37.5 hours a week with a file in my hand learning how to use hand tools to a stupid level of tolerance, mark out, measure and roll my own cigarettes. I was here a little later than when the photograph was taken, but the vices are exactly the same. Later, when qualified, I set up a couple of workshops and the vices fitted were drawn from used stock. Simply, if it aint broke use it till it is.

 

[CwazyWabbit]

Trying to establish a timeline for Parkinsons "Perfect" vice/vise.

Patented 1884
Cocker Bros mentioned as producing in Jan1886
1889 Paris show picture shows the low parting line in the two part static.
There is an advert that purports to be from 1896 which shows a drawing of a vice with low parting line, 'Vise' spelling, and decorative inlay.

MattF has a 2 part with high parting line, 'vice' spelling and non decorative inlay
I have a two part Cocker Bros with low parting line, 'vice' spelling and decorative inlay
I also have a two part (non Cocker Bros) with low parting line, 'vice' spelling, and non decorative inlay.

So key design features on early vices are as listed below.

Cocker Bros on the main body
High or low parting line for the two part body
Decorative corners to the inlay on the slide, or plain square corners.
Spelling of vice or vise on the side of the dynamic jaw
Parkinson's or Parkinsons' on the side of the dynamic jaw.

As we move on further evolution includes

Change from rubbing strip top and bottom on side of slide to only at top.
Change from two part main body to single part.
Change from jaw inserts being non threaded to threaded, i.e later vices have the screws coming in from the back of the insert through the cast iron body.


Also something I need to verify.
What side of the dynamic jaw is the logo on? Some definitely have it just on the right hand side (when looking at the vice from the front), see my example recently. Others have it on the left hand side, there is an example of each in my Parkinsons 'vice tree' picture (although one is on a No7 and the other on a No8). Is this a date thing? or is this just a size thing? or do some have it on both sides?

Anyway this is a brain dump to try and put the details in one place, feel free to add to this as I know a few of you have studied these vices quite a bit, and quite a bit of this information I have taken from your posts.