Help - Which Bench Vice?

[Neomorph]

DaveL are you trying to throw me into the loo????????? :lol:

Well no, but I was trying to say keep your eyes open, my Dad manages to 'find' all sorts of things. :roll:

I know what you mean... I once got some pieces of plexiglass display shelves which have been sitting on one side for a few years and now they are going to come in usefull for making routing templates and mounting plates for my router table and jigsaw table.

It makes a change... usually when I hoard something for a while I throw it out and then days later I find a use for it.

 

[Gill]

GILL YOU PLONKER LOL...

Guilty as charged . Give me more than one button and it's almost inevitable that I'll press the wrong one. I can't program VCRs either.

At least I got it right this time, though... I hope :? .

Gill

 

[Neomorph]

GILL YOU PLONKER LOL...

Guilty as charged . Give me more than one button and it's almost inevitable that I'll press the wrong one. I can't program VCRs either.

At least I got it right this time, though... I hope :? .

Gill

Gill I think this entire thread is jinxed... Well you know the email I got from Axminster saying they would not have any of the 9" vices until the end of March well guess my surprise when I got the following email this evening.

Dear Mr XXXXXX,

We are pleased to inform you that order WEBXXXXXX has been shipped
from our distribution centre.

If you placed your order via our web site, you may track your order by
visiting www.axminster.co.uk, logging into your account and
then clicking on View Previous Orders. Then click on the order number
you wish to track.

We thank you for choosing Axminster Power Tool Centre.

I was now confused but happy but the confusion still hadn't ended. I went to the order tracking and the had the order line with the WEBXXXX link to the specific details but underneath it there was the picture and the price for the 7" version. I was now cursing to myself that it seemed possible they may have sent the 7" by mistake. :?

I then clicked on the WEBXXXX link above the picture of the 7" vice and the details came up for the 9" version with the correct price and link to the vice I had ordered. I clicked on the link to see if they had had more stock in and blow me if it wasn't still showing "Out of Stock".

I'm now not sure which vice is on its way to me but I have a hunch they have sent me the 7" version by mistake. :roll:

Now for the final confusion... I decided to use the order tracking to see where the package actually was. I copied the consignment number from the Axminster order tracking and entered it into the ANC tracking system. Imagine my utter bafflement when it came up that the order had already been delivered... ON THE 18TH AUGUST 2005! ](*,) Considering that the package was sent on the 4th Feb 2006 that's damn fast. Also the fact that I don't even live in Aldershot and my name isn't MR T NICHOLS makes this one hell of a FUBAR.

Perhaps I should give up with this hobby and just do gardening! :-k

 

[DaveL]

Now for the final confusion... I decided to use the order tracking to see where the package actually was. I copied the consignment number from the Axminster order tracking and entered it into the ANC tracking system. Imagine my utter bafflement when it came up that the order had already been delivered... ON THE 18TH AUGUST 2005! ](*,) Considering that the package was sent on the 4th Feb 2006 that's damn fast. Also the fact that I don't even live in Aldershot and my name isn't MR T NICHOLS makes this one hell of a FUBAR.

I can explain this one. ANC reuse the consignment numbers, they only have a fixed number of them in the system. :shock: This seems daft to me, then to compound the problem, they don't flush the old details out of the database. :roll: I placed an order, did the same as you and looked it up, it had been delivered twice in the last six months to two different people. ](*,)

 

[Neomorph]

I can explain this one. ANC reuse the consignment numbers, they only have a fixed number of them in the system. :shock: This seems daft to me, then to compound the problem, they don't flush the old details out of the database. :roll: I placed an order, did the same as you and looked it up, it had been delivered twice in the last six months to two different people. ](*,)

Ahh... Thanks for that info. I was beginning to think that I'd won the "Which one is God going to mess with this week" lottery. Now all I have to hope is that Axminster have sent the correct vice. [-o<

 

[Neomorph]

Well I've had a couple of emails from Axminster today... The first told me that the reason for the ANC consignment screwup was due to them not having an ANC pickup on Saturday...

... The next bit about it being the wrong vice is excellent news! Just read this email from Jo Thomas...

I have looked again at our ‘stock screen’ – there is an order from a customer who wants 175 of these vices, that order is ahead of yours so effectively we have no stock available, although we do actually have 30 in the warehouse. It seems that this customer has now elected to wait for our next delivery so that he can have all 175 at the same time, rather than taking 30 now and the rest in March. This means that the 30 were freed up to fulfill other smaller orders and so have been processed after all.

I hope this makes sense & I’m sorry it has caused confusion!

... so it looks like I will be getting my new vice tomorrow. \/

I wonder what the guy who ordered 175 of these vices is going to do with all them. Maybe a HUGE bench :lol:
Thanks to all of you for the help and advice I've had here.

 

[Neomorph]

Well I got my vice today and it's as good as Byron Black said it was. The accuracy to which it's made is excellent as the faces close up perfectly square.

The quick release mechanism works well too as it doesn't make the action too loose like I've seen on a couple of mates vices (and one was a Record too so I was quite shocked!). Could the looseness just be long use and is there a way to fix this as my mate with the Record says that when he uses his the vice front face feels really loose.

Only thing I need now is... a bench to fit it to as I was under the assumption I wouldn't be getting this vice until end of March :lol:

 

[Jake]

Well I got my vice today and it's as good as Byron Black said it was. The accuracy to which it's made is excellent as the faces close up perfectly square.

The traditional vice design (at least for Records) doesn't close up square in the vertical plane, but instead pitches the top edge of the front jaw inwards by a degree or two or three. This then compensates for the fact that all the tightening forces are imposed at the bottom of the front jaw, so the jaw straightens up under load and grips evenly over the whole face.

 

[Jake]

This thread reminds me, I have a PDF on my computer at home of a very useful guide from Highland Hardware on how to mount a record type vice. They, or at least it, appear to have disappeared from the net and for some reason I had an urge to download it rather than just bookmark it a while ago.

If anyone ever wants a copy PM me and I'll email to you. Ditto if anyone wants to host it somewhere (but it has Highland Hardware copyright notices splashed all over it)

 

[Alf]

Regarding the "toe-in" that Jake mentions, if the vice doesn't do it, when you fit the wooden jaws you can create your own, fwiw.

Cheers, Alf

 

[Jake]

when you fit the wooden jaws you can create your own, fwiw.

iw quite a lot - it's a very good point.

 

[Neomorph]

Well I got my vice today and it's as good as Byron Black said it was. The accuracy to which it's made is excellent as the faces close up perfectly square.

The traditional vice design (at least for Records) doesn't close up square in the vertical plane, but instead pitches the top edge of the front jaw inwards by a degree or two or three. This then compensates for the fact that all the tightening forces are imposed at the bottom of the front jaw, so the jaw straightens up under load and grips evenly over the whole face.

Damn me... this thread has taught me a LOT about something that I thought was pretty straight forward.

Jake you are right when you say that the top should face inwards and this Axminster vice does just that (I only found out when I went back to look at it). What I mean about closing up square was if you looked facing the vice. Both fixed and moving faces met up square. My friends loose vice has a lot of rotational play in it so you can twist the movable plate quite a lot. He seems to think it's just wear though as it's a pretty old vice.

Well tomorrow I'm of to visit Good Timber to get some vice facings and edging for the bench I'm going to put together. As the top is going to be mdf I understand the hardwood edging is a must. The journey should be fun as it will be the first true test of my GPS as I can normally get lost going to the garden gate. :roll:

 

[Jake]

Good stuff, saves messing with the jaws.

Your mate's vice sounds knackered. The only cause I can think of is that the sleevings in the rear jaw, through which the rails slide, are shot. I can't see how else it could wobble around like that. Someone else might have a better idea.

PM me if you want a copy of the PDF, it is useful stuff (as is the (Bugbear?) tip about propping up the vice while you are fitting it by closing the jaws on a couple of pieces of timber with the right amounts sticking out the bottom to match the height of the bench and put the body of the vice at the right height).