Record vice cleanup

[Bm101]

lol

 

[MattRoberts]

Haha.

I think I'll use dark oak Danish oil instead - just to freak the vintage tool dudes out...

 

[ED65]

However, it's not exactly the gleaming 'as new' metal I had originally envisaged!

Vinegar, like all acids, will tend to etch the surface of steel and iron. After a soak when the black gunk has been washed off it will reveal a matt grey finish a lot of the time. A little wire brushing will give you some shine back in short order, but if you want it gleaming then it's time to reach for abrasives.

In case you haven't seen it or had forgotten it this page from Paul Sellers shows a few pics of how he goes about it.

Getting in to the nooks and crannies is very hard!

It's a right PITA isn't it? If you want to get into detail polishing and you don't want to go mad doing it you're looking at using small wheels and other abrasive bits of the size you'd typically mount in a mini drill.

 

[MattRoberts]

Thanks Ed - I mounted my wire brush in my drill press and then brought the pieces to it - that seemed to give better results. I've also ordered some hammerite, so will see how it turns out!

Cheers

 

[MrTeroo]

I find Deox-C by Bilt Hamber to be extremely good at rust removal

I used it a lot on a Triumph Herald restoration a few years ago.

http://www.bilthamber.com/deox-c

 

[MattRoberts]

So I'm finally done. Probably not to everyone's taste, but I think it looks ace. Works like a dream too.

I went through a variety of methods to clean it, mainly white vinegar bath, fortress rust eradicator and a hefty dose of wire wheel.

It's completely rust free, and though the main support cylinders are pitted, it functions perfectly.

Thanks for all the tips and advice!

Before:

After:

 

[giantbeat]

Nice, i have a couple of Record N 52's that would probably benefit form a a clean & lick of paint, they been stashed under a bench for 10+ years only just found space to use them

 

[custard]

IMO you've got the best looking version of the 52 1/2, the one with the tulip bulb shaped boss for the tommy bar. That version also had the two webs on the fixing bracket, which makes installation a bit harder but should hold it that bit tighter and more accurately in the bench. Both these features got dropped with later versions.

I hunted around for a good one of these, which was then restored (including hard chroming the boss and tommy bar) ready to go into my next bench build...one day!

 

[MattRoberts]

That chroming looks great custard - did you do it yourself or get it done by someone else?

Thanks for the info on the vice - I wanted the older model but didn't realise there are any a few variants. Makes me even more chuffed that I've got a good one

 

[memzey]

I've got a couple of QR 52's. One with a tulip boss but no webbing at the back and another with a square boss (also no webbing). The tulip boss definitely looks the nicer of the two but they both work equally well. I think these old record vices are unsurpassed for general bench work (not that I'd turn my nose up at an Emmert PMV).

 

[custard]

That chroming looks great custard - did you do it yourself or get it done by someone else?

Thanks for the info on the vice - I wanted the older model but didn't realise there are any a few variants. Makes me even more chuffed that I've got a good one

It was done by someone with the skills, kit, and experience to chrome properly...ie not me!

The different Record vices all work well...provided they've not been abused. When the back section is disconnected it should slide along the rods under its own weight when elevated a few degrees, the QR mechanism should be crisp and reliable, the top edge toe-in should be accurate, and most importantly of all it shouldn't be racked. It only requires a beefy fitter to press fit a bearing out in one corner of the vice using a metal pipe over the tommy bar...and it'll never be quite the same vice again. You can compensate to some extent with tapered cheek blocks, but you'll still be able to feel the chassis deformation in the vice's action.

Before you start to use the vice, make up a pack of strips of thin ply with a shoulder bolt through them. Then if you're gripping a workpiece in the right hand side of the vice, pack out the left hand side with the same approximate thickness in your ply sheets. That'll keep your vice running sweetly. Veritas make a commercial version of the device I'm taking about, but it's ten minutes work to make your own.

http://www.fine-tools.com/viserackstop.html

 

[MattRoberts]

Thanks for the tip!

 

[ED65]

That looks clean as a whistle Matt, nicely done =D>

 

[Bm101]

Tidy Matt. Nice one.
I've got a green one. We should introduce them so they can get drunk and moan about not fitting in to society like a couple of teenage Emos.

'I know right! Me tooo man. My Mum and Dad are just so straight laced and God, I dunno, so Blue, sigh. I'm so misunderstood. I'm different man.'

 

[MattRoberts]

 

[Sam_Jack]

Parked on top of my bench now a 38lb rusting hulk; designated Record 52½ A. The serious rust and clean up I have part dealt with, it now slides open and closed with ease; the ‘cosmetics’ I will sort later inspired by Custard and Matt Roberts mighty efforts). But, the QR (all of it) is missing. So, (a) is there a temporary fix to get it working while I hunt down a QR: (b) is there anywhere I can buy a QR for the model: (c) will the other model 52’s QR ‘fit’?

Mine looks a lot like Matt’s did in the first picture; but I would like to get the vise working; so all and any advice would be most welcome.

 

[AndyT]

Maybe worth talking to the suppliers of Record spares mentioned in this thread

record-53-quick-release-spare-t104389.html

 

[Sam_Jack]

Thanks Andy – couple of good tips on that thread; maybe my search will be a short one. Fingers crossed.

Sam.