Vono Vice

[Vono]

Hello all

I'm new here but thought i'd post some pics of my old Vono Vice. I've been informed it's a pattern makers vice.

It's rather large & opens to about 12 inches.

Hope the pics work ok !

 

[clogs]

oh, u lucky boy.....

 

[sunnybob]

Welcome, you cant stop there, we need to have pictures and things to look at and talk about

 

[Vono]

Hello, thanks for the replies

Well the big old Vono was actually due to be scrapped, I happened upon it at my girlfriends parents house about 18 years ago, they were having a clear out & it was destined for the rubbish, needless to say I jumped on it in a minute !

It weighs quite a bit i do recall, it not being fun trying to lift it.

I believe Vono also made bed frames (you can maybe see the Vono bed spanner in the pic). A guy elsewhere told me that the vice patent dated to around 1920, prov patent it's marked with means provisional so it could possibly be a bit earlier.

I also have a few old footpumps (just visible) i'll bung a few photo's of those up too.

Got a few more Vices to photo too

 

[Nigel Burden]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

I'm sure Andy T or The Yellow Ardvark will be along soon. But in the meantime heres a link to the Mig Welding Forum where someone had a Vono metalworking vice. There might be some answers on there.

https://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/show-us-your-bench-vice-s.52872/page-80
I've never heard of Vono before, and I've never seen a swivel jaw woodworking vice.

Nigel.

 

[Trevanion]

Ooo that's an interesting one! I've never heard of Vono but the Wadkin and Emmert Pattern Makers vices are collector's items and worth a small fortune now, in excess of £500 or so.

 

[artie]

Spent the early years of my life sleeping in a vono bed.

 

[Nigel Burden]

Oops. Just edited my post above as I just realised that I hadn't posted the link.

Nigel.

 

[Vono]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

I'm sure Andy T or The Yellow Ardvark will be along soon. But in the meantime heres a link to the Mig Welding Forum where someone had a Vono metalworking vice. There might be some answers on there.

https://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/show-us-your-bench-vice-s.52872/page-80
I've never heard of Vono before, and I've never seen a swivel jaw woodworking vice.

Nigel.

That's great Nigel thanks for the link, always good to see another Vono

 

[Vono]

Ooo that's an interesting one! I've never heard of Vono but the Wadkin and Emmert Pattern Makers vices are collector's items and worth a small fortune now, in excess of £500 or so.

Hello
Yes i've looked at those myself & they're really lovely. The ones i've seen though do seem to have more articulation than mine. As they swivel up & rotate. The slide on the Vono is rounded so I thought it might be built to rotate, but the quick release mounting would prevent it.
The front jaw on my Vono can be angled by pulling that pin out but it can't be locked in any way in a set position.
I have learned that it possibly came from Leyland Motors as my other half's Granddad worked there, (which may link to the pattern maker use) but I can't substantiate that.
I have to say i'm always glad we called in that day & I nabbed it, it would be tragic if something that's been around all that time with all that history was just thrown away (i'm oddly sentimental about lumps of old iron, please forgive me ! )

 

[AndyT]

I'm here but I'm learning. I've slept in a Vono bed and remember the spanner from my childhood but the only pattern maker's vice I've ever seen for real was in the steam museum in Swindon. It was an Emmert, on a bench... in the pattern makers' shop

 

[Neil Lawton]

That's really cool!

 

[AndyT]

The ever useful Grace's Guide provides some history of the Vono company.

https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Vono
They were based near Tipton in the Black Country where they made plenty of useful things in their foundry, including Bailey Bridges.

There's also a picture (1929) of these engineering vices. You now need to find one of each of those, to continue your collection!

 

[custard]

Few things illustrate "horses for courses" better than vices.

When they're designed to do a particular job...and that's the job that you happen to be doing...then all is well with the world. But when you're not working in harmony with your vice, then the workshop becomes a fractious and profanity filled place!

I got an Emmert copy because I make a lot of chairs and I thought an Emmert's ability to hold tapered components at odd angles would suit me down to the ground. And so it does, at least for chairs,

But I also do a fair bit of dovetailing, and I soon learnt that the enormous bench inset that an Emmert vice demands, means it's the world's worst dovetailing vice.

So much so that every time I need to cut a dovetail I now have to drag out and set up this monstrosity,

I guess it illustrates another old saying, "be careful what you wish for"!

 

[Vono]

The ever useful Grace's Guide provides some history of the Vono company.

https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Vono
They were based near Tipton in the Black Country where they made plenty of useful things in their foundry, including Bailey Bridges.

There's also a picture (1929) of these engineering vices. You now need to find one of each of those, to continue your collection!

Superb, thanks very much for that info & the ad, I like stuff like that
Yes I must admit getting an engineering one does have a lot of appeal.

 

[Vono]

Few things illustrate "horses for courses" better than vices.

When they're designed to do a particular job...and that's the job that you happen to be doing...then all is well with the world. But when you're not working in harmony with your vice, then the workshop becomes a fractious and profanity filled place!

I got an Emmert copy because I make a lot of chairs and I thought an Emmert's ability to hold tapered components at odd angles would suit me down to the ground. And so it does, at least for chairs,

View attachment 93173

View attachment 93177

But I also do a fair bit of dovetailing, and I soon learnt that the enormous bench inset that an Emmert vice demands, means it's the world's worst dovetailing vice.

So much so that every time I need to cut a dovetail I now have to drag out and set up this monstrosity,

View attachment 93179

I guess it illustrates another old saying, "be careful what you wish for"!

That Emmert copy does look really good though !!

 

[Vono]

Here's a quick pic of the underside.
As you can see the curved slide makes it look like it should maybe rotate like custard's Emmert but the quick release mechanism/mounting would prevent that.
Pretty beefy thing isn't it !