why buy old vices??

[dannyr]

could post here or workshop, but here goes --



Lockdown easing, sun's out so off on the long 5 mile treck to Chesterfield flea-market -- just leaving when I spotted these and got all 4 for £8

total

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So why oh why do people spend good money on an old Parkinsons or Paramo when for a few pounds more they could buy a NEW vice such as one of these???

 

[Argus]

Why indeed?

I'm scratching my head..... what a bargain!

 

[Cabinetman]

Oh my goodness, there’s a thing I’ve never seen before, and you’ve got four of them. I wonder how on earth that could’ve happened. But it begs the question what are you going to do with them?

 

[novocaine]

weld em up and sell em on.

 

[dannyr]

Oh my goodness, there’s a thing I’ve never seen before, and you’ve got four of them. I wonder how on earth that could’ve happened. But it begs the question what are you going to do with them?

I suppose a fool and his £8 are easily parted is one answer. If I'd had my camera with me. I might just have paid the seller £4 for modelling fees and left them.
The castings are absolute c---p - I don't expect top quality in these cheap new vices but it's not that hard to make a casting better than this -- they're just a lot of features (4, 5 and 6in jaws, swivel, anvil) with no basic quality where needed - I think the larger one may have been hit hard, but there's no sign of that with the others, nor bent tommy bars, so I guess they failed just with a normal strong person's tighten of the jaws.

- I'll rescue a few bits and the rest will go for scrap - two had rotating bases and the jaws are of hardened carbon steel, if not very pretty. I just paid the money to spread the message -- there are plenty of good quality old vices out there - they may fail, but not like these - some Parkinsons have lasted for over 130 years of serious workshop use and will go on.

 

[Cabinetman]

Thanks for doing that, it reminded me of some lime green cast-iron bench holdfasts I got from Axminster, the shafts were like they were made from cheese and snapped at the first opportunity, Axminster changed them but the second lot were no better. Ian
PS what really really bothered me was that I had sunk the corresponding collars into the top of my brand-new solid beech bench, and of course they are a bast-ard size so nothing else fits them.

 

[Vono]

That's horrendous, they must be utter junk. Thing is it's not just the fact it's money wasted it's also the safety aspect as I wouldn't really want to be using something that just failed (no doubt easily) in that way.
Reminds me of many years ago before I even knew about old vices, I bought a new Clarke vice from Machine Mart, when I got it home there was a crack in the side of the jaw & the casting was just horrific. It was returned & I got my money back - lesson learned !

 

[Alpha-Dave]

While I absolutely agree with the idea that cleaning/fixing an old vice is far more sensible than buying a new, cheap one it is not a fair comparison.

The 4x vices in the first image are probably £20-£30 new, looking at Machine Mart, Amazon, ebay etc. There was nothing like them 50 years ago.

Taking a vice that has been made for decades: the Record 36; now these are made in China, but retail in the UK for £900-£1000. 50 years ago, these were made in Sheffield, and sold for £21.55, which in today’s money is ~£340.

You can get a used, decent-condition 50-year old one on ebay for buy-it-now £130 + some shipping cost, but bargains can be got for <£50 if you are willing to take a chance on a dodgy photo, remote location with collection-only etc.

So comparing the £20-30 thing with something that would have been £340 or £900 is not realistic. The cheap one can hold things gently e.g. for cutting some copper or plastic pipe where you would not want to crush it; not heavy or hammering work like the Record ones.

What amazes me though is that the real-cost for a hard-working vice has tripled even with moving production to China; if they were still making them in Sheffield, would they be £2,000 each? The £50-150 look like an amazing bargain in that case.

 

[Rorschach]

Glad I have my Woden Steel vice!

That being said, cheap vices can be useful for some tasks as long as used within their capabilities.

 

[Garden Shed Projects]

Glad I have my Woden Steel vice!

That being said, cheap vices can be useful for some tasks as long as used within their capabilities.

I agree, if you have a rowing boat that you want to stop floating away.
Bought an old Parkinson from the 20’s and a Record 52 1/2 from the 30’s both for £25 each. Then spent a couple of hours renovating and the are as usable as a new one.
Painted the Parky in Hammerite smooth (I know, sacrilege) for the Record I bit the bullet and bought a can of Roundel blue, cost nearly as much as the original vice.
Like most things if you are on a budget you can renovate one for pennies or go authentic for a few quid more.

 

[dannyr]

agree, GSP, but even then they're a bit light weight for anchors and might fall apart in a stiiff breeze - a stake onshore and a good rope might do better

maybe ground bait for the new Scottish lockdown sport of magnet fishing in canals (seriously) (apparently shopping trolleys are so common they don't count but there's plenty of other stuff down there and unlike anglers they don't throw it back) - (if you don't believe me google last weekend's news) --- by-product - a cleaner canal

 

[Bm101]

Funny enough Danny I saw some magnet fishers just yesterday down the road for tghe first time. Only knew what they were up to because I've seen them on youtube.

 

[Alpha-Dave]

Here is the perfect use for the cheap (disposable?) vices: these are in the grinding section of the welding department of my local college. I suspect they are replaced each year.

 

[heimlaga]

Judging by the number of cheap vices with serious fractures in them that I see in the heaps at the scrap yards I frequent they are an utter waste of both money and natural resouces. I rekon I could easily have collected a metric ton or two maybe even three tons of them in the last 6 or 7 years.
It is awful to see such an amount of natural resources wasted for no gain. Not to mention the money feeding the junk importers and the slave factories.

During the same time I don't think I have seen two dozen European made quality vices at the scrapyards. Most of them damaged beyond repair but that has evidently happened after decades or sometimes more than a century of use. Though I have found two in rebuildable condition and bought them both. One of them is already rebuilt.

 

[Rorschach]

Here is the perfect use for the cheap (disposable?) vices: these are in the grinding section of the welding department of my local college. I suspect they are replaced each year.

View attachment 109779

View attachment 109780

That's one of things I use my cheap one for (though my grinding skills are somewhat better! lol). I use it out in the garden to hold things for cutting/grinding that would make a mess in the workshop.

 

[okeydokey]

I placed an advert/posting whatever in Freecycle asking for an old metal vice working or not rusty or not hoping someone had an unwanted vice screwed to granddads old workbench that was getting in the way.
Was I lucky -- yes - a bit of gentle cleaning/de-rusting and all was good -might be worth posting a wanted ad you may be lucky and be able to recycle an old vice.