Draper 45234 Quick Release Woodworking Bench Vice, 175mm , Blue

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Tony Hampton, a distant relative of the founders of these two companies who had worked for the Woden business, told Scott Landis [3]: Hampton's great-great grandfather, Joseph Hampton, started the Woden Company around 1870 in Birmingham. When Hampton's grandfather, Charles, and great-uncle, Joseph Hampton, moved to Sheffield in 1898 to start C & J. Hampton Ltd, they brought the Woden line with them and began making vices patterned after Woden's. Woden tried, unsuccessfully, to sue, but the vises were unprotected by patent. I’m really happy with both of the finds, just at the time I was looking for them – they’ll look great on my bench (once I’ve built it!) I do have two metalworking vises, so I expected the #57 to be used only for the occasional woodworking I do. However, it turns out that it has now become the vise I use the most, due to its location on the bench and height. Incidentally, the wooden-liner mounting holes in the rear jaw weren’t threaded, so I cut M6 thread in it myself. Not sure if the factory forgot to cut threads or whether doing so was normally left as ‘an exercise for the new owner’. the removable steel ‘sawdust excluder plate’ in the rear carriage that covered the half-nut is gone and instead the casting is solid in this area A plain screw vice is a standard woodworking vice that has a traditional screw system where the turning of the screw (which moves the sliding jaw) is controlled by the rotation of the handle.

Submerge in the acid bath for a further 12-24 hours then remove, scrub/power wash and also submerge in clean water for a few mins (do this while scrubbing to save time) Since then I bought one that works on a hydraulic principle, ( no screws) this will be for my new bench when I build it. Time will tell if this new design will hold up I guess. Although there was nothing to prevent Record from producing the modified vices after the patent was filed at the end of 1932 the first mention I can find for these changes are in the 1935 catalogue [4] I was so under this impression it never occurred to me that Record everade other tools other than vice’s.

I’ve used many of their vices (up until a few years ago), and only have good things to say about them. I know many people would agree with me here, once you’ve used a wooden screw, you always have a wooden screw. My thought about the ‘sawdust excluder plate’ patent was that it was a slightly lame attempt by Record to extend their intellectual property protection over the vice given that their Registered Design was due to expire a few months later in 1933. I found using a citric acid bath (225g of citric acid powder for every 4 litres of water) works best, it doesn’t take a lot of effort and can get into hard to reach areas. A really useful box was the only thing I found big enough to fit some of my vices. As mentioned above the Registered Design taken out by Record for their vice in 1918 ought to have expired no later than 1933, but the RD number continued to be shown on the vices literature after that point. Of course this would be explained if Record simply never got round to updating their catalogue etchings, but many surviving vices have both the RD number and the saw dust excluder plate which can be dated to 1932. Since it is unlikely all the vices with both the RD number and the ‘sawdust extractor plate’ were made between November 1932 and some point in 1933, this suggests that Record continued to use the face casting with the RD number beyond this date.

It has a full nut holding the screw, which is securely incorporated into the body of the vice. A full nut is a fastener that cannot be opened, which means that the screw can only be moved to open and close the jaws by manually rotating the handle. At this stage you will note that the ‘excluder plate’ is rendered even more redundant, since it is no longer necessary to get at the nut from the top. Wooden screws are a challenge to make, which means they can be pricey and difficult to get hold of. The new design (below) has a separate metal housing that is attached to the rear carriage with two bolts and this means the the half nut can be removed for cleaning even after the vice has been fixed to the bench. updated mechanism: removable housing for the half nut Two weeks ago I found a woodworking vise in a thriftstore, no brand on it, usual blue paint, in a very good condition. Price was good too – equal to that of a Big Mac. All it said on the front jaw was ‘No. 57’ and ‘Made in England’.I like to position the guide rail around the same height as the screw, so I can thow in long lengths of wood and balance them level across both these parts. For even longer lengths I can rest them and pivot on the guide while I grab a holdfast for the other end. D= adjustable dog with QR (available as plainscrew too (‘DP’ although I think the castings were only marked D) I’d also recommend using some timber strips to sit between the bench top and the vice runners. These are to prevent the thing from dropping as it opens, and makes a huge difference in use. Using Your Face Vice Credit subject to status and affordability. Terms and conditions apply. Axminster Tool Centre Ltd trading as Axminster Tools is a credit broker and is Authorised and Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Credit is provided by Novuna Personal Finance, a trading style of Mitsubishi HC Capital UK PLC, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Financial Services Register no. 704348. the part holding the sliding bars parallel at the far end of the vice is now made of sheet metal (previously cast iron)