Bench vices - what to get?

[big soft moose]

Anyone any experience with the Axi vices? I'm thinking specifically of this one


http://www.axminster.co.uk/product-Axminster-Quick-Release-Woodworking-Vices-782375.htm

In particular the 10 1/2 inch seems pretty reasonable for a new one

weve got three of those at work - but i cant really tell you anything about the performance as all three are still in their boxes waiting for our workshop move - I bought 2 of them (rather than old records or such) to bulk out an order and get us over the magical £50 free delivery - the third came second hand from roger S , but i dont think he'd had it out the box either.

 

[Lons]

Jed,

There are several quick release record 52Es on e-bay currently including one coming up on Tuesday which is currently at £3.30 which looks in good condition and you should not need to pay more than £25. It is collect only but postage should be under £10. There are at least four others under the search "record vice quick". There is little that can go wrong with these and they are very sturdily built

Richard

Disagree. Since most vices spend most of their time on workpieces in a small-and-narrow range (say 0"-1") all of the wear and load is concentrated on a small part of the screw.

This can wear, leading to the dreaded "skip".

I've seen large (you'd have thought indestructible) engineering vices with this issue.

Plain screw vises, yes, probably last forever, but not Q/R. They can be worn out.

BugBear

Mine is a 52E (quick release) aquired 25 years ago on an old school workbench and as you can imagine, it had beed hammered by the kids.

A little elbow grease and some new timber jaw linings and it's still working faultlessly so my experience is not the same as yours.

It's an excellent purchase for anyone IMHO

Bob

 

[jimi43]

Old Records are workhorses and never die....I don't like the quick release ones but that is a matter of personal preference...

This piece of "rusty" dog doo works perfectly...£20 at a bootfair...oh and one hernia!

Jim

 

[warrenr]

Picking up on bugbear's comment on skip.

I had skip on my 40 year old 52E which turned out to be a combination dirt on the vice and movement in the separate base to my workbench which was touching the quick release mechanism.

A combination of a brush, WD40 and trimming the frame a fraction under the vice cured the problem completely.

Richard