# Refurbed 80 year old vise



## hackery (Jun 14, 2016)

First of all sorry if a vise is not classed as a fixture…. so feel free to move this post if it's in the wrong place.

Some stage last year I purchased a very sorry looking rusted shut wood working vise from a local man's garage (Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK). I paid the equivalent of $20 US on it. I had to literally drop it in a tub of rust removal gel to get the mechanism to free up and I used it for a few months before deciding to refurb it.

I took the wood jaws from it and sandblasted the whole piece with silica sand…. first time sandblasting not recommended doing it in shorts. A few coats of primer and then several coats of gold automotive canned spray paint. I then attempted to hand paint the raised letters which sort of turned out ok but not as well as I would have liked but the cast letters were not great to begin with when factory fresh. Then I applied several coats of gloss lacquer / clear coat to give it a very tough and slightly glossy finish and then new 18mm ply jaws. Perhaps not up to the showroom quality of some of the vise's / benches you see online but I am pleased with the result and enjoyed bringing what is essentially an antique back to fully working order with a new dare I say "glamours" gold semi gloss finish.

Very little information online but I believe the vise dates from the 1930s the lettering says Parkinsons Perfect Vise 15 & Made in England. It's a rock solid vise and weighs a ton.

A few before, progress and after shots…

Before










Blasted










Primed










Finished


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## JoeinGa (Nov 26, 2012)

Great looking vice. NICE refurb !


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## yorktowncarpenter (Jun 23, 2016)

That is a great find man! You did a great job refurbishing that too, what a classic look. Thanks for sharing.


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## DonBroussard (Mar 27, 2012)

Beautiful restoration of a vintage vise! Bravo!


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## distrbd (Sep 14, 2011)

That's a solid vise, how wide do the jaws open? you could install longer jaw liners so it could grab wider stock but they have to be thicker than the plywood you have there, very nice vise,I'm happy for you.


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## hackery (Jun 14, 2016)

Thanks very much gentlemen much appreciated.

Distrbd… the metal jaws without liners open out to a full 15 inches (381mm since you are Canadian and use metric like me) which is pretty much all I would ever need. What sort of size of liners are you thinking of? I have used this vise in it's un-refurbed state for 4 or 5 months with the same size of liners that I have on it now and never encountered any issues but most of my projects are small(ish). Also where I live there is a very limited number of lumber yards and for the most part wood comes in 8 inch wide boards with a few wider exceptions in PAR pine but I rarely work with pine unless I am making something for the workshop.

I have been considering using hardwood for the liners just for fanciness sake as I don't think there would be any actual practical benefit over plywood. I have maple, walnut, cherry, sapelle and oak… any advice on using hardwood liners over plywood and if so what species would be better from what I listed?

Thanks


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## BigYin (Oct 14, 2011)

some info

http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/J._Parkinson_and_Son


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## hackery (Jun 14, 2016)

> some info
> 
> http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/J._Parkinson_and_Son
> 
> - BigYin


Cheers BigYin so looking at that site the vise could date anywhere from 1920s up to the 1950s. Even if it's a later model still going strong at 60 years plus. I already found the post war 1945 ad poster which features my model in the middle of the poster I am a web and graphic designer by trade so going to clean it up, increase the resolution and get it professionally printed to frame and hang in my workshop a nice touch I think to go along with the vise.


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## TheTurtleCarpenter (Jun 25, 2015)

I think you picked up and restored a real gem of a vise.. Plywood liners are just fine.


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## Gentile (Jun 3, 2013)

Hackery, there appears to be some sort of a thumb latch, low on the right side. Is that a quick release feature?


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## distrbd (Sep 14, 2011)

> never encountered any issues but most of my projects are small(ish). Also where I live there is a very limited number of lumber yards and for the most part wood comes in 8 inch wide boards with a few wider exceptions in PAR pine but I rarely work with pine unless I am making something for the workshop.
> 
> ... any advice on using hardwood liners over plywood and if so what species would be better from what I listed?
> 
> ...


Hackery, the plywood liner seems to work well for you and that's all that matters,plus it makes the vise look great, the only reason I mentioned slightly longer liners (sticking out 2" on either side) is they'll give you a bit more capacity, but since you work with smaller projects , then there's no need for that, it was just a suggestion,I'm no expert by any means, it was suggested to me when I found an old Record vise, the wood I used as liners was 1"Maple.
here's what I'm talking about(pics are from Google/ not my vise):
Bytheway,I'd like to see the final printed picture of it in your workshop.don't forget to post a few pics.


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## wormil (Nov 19, 2011)

Great job on the vise.


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## hackery (Jun 14, 2016)

Turtle Carpenter… thanks appreciate that.

Gentile.. yeah the thumb catch is quick release according to the internet Parkinsons were the people that invented the quick release mech long before Record (I also have a vintage Record also a good vise just smaller) the spring on my vise is still tip top apprently that's one of the only things to watch out for and cracking but don't think you could crack it with a cruise liner.

Rick.. thanks appreciate the feedback

distrdb… yeah my old Record (also vintage bought from the same fella as my Parkinsons) has wider liners as per your pics so did the Parkinsons before it's refurb but tried and ultimately failed to go for a cleaner look when reinstalling after its refurb on my new bench with the back liner in line with the front apron of the bench . Problem with the Parkinsons vise apart from a football being squarer than it at the back it wasnt flush it has curved supports two of them which also taper from wide at the bottom to narrow at the top so install wasn't as smooth as I would have liked but eventually got it so it is at least level and square to the bench with a bit of fettling and a shim or two. Pretty much built the bench around the vise as first bench which I built as literally my very first ever woodworking project was just a table rather than a traditional style bench with the overhang for the vise.


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## JohnDon (Mar 14, 2015)

Beautiful restoration, and it was certainly a terrific deal, in terms of dollars/pound, (should it be pounds/kilo, or, dare I say, pounds/pound?).

Call me parochial, but I didn't notice anything odd about the lettering, until I saw in the Graces Guide reference: "1913 Advert for Vises (Parkinson's spelling)". We are perhaps still "two nations divided by a common language."


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## hackery (Jun 14, 2016)

Thanks John.

Yes I have noticed this and they dropped the apostrophe at some stage during their history. My vise was without the apostrophe. Not sure what year it was dropped.


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## JohnDon (Mar 14, 2015)

Actually, I was referring to the "vise" spelling, not the Parkinson possessive. My recollection is that "vice" is the more common British spelling- is that correct?


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## JohnDon (Mar 14, 2015)

Actually, I was referring to the "vise" spelling, not the Parkinson possessive. My recollection is that "vice" is the more common British spelling- is that correct?


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## hackery (Jun 14, 2016)

Being British and with Irwin Record tools being pretty much the market leader in vise products in the UK all their products are spelled "vise" such as their famous vise grips. I and anyone else I know would tend to use the word "vice" to refer to something someone has such as a vice for smoking, women, gambling etc (I have all three of these).

I dare say it may well have been the case in the past that we used the "vice" spelling for any spiral type clamp and I am sure there is plenty of people that still use the "vice" spelling now perhaps even in the US too but as I say given Irwin Record call their products "vise" then that is pretty much the excepted spelling for my generation at least.


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## ianbu (Mar 19, 2020)

Hi all
Just picked up a Parkinson perfect 15 but on fitting it I realised that the quick release wasn't working 
you have to hold the lever to get it to tighten 
On checking it out it appears that the spring has broken 
Has anybody got any suggestions for a new spring or other solution
many thanks 
Ianbu


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## tvrgeek (Nov 19, 2013)

Good show. Sure beats the new ones. I am lucky to have an old Record back from when they were good.


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