Great vice – would have been nice to have had one with the drop down dog on the jaw, but i’ll live. 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. If you want a smaller woodwork vice that will only be used for domestic tasks around the home, then a woodcraft vice may be the most appropriate, as it is specially designed for light-duty work.

The woodcraft vice is commonly used to clamp small and light pieces of wood for woodworking. It is an ideal tool for the hobbyist or handyman, however, it can also be used by professional woodworkers for small tasks. 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.the part holding the sliding bars parallel at the far end of the vice is now made of sheet metal (previously cast iron)

It’s better than anything else I’ve used because it’s so worn in. It feels like the vice has limbered up and is always ready to go. Like a lovely worn in engine. However, that said, if you mostly make smaller projects such as boxes (like I do) and can get a 52 for cheap or even free (as I did), I think it is undoubtedly a handy and capable vise. 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. I’m not sure if anyone is interested in ways to clean up rusty old vices but I’ve done quite a few so I hope the following helps someone:

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There are a number of references to Parky vices in books aimed at headmasters and teachers, and perhaps their adoption in classrooms helps explain why there are so many still around. Mind you, they also had a decent production run: the distinctive design shown above, with the unadorned front jaw and cast steel sliders, was made at least until 1930 (more on that later). A woodcraft vice is designed to be used at home. Woodwork vices (for the most part) are heavy-duty, but the woodcraft vice is light-duty. This is because it is lighter in construction than other woodworking vices, and is designed for domestic use instead of industrial or workshop use. Any wellying in the vice will soon bugger it up, you’ll go through them like there’s no tomorrow. Other Face Vice Options.

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]The best we can say is that any of the vices with an RD stamp were made between July 1918 to 1933 or thereabouts. Version III – screw and nut cover (1927) I believe that York now have the original patterns for Record (don’t quote me on that), so that makes sense. 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.