New Woden Vise

[JZiggy]

Picked this up at a yard sale:

It's a 3" wide "Made in England" Woden vise, part 186b/1. After a little research online it looks like this is a pre-1960's vise. I'm really impressed with the quality. The main mounting bolts are obviously machined, which is interesting. The swivel lock mechanism is a neat design and works really well -- when only gently locked down the vise CANNOT be rotated. Jaws open smoothly and the screw has almost zero lash.

Any idea where you'd get new jaw inserts for a relic like this?

 

[bepperb]

That is fantastic. I would inquire at garagejournal about new jaw inserts, though yours look like they have a lot of meat on them I'm not sure why you want to replace them. You should be able to remove them and maybe clean them up with a file and be all set.

You gonna restore this or use as is? It looks in good enough shape to bolt down and go, but your bench looks so pristine you might want to give it a respray just to keep up.

 

[JZiggy]

Yeah the jaws are pretty good, I was just curious.

Other than some paint coming off, it's in great shape. The internal parts show really low wear. I've already got it mounted and it's ready to rock and roll.

 

[Kruse]

An excellent find. I doubt you'll ever have any problems with it.

 

[Trav]

That's a nice vice! It would cost a fortune to replace that today if you can even find the same quality.

 

[kkreit01]

Very nice find.

 

[JZiggy]

I almost feel bad that the guy sold it to me for $10.

The next thing on my wishlist is a massive Wilton bullet vise, 6 or 8" jaw width... for the BIG jobs (or to double as a press).

 

[bepperb]

Originally Posted By: JZiggy
I almost feel bad that the guy sold it to me for $10.



Well, on one hand 95% of the population has no use for a vise like that, and it's not exactly convenient to store somewhere for when it's needed. But yes, the going rate for vises like that is a buck a pound, and the fact it's a Woden made in England might add to that... I'm not sure.

 

[Pop_Rivit]

That's a nice find for $10. I have a Wilton Model 500-an old machinists vise-that I purchased at an auction sometime in the late 1980's. It was probably around $10-15 back then. The date stamp on it is 6-30-63, so it's almost 50 years old and still works great.

I used it a lot when I was restoring old tractors, and I still use it when working on heavier items. It's one of those things that you don't need often, but when you do it's indispensable.

 

[Kestas]

Good find. When mounting on the table, make sure the plane of the jaws hangs slightly over the edge of the bench.

 

[JZiggy]

I was about to ask why, but now I realize - to make sure you can clamp something that has to extend under the bench.

I'd better check how I did it!

 

[JZiggy]

Interesting info about the Woden company:

http://www.localhistory.scit.wlv.ac.uk/articles/Darlaston/Woden.htm

Also curious that they are called "Vices."

 

[evoboy]

Congratulations on an incredible bargain!
Woden was a indeed a British company from an area of the industrial West Midlands known as the Black Country. They went back to the early part of the 20th century making the highest quality workshop metal and woodworking equipment. They eventually became part of Record tools, an even bigger quality British manufacturer, who also made superb vices. Ironically, Record were bought up by Irwin, an American company, in the mid 2000's, and the entire production line was moved to China

This is very sad as Record had invested heavily in the most modern production equipment and had one of the few fully automated metal casting lines in Europe.
I have a number of vices, including 4" and 6" Record quick release engineers vices a virtually unused Woden 4" vice and the prize of my collection, a brand new, still in it's crate, 6" quick release Woden engineers vice ! Although I had to pay CONSIDERABLY more than $10 for it at an MOD disposal sale!
Heaven knows why the Ministry Of Defense had an unused vice from the 60's on it's inventory!
Another British vice to look out for is the Swinden revolving head vice, outside a Bugatti vice it's the best I've ever seen.
They are still made in the UK but a 6" one would cost over £1000, thats pounds, not dollars!