The Record 74 is an excellent little vice, it weights 26lbs , has 4 inch jaws and opens to about 4 ½ inches.
It was pitched as an inexpensive[1] vice for the amateur mechanic or the woodworker who has an occasional need to do a bit of metalwork (where the fact it can be popped into...
The Record 74 is an excellent little vice, it weights 26lbs , has 4 inch jaws and opens to about 4...
The Record Imp is the brilliant tiny cousin of the Record #74 Auto Vice.
I use my Imp constantly, it really is a very useful vice despite its small size (the jaws are only 2 1/4” wide). If you are in the UK then you can get them for around 20-30 quid on eBay...
The Record Imp is the brilliant tiny cousin of the Record #74 Auto Vice.
I use my Imp constantly, it...
The Record 74 Auto Vice still show up for sale fairly regularly in the UK. This one was a bit grotty cosmetically but in good mechanical condition:
The only minor issue was that at some point the pin that retains the washer/spring used to hold the handle against the moveable jaw had broken and...
The Record 74 Auto Vice still show up for sale fairly regularly in the UK. This one was a bit...
Here is a short summary of the history of the Record 52 ½ vice. You can read more about this vice here and information on the other vices mentioned can be found here.
1877-1910
The earliest quick release vices were know as "instantaneous grip" vices.
Wilson Riley and and an unknown inventor working for...
Here is a short summary of the history of the Record 52 ½ vice. You can read more about this vice...
Following the last few posts on the history of the quick release vice covering the major developments in the UK over the past 100 years or so, the Twenty Century Vice deserves an honourable mention, if only for its memorable face design
The main aspects of this unusual vice’s history were uncovered by a...
Following the last few posts on the history of the quick release vice covering the major developments in the UK...
Record 52 ½ vices have been an essential tool for woodworkers all over the world for more than a century. They have arguably never been bettered in design nor quality - you can read about their long history below.
The first model (1910)
C&J Hampton registered the ‘record’ trademark in 1909. Trade listings from...
Record 52 ½ vices have been an essential tool for woodworkers all over the world for more than a century. They...
You may recall from an earlier post that Francis Young, writing in the early 1880s, recommended a couple of the first ever quick-release vices. We covered the first – the Entwisle & Kenyon ‘lightening’ instantaneous grip – in the previous post, and the second is the ‘Standard’ instantaneous grip vice, made by Smith, Marks and Company and...
You may recall from an earlier post that Francis Young, writing in the early 1880s, recommended a couple of the...
Entwisle & Kenyon’s Instantaneous Grip Parallel Vice is one of two vices given a glowing write up in Francis Young's Everyman His Own Mechanic, the other being the Standard Instantaneous Grip sold by Thomas Syers. Young's book was originally published in 1881, three or four years before Parkinson launched the...
Entwisle & Kenyon’s Instantaneous Grip Parallel Vice is one of two vices given a glowing write up in Francis...
As part of this survey of the history of the quick-release woodworking vice, Richards Wilcox of Illinois deserves an honourable mention for their clever design.
Before Wilcox was purchased by Richards in 1910 they produced a continuous screw vice. The newly formed company created an improved version that featured a simple and elegant gravity-fed quick...
As part of this survey of the history of the quick-release woodworking vice, Richards Wilcox of Illinois deserves an honourable...
W C Toles & Co
W C Toles patented this improved rapid-acting woodworking vise in 1894. The original rapid-action ("quick release") vice invented by Parkinson used cast iron sliders, which were vulnerable to breakage and added friction to the quick release mechanism, problems that Toles aimed to solve with their vice.
Steel Nut...
W C Toles & Co
W C Toles patented this improved rapid-acting woodworking vise in 1894. The original rapid-action ("...
Welcome to the first part of this potted history of the quick-release woodworking vice, a history that will culminate with the venerable and arguably never-bettered Record 52 1/2 vice.
We have much to thank a chap called Joseph Parkinson for. Parkinson did for vices what Leonard Bailey did for bench planes: he pioneered a...
Welcome to the first part of this potted history of the quick-release woodworking vice, a history that will culminate with...
As I mentioned earlier, my brilliant plan of drilling separate holes for the guide rods and screw for the vice was not a success. The holes have to be positioned exactly right and, although I had the holes in the right place, it seems I had not drilled them completely square and the rods were...
As I mentioned earlier, my brilliant plan of drilling separate holes for the guide rods and screw for the vice...
Test fit of vice.
I ordered a Veritas face vice, but did not have any suitable timber to make the jaws (I was recommended maple – no doubt any hardwood would do). Partly out of impatience, and partly because I thought a trial run would be useful, I decided to temporarily fit it using some of...
Test fit of vice.
I ordered a Veritas face vice, but did not have any suitable timber to make the...
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