swindens vice clean up

[pondy]

been looking for one of these for a bit and have now brought one, its a 4" version. its rusty but not seized, although its sticky in operation. this is how i got it, the jaws are missing, someone bolted some lumps of steel on thr main jaws, i contacted swindens but they wanted near £70 for a full set, i have managed to source a used set which will by hear by Friday.

first i ripped it apart, came apart easy and nothing with seized. main screw and nut look ok? this part was greased, it does seem to have a fair bit of play which should be able to get rid of most of it with a bronze washer. the slides have very old grease that's gone hard and crusty.

there appears to be a cover missing on the back, the threaded rod passed out the back so not sure if the plate has a hole in for a bearing support? one of the threads is damaged, looks to have been dropped.

 

[pondy]

the handle is missing, someone has badly welded a small handle on, i have cut this off and ground down to a 3/8 square. a socket then fits onto this with a bit of stainless rod which ill weld in the end.

gave it a clean with a wire brush on a grinder. the casting is very rough but read this is fairly normal, you can't really make out the logo on the side. there is also alot of numbers stamped into it, not sure if these mean any thing to anyone?

im not going to paint this, just leave it how it is now in a good working condition and oil the outside.
more to follow

 

[Pete.]

That's a similar type to mine, except mine has no anvil. I found the flange on the front of the screw was quite worn on mine and turned a spacer to take the backlash out of the handle. Other than that, they are wonderful small vices to use and hold very well. I love the rotating function.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

I like. I am on the look out for an old vice to "restore".
It should be a good bench vice.

As a finish would a good coating with hot linseed oil give a good finish?
I ask as I once did that on a old anvil came up a treat. I am still bitter that I had to sell it.

 

[doubleboost]

the handle is missing, someone has badly welded a small handle on, i have cut this off and ground down to a 3/8 square. a socket then fits onto this with a bit of stainless rod which ill weld in the end.

View attachment 97955 View attachment 97956

gave it a clean with a wire brush on a grinder. the casting is very rough but read this is fairly normal, you can't really make out the logo on the side. there is also alot of numbers stamped into it, not sure if these mean any thing to anyone?
View attachment 97959 View attachment 97960 View attachment 97961 View attachment 97962 View attachment 97963 View attachment 97964 View attachment 97965

im not going to paint this, just leave it how it is now in a good working condition and oil the outside.
more to follow

That will be a very handy vice
I really like mine

 

[pondy]

a shot of the damage on back, its left a flat spot, im going to leave this as its not causing any problems

 

[Screwdriver]

Nice find. Bargain at that price. Its a good idea to have a removable locking clamp because a welded on handle gets in the way (ask me how I know). Looks very similar to the one I am working on now, late 1940s, top quality cast steel body.

I am going to modernise mine so the anvil will be dead flat, file down the radiuses, copper main jaws, HDPE pipe jaws and a flash paint job. Need to finish something else first and make up the missing rear collar securing ring.

They really are brilliant vices and I'm so glad I wont be selling mine!

 

[penfold]

Swindens castings really are terrible!

 

[Screwdriver]

But not to be confused with cast iron...

 

[pedrobedro]

But not to be confused with cast iron...

The weld spatter/arc strikes on that shows it's not cast iron. It looks like precision engineering at it's best to me

 

[MattF]

Swindens castings really are terrible!

Simply terrible would be an improvement. They definitely valued function over form. Saying that though, the early ones weren't too bad, and all machined surfaces were usually done well for fit and such.

Those numbers on that ring is the serial number btw, Pondy.

Regarding the missing plate, I believe Pete once posted a photo. It was just a flat plate with a hole in the centre. I made a proper cover from a piece of copper for one of mine. I believe photo's of both plates/covers are in my Swindens thread in this forum.

This is the thread:

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/swindens-vice.45390/

 

[pondy]

thanks for the info mattf, i shall email swindens with this number and see if they can give me some more info, when it was made etc. Enjoyed reading through your thread, vice came out great. how is your copper shim holding up? i measured the gap between the handle and vice, was just over 1mm, have ordered a small 1mm sheet of brass.
im going to make a rear cover like the original one, the main screw does wiggle around alot, cover should stop this more than acting as a bearing surface, not sure if could use steel as may wear into the screw, maybe brass or aluminum would be best? do you happen to remember what size the threads are on the rear? i think they are 1/4 whitworth, one of my threads is abit damaged so will have to buy a tap for this one hole.

done a little bit more cleaning tonight and finished my handle, just a socket and a bit of stainless, scratch start tig together using my little r tech 180 mig, weld isnt pretty but should be fine in this application. added a chain, might change to something less bulky, all i had laying about. plan to heat handle up and bend it down a little.

 

[Paul.]

weld isnt pretty but should be fine in this application.

Looks like a perfectly sound weld to me, on a job like that I would rather see a nice full profile weld than a small fillet that would shear at the first use.

 

[MattF]

Can't remember what size threads they are offhand. Seem to recall they're the same thread as the screws which hold the collar on though, so measuring one of those should give you the diameter. I'll check on the size when I have chance. Date wise, if you look at the serials on mine, (I think they're visible in the photo's? If not, I'll make a note of them tomorrow), they're dated 1936 for the burgundy one and, if I recall correctly, 1944 on the green one, so that may give you a vague idea with regard to the date of yours. With regard that plate, pretty much whatever you have to hand should work. Just oil it occasionally, and I can't see whatever material you use being a problem.

 

[MattF]

Just been having a look at all of my photos of them, and these appear to be the serials, with their dates. Fortunately, both of mine were stamped with the year due to them being Ministry issue.

401595 - 1936
410275 - 1944

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

@MattF
Look at the "Broad Arrow".
If one has the ends spread wide it is "Ministry of War" if is narrower is was "Ministry of Supply". The former being the earlier.
If reversed they are "War Stock" may be held in stores and released during WW2. Or Disposed off at the end.
If it has a "dot" or a "line" it will be "lend lease" or America made and supply to The UK before America got involved.

 

[MattF]

I'll have a peek at the green one and see which it appears to be. The older one is Air Ministry, with the crown mark.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

@MattF
Good news, but it may of gone through the other ministries before being give to the Air Ministry. It was at one point those with the greatest need got the newest kit.

I have my Granddads war diary, he was based, at one point, at Larkhill. It tells how they being a training camp had 80% of the work shops equipment and stores relocated to other places as tools were in short supply. At one point the royal engineers were bring tools from home.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

@MattF
I found out about the Broad Arrow stuff during a 28 day holiday over the wall in Pompy.

 

[arther dailey]

Well I will be checking the markings on mine tomorrow, will be selling one so just gotta sort out which one to keep.Arther