Newbie Vintage Tool Collector/ Enthusiast.

[Daftbil]

Hi All.

I've just decided to take up a new hobby of collecting/ restoring vintage tools.

My first project is to restore an old vice for a mate who's building a new home workshop to restore is 70s bay window camper in.

I've picked up an old Fortis 10 vice. Any idea of it's age and what coulour it would have been?

I'm looking for tips about painting it, to prime or not to prime and is Hammerite up to the job?

Looking forward to be a good contributor.

Richard.

 

[Daftbil]

 

[Parm]

Proper bit of kit

 

[eSCHEn]

Hey Richard and welcome

Electrolysis cleaning does wonders on old vices but don't use hammerite - it's crap!

There's a looooooong thread about vices on here, very good read.

@MattF and @crazyrabbit are the vice connoisseurs

 

[dobbslc]

Connoisseurs?
More like total addicts!
It's a very long thread but I found it really interesting and always go back for a look.

 

[ronan]

If you want to fit in, you'll have to get an old fobco bench pillar drill.

 

[Tigman]

Welcome in , we have some vice lovers in here

 

[cumbriasteve]

Hammerite on a quality vice like that ... you will face the wrath of the vice gang with talk like that, they will be along soon with good advice I am sure

 

[Screwdriver]

Hammerite make some excellent paints. Not all of them are "hammered" finishes either. I usually thin it out and do a couple of thin coats because it can go on too thick.

 

[armalites]

Someone recently was restoring something on here, may have been a drill? They used a lovelly burgundy/plum colour looked

 

[winchman]

I have just done the same vice but mine said unbreakable on the side, I feel the Records are better made but just like the Fortis, once we stripped it, it was a lightish green under all the muck and paint, I just gave it a wire brush two new bolts (50p), painted it with two coats of machine enamel as it was cheap, when I have tried hammerite in the past it comes off easily? The Machine enamel looks to be very durable.
Some info here
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=2869982&postcount=7239
I feel they are from the 50s but not certain.
Juts be aware Vice restoration can be addictive.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

On the vices and other bench tools I have restored I use Hammerite paint, in both rattle cans and brush.

But I tend to get mine from a small local tool supplier. Not from a big DIY outlet. Ok with my smaller supplier I may have to wait a day to get my colour in, but I find it worth it.

I find it seems to be fresher, and have a longer shelf life, were as when I have brought from big outlets it does not.

A friend of mine a spray painter by trade, did hint that the bigger outlets have the paint made in bulk to a lower standard and it sits around for a long time, were the smaller places buy in as they need.

How true that is I never had a chance to prove it.

But as others will say it is all about preparation of the work and the paint. How many times have we seen some one grab a tin of paint give it a shake and paint.

I was always told to stir paint until it was even.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

@pdg
Hush. Mini me is still sulking.

 

[Daftbil]

Love the gold/ brass faceplate.

Any idea if this was a standard feature or just a good idea?

 

[Daftbil]

A little update.

I've cracked on and got it stripped down, no surprises other than some mismatched bolts.







I couldn't be bothered with electrolysis and have little ones that play in my shop so I dropped it off at a local place for aqua blasting and treated the spring to a new coat of zinc, I think it came up quite well.







It's now had a couple of coats of primer and I'm just deciding on colour - Rover Brooklands Green I think.

What do you all think - anyone got an idea of this one's age?

 

[Daftbil]

Rover Brooklands Green.

 

[Screwdriver]

Very satisfying work restoring an old vice. It's a damned site easier to mask off the machined surfaces than it is to peel off the paint though!

S.

 

[Daftbil]

Ah. Didn't think of that - thought the paint would just wear through!

 

[Dieselman 63]

You want those machined surfaces clean and oiled, that's your smooth action key right there. If you'd taken the paint off yourself you'd have seen what was painted and what wasn't, its a good idea to record this so you know what to paint in future. Personally I don't bother polishing my qr gear, just degrease, clean and keep it oiled. When they left the factory the paint would have been baked on. I cleaned up a 34P recently and the paint was so strong that a lot of it was still there and very hard to shift. Good luck with the tool collecting, its very rewarding and you'll find you have a great arsenal of tools for a fraction of the cost of new Chinese tools