MattF
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So as to minimise any risk of marring the piece been held. Rarely is the checkering on jaw inserts necessary, in order to hold a piece securely in the vice.
- Thread starter MattF
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So as to minimise any risk of marring the piece been held. Rarely is the checkering on jaw inserts necessary, in order to hold a piece securely in the vice.
dannysheff
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I was given a Zyliss about 1975 by a kind uncle - never really used it much - a couple of years ago I came across the 'Hobbyfix' also Swiss made and patented - looks like a predecessor to the Zyliss - I prefer it - slightly less versatile and without the accessories, but all in one piece, no bits to lose. Just googled it and surprisingly there's one on eb right now - with various pixA lovely aluminium vice - ideal for portable work, today it was clamped onto the arm of a garden chair so I could cut and drill some pieces of angle.
Swiss made by Zyliss (I’d never heard of them but like this a lot).
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dannysheff
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Arc Tourist
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If the smooth jaws are of no use to you, and the cost of replacements makes you want o keep your wallet in your pocket, consider marking out a crosshatch pattern on the smooth jaws and carefully cut serrasions with a thin disc cutter with thin blade or a cutting disc in a Dremel tool ?
Windy Miller
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I replaced the jaws on my No23 a few months back as one was missing. I had bought the replacement jaws some years ago, and they’d been sitting in a drawer, and I can’t remember where I bought them from sadly.
If I can find it, you’re welcome to the one that I took off. Maybe use one normal jaw and one smooth one?
Mick Annick
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This chap, he’s on here sometimes but can’t remember his handle:
Record Bench Vice, service spares, parts. | Viceman, United Kingdom
Viceman - Classic vice spares for your British Record vice, Fast and Free UK mainland delivery.
www.viceman.co.uk
Thanks guys, a replacement set is only £40 or so, and given the likely age of the old girl - she deserves some TLC..!
@dannysheff I too inherited one of those Swiss Zyliss vices from a freinds late father, - it was brand new still in its box and complete withall its accesories and so whilst I knew it to be an incredibly versatile tool, at the time I had no use for it as I had a fully equipped workshop and so I sold it on on the UKWorkshop site.
@dannysheff I too inherited one of those Swiss Zyliss vices from a freinds late father, - it was brand new still in its box and complete withall its accesories and so whilst I knew it to be an incredibly versatile tool, at the time I had no use for it as I had a fully equipped workshop and so I sold it on on the UKWorkshop site.
MattF
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@Mick Annick & @MattF - yes Viceman were one of 3 sites I found who mfr replacement jaws, I may well buy a soft-jaw slip-on set too as i once again will be principally doing woodwork and a bit of metalwork on the side, and it's sometimes usefull to clamp something at higher than bench-top height.
/Ed
/Ed
As MattF said, smooth jaws are favourable in most cases. Smooth mild steel jaws are ideal in a fitter's vice.
Why do you feel you need serrated jaws? What were you hoping to damage with them?
premmington
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Be honest... They my feelings too - as above
Hardened serrated jaws do grip - but they mark everything you put in them.
I milled up bits of mild steel in the past and made vice jaws - heated them up red hot and just dumped them in waste oil... (I don't know how surface hard I got them - I only a dumb fat mechanic).
I got one big vice I made the jaws out of brass/gun metal type stuff - I use it - the jaws I cut with hacksaw and hand filled to shape (pre me owning a mill) - I still using the vice on the bench. It given me good service...
I think if you really give this subject some thought - most things you struggle with - in a fitters vice - are round and should go in a pipe vice...
Not wishing to be contentious, but in my personal experience ~ 35y with a Record No.22 which was as-new when I got it, even with fresh factory jaws for the sort of general use I had for it, the number of times I would be cranking the vice tighter to prevent slippage was many-fold...
..Now the engineer in me thinks that perhaps the serrations give a false sense of having gripped something 'tight' when in fact it is merely the knurled surface tricking you...
..But on the other hand I have definitely had to grip some items so strongly that they deform/distort before I've enough grip to achieve whatever I'm doing...
I remember as a 12-13y old putting the axle shaft of a bicycle pedal attached to the drop arm of said bicycle trying to undo it and breaking the housing of my fathers small no-name vice... - and yes I was turning it in the correct direction to loosen it...
Don't get me wrong - I ain't strong but in that instance I had a huge mechanical advantage over the somewhat puny ~3-inch jaw vice...
So I get it that plain faced jaws might be sufficient in some cases, but I am now 70, and have used serrated jaw vices all my life, and accept that they may maar the material being gripped - in which case I'll switch to some soft clip-on jaws -for my old N.22 I had fabbed a pair of hardwood 'clip-ons' for that very purpose... !
..Now the engineer in me thinks that perhaps the serrations give a false sense of having gripped something 'tight' when in fact it is merely the knurled surface tricking you...
..But on the other hand I have definitely had to grip some items so strongly that they deform/distort before I've enough grip to achieve whatever I'm doing...
I remember as a 12-13y old putting the axle shaft of a bicycle pedal attached to the drop arm of said bicycle trying to undo it and breaking the housing of my fathers small no-name vice... - and yes I was turning it in the correct direction to loosen it...
Don't get me wrong - I ain't strong but in that instance I had a huge mechanical advantage over the somewhat puny ~3-inch jaw vice...
So I get it that plain faced jaws might be sufficient in some cases, but I am now 70, and have used serrated jaw vices all my life, and accept that they may maar the material being gripped - in which case I'll switch to some soft clip-on jaws -for my old N.22 I had fabbed a pair of hardwood 'clip-ons' for that very purpose... !
Bouledogue
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I too prefer hard, hatched jaws, particularly if I am working on something ... ahem... agricultural...
I just drop in some lead or copper shields (or a folded-up welding glove, to be really honest!) for sensitive items.
Each to their own, eh?
Mick Annick
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Yes, I have some bits of bent aluminium, rags and a piece of leather near the bench, they cope with most eventualities.
Arc Tourist
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Its nice that we are not limited to just one type of vice and one type of jaw. The used vice market is your oyster. 
