Vises

[Jon Endres]

What's the value of old face-mount woodworking vises these days? You know, the kind that were mounted to each corner of the 4' square workbench in your school wood shop, that had the sliding dog in the front, and were usually gummed up beyond recognition with several layers of paint, glue and chew spit. It seems like nobody uses them anymore, between the tail vises, face vises, Roubo-benches and every other kind of wood-holding method there is. I have a brand-new Shop Fox QR vise that I've owned for 15 years and it's never been mounted on a bench and used, and an old Brodhead-Garrett that must have been on a school shop bench for 50 years, judging from the layers of crud. I am not sure if these things are even worth using at this point, but on the other hand, it seems like a solid bench and vise with a functioning sliding dog, and a bunch of dog holes in the bench, what more do you need?

[Doug Ladendorf]

I just installed one on my table saw out feed table. They are still as useful today as they were before. Not everyone has a Roubo bench and even those who do may have another bench with different vises. Great for sharpening a card scraper, holding wood for drilling or using the dog for planing. I prefer the older US made vises.

[Garth Almgren]

They still have value - I picked up a 10" Wilton similar to this one for $20 from a friend of mine who was helping clear out an estate. Not quick release, and it needed quite a bit of wire brushing to even get the screw to turn, but I still think it's worth it considering new ones start at $200 and go up from there. I'm still working on restoring it, and don't have a solid bench to mount it to yet.

[Larry Copas]

Like you, I remember those vises from shop class more than 50 years ago. I never had one in my home shop until a couple of years ago. At that time I starting teaching shop class in my shop. I thought one of those vises would be useful since I had 7-8 year olds using hand tools. I refurbished an old 10” Desmond, which was probably a school vise. The kids like it and I found I used it quite a bit.

After a few months I came up with an idea to make it even more useful. I have a baby Wilton bullet vise on a Wilton Pow-R-Arm which I mounted on a block of wood. When needed, I hold it in the Desmond. When done I put it back in its home under the bench. Later I fixed up a carving vise in similar fashion.

At this point I would really miss that old Desmond if it walked out of my shop. Its used a few times a week even when no kids are around.

A tip to those who might be looking for one. Make sure the quick release mechanism is still functional and not wore out. Also check to make sure the vise has not been sprung from a massive overload.

[Dave Kelley]

I have built the Paul Seller's bench and use one several times a week. Mine is a Record vice from England. Really old. Cleaned it up and works like a charm. Would like to get one with the sliding up dog for the end of my bench but will do that when I run across one I imagine. Or maybe get a matching Record off of Ebay with the dog slider.

[Vince Shriver]

Dave, I have a Record vise and for my money it's about the best metal vise ever (discounting the old emits and like that). In good condition I would estimate those old blue Record vises are probably worth at least $100 (if you can find one).

[Rick Potter]

Hmm, I also have a Record, and it is my only woodworking vise. Had it maybe 30 years, and it has done everything I have needed it for. I faced the jaws with 1/4" Masonite about 15 years ago. Works fine. Mine has the slider tab, but I have no dogs on the bench. I can't even remember where I got it.

One of these days I will mount a metal working vise to a base, so I can hold it with the Record, but haven't done it yet. I have a beat up 50 year old Sears 4" attached to another bench temporarily, meaning going on 10 years.

[Dave Kelley]

Dave, I have a Record vise and for my money it's about the best metal vise ever (discounting the old emits and like that). In good condition I would estimate those old blue Record vises are probably worth at least $100 (if you can find one).

Actually it cost me less than $100 to buy it on eBay from the U.K. and get it shipped to Arizona. So not really worth a lot. Mine is also older than most listed with the round handle center. It's cool. Would like another though.

[Peter Kelly]

Scored this one on CL last week for $150. Looks as though it'd had minimal to almost no use.

[Bob Vaughan]

A few years back I observed a shop teacher replacing his newer (one year old) Adjustable Clamp vises with the old ratty ones that had previously been there. He was annoyed that he had to do this because he had assumed that the newer vises were made of the same quality cast iron. I took a photo of some of the shiny new vises.


adjustableclamp - 1.jpg

[Rick Potter]

Yup, that is exactly like mine, Peter.

Had no idea it was worth that much.

[Rich Riddle]

I see most sell for between $75 and $200 dollars depending on the vise. I am posting a picture of two on the "general" bench in the garage. The Jorgensen is definitely the better of the two and was about $125 used. The other is a Richards Wilcox. Get the size you need and a quick release option. Old vises are better made than the newer vises.

IMG_1827.jpg IMG_1828.jpg

[Peter Kelly]

Yup, that is exactly like mine, Peter.

Had no idea it was worth that much.

I bought it upstate here in the Catskills where the pickings are somewhat slim. Might have gone for somewhat less if it were being sold in a not so remote location.

[Rick Potter]

I just checked my local CL. There were 81 vise listings.........none were woodworking vises.