Using a Vice as a press certainly counts as misuse in my eyes.

Have I done it myself? Of course I have.

You,re crying now ? Wait till you see the cost of replacing it !

Attached to a length of rope it can have a new life as a boat anchor.

I count myself lucky to have been left a Record vise on the garage bench when we bought the house 15 years ago. It is a 5 inch steel version which was perfect mechanically after I had milled up a pair of steel jaws and found some 5/16 Cycle threaded countersunk screws for them. The jaws are parallel within 0.002". I don't think there is any way I could break it, and it makes up for my leaving my 4 1/2 Paramo behind when I sold my bungaloo.

Hi, the Record No. 21 to 25 are cast iron vices fitters' vices, I've seen a few of these getting busted in the same area in my working days, normally by people putting a piece of tube on the handle for extra leverage, and at least two were fairly new. The 112 that File Handle has, is one in the range of at least four sizes, and is an engineers' heavy duty one, and is guaranteed against breakage.

Regards Nick.

I cracked one in school closing down a rivet on a test piece where I wanted to avoid hammer marks around the rivet.

Martin C

I operated with a 6” Record (?) vise for several years. I got it because it had been broken (cracked) and was going for scrap. I welded two very substantial steel plates to either side and used it until I scrapped it – when I got a good one, with quick release, from the same source.

Hi, I did weld one up many years ago, but it's not an easy job, and is quite a dirty job grind the vees out, and of course there is a certain amount of distortion as well, so they don't always line back up totally correct. I wouldn't consider it worth the effort now.

Regards Nick.

It may be possible to braze the two parts back together, for moderate use.

I grew up with a vice that had suffered in exactly the same way, that my father had had brazed, and we used it (more carefully )for years, certainly until I left home.

Welding would need the parts to be preheated and cooled slowly. Not impossible, but more difficult

I was lucky, just before retiring found a new Record that had been left boutside and was rusty, at work.

Got it for a song, but the rust cleaned up, and it has served well, despite my abuse, for many years. Checked, and it was a top of the range, so glad that I didn't buy it new!

Howard