Swivelling vice

[waggy]

For some time now I've been looking for a small (3 or 4 inch jaw) bench vice. My larger vice has the jaws in line with the edge of the bench and when I'm drawfiling and polishing valvegear, coupling rods, etc., I get backache as I'm twisting to get in line with the work.
On Thursday last week the local free paper arrived with a flier advertising Sunday specials on sale at a local ALDI supermarket, one of which is a small swivelling vice! The little gem is now bolted to the bench, no more backache!
It has a 100mm jaw width with a 75 x 85mm (nominal sizes) flat anvil at the rear of the jaws. The swivel locking bolts leave a little room for improvement, I've replaced them with two 16 x 30 set screws.
All in all a nice thing, and only a penny under £10, you can't lose! They also sell a small bench drill, nice machine.
I am told they also sell some very good wines at reasonable price although I can't comment, being tee total. ( In between drinks, that is.)
I have no connection with ALDI apart from being a satisfied customer passing on information to fellow site members.

Yours without backache,

Waggy.

[baggo]

Hi Waggy,

I bought one of them last year and use it all the time. As you say, the swivel locking bolts leave a bit to be desired but for under a tenner who's complaining. The equivalent Record would cost you an arm and a leg.
I also bought a brilliant little compressor from Aldi for under £60 and it came with a load of attachments including a spraygun. I don't know how they can sell them for that price! They can't be making much profit on them.

John

[steammadman]

They make the profit it's the poor Chinese peasants who work for next to
nowt, and sweat for 16 hours a day who make it possible.
It's called EXPLOITATION.

[baggo]

Actually the compressor is German but I take your point about cheap foreign imports. Problem is though is that if everybody refuses to buy them then the workers don't work at all and starve. I suppose it's what you consider to be the lesser of two evils.

[Tim Bayliss]

Hi Waggy,
We have Aldi in Ireland as well. I have the swivel vise as a 'second' vise & is very useful. I bought one of the bench drills last time (as a second unit), I thought it a bit 'compact' but does have 9 speeds down to 280, I fitted a keyless chuck & it was not a bad tool, anyway the motor, pulleys & switch were worth the cost. Had it a week or so when a pal saw it & bought it off me!! Unfortunately I missed the compressor but am waiting for the next issue.
Tim

[waggy]

Just read the post from steammadman, fully agree with him re exploitation of the Taiwanese, Chinese, etc.

Perhaps our friend has the luxury of owning machinery and tools made in the UK, I don't know? I was told some time ago that some of our better known UK made machinery used castings from Taiwan and other similar places, they are imported and dressed up over here hence the higher price. Maybe this isn't true, I'm sure somebody will know.

Exploitation? Stones and glass houses come to mind!

Waggy.

[Tim Bayliss]

O.K., a little bit of scrap metal history.
During the 1950's when Taiwan was getting up and running they purchased all the cast iron scrap they could get hold of (ex 2nd world war/Korean war stuff etc.) to such an extent that they actually almost had a monopoly on it. They then started to produce iron castings to an excellent standard that were and still are used by western European industry. I don't know of specific U.K. manufacturers but I would quess many use Asian castings (whitness the demise of the U.K. foundry trade).
Now mainland China has taken over with the purchase of scrap and will take anything they get to keep their expanding industry supplied.
Incidentally although Chinese workers work a longer day they do have longer breaks and their payment is relatively small because their cost of living is also relatively small. I'm not trying to defend the regime or their system, both of which I believe are flawed, I am just giving another view.
Tim

[cardiffpat]

That was interesting about scrap metal, I sometimes think that we would have been better off sending our beaurocrats,politicians & lawyers abroad instead of most of our industry.

[waggy]

When I was a lad I remember going past Craven Brothers in Reddish en-route to school. Their foundry doors were nearly always open, we all used to stop and look in, what a place! On the other side of Greg street was the main factory, never got in there but remember it being emptied when the firm closed down. They were machine tool manufacturers, all their machinery, to the last oil can, went to Taiwan. Not for scrap though, it was rebuilt and used for its intended purpose! No doubt some of the imports we buy are made on this machinery.

Waggy.

[dscott]

Vices,
The best way I have found is to mount your vice on the corner of the bench so that you can attack metal from 2 sides. It is supprising how many long bits need to drop down below bench hight, that is if you have put the vice in the right place.
The new Mrs Scott and I will be visiting several Chinese Factories next month so will report back on the conditions.
Also looking forward to meeting the parents in law for the first time,
ps. my Mandarin is hopeless!

David Scott.

[waggy]

Many thanks to dscott for his advice on mounting the vice. Trouble is, my bench is fitted wall to wall!
How do you go on if you have a round bench? I'm dizzy enough without walking miles to find a corner!

[Tel]

Do wot I do Wagster, & make a free standing pedestal & mount the vise on that - then you can work all around it.

[JohnP]

Well this might seem like overkill, but...

My "main" vice is a 6" with the jaws replaced with plain mild steel. This sits at the edge of the bench in the usual way, and it's a pain for drawfiling and it's often too low anyway, so...

The masterplan is to mount my old, 2 1/2" vice on a suitable support so it can be held in the jaws of the 6" and rotated to the best orientation.

I just haven't done it yet

JohnP