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Record 52 Vice Restore Quandary

T

Tellurian

New Shoots
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Hi All,
Not sure this qualifies as a restoration as it was more of a de-rusting exercise on an old Record 52 that belonged to my late father-in-law and will hopefully pass on to my son in the future. Mainly by using citric acid for the first time which works a treat.

PXL_20240111_211251525.jpg
PXL_20240111_150325068.jpg
Anyway, I have disassembled, cleaned, degreased and de-rusted it and reassembled and it works a treat and will be a replacement for the crappy vice I have on my workbench.
PXL_20240116_231124856.jpg

The quandary I have is should I have stripped back the old painted surfaces and re-finished them with some blue hammerite? I've given everything a coating of mineral oil and some bike grease on the screw that I had lying around. Happy to strip down and degrease again before stripping the old paint and then re-painting, but I'm in two minds about if I would prefer it with a bright, new coat of paint or just leave it looking 'used'.
As I said, I'm in two minds about this so wondered what others here would do?
 
Isn't it satisfying to take something which almost doesn't work and turn it back into a good working condition? I'm glad you lubricated it well. I think I saw an old advertisement or review for a Record 52 which said something like "suitable for use in building a small wharf"!!! I certainly can't imagine a home workshop needing anything beefier than this.

To answer your question.......No, absolutely not. It's fine with it's old paint on.

Are you sure that isn't a 52E? I believe the 52 doesn't have quick release, whereas yours does, making it a 52E. Someone will be along soon to give you a date, no doubt. Yours doesn't have a screw cover, which mine does, and I recall that being a clear dating item.
 
Leave as it is, by the time you have fitted it in your bench and made wooden clamping faces, there’s nothing much to see.
You could give it a coat ( wipe on wipe off) of linseed oil to deter any rust.
 
I agree with Lurker. It's what I did with mine, which is of similar age.
 
Thanks all, leaving as it is, it is then.

Mike G, you couldn't see it in the pictures but mine does have the dust excluder plate and as the 'knob' for the handle is rounded, I think it is the 1940's design. Unless you meant the 'screw and nut cover' that came in in 1927 but seems to have been lost in later models, I do wonder why.
Interestingly, it appears that all the 52 models had the quick release included.
Here's a bit more info from the same site as Andy linked to: https://smallworkshop.co.uk/2018/04/17/record-vice/
 
I forgot to say that I managed to source some new 5/16" screws. The originals had disappeared and the front plate had a piece of wood secured with a couple of wood screws through the holes. I shall be using the new screws to fix wooden linings.

BTW, here's an interesting video about these vices:
[youtubessl]jmw-Zf25ZD8[/youtubessl]

Edited to do the Youtube insert thing properly.
Edited again as I didn't do it properly. Still not sure I'm doing it right though.
 
I think the patination of old, but well cared for tools, looks lovely. Nice job cleaning it up.
 
Thanks for the video, Tellurian. It's good to see these things appreciated and nice to know that I picked the right production period!
 
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