Farmers Weekly Features
Written by Independent Assessor Dr. Andrew Pearce

Copyright © Farmers Weekly 2001

VICES MAKES A VIRTUE OF VERSATILITY
Sometimes the old ideas are still the good ones. Andrew Pearce looks at a workshop stalwart with a difference If it's true that everybody has one vice, then having a double-ended one is satisfaction indeed. If it rotates and weighs more than a sack of spuds, then surely you're home and dry. Swindens vices fit the bill. Devised in World War One by the man whose name they carry, these all-British bulldogs pack two sets of jaws in a head that can be swung through a full circle and locked off at any angle. Made to military specification and used (among others) by the Army and NATO, they're built to be 100 % squaddie-proof. And what's good enough for the forces should be good enough for farming.


Swindens vice's pipe jaws make holding round stuff a breeze.

The vice's strength and secrets stem from its construction. It's in two major parts: a split-sleeved pedestal that bolts it to the bench, and a head section whose telescopic circular barrel spins inside this. A single lever clamps the sleeve down on the barrel, locking the jaw section at whatever angle you fancy. Tolerances are close so there's very little rock in the moveable jaw, and the design suggests they should stay that way for a very long time.

The long screw responsible for opening and closing the jaws runs inside the barrel, shut off from the world. Apparently this paid off in the Gulf War, where sand seized the exposed screws of US vices, forcing them to borrow ours. Ho ho. On the quality front, Swindens say the pedestal and built-in small anvil are made from high-spec cast steel (BS3100, A3) while the jaws are top-grade cast iron to ISO BS EN 1561. Standard jaw liners are hardened steel, with aluminium and other alternatives on offer.

 
The swivelling head section lives permanently inside the pedestal. To swap between jaws or swing the head to any angle you fancy, just hit the release lever. Locking is completely positive.

Material choice and UK manufacture help explain the cost. The 152 mm (6in) version we've been using for the past six months comes home at a sweat-inducing £695 plus VAT. A stack of money, even if the thing does weigh 35kg (77lb). But in the context of other top-line products, this is almost a bargain - Record's 6in engineer's vice with anvil retails at £673, yet has just one set of fixed-angle jaws. Once you've got over the price shock, what can a Swindens vice do? All sorts of things that others can't. For a start, it's two vices in one. A major plus in the workshop or fitter's van. One set of jaws is flat, the other concave to hold pipe and other round stuff. To change between them , just whack the release lever and smoothly flip over the head. The jaws' grip is. . . well, vice-like. Claimed to be beyond 4,000 lbf, it's the strongest we've come across. That's maybe a result of us using worn and slightly latchety vices, but the Swindens version does generate exceptional bite if you lean on its long handle. At the other extreme, it'll nip up on something delicate with complete control. Deep jaws offer plenty of contact, giving the work good support when bending or straightening.

  
Angling the head makes work come to you. The outer jaw's support tube telescopes from a larger one and is unworried by swarf or welding spatter. The controlling screw is inside, protected from all that.

The show-stopper, though ,is the ability to angle the head to where you want it. This immediately makes a job easier and usually faster. For instance, you're no longer forced to drill, file or grind vertically or horizontally; just hold the work full-depth in the vice and swing it to a comfortable angle. When welding, you can clamp a part to the bench, then, using the vice, swing another down to meet it at a given angle. And when you're hacksawing through something long, you can set the jaws vertical to work maximum support, saw half-way, then turn the head through 180 degree to finish the cut. The more you use this type of vice, the more uses you'll find and the more you'll wonder how you managed before.

Shortcomings? The anvil table is necessarily small and although it's there for a purpose, the principle of hammering any part of a vice doesn't seem right. Presumably to maximise durability there's no quick-release system for the jaws, so making big adjustments involves a fair bit of handle-twiddling, the small anvil section is of limited worth and finally given the vice's cost, its paint finish - a light hand coat of battleship grey - ought to be more durable.

Seemingly built to stand anything short of a direct nuclear attack , a Swindens vice should outlast your grandchildren - which helps put the steep cost in perspective. That not many farms or fitters will be able to justify the outlay is a major pity, for the fact that it's more useful than any vice has a right to be should put one on every bench.