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Carter was an Australian company - now defunct - who made a variety of tools, including vices. There's usually a good variety on eBay AU. Today I am looking at a 75mm (3") cast iron engineer's bench vice (or vise).
As I found it:
Someone had painted over it in fire engine red, bolts and all:
The end of the dynamic jaw is similar to the contemporary Dawn vices in that it's open and you can separate the two halves simply by winding it out to the point that the screw and main nut are no longer in contact.
It's a relatively small vice - here it is compared to a 6" Dawn:
This particular vice weighed in at 4.95kg. The handle has the usual washer-spring-washer arrangement inside the dynamic jaw - here half-way through cleanup without the washers and springs:
The main nut is removable:
After a clean up, re-lube and repaint:
The handle is approx. 140mm end to end and is ~10mm in diameter.
In use it's a smooth little vice - I like that the jaws are removable and use bolts from the back rather than the front. I am not sure how old this vice is - anyone got info on that?
Looking for your own little Australian vice? Check out what's available on eBay AU.
For more vice restorations and reviews, check out the list of tool reviews.
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