Hi folks,
Was out my local car boot on Sunday when I happened upon this impractically large old British vise, a Paramo No 6, about 35kg by my reckoning, 6 inch wide jaws that open out to around 9 inches!
I offered the bloke £8 and walked (well, hobbled...) away with the thing in a carrier bag.
Here it is - nice and rusty but no cracks or major damage. The handle is kinked and the jaws each have one sheared screw and one seized screw.


And here it is after phase 1 - lots of wire brushing, sanding, and some sandblasting. Got the HammerRite on order to get it looking like new.

Couple of questions I was hoping someone could help with -
1) The main horizontal "sliding surface" on the mobile part has been used as an anvil/grinding deck in places, but the original flycutter marks are visible in others. I'm tempted to skim 1mm off the whole thing with a carbide face mill to get it like new. This would mean I'd have to shim the underside to keep the thing right though. Would it be hardened / would I be foolish to put some (say) 1mm stainless strips on the underside as a shim/gib? I'd probably epoxy them to the existing part. I would hate to bugger up a vise that has probably been in service for 50 years!
2) I put the handle in my (comparatively puny) 4 inch Record and did my best to straighten it, but it's ended up a bit of a snakey shape now. Can I just knock up a new one from a piece of mild steel or threaded rod (after I've turned off the threads!), or are these usually made of a harder metal?
Thanks for any tips on the above. Will post pics of the finished thing.
Lastly, I want to finish restoring this thing but if anybody feels they have a real need/use for such a large vice feel free to make me an offer for swaps. I'd be happy to keep it but really it's a bit wasted on me. I'm not after cash but if you've any milling accessories or a 240v 3 phase motor going spare I'd be happy to deal!