Object number
70/216
Description
A vice found in a derelict shed in Mere, Wiltshire.
A simple iron vice, found by the donor in a derelict shed in Mere, Wiltshire. It has a two holes for attachment to the workbench, a single lever, straight-edged jaws and a rod for adjustment.
Physical description
vice: iron
Archival history
Letter, Major W. W. W. Howard to MERL, August 1970 – ‘Dear Sir // I have acquired a vice similar to the one in the attached illustration. // The main differences are that mine is less ornamental and more functional, lacking the protrusions below the jaws and having a plain bar to secure it to the bench top. // The spring between the jaws is a single leaf spring, secured at the top rather than the lower end. The leg, numbered 5 in the drawing, is circular in section below the lug numbered 4, and extends down to the floor. It ends in a spherical foot, presumably intended to be buried in the floor to give added rigidity. // Between the bearing surfaces of the handle and the moveable jaw, there are three washers which can be removed to give more distance between the jaws for holding thicker objects. // Although it is much worn and the last two of the female threads, numbered 8, are damaged, the vice is in working order and I have, in fact, been using it in my own shed. Both the body and the washers bear traces of what I take to be the original paint. // I found it, and a spoke shave, in a derelict shed by the side of what I believe is the old pack-horse track near the ford over the Shreen Water in Mere.’
Object name
Material
Associated subject
External document
- L:\MERL\Objects\JISC 2012\60 series negatives\60_11281.tif - High resolution image
