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didn't know back then, but Fabrex were a Leicester, England -based maker of engineered products for the local Fabr-ics industry - they also made a couple of vises which are scarce now -a quick release woodworking and a strange extra-wide jaw leg vise for leather etc.

the little Fabrex was my first vise as a teen (bought with Saturday job money) - not that solid, but got to start somewhere

Yup - not cast iron - actually usually (forged) wrought iron with hammer welded steel jaw faces, screw and nut in the better-made examples. True wrought iron is no longer made, but a highly weldable and tough low carbon iron with silica 'stringers' - old leg vises often show a 'wood grain'...

Agree - certainly Record sold separate vise screw/nut hardware for commercial or individual bench makers own designs.

and there are different brass alloys

UK offset vices/vises by Fortis (cast steel) also Record Leader (weld fab) and un-named - useful

outside of the patterns

pps - I'm calling all such bolts/screw, 'snugs' from now on.

PS - it's in fine condition (but many signs of proper use), very well made, and I use it most weeks. The reasons I went for Woodhead as maker: - a similar vise in a later catalog, the 'squashed' shape of the tommy-bar boss and some other details being typical of Woodhead. I should also note that...

Great find, this patent - I have a vice/vise that I had provisionally ascribed to Woodhead of Bradford, England (est 1849) with very little evidence apart from them being one of the first UK makers using cast iron for woodworking and bench vises. -- here's a recent photo - maybe I should call it...

looks almost light alloy (Al, Zn) or galvanised/zinc coated

nice yes -- it's like a modernised version of some 1890s English 2-part static (eg Parkinson's) - Australian? -- I have seen a foundry apprentice-piece like this but yours is neater -- why no corrosion? what width jaw?

didn't know they made a little all-steel vise -- maybe that's why no separate jaws, the casting looks a bit rough (not so easy to cast -- much hotter melt), stamped and decal, not cast in name - interestingly Rededa, Sheffield made a model 251 (not 521) similar size at this time.

interesting - never seen the Sheffield just stamped like that -- a fairly crude vise/vice - rough casting and crudely cut jaw faces -- but similar tommy bar boss to the Marples/Sorby

both were made in Sheffield - in 1870/80s, Parkinsons (of Bradford, England) started making their Handy series and then their patented quick release vices of all sizes - the patent ran out about 1901 - from about then a whole raft of UK vise-makers (notably Woden, Record, Paramo, Fortis) made...

Jonas Woodhead (Bradford Cramp) were actively making cast iron vises and other workholding for local industry 1850-80 before moving on to specialise in spring suspension systems (still a brand today). I believe they were the first cast-iron vise-maker in England. I posted a couple of catalog...

yes - the instantaneous grip of this type was invented and patented by J Parkinson of Shipley, Bradford, UK in 1884 - called 'Perfect' - I think their patent would have lasted 17 years back then - around 1900 a raft of other makers such as Woden and Record started producing near copies -- the...

the 'Improved Parallel' looks like an early Parkinsons' (Bradford, UK) - ~1875-1915 model

pretty definitely not the same company, but similar date there was an English Harper's making a nice vice/anvil - they specialised in shoe-making/repairing equipment

Yes - from about 1900, when some Hampton family (owners) moved from Birmingham area to start the brand in Sheffield - but things get a bit muddy from about 2000, with Irwin now owning the Co, -- meanwhile others of the Hampton family kept on back home with the Woden brand vises etc before...