I ought to be posting this on "What's on your workbench?" as it's nothing to do with the Stanier 2 6 4. The answer is this.
For years I've been getting by with cheapo crappy vices with either poorly aligned or wobbly jaws, and/or jaws that do not move easily and smoothly. Recently I bought a Stanley clamp on swivel vice from B&Q, which for £18 is quite good quality and large enough for use on DIY jobs around the house. For a lot of modelling jobs it is also quite useful, having smooth running jaws with horizontal and vertical V grooves for holding round work pieces. It's great for holding larger etchings for decusping and other large parts. However, for small precision jobs it comes up short.
First, having a swivel ball joing mechanism on the clamp, it stands too high from the bench. Second, the jaws whilst smooth running, have too much slop and need careful closing and lining up for smaller mare prescise clamping jobs. Filing the oil pots for the tank fronts was a point in question.
I had been considering this cheaper (possibly made in India or China) copy of the Bergeon 2021 watchmakers bench vice for a while. It is available from Eileen's Shestos and possibly Squires, for just over £80. I don't know if postage is on top of that. A Bergeon will set you back around £300, so £80 is a hell of a saving. That said, £80 is still a lot of money for a small bench vice so despite having seen the vice at shows and been impressed, I decided to pass.
However, I recently found a couple of horology supplies company on the web, both offering the same vice for just under £60 including VAT.
This is still a lot of money for a small vice, but considering that I will soon be retiring and be spending more time at the bench, I took the plunge and ordered one from Cousins UK. The other supplier I found is Cooksongold, whoes price was slightly higher. So with VAT and postage it came to £64.
The vice comes with a quick release clamp, that allows quick and easy removal/fitting to the screwed down base plate. If you have a more substantial bench top than mine, you could chisel a recess into it, so that the plate is flush when the vice is not being used. Cousins offer spare plates for £27 excluding VAT and postage, for those who wish to use it in more than one location. Spare jaws are not mentioned.
The jaws are well machined and perfectly parallel. The upper clamp runs in machined dovetailed slides in the base and runs very smoothly with not a hint of side to side movement or slop. Like the Bergeon, the screw is very cleverly concealed in a sheath, so not prone to filings and other gubbins, although the detritus from the workpiece can fall on the slides (as it can on the Bergeon), so only time will tell if this will be an issue.
One further point of note, is that the removable jaws are held via recessed Allen bolts as opposed to slotted screws on the Bergeon and if you look closely on the Cousins and Cooksongold websites, the ones they illustrate are the same.
Here is a link to the Cousins web page.
Screw Down - 1¾" (45mm) Jaw, Watchmakers
I probably won't get any work done at the next session as I'll just be sitting there twiddling the Tommy bar and watching the jaws move slowly back and forth. Sad I know.
It would be interesting to know if any other modellers have had one of these vices for a while and how they have found it in use. I think I have seen one in use on one of the builds on here, possibly on one of Mickoo's threads.
Cheers,
Peter