Paramo Vices: How A Drainpipe Foundry Built Britain’s Forgotten Bench Vice

Paramo Vices began in a foundry that was never meant to make tools. F. Parramore and Sons of Chapeltown, Sheffield, made drainpipes, guttering, fire grates and iron castings before the Second World War changed its future. When bombing threatened the supply of Record vices, the foundry was brought into wartime production and began casting the bench vices that British workshops needed to keep working. From that unexpected beginning came Britain’s forgotten bench vice. Paramo became the quiet alternative to Record: same Sheffield iron, familiar numbered sizes, strong cast bodies, hardened jaws and the kind of grip a fitter, mechanic or apprentice could trust for a working lifetime. But after the foundry side collapsed in 1981, Paramo Tools had to survive without the fire that had given the vice its strength. Rising British manufacturing costs, cheap imports, shrinking heavy industry and the death of the old tool merchant slowly pushed the company out of the market. This is the story of how a drainpipe foundry built Britain’s forgotten bench vice — and why old Paramo vices still sit on benches today, holding firm long after the company disappeared. #ParamoVices #BenchVice #VintageTools