Customer Rating: 
Summary: Built like a main battle tank
Comment: I have several Record woodworking vises, a huge machinist's vise and a small swiveling one on my drill press. Every one is tough as a pitbull, low maintenance and keeps going like the energizer bunny. These are old world cast iron, no kidding around, quality tools not cheap, third world, Harbor Freight crap.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Built to last several lifetimes!
Comment: If you're in the market for a wood working vice, then your search is over... this is it! My first experience with a Record vise was nearly 25 years ago, and that vise is still today going strong; serving in day-to-day work without stopping! The vice requires a 3-1/2" thick tabletop (its not listed in the specs, but you should know this before ordering), that shouldn't be a problem if you have a professional type bench, however if you're expecting to mount it to something less, you'll need to provide some kind of wood blocking. The quick release lever isn't on my original, and in my opinion adds unnecessary complexity to the screw mechanism, and probably isn't nearly as strong since the holding power is provided with the assist of a small spring metal leaf, (although I'm sure the engineers at Record have tested it and proved that it will outlast anything else on the market!) I would have been content with just a basic screw mechanism.One peculiarity, the adjustable dog doesn't sit flush with the jaws in the down position (it projects about a 1/4" of an inch) and sometimes gets in the way. Whether this is by design or manufacturing flaw is unknown - on the original it sits flush. Obviously, 20 seconds with a cut-off saw was all it took to fix this!
The only other complaints are as other have noted as well.... it *really* could use a stronger box for shipping (this is no joke! mine was almost busting through the bottom of the box!); an installation template would have been nice; a little more oil on the exposed metal parts (the one I received had some light surface rust on the jaw edges and rail guides); the holes for attaching wood to the jaws aren't threaded, (that was easily rectified with a tap set); they should have included the mounting hardware (I used 3" long x 1/2" dia. lag screws); and including a metal bench stop (to go with the dog!) would have been a nice addition as too!.
Overall you will not find a better woodworking vise at any price!
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Love the vice. Hate the shipping
Comment: This is the best vice I have ever seen. The quick release works smoothly and is a must. The machine work and casting was expertly done. I recommend it to anyone that wants a heavy duty workworking vice. My first complaint is the shipping. When it arrived the box had a large hole in it(from being dropped I suppose). The handle is a solid steel bar but yet it was bent when it arrived. So either Record doesn't make their handles straight (doubtful) or somebody dropped it very hard. Anyway it still works fine but when you purchase a new tool it would be nice if it got to you with out being damaged. Also a template for installing it would have saved a lot of time.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great Vise, BUT ...
Comment: The Record 53EX is a very heavy duty, well built vise. I like the quick release mechanism, the big metal handle, large size, and 15 inch capacity. But, an installation template would have been very helpful. Also, the screw holes for the user supplied face plates are not tapped.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Sturdy, Well Built Vise
Comment: I recently built a new workbench, and figured it would be nice to attach a Vise to the end of the top. So I choose this vise after looking through several vises. It is one of the largest vises available (both jaw width and opening depth). I am not sure it is any better for my uses than a smaller versions of a similar vise (Record 52ED and 52-1/2ED), but it is a great vise. The quick release mechanism works great and makes it a much easier to use. The vise is quite heavily built and will withstand plenty of abuse. It is so handy, I don't know how I got along without it. The only bad thing I can say, is that it was very poorly packaged when it arrived (it was placed in a cardboard box with some paper), but the vise is well enough built that it survived the journey just fine.
