Record 34p vice restore

[edward]

So I spent £45 on this delight from Ebay.

Disassemble, then 2 days in citric acid, a good going over with a rapidstrip disk and wire brush and it was clean. Grind the weld off the anvil and polish up, then two coats of smooth hammerite.

Turn up a bronze spacer to replace the ramshackle stack of rusty washers at the back of the screw, then all back together and secure with some nice chunky M12 fixings

The end result is quite pleasing, and certainly a massive improvement on my old cheap and nasty no-name Chinese job.

[Brass_Machine]

Nice job.  It is hard to believe those are the same vice.

Eric

[SwarfnStuff]

Yep, Nice Resto Edward.

         Looks like a new vise (Almost) as you have obviously got some use out of it (just to prove it worked, right?) before photographing.

         And, as you said, "The end result is quite pleasing, and certainly a massive improvement on my old cheap and nasty no-name Chinese job."
   Congrats on a job well done,     

John B

[edward]

Thanks chaps. It did indeed have a bit of a 'test' before the photos. I am trying to resist the urge to touch the paint up, have to remind myself its a tool not an ornament!

[S. Heslop]

I just caught this thread this morning, and later in the day found this small heavily rusted vise in a second hand shop going cheap and thought i'd give give it a go.



Made a bit of a mess taking it apart. I drove the pin that holds the big nut in place out and got it stuck in the big thread, since I didn't open the vise enough. Couldn't get it to go back in to free the thread so I drilled it out.


Found this spray Rob Wilson gave me handy for freeing everything that was jammed. The only thing I can't get loose are the screws that hold the jaws on. I've tried heat a bit of heat and the penetrating oil with no luck yet, as well as tapping the screwdriver as I turn it. If a long soak in the stuff doesn't loosen them then the next thing i'd be trying is drilling them out, except it's probably not too big a deal if I can't remove them. They look to be in decent condition under all that rust.

But yeah. Hopefully it'll look as good as yours when i'm done with it.

[Bluechip]

If you have a screwdriver bit to fit a sq. drive socket wotsit they're fairly easy to remove.
With an ordinary driver you cannot usually get straight on to the buggers, neither can you get enough torque.

Put the bit in the slot. then almost close the jaws on the ratchet thingy. The bit cannot cam-out 'cos the other jaw stops it. Crack it off then do the others likewise.

Did mine a few weeks ago, so I can now fit ally soft jaws when required instead of the serrated 'bar-chewer' edition they come with.

( Record #3 in my case)

Dave

EDIT oops, sorry, noticed you've got it apart .... 

[S. Heslop]

If you have a screwdriver bit to fit a sq. drive socket wotsit they're fairly easy to remove.
With an ordinary driver you cannot usually get straight on to the buggers, neither can you get enough torque.

Put the bit in the slot. then almost close the jaws on the ratchet thingy. The bit cannot cam-out 'cos the other jaw stops it. Crack it off then do the others likewise.

Did mine a few weeks ago, so I can now fit ally soft jaws when required instead of the serrated 'bar-chewer' edition they come with.

( Record #3 in my case)

Dave

EDIT oops, sorry, noticed you've got it apart .... 

Ohh that's clever. I can put it back together and try that out though.

[millwright]

A nice restoration job, you cant beat a quality vice.

John

[S. Heslop]

Ohh that's clever. I can put it back together and try that out though.

Gave it a go but it just swaged the screw metal out. I think those screws are in there for good.

[Bluechip]

Ah well ...    Mine came out with a startling crack when they let go but they did come out ...

You did use a blade same width as the screw slot length I hope?  Otherwise it will chew the centre out of the slot. I assume the leverage occurs near the ends

Dave

[tom osselton]

I saw a you tube video where a guy drilled and tapped the center of the bolt holding the softjaws on his mill vice to allow custom softjaws to be used without changing them.

[S. Heslop]

Finished it up after soaking it overnight in some diluted vinegar (didn't leave it long enough with the dilution, but I get impatient) and rubbing steel wool on it. Looks alot better than it did, even if I picked a hideous tin of paint. It also looks like it wasn't ever used but just got left out to the rain for a few years since there aren't any noticeable hacksaw marks or wear on the moving parts. The second hand shop/ house clearers I bought it from are pretty bad for leaving stuff out in the rain. They've got a beautiful giant metric lathe that's just been left to rust solid. It's a tragedy.

I'll probably give budging those screws another go once the paint hardens. Maybe the vinegar soak might've loosened them a bit.

[NormanV]

I bought a "made in England" vice. Rusty, like the others shown. I soaked it in citric acid, cleaned it up, painted it, it looked beautiful. But, and the biggest but. the jaws are not parallel. I can only grip something if I lean on the handle. The only time that I have bought a new vice it was a cheapo Chinese vice. It gripped perfectly!

[edward]

Pleased I could 'inspire' someone else to action. Good to see old stuff rescued for further use rather than going for landfill.

Mine is a bit more 'used' looking now but still a lovely thing. Never get jaw twist or things busting out of the jaws now! I bought a set of cheapo clip-on fibre jaws for mine for softer stuff which have proved useful.

The Chinese vice has been demoted to the dirty side of the workshop for welding etc, fixed to a bit of 100mm RSJ with some scaffold tube legs.