Technical VISE

My vise needs to be opened up by hand, handle wont open it. It clamps ok. What is screwed up?

 

Thrust washer around lead screw is missing from the movable jaw. Jack E/NJ

 

A vice is a pretty simple tool. Only a coupla moving parts.
Take it apart and...find out..!
It's far from rocket science.

Mike

 

My vise is simple, my vices are not.

 

The yolk might be bad

 

youir profile says engineer ?

 

try garage journal lots of info there

 

Safety precautions are necessary when it comes to the handling of mechanical instruments and panels to ensure incidents and injuries do not occur. A bench vise has proven to be quite a substantial piece of armor when it comes to performing work tasks. But users need to first understand some safety tips and warnings.
2x, TAKE IT APART AND FIX THE BROKEN WASHER, I cannot count how many times I have fixed other peoples vices for the same problem, Do not buy one from Harbor Freight or you will be asking how to weld it.

 

…and add a bit of grease where metal slides against metal, especially the screw, it's washers etc. Preferably MoS2 grease. A "dry" vise may seem to move easily when not tightened down, but when it comes under load you really get friction between the loaded parts. Any grease helps things move better, MoS2 particles are slippery and keeps lubricating when the grease has been squeezed out from between parts = last line of defense before metal contacts metal. (That's why you lube new camshafts with it.)

 

Opened by hand!?!? How primitive; my vise is motor operated!

 

......Apparently they don't make engineers like they used to.

 

This has inspired me to take one of my old vises apart and grease it. It’s getting a little gravely when that final cinch comes along.

 

I've got a Wilton that was tossed in a school shop junk pile (rescued by me and not the shop I taught in) that I think has the same issue It might be time to see if that is the issue issue with it.

 

Pulled this apart, wirebrushed moving parts and greased them two days ago. Works great. No problem opening it, even has a spring for that job.

 

Another name is HOG HEAD!

 

iam an engineer but i slept thru that class 101 vise design. its bolted down to the bench and parts are concealed, hence the question. guess its time to remove it from the bench or buy a new one.

 

I took vise design 101 back in '58 but if memory serves you can just unscrew it all the way, pull the movable jaw out, replace the broken washer and screw it back together without unbolting from the bench.

 

Is it tech week??

 

might be the snap ring or roll pin or locking collar that retains the washer, that is the problem.

I take apart everything just to see how it works, which I think is related to why I went to engineering school.

 

^^^^^Real engineer^^^^...........

 

In the old rail road days an engineer was called a HOG Head because the were so stubborn.

 

My Chinese clunker of a vice is missing the coil spring that goes on the screw. It doesn't keep pressure
on the jaw when your opening it up either, has to opened by hand.
Would a valve spring be a good substitute?

 

love those post leg vises. i have one that dates back to early 1800s.

 

Don't even take it of the bench. Screw it all the way out, take the 2 screws out and see what is wrong.

 

Check the ground. It's always the ground.

 

Las wek I kunt spel ingunear, now I ar wun.
(That is a joke from school days, NOT a slur.)

 

Unless it's a Dodge!

 

There are many types of engineers. The title of the guy that picks up our trash each week is "sanitation engineer". I've chatted with him a couple of times, and suspect that he may not be able to find his own ass with a ten man hunting party.