How do I resurrect LARGE Vise?

[Doug Hobkirk]

I bought this vise. Reed 134 1/2 R. It weighs 72 pounds! Jaws are 4 1/2" wide. The corrosion doesn't seem especially bad, so I figured I could get it to work without too much difficulty.



The handle turns, but just barely.
I've soaked it with WD-40 and some PB Blaster.
I've opened the jaws about 2 turns of the main screw by hammering on the ends of the lever. I had expected it would start to free up. It didn't.
The large bolt head at the back side, above the acme screw thread rod, moves, but not easily. FYI, that bolt takes a 7/8" wrench or socket (IIRC)
I have not turned the screw next to the oil hole (which I squirted w/ some PB Blaster)


So I've changed my mind that I can just wrestle this into submission easily. I think it's time to seek guidance.

Chide my brutal approach if you want. But give me guidance on what I should do from this point forward. Please!

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[Steve Rozmiarek]

Thats a beast. The problem is probably a stuck slide, not the actual screw, or a combination of the two. Get some oil worked into the sliding parts too. That little screw is the retainer that drags the jaw open when you crank it open. You can take it out, and the main screw should back out the front as you open the jaws. It will require some brute force. As you get that apart, clean it up and reassemble. Then use the cleaned up power of that main screw to work on the slide. The 7/8 bolt on the back is probably a backlash adjustment, fiddling with it a little will determine the correct setting for it. To start, you wouldn't want it very tight. I'd be inclined to remove it if it will.

Penetrating oil will be your friend. I much prefer plain old wd40 over pb blaster. It smells better.

[Doug Hobkirk]

Thats a beast. The problem is probably a stuck slide, not the actual screw, or a combination of the two. Get some oil worked into the sliding parts too. That little screw is the retainer that drags the jaw open when you crank it open. You can take it out, and the main screw should back out the front as you open the jaws. It will require some brute force. As you get that apart, clean it up and reassemble. Then use the cleaned up power of that main screw to work on the slide. The 7/8 bolt on the back is probably a backlash adjustment, fiddling with it a little will determine the correct setting for it. To start, you wouldn't want it very tight. I'd be inclined to remove it if it will.

Penetrating oil will be your friend. I much prefer plain old wd40 over pb blaster. It smells better. [I concur 100%!]

Thank you. I'm too impatient. After a couple hours the handle started to work much, much better. That large bolt (3/4") held the Acme "nut" in position.

More WD-40 down the sides of the slide, and it came apart. Except for the handle with the long screw. It will be easier to clean if I can remove that.

Is that probably a retaining ring under the boss that the handle goes through? I have removed the set screw, but that doesn't seem to do much.

More pictures:

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Note the long Acme "nut" that the bolt held in position.

These are the best pics I could get of the area under the handle boss -

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And maybe you will enjoy seeing how the Acme nut (which has sort of a key) goes into the stationary part of the vise.

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[Steve Rozmiarek]

I'm just using my phone, so hard to see the pics well, but there may be a ball bearing in the hole the set screw came out of that is retaining the handle. Maybe a blast of wd40 and pressurized air.

[John Sanford]

Vises, oh, the many, many vises we have.

Everything you might want to know, or at least more than you're likely to find anywhere else, on vises can be found over at The Garage Journal.

Two threads to start with:

VISE REPAIR 101 (http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=252830)

and

The VISES of Garage Journal (http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=44782) (982 pages as of this posting, closing on 20,000 posts).

[Greg R Bradley]

That is somewhere at the high end of "medium" bench vises.

My Wilton C-2 at work weighs just about 100 pounds, a C-3 in the equipment repair shop is close to 200 pounds. My Wilton 3.5" 350S in my garage at home is a small vise and weighs 45 pounds. Even it is mounted way better than the bench shown in that picture. That will be the weak point for serious use. It was built to be used hard. The hammer tone blue US made Wiltons are made of 60,000psi ductile iron so are actually somewhat light weight for their intended use.

That is a great link John posted for Garage Journal!

[Myk Rian]

WD-40 helps to PREVENT rust. It does nothing to dissolve it.
A 50/50 mix of ATF and Acetone works the best to break rust.

You might also consider using electrolysis on it. Very easy to do.

[Jim Davenport]

On the topic of vise's. Here's an article about the famous "Cutters vise". It's a long read, but I think you'll find it interesting.

http://www.cutterod.com/vise_saga_prelude.htm

[Alan Gan]

Not sure where you are at on the project but I would SOAK everything down with Liquid Wrench and let it sit a week. Maybe hit it with a few sprays every other day and move the mechanisms several times back and forth a little each day.