Quick Release Vices

[Bigus]

Hi

In a post that will probably render me forum twit of the year 2014, I am having trouble working out how to operate a couple of quick release vices I purchased off eBay!

Said vices are these things - a Record 53 and a Parkinsons Perfect 16:

I plonked them upside down on the box in order to test them and the quick release levers work, as in when you pull them into the centre the release mechanism lifts off the central threaded shaft. However, when I try to open the vice jaws after every few turns the quick release mechanism pops up and the jaws stay shut.

Is this catastrophic cerebral failure, or might there be something wrong with the vices?

Bigus

 

[SteveW1000]

Hi,

The way I've always used mine is to grasp the hub sqeezing the quick release lver and just pull out. You dont need to turn the handle to open the vise after pulling the quick release lever. Hope this is understandable and helps.

Steve

 

[Jake]

It won't work so well upside down though!

 

[Bigus]

Ahh thanks, I was thinking the quick release lever was just optional to release the jaws, on top of the normal screw operation.

On another note,, I'm planning on giving them a citric acid bath to get rid if the rust. Are these things fairly easy to dismantle and put back together again, or should I just immerse them whole (assuming I can find a bucket long enough).

Also, after rust removal, what oil do you guys use to help hinder rust return? And for lubricating the shafts, threaded bolt? (I'd rather not use something unpleasantly smelly like 3-in-1).

Bigus

 

[SteveW1000]

The come apart and go back together fairly easily, my ex school bench had to come home in bits and the vises go through the aprons and have to be disasembled to put everything together.

Steve

 

[Jake]

They are easy to get apart, at least so far. Pull the R-clip off the back of the yoke at far the end of the screw and the yoke is just (very loosely in engineering terms) pressed onto the end of the guide-bars and will tap off quite easily. Once that is done the guide bars and back jaw will separate from the front jaw. I can't from memory remember how much more is easy to get off. The guide rails are (properly) pressed into the lower jaw IIRC so they wont sensibly come apart but there's no real purpose in doing that anyway. I think the screw just pulls straight out once the yoke is off (could be wrong, it's been a while), and the QR mechanism is all bolted together so can be got apart.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

There are threads for fitting them which are worth a look at. A search will find them.

 

[wizard]

They will not work when you turn them over, as for taking them apart some come apart and others do not and can get damaged forcing them.

 

[paulm]

This might help Phil ?

vices-fitting-a-record-bench-vice-t25365.html?hilit=%20vice

Wouldn't go to too much trouble dismantling, will clean up easily with some degreaser spray, hose and wire brush, pressure washer maybe, ten minute job

Cheers, Paul

 

[swb58]

You should be able to open the jaws by winding the handle, the quick release being used if big adjustments are needed. The screw shape is designed more to tighten the jaws than open them so if anything is a bit sticky in the sliding department the half nut will pop out of the thread instead of opening the jaws.

Clean and lubricate all the sliding parts then hold the QR lever in and manually move the jaw in and out to get it moving freely, then you can pull it apart to fully clean it if you feel the need.

No reason for them not to work upside down.

 

[Jake]

No reason for them not to work upside down.

They will screw in and out, but the QR mech is unlikely to work very smoothly given that it relies on gravity to drop the half-nut once the spring is released off it with the QR lever.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I found on one of mine that the spring kept jumping out - I solved the problem by drilling (with a hand drill to try to get the angle right - a power drill takes too much space) a tiny hole alongside it when it was perfectly in position and tapping a panel pin in. It never jumped out again.

 

[n0legs]

I won a Record 52.5 E on the bay for £13, the seller near as don't matter delivered it for me today =D>
She's arrived as a very dirty girl but we've got the matter well and truly under control. A strip down first, then a dip in some nasty stuff.
Mixed a drop of 2K for it, the colour isn't bang on but will do. I'll post a pic tomorrow of it when it's painted.


You might not have guessed but I'm chuffed :lol:

Which wood for the cheeks ? I have oak, beech and somewhere some mahogany.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I bought a 13' worm eaten bench for £30. I turned it over to get it on the trailer and the auctioneer (a friend) commented on the size of the vices. I said if he thought I paid £30 for the bench he was a prat. I fed the bench to the woodstove, and acquired a 52 1/2E and a 53E.

 

[n0legs]

I bought a 13' worm eaten bench for £30. I turned it over to get it on the trailer and the auctioneer (a friend) commented on the size of the vices. I said if he thought I paid £30 for the bench he was a prat. I fed the bench to the woodstove, and acquired a 52 1/2E and a 53E.

Now that's a bargain, nice one Phil =D>

 

[wellywood]

Ahh thanks, I was thinking the quick release lever was just optional to release the jaws, on top of the normal screw operation.

On another note,, I'm planning on giving them a citric acid bath to get rid if the rust. Are these things fairly easy to dismantle and put back together again, or should I just immerse them whole (assuming I can find a bucket long enough).

Also, after rust removal, what oil do you guys use to help hinder rust return? And for lubricating the shafts, threaded bolt? (I'd rather not use something unpleasantly smelly like 3-in-1).

Bigus

+1 for the citric acid bath. When I restore an old plane for example, I follow the cleaning/repairing by putting the parts out in the sun to warm for an hour or so then smear the whole lot with lanolin (plentiful supply over here given the sheep population ). Once it's cooled, wipe off the excess. I've done this with numerous plane bodies and they've remained rust free for years. You can still use regular lubricant afterwards when necessary.

 

[AndyT]

For lubrication once you've cleaned it up, the answer used to be oil. The trouble is, it can mix with sawdust and gum the mechanism up.

I now use a dry PTFE lubricant as sold for bike chains and gears. Finish line dry is the current choice but there are other brands too, available as a spray or bottle of liquid. You get a nice slippery surface and the dust won't stick to it.

Available in any proper bike shop and probably in Halfords if you don't have anywhere better.

 

[bugbear]

However, when I try to open the vice jaws after every few turns the quick release mechanism pops up and the jaws stay shut.

It's just rusty slides, compounded with the fact that Q/R vises (as you've observed) cannot exert opening force to any degree (unlike plain screw vices)

Clean and lube the slides, and all will be fine.

BugBear

 

[Bigus]

...the seller near as don't matter delivered it for me today =D>
She's arrived as a very dirty girl but we've got the matter well and truly under control. A strip down first, then a dip in some nasty stuff

Yes, but what about the vice? ;-)

Seriously though, that's a good deal. My vices were £25 & £32 but postage was a bit heavy on top. Rust used to put me off old tools but having read a number of web pages on rust removal (and citric acid) it seems most tool rust is fairly easy to sort out.

Be interested to see what "she" looks like once scrubbed up!

 

[Bigus]

This might help Phil ?

vices-fitting-a-record-bench-vice-t25365.html?hilit=%20vice

Wouldn't go to too much trouble dismantling, will clean up easily with some degreaser spray, hose and wire brush, pressure washer maybe, ten minute job

Cheers, Paul

Ahhh very useful link thanks. I'll be needing that, or at least once I've rebuilt the shed and a new bench.