benchtop vise restoration

[SteveM]

I was going to call this thread "machining bronze washer", but I will probably continue this with the rest of the work restoring the vise.

I'm restoring a benchtop vise for a friend, and I looked at the handle clamping against an unfinished rough casting and thought I could do better than that.

Found a thin piece of bronze with a hole in it. The hole was offset, but there was enough meat around it to finish it.

Stuck it on an arbor and turned it to diameter, took it off and did the bore. The reason I was using the chuck with the outside jaws is because the other chuck with the inside jaw was set up for another job.

Found out that it was a little too large to fit the recess in the moving jaw, so how to hold it to turn the outside?

I chucked a piece of aluminum that had a hole in the end into the chuck, faced it, turned it, had to drill it a little deeper, then held the washer against that with the live center. Nice thing was that, like turning between centers, I could keep removing it and putting it back and it would locate centered.

Turned it down and it was rocking in the recess because the side of the recess has a radius. No problem, found a HSS bit for an outside radius and used that to radius the inside edge and now it sits flat in the recess.

This is where HSS really shines - try finding an insert to do this. I'm sure there are, but not available at any local stores that are open late at night.

I didn't even have to grind this one - some machinist that went before me did the work. That's why I buy batches of used HSS whenever I find them at estate sales and flea markets - I get to have the knowledge and craftsmanship of those that went before me sitting in my box of tool bits.

I don't have a mill large enough to hold this and face the bottom of the recess, which would be the ultimate. I may just use a scotch roloc pad to smooth it out a bit.

Next thing up is to make a new locking bar. There are two clamping screws, but the bar that connects them and clamps to the base is probably 3/16" thick and less than an inch wide. I have a piece of maybe 3/8" I can counterbore the screws into. It just has to not stick below the base where it would scrape on the bench.

Steve

[SteveM]

Here's a picture of the original vise in its repainted green splendor.

I stripped it down (I hate paint stripping - need to get an abrasive blast cabinet).

Took the swivel base and turned both sides, so now it will sit flat to 0.001".
I'm sure that makes a lot of difference when you are clamping a mower blade in the vise and going at it with an angle grinder

Next up is the clamping bar, figuring how to keep the screw from unscrewing (I'll post a pic of the screw later - it's missing some piece held in by a circlip, I think).

I may try clamping it in the mill and getting a nice flat surface on the anvil.

Steve

[armscor 1]

I went one step further, machined the face where the thrust washer rides.

[liveaboard]

It's always satisfying to rejuvenate old iron.
I'm looking for another vice or two but nothing reasonable has found it into my greedy grasp.
I see that one has replaceable jaws; nice.

[RSG]

Great job Steve!

Nice how you tackled each problem as it presented itself.

[SteveM]

I went one step further, machined the face where the thrust washer rides.

I don't see how I can hold the part in my little mill to do that, which is why I may just go with a roloc pad to take off the high spots and give it a better bearing surface.

The face on the handle that bears against it is a machined and chrome-plated surface, so that's not a problem.

Steve

[armscor 1]

My Mill is not large, simply hung it off the side of the table clamping down on the jaw, swung the head and faced.

[SteveM]

My Mill is not large, simply hung it off the side of the table clamping down on the jaw, swung the head and faced.

My mill isn't even "not large".



Steve

[armscor 1]

I have the much hated round head mill but has its benefits, easily swing the head.

[SteveM]

The vertical head that is on mine doesn't belong to me. That was my dads.

I have one, but it needs a teardown and cleaning, otherwise I could swing it so that the bit faced sideways.

Steve

[SteveM]

So, next conundrum.

Whatever retained the screw is missing. When you try to open the vise, the screw backs out.

There would have been some kind of retaining ring on the screw.

There is a groove, pitted as it is, in the shaft, but it is about 3/4" from the casting, so my guess is that there would have been some bushing there, held in by a retaining clip.

Went to an auto parts store looking for a snap ring, but they didn't have anything that would fit.

Interesting thing is that the screw is about 1/8" LARGER than the rest of the shaft. I thought I could just get a locking collar for a shaft, slide it on and screw the setscrew into the groove, but the collar would be larger than the shaft.

There's a lot of room inside the movable jaw casting, and I thought of making a split collar with screws on both sides, sort of like the ones for mounting gears to shafts without taking the shaft out.

Any ideas what this would have had for a retaining mechanism?

Steve

[SteveM]

May have answered my own question.

Found these at McMaster Carr for cheap (less than $10):



Given the pitting on the shaft, once this is clamped down, it's going to bite in and not move.

Steve