Klammer Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 Hello Folks - I am in the process of cleaning up a few post vises and wondering what to use on the screws when it goes back together? The first one had some very old hardened grease that was work to clean off the male end and I was only part successful on the female end. Its a 7" vise with a deep screw / closed end so could only go so deep with my makeshift tool. I assume grease will only collect filings / scale and become an abrasive paste? the other problem was putting it back together the jaws now have an 1/8" gap when closed...bah. I thought I might have dropped some hardened grease into the bottom of the female end but its clear....hmm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MLMartin Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 Just cut a 3/16 washer from plate, file it clean and place it between the handle and front jaw. I would recommend thin Oil. Thin oil will help carry away dirt, iron fillings, other junk. Just remember to lightly clean and re oil all your vices at least once a month. A well taken care of vice will last hundreds of years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klammer Posted March 23, 2013 Author Share Posted March 23, 2013 Thanks Martin, I will use some light oil. Next step will be a washer to close the gap, but I wanted to make sure I was not doing something wrong as I am sure it closed tight before I started cleaning it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MLMartin Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 It does sound like something is trapped some where preventing full closing. Have you shined a light into the female box looking for junk? Or looked closely at the screw to see if maybe a thread is damaged? If it closed tight before something much be preventing it now. Maybe some good photos of the vice, box, and screw will help us figure out the problem. Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plain ol Bill Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 I prefer to grease the threads on mine and put a light layer of grease on the swiveling parts also. Makes them run slick. Might have to take them apart every 20 years of so to clean and re-lube. Whatever works for you in your shop is the right way to do it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aljeter Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 Why not soak it in some tool cleaner and see if the rest of the hard grease will come out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyper Iron Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 I have a nice 5,3/4" columbian that had the hardest and oldest grease I have ever seen. It had tons of shavings and other matter buried in it, making a nice aggregate. It took every bit of 6 hours total of soaking and brushing with a tooth brush, steel brush, brass tube brushing, more soaking, did I mention brushing? You absoultly have to get every ounch of old gease/slag/shavings out. Honestly my opinion when you're doing most work on a post vise, oiled or greased. Slag and shavings are gonna get on the threads period. Proper periodic cleaning is the only way to get it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klammer Posted March 25, 2013 Author Share Posted March 25, 2013 Took it apart again, checked the female end with a light and nothing I could see. It soaked over night in tool cleaner / rinse - nothing in the box. All threads look perfect on the male end. It might have been my imagination that it closed fully as I had yet to use it. It was a good deal @ $125 for a 7" vise in good shape but its welded to its stand. I took it apart as much as possible and wire wheeled the rust off. Cut out a washer today and it fixed the problem - jaws close tight now. Anyone have any idea what kind it could be? I could find no markings in all my cleaning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MLMartin Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 Looks like a very handy vice. It should last years and year. I have gotten a few vices that have bent handles. I remove them from the vice and carefully heat the handle in the forge making sure to NOT heat the screw any and I will straighten the handle with a large wood or leather mallet over the anvil. Using the wood or leather mallet on hot metal leaves generally no mark. You might get a little mark from the anvil side though. I have also used an OXY/ACT torch with rose bud tip to heat the handles if it is a short bent area. You can also use bending forks instead of the anvil to straighten. I imagine the vice works fine enough with a bent handle. I just like to "fix up" old hansom tools Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyper Iron Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 It looks like a Peter wright post vise to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Der_Hannes Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Hi Klammer! Congrats to your Vise! Shape looks good and spring seems to work! I can't help you identifying the vise, but for Oil or grease it also depends on the vise location. Most of my restored vises get an overall coat of ballistol oil and the ones used indoors a mix of ballistol and "elf graisse multi". It works fine and doesn't tend to much to collect dirt. For very rusted and scar covered vises and the ones that will stay outdoors, i use a grease for military helicopters with molybdenum and graphit... some kind of molycote. It fills the gaps very well and work a long time before you have to renew the coat. I put it on every moving part and it also has a quite good durability in rainy areas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Note that 100+ year old oil residue sure looks a lot like old grease... Best idea I've seen was for the vises like columbians that have the back end of the screwbox open. A fellow brazed a plate across it and installed a zerk and so greases it from that end pushing all the crud out of the screwbox. Me I just use a light machine oil and if the screw has gotten very dirty---like cutting a welding tank held in it with an angle grinder I'll spray it down with WD40 with it open to remove the crud and oil and then let it drip overnignt and re-oil it---gotta love a dirt floor where dealing with an oil spill is just a shovel job and pour a bit more of the arroyo sand/gravel/silt into the hole. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yesteryearforge Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 You would be suprized what a pressure will clean up. Just be sure to blow it dry and re -oil / grease Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dieselram94 Posted April 24, 2013 Share Posted April 24, 2013 I think the key here is to occasionally clean and re-lube. Not so much what the lube is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Evans Posted April 27, 2013 Share Posted April 27, 2013 To clean out the female threads in the box I bend the tip of a bit of 10mm (3/8") bar at right angles and grind the bit to a chisel/scraper to fit the thread groove then rotate it in and out as a thread follower. I bend the other end in the opposite direction to form a handle and an indicator of the the direction of cutter tool. I use graphite grease, I have too many bits of kit to maintain a regular oil maintenance schedule, so they are checked before and during use on an ad hoc basis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatfudd Posted April 27, 2013 Share Posted April 27, 2013 I've soaked my old vises an automatic transmission fluid and used a tool as Alan Evens describes. All of my vises have anti seize in them for a lube on all moving parts. Its kinda messy if you bet it on you hands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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