Made my first feather tonight. I cranked it down in my 5 1/4 inch indian chief to chisel the edge textures in and the vise went tight then let go like I stripped the threads. Oh no!  Its ruined I thought. Turns out I broke that rounded thrust washer on the back side of the screw. When I got the vise that was already broken so I mig welded it back together. Thought it was good to go. It smelled wierd when welding and I assumed it was wrought iron. Never smelled anything like that before. Been using it for 6 months than tonight i cranked on it and turned that washer into rubble. Always something to overcome in the shop huh. 

Suggest you find someone with a lathe (If you do not own one ourself) and make a new.

Nice looking feather by the way

Easy fix what you need to find is a clutch throw out bearing &

install it there will work much better with one then with out one Old School repair

Fixed for now. Welded the pieces back together then took 3/8 square and forge a ring slightly smaller then the washer and heated it red then pressed in on the washer and welded the ring to the washer. I like the idea of a thrust bearing on the handle side and have been slowly looking for options there. 

They make a self aligning dual roller contact bearing that might work well.. I've never considered putting a real bearing on the lead screw.. 

 

Nice fix, and great looking feather..   The washer that broke depending on the vise manufacturer and year made some were cast iron and some malleable iron.. Of course some were wrought iron but again depends on year produced.. 

Thanks for the compliments. Used it today and beat it up good. No more damage so far. Back to makin instead of fixin.  :-)  :-)