Help me wreck my vice

[WaterH]

I have an old vice I really like. I bought it used and don’t really know anything about it. I have a job that it would be nice if I could turn the vice jaws on their side. It appears that it can do this, but I have never done it. I took two screws out of the back side and the outer jaw turns anyway I want. But the inner jaw doesn’t move. I pounded on it with a hammer and got it to move maybe 10 degrees. It doesn’t feel right to keep pounding. Any of you guys know how I should do this or is this not supposed to swivel down?

 

[Steve300xcw]

Just bolt it on sideways

 

[total newb]

There should be a jack screw on the opposite side (in the pic) that helps hold the jaws in possition.

They should also move together.

I have (what appears to be) the same vice and it may allready be wrecked.

 

[WaterH]

There should be a jack screw on the opposite side (in the pic) that helps hold the jaws in possition.

They should also move together.

I have (what appears to be) the same vice and it may allready be wrecked.

There is no jack screw on the other side.

The outer jaw is keyed to that coller on the left side. The coller is keyed to something inside the vice. The inner jaw seems to be solid to something inside the vice.

 

[SLOWPOKE693]

Just bolt it on sideways

This

 

[SLOWPOKE693]

Is that a pinch bolt on the bottom of the jaw you can't get to move? Also, did the shaft spin when you moved the outer jaw or did it stay stationary?

 

[Benny]

What is that bolt I see on the bottom or the rear jaw section?

 

[WaterH]

Just bolt it on sideways

This

You mean make a new vice stand?………no.

Is that a pinch bolt on the bottom of the jaw you can't get to move? Also, did the shaft spin when you moved the outer jaw or did it stay stationary?

When I spin the outer jaw, the big shaft spins unless I hold the collar. Then the inside of that shaft spins and brings the jaw in. The big shaft is keyed to the collar and the outer jaw. It’s not a solid shaft.

Edit, maybe the big shaft doesn’t spin with the jaw. It might turn with the inner jaw, but doesn’t really turn. Maybe it’s just full of dirt/grime and won’t turn.

What is that bolt I see on the bottom or the rear jaw section?

I don’t know what that is. It is not tight and it doesn’t pinch anything.

They wouldn’t have some kind of bolt under the middle? Would they?

 

[Benny]

I thought that may e you have to pull it out and rotate it to the next cog, but if that was the case, it probably wouldn't have rotated at all with the hammer, unless you were using a ln 8# sledge.

 

[Steve300xcw]

No ya dork. Weld up some plate so its a 90°. Bolt it to your post and then bolt the vice to that.

Its only 8 bolt holes that you gotta drill. You got this

 

[WaterH]

No ya dork. Weld up some plate so its a 90°. Bolt it to your post and then bolt the vice to that.

Its only 8 bolt holes that you gotta drill. You got this

If the job I have required it to be sideways, I would make something that could be turned easily. Removing 4 bolts and holding a 30 pound vice while installing said bolts is not “easily“. I could definitely design something, but I’m not looking for another project. I have too many of them already.

The job I have does not require it be turned. I would be nice if it would turn. It looks like it should turn. I can’t see any reason that the main body of the vice is separate from the non-moving jaw unless it can pivot in there.

 

[Lbhsbz]

Turn the work on it's side...way easier

 

[Firstram]

Take it apart, clean it and fix whats broken. The 2 sets of jaws should stay aligned and swivel together. They get locked into position when you crank down on the screw.

 

[WaterH]

Turn the work on it's side...way easier

That’s probably what’s going to happen.

Take it apart, clean it and fix whats broken. The 2 sets of jaws should stay aligned and swivel together. They get locked into position when you crank down on the screw.

I might throw another hour at it. I don’t feel like stopping what I’m working on, but it can’t be that complicated.

 

[WaterH]

So I put it back together and did my job with the piece sideways. I’ll come back to this later.

I did take some more pics.

Note the “stops” cast on the inner jaw. They would appear to stop you from rotating it too far.

But there’s nothing for them to hit.

Both of the pinch nuts are finger loose and I don’t know what they are for.

 

[PAToyota]

Take it apart, clean it and fix whats broken. The 2 sets of jaws should stay aligned and swivel together. They get locked into position when you crank down on the screw.

This...

Yours looks bigger but otherwise near identical to the one in the shop - well, except that our shop monkeys are idiots and have broken more of ours than yours has suffered... Ours has lost its swivel and a lower jaw. I watched the swivel get destroyed when they were going after things with a sledge.

As Firstram says, everything should swivel when the jaws are loose.

The red portions all swivel together - and the green, but we'll get to that in a minute. The anvil (yellow) obviously stays stationary. The green slides through the anvil and the inner jaw, but otherwise stays oriented to the outer jaw.

 

[WaterH]

This...

Yours looks bigger but otherwise near identical to the one in the shop - well, except that our shop monkeys are idiots and have broken more of ours than yours has suffered... Ours has lost its swivel and a lower jaw. I watched the swivel get destroyed when they were going after things with a sledge.

As Firstram says, everything should swivel when the jaws are loose.

The red portions all swivel together - and the green, but we'll get to that in a minute. The anvil (yellow) obviously stays stationary. The green slides through the anvil and the inner jaw, but otherwise stays oriented to the outer jaw.

This is how I thought it should work. How easy do they swivel? Do you have to hammer it or does it fall over under its own weight? I’m not sure I would want it to swivel too easy.

What are those nuts on slotted studs for? What about the swivel stops that don’t hit anything?

 

[aczlan]

Did the stops used to hit something on the side/bottom that was ground/broken off?
Or perhaps a pin that used to go in the bottom of the swivel (vertically under the part PAToyota marked in green)?



Aaron Z

 

[PAToyota]

How easy do they swivel? Do you have to hammer it or does it fall over under its own weight?

You can rotate it by hand, but then it stays in place. About the amount of resistance you'd want so that you can position it and then tighten down on something without it swiveling out of the way.

What are those nuts on slotted studs for?

No idea. I'll have to take a closer look at it, but with the lower jaws broken from before I was there I've never paid them that much attention.

What about the swivel stops that don’t hit anything?

Yeah, I've wondered about them too. Even when it had the swivel base there was nothing that stopped it at those stops.

 

[Firstram]

What are those nuts on slotted studs for? What about the swivel stops that don’t hit anything?

They used to hold the long lost pipe jaws!