Thread: Carbatec quick release vise

My old bench has a quick release from carbatec and like you I find it a bit of a PITA. All I can suggest is give it a good clean. The trouble with mine is it tends to spring open and drop the work unless I hold down the leaver as I tighten. I suspect it may be the spring tension has something to do with it. Anyhow when I built the new bench I went for a nice simple vice screw that nothing can go wrong with.
Regards
John

Yeah John, I know what you mean and I might go down the same path as you. I just want a vice that tightens easily and more importantly releases easily.

I agree with John - simple is good, and reliable. I have seen plenty of old QR vises that are still working well after a generation of use, so they can certainly last if well-made. Just a matter of choosing a good one, which seems to be a problem in these days of price-first-quality-second.

To me, QR may be handy at times, but in the grand sweep of things, the few hundred turns of a handle it might save me in an average year are neither here nor there. I built my own vise with a plain screw, 30-something years ago. At the time, I really wished I could afford a QR, but $s were tight, and a plain bench screw cost me comparatively little. I'd intended to replace the home-built job with a large QR, some day when finances allowed, but by the time I could afford to, I'd discovered my home-built vise actually suited me better. I did have a QR on a second bench for a while, which only served to confirm that my old one was much better for my purposes.

Horses for courses, of course...
Cheers,