Thread: woodworkers vice quick release not holding

Hi all,

First I must vent as I spent 2 hours upside down under my bench(with no drink) trying to understand how the stupid QR system was supposed to work in order to fix it. I even looked on here but could find no info ;(

The vice is a typical woodworkers vice not a year old and has never really worked that well. Its a cheap china rip of the Record style vices, I wont say where I bought it from lets just say it was erm hairy and forbidden.
You may be saying serves you right.

After a battle in which my back was beginning to strongly complain about twisting. I ruled out many thoughts of how this mechanism may work only to adjust it and find that still the "screw nut slug" popped out when under load.ie tightening the jaws. I thought the metal bar that pushes the slug up into the screw was either in the wrong place or simply didnt have enough pressure to keep the slug pushed home.
Eventually I gave up and took the heavy brute off the bench so at least i wasnt working upside down.
With bar and slug plate and spring removed and only gravity now holding the slug on the screw it jammed up tight. WHAT! the spring and bar was placing heaps of pressure more than equal to this upside down gravity assist. Why was it working now. I noticed then that the slug had rotated slightly (with the screw). Something it couldnt do when the plate was attached. hmmm.
Sure enough if i held it at right angles to the screw it wouldnt "catch" and jam tight. Twas then that I realised the bar and spring and plate had nothing to do with holding the slug against the screw. They simply put it in the right spot so the slug "catches" and jams itself against the screw. Of course it also allows the slug to drop away from the screw thus quick releasing.

Right so now I understood how it was supposed to work, why wasnt it. First question why was it rotating and then catching. After inspection I decided the angle that the slug face was milled at was important. This face was being pulled against the vice body by the screw. This is where the slug "catches" and locks itself. If it was allowed to rotate a little it created more angle and thus locked. Basically the face was just not machined properly. So I lightly placed it on the linisher.

oops I made it worst now it wouldnt lock at all....but I must be onto something.
I reversed the angle, Im talking whiskers here really just a few thou from back to front.
Tried again hhaahahahahah now at right angels it was catching.. would it work upside down tho.
Put it all back together , the QR bar and spring gently lift the slug into place against the screw a short turn on the screw and the slug catches and locks solid

Yay!!

With a solid vice I went on to plane the bow stave edges clean but by that stage it was very late, Id worn out all the swear words I new and the back was crying for relief no doubt so was the neighbours dog.

I still claim it as another victory of man against cheap tools.