New Life for an Old Vice.

Intro: New Life for an Old Vice.

I love old tools and quite often they are the right price. With a little tweaking (well sometimes a lot...) an old tool can be brought back to life and be useful for another lifetime.

The quality is often superior even if they are a little slower or take up a little more room... One such tool I bought off an uncle of mine, he wanted to retire to the coast and if I wanted to buy his tools I had to buy the lot. An old Dawn vice (100mm or 4 inch) came with the bargain and I set it up outside my shed and used it as a welding vice for quite a few years.

Needless to say it ended up looking a little "daggy"

STEP 1: Strip It Down.

The first step is to assess that the job is worth doing, in this case the vice was still working... a little creaky but it did still work. Make sure you have all the parts necessary to rebuild and then get into it.

Dismantle, clean and prepare the vice (or other tool that you're repairing). Anything goes at this stage, use wire brush, sandpaper, file... I did most of this with an angle grinder fitted with a wire brush. I will say at this point that I have many "vices" but one I have had for many years, is vices... so this is not my first. If you are working with a Chinese vice (or most any heavy cast tool made in China) you may find a coat of filler between the rough casting and the paint, it hides a multitude of sins and most times it is best left there.

If that is the case you're better using sandpaper to remove the paint and then fill any gouges or nicks with body filler before proceeding. In most cases the finish you end up with will equal the effort you put into the work. The Dawn however was good quality Australian cast iron with no filler. Happy about that.

STEP 2: Final Preperation...

Clean all parts with solvent, (turps, thinners etc.) to remove any dust, grease or oil and take a good long look at your job. If you're happy with your base then proceed, if not, now is the time to improve the finish.

When you are happy, decide where you "don't" want paint and mask it off. The detail here makes all the difference to the finished product, if you need to get a knife and cut away some masking then do it. If you want a nice clean edge the masking tape can be cut off by carefully running a fine file across an edge to remove the masking tape very accurately.

Once you have finished with the masking give your job a base coat of paint, I used a self etching primer and gave it 3 coats. Follow the instructions on the can as to time between coats. I try really hard to do any spray paint job in the morning ... if you spray in the afternoon it just seems to turn out a dull finish, cooler air, drying time, not sure. Just sayin...

STEP 3: Final Coat...

This has got to be the easiest part of the whole project. You pick your favourite colour paint and spray away...

Two or three light coats should be enough, if the paint is too thick it will damage easier in use so enough to cover but not excessive. And if you have masked off well, it's a no brainer...

STEP 4: Completion...

When the final coat is dry and hard (I left this for a week and got back to it the next weekend.) remove the masking tape, clean up any parts that were missed earlier and re-assemble. I used a new split pin on the screw and new bolts on the jaws. A light oil on the moving parts won't go astray either.

Probably the most difficult part of the assembly was compressing the spring and holding it back far enough to insert the split pin. I wanted to avoid using any tool that might damage my nice new paint... and the spring is quite heavy.

STEP 5: All Done...

Once finished I put it with the rest of the collection, when I said it would last another lifetime I probably should have said two lifetimes because it will never wear out sitting there... maybe I'll need a welding vice soon.

Since restoring this vice I've found another two in need of a little (one needs a lot) TLC.

I hope you found something of interest here.

Comments

[PeterC30]

Hi, I have an old bench vice that is very hard to turn and I wanted to take it apart and see what was the problem, but I am having difficulty dismantling it. I have tried to just fully unwind it but it stops when fully open and will not come apart. It has a pin visible from the back of the vice which turns as the thread is turned and appears to prevent it coming apart. It also has a spring visible at the handle end, hopefully this will give someone a better indication of the type of vice I am dealing with. Can anyone help me with how to dismantle it and the possible cause and cure for the stiffness in turning the thread.
Thanks, Peter

[digitaus]

Hi Peter, It sounds to me like your old vice needs a good clean to start with, depending on your situation with working space, spray some de-greaser on all the moving parts and surfaces and move the thread back and forth even just a little each way till you can get some movement happening. The pin that you see will have to be removed to enable dismantling and replaced when you put it back together again. You may be just looking at a bunch of crud choking up the thread.
The spring at the front will be there to take up play as the vice is worked. Good luck with your repairs/rebuild and let us know how you get on. :)

[MichelleE50]

LOVE THIS! Thank you so much. As a child I spent most of my time in my Grandads workshop. He passed away 18 years ago, my family have just decided to pull his workshop down before it fell down which has lead me to inherit some of his tools. I have been given 3 very old heavy vices which need a lot of attention. I am more than happy to spend as long as it takes restoring them as they were a big part of my grandads life. I can't wait to get stuck in after reading your steps. Hopefully I can make something of them and use them in my workshop. They open and close so that's a good start lol!

Thanks again

Michelle

[fosterb123]

Thanks for the tutorial! I'm about to restore two older vices that have been sitting around for far too long. Ones an old craftsman and the other a Dunlop. I'm excited to get these bad boys back into service!

[digitaus]

Hey fosterb123, Glad to hear it will help, I also have another 2 to fix up as well but finding the time is the problem.
Hope we see some photo's of yours on here and that may spur me on.
Good luck and again thanks for looking and the comment.
digitaus.

[WilliamW102]

A great outcome of that earlier picture of the vice. I've got a large Dawn that's in about the same condition, so I've got a job ahead of me as well.

[CaptAmazing]

My apologies, but it should be "vise" not "vice" in this case. two different things. ?

[digitaus]

Hey CaptAmazing, There are a few words in the English language that America spells and says differently than the rest of us... Vice is one of them, here in Australia it is with a "c"... always. Thanks for looking though. :)

[buck2217]

I have one of these to do (note to self--get on with it lazy!)

[bradyje]

Thanks for the instructions! I'm so excited to start restoring my vice.

[bradyje]

Thanks for the instructions! I'm so excited to start restoring my vice.

[elic]

Hi

I cleaned rust from old tools using Koka Kola. I put the rusty tools in a bucket, full with Koka Kola and 30 minutes after, I rubbed the rust with cloth.

[digitaus]

Hi elic, with your soft drink it is the sugar in it that works on rust, the sugar is very acidic. I have in the past had very good results with molasses, mixed with water it ferments in about a week and then for about 2 weeks after that it removes rust very quickly. Very good for small or delicate parts as you only need to rinse with water and then very quickly oil or paint... smells a little though :) thanks for the comment.

[malc in Spain]

Refurbishment is a pleasure to observe.Well done.

[KROKKENOSTER]

I had some of those Chinese junk vises and they broke on the first hard work done with them! I then purchased a Record (Made in USA) it is a bit smaller but it stands in the wind and rain now 35 years and negligible rust on it. It still works without a hitch! If I had the choice NO Chinese junk please especially their cassette recorders!! EVERYONE had to be replaced up to ten times before I had one that work reasonable!! I mean the following brands Aiwa Sony Telefunken Supersonic Elba Akai Teac and other of the brands we grew up with and had respect for

[Eh Lie Us!]

The worst vice is advice.

[Dr. dB]

Absolutely gorgeous job!

Of course, you're probably already aware of this, but others might not be, so I thought it might bear (possibly-pedantic) repeating:

One does have to be somewhat careful to distinguish "good, old, useable" tools from "valuable, antique, collectable" ones. Had this been an actual antique, that amazingly-beautiful restoration job might've slashed-away somewhere between half and three-quarters of its "collectors' value". Collectors loves them some rust, b'golly!

Fortunately, this was a fully-useable, "grande-dame" of a de-"vice" (chuckle), a veritable MOUNTAIN of metal, and looking now, perhaps even a bit better than when she first left the factory, how many orbits ago?

On another note, I'd be amazed if you could find an "old" Chinese vise that's actually worth the sandpaper - you'd probably be better off re-smelting any such object and pouring a new one! (...unless it's REALLY "old", as in , "...before the so-called 'communist revolution'...", but then it might be an "actual antique"...)

You mentioned a possible "...coat of filler between the rough casting and the paint...". My machinist friends here in the States tell me that much of the content of the "...rough casting..." itself is ALSO filler these days! Most of this Chinese alleged "steel" either EATS machine tool bits at three-to-five-times the "normal" rate for REAL steel, or it has voids which belch abrasive dust when breached, 'cause they apparently dump the sweepings from their grinding-room floors right back into the blast furnaces, then start pouring ingots and castings before it's had a chance to slag-off. </rant>

On another, 'nother note, I have several workshop "vices", myself. Among them are: a bottle of single-malt under the table-saw, a box of Cuban cigars in the top left drawer of the toolbox and a naked lady in the woodpile! (I wish...!!!)

However, for holding work in place while I apply forces to it with tools, being in the U.S., I have to use a "vise"... (I think there's a law, or somethin' - not quite sure 'bout that, though...). </silly homonymic humor>

[digitaus]

I would advise you not to take your own advice...

See what I did there?

Here, "Vise" rhymes with "Rise" and "Vice" rhymes with "Rice"

In Australia, "Vise" is only in our dictionary as an alternative "US"
spelling to "Vice",

we are not obliged to use it... and in typing this "vise" has a
squiggly little red line beneath it,

there it is again--- wonder what that means?

I Googled

"Workshop Vise" and it found - About 711,000 results (0.22 seconds).



I also Googled

"Workshop Vice" and it found - About 102,000,000 results (0.27
seconds).

I'm not saying you're wrong... however, neither am I.

Please people, let us understand our differences and hear no more
about it...

[sarawelder]

I am so glad you clarified this... I kept thinking I was mad calling a vise a vice.. I am a brit by birth but live in the usa. After all we say "he held it in a grip like vice"... don't we? nice ible tho... I have one waiting in my garage

[ToddC2]

Nice job! Can you share with us the type/brand paint you used--in particular the etching primer? I haven't had much luck with Krylon or other types Walmart-like stores carry. Rustoleum is somewhat better, but both seem pretty fragile and prone to flaking or scratched by minor abrasion. I think a lot of "factory-painted" tools are actually powder coated which, as I understand it, is quite superior to paint.

I have a number of tools that belonged to my father or my grandfathers--a machinist type and a wood-working type. If my daughters (no sons) wish to avoid the need for a vise, I'll have to pass these on to someone in the family likely to pass it on him- or herself.