Repair of Record 52 1/2 bench vise. 2nd time this has happened. Why, what to do?

[Don Morris]

This is the 2nd time in several years this has happened to my Record 52 1/2 vise. The end cup came off the two bars. I was putting some pressure on it for sure. Was that too much? How do you know when to stop putting pressure on the handle? I can tap the metal cup with the shallow well for the bar back onto the bar and perhaps be back in business. I don't remember what I did last time...too many years ago. Is there something else I should do to prevent this from happening in the future. Seems like an awfully easy system that would be prone to come apart with minimal pressure.

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[Tom Henderson2]

Bummer!

I have the same vice; been using it for 30+ years with no issues; I wonder if yours wasn't manufactured properly?

[Keith Weber]

Are those bars supposed to be press fit into that metal plate? If so, it'll surely pop out again now that it's worn. I don't have that vice, but if it was mine, I'd do as you mentioned, and drill/tap the end of the bars and use a machine screw or a small bolt to hold it in position.

[Don Morris]

I tapped the bar into position and worked the handles and it works fine. The plate with two depressions fits fairly snugly into the bars but there is play. I like the idea of drill/tapping into the end and use a machine screw or small bolt to hold it in position. I'm thinking of taking it to a machine shop that has done some work for me, to see if they could do something like that, but in a much more professional/permanent manner. How about if they drilled a hole and put a press fit pin in there that stuck out 1/4" to keep the plate from rotating out of position? That seems to me would do the trick. Thanks for the idea.

[John Sanford]

head over to GarageJournal.Com, there's folks over there that know vises like some of the folks here know handplanes.

[Keith Weber]

The pin might stop it from rotating, but it won't really stop it the plate from falling off again. A metal lathe would make the drilling/tapping job easy if the round bars could be removed from the vise, but you could easily do that job on a drill press if you had a vise sturdy enough to hold the bars vertical. Steel drills pretty easy with a drill press with enough pressure to keep a constant ribbon flowing. Hand drilling not so much, because it's hard to keep the bit cutting and you end up burning up your bits. Doing it this way, I'd drill right through the end plate and into the bar end so that everything lines up. A center finder and a center punch would also come in real handy for a job like that. I'd want to keep the holes as close as I could get to the center of the bars, though. If you had the bars racked when you drilled them, and you drilled close to the edge of the bars, it would want to remain racked after the job.

If doing that is beyond your comfort zone, then any machinist would be able to do that with very little effort.

Keith

[Don Morris]

Checked with a machine shop and showed them the vise. They said the plate was probably tack welded on and broke off, that's why it's loose. To re-tack weld it was a 1/2hr charge which was their minimum = $50.00. I think I'll try and drill/tap a screw myself or take it somewhere else to see what they would charge to tack weld it.

[glenn bradley]

Mine is just sort of sprung in order to keep it in position. There's no stress at that juncture unless the vise is racked which forces one of the rods to be farther in/out than the other. The sprung nature of the assembly tolerates this to a certain point. If it gets severe I could see a failure. There is nothing in the design to tolerate the guide rods being at very different depths. Its not that kind of vise. I use a spacer set (just some scrap luan "cards" on a dowel) to keep from racking the vise if I am grabbing something at one edge or the other.

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[Keith Weber]

Don, it is common practice in a lot of shops to have a minimum charge. It's always frustrated me -- especially with automotive shops when you've got a problem narrowed down to 2 possible problems that a 2-minute check with a scope would pinpoint which one. They still want to charge you $75. Such is life. I usually just take it somewhere else that doesn't have a big minimum.

Tack welding that plate would be a two minute job if the welder was slow.

Keith

[Todd Burch]

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Glenn, that's a great idea for a spacer.

I like the idea of drilling the end of the rod and through the plate. You don't have to be "exactly" centered if you drill the hole in the plate a tad bit larger. It actually doesn't even have to be near the center. After drilling, pound a roll pin in and it will be good for another 30 years. A little slop won't hurt anything and will keep the plate in situ.

Not sure about the idea of an original tack weld. You would see signs of the weld if it were.

Todd

[Brad Patch]

I have read on this and other forumn's that other Record vise owners are having the same problem. Another poster called the errant plate a Dog Bone, research shows that Record changed its specification's which made the dog bone much less substantial and of course less espensive to manufacture. Most, if not all, problems have been a result of the newer Dog Bone design. Drilling and tapping seems to me the best and most permanent solution

[Frederick Skelly]

I have the same vise and the same problem. I think Glenn has it right, because mine happened when I didnt center the part and didnt use a spacer on the other side. Please let me know how you decide to fix yours.

Fred

[Frederick Skelly]

I realize this thread is dead. Im adding this to the archives to help the next person.

The "dog bone" is held on by a shear pin on my 52 1/2. I broke off the pin and filed it smooth. That leaves you with about 3/4" of smooth, 1/2" diameter shaft. Put the dog bone back on the shaft and push it right up against the threads. Then put a "collar" on the end of the shaft, butting up against the dog bone to hold things firmly in place. (You can find these metal collars at hardware stores. They are essentially a 1/4" thick washer with a set screw that you tighten on the shaft. They cost less than $2 and come in several sizes.)

Doing this holds the dog bone firmly in place, keeping it from popping off the end of those two bars/shafts.

I stumbled onto this solution last weekend after a lot of frustration. I hope it helps you.

Fred

[Andy Hastings]

One small item that should be addressed if you have to bend the dog bone back flat, heat or no heat. It must be normalized or if you perfer tempered. Heat the part in your oven at 400 to 450F for 4 hours and allow it to cool. If the dog bone is not flattened it will bind on the rails.