The house I purchased has a workshop table with a vise attached to it. The vise is missing the "do-hickeys" that lock it into place. When you try to use it, the vise wiggles and turns. How can I find replacement "do-hickeys" or create a workaround to lock the vise in place?
thanks, noah
You can't. That's why they sold the house. Now you're stuck with it until you sell the house.
If you have a name brand you might be able to get the parts from the manufacturer or a dealer. If another brand try taking the vise off the bench, and bring it in to a hardware store and ask the clerk if they have some carriage bolts and nuts that you can secure the vise with.
DAMN! THOSE BASTARDS!!! :-(
-- nv
Carriage bolts... is that what those do-hickeys are called? That is a good start... thanks! This vise is from the '70s and there are no markings on it. Frugality... in other words "my wife..." makes me want to repair it... I just wanna new vice!
Using a carriage bolt is a way to fix it, not the name of the system to lock the vise.
Is there a thread sticking up through the base of the vise?
Depending on the design of the vise the rotation lock can have a nut on the outside of the vise or a bolt that reaches through the base of the vise & engages a captive nut inside the base of the vise.
Take the vise off the bench & look it over, I doubt if all the parts are missing.
If all else fails tell your wife it cannot be fixed (send it to me, I'll pay for shipping) :)
cheers Bob
You did him a disservice by not telling him that it can easily be fixed
with giant cable ties and perhaps some duct tape.
Call the police and ask to speak to someone from the Vice Squad !!!
I see all the answers were to no avail.
Some people can't help but answer vice questions though. They have a vice advice vice.
Is the vice loose on the bench (just the mounting) or (I would assume) you're talking about a swivel type that won't lock down? A little more description of what you have/what the problem is elicit further aid...
I don't think a carriage bolt is what you need. A carriage bolt has a round, domed head with a square extension under it. Used to join wood members. Drive the bolt tight and the square part in the wood keeps it from turning. What should work is a standard machine bolts and nuts. Of course you will have to use a wrench to loose/tight em.
Harry K
Couple of big C-clamps.
Usually the underside of the vise base has an arced slot with square sides. I suggested a carriage bolt as it has a square shoulder that would fit in the slot to prevent rotation when the nuts are tightened from the top. But if this doesn't work for some reason, he is at the hardware store with all the pieces so they can see the problem and suggest the solution.
You are correct. Seems like I forgot that -minor- little detail. Been
30 years since I worked on mine.Harry K
HALLIBURTON would probably service it for $250,000,000
But only with a "cost plus fixed-fee", no-bid contract.
That's probably not very accurate. I think My best calcualtions hit
753,000,000 dollars. This figures in the extra fees that are likely going to be needed for transportation of the vice to a suitable work area ( junkyard) and possible replcement cost of all minutes that can be lost due to any number of variables that are unforseeable at the time of removal for service, and possible replacement of said vice. the quote is likely this: " we can only guess at the amount of losses we will incur"and they're the only ones that can possibly do this job too. There is no other company big enough to handle this one.
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MUADIB®
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