I am building a new bench top and bought two Grizzly cabinet maker’s front vises. I have them both mounted; however, neither vise moves in and out smoothly. The misallignment can’t be much because the vise works, but I really have to crank on the handle to move the vise.
I have throught about filling the bracket to make the hole bigger. I am not sure if this will make the vise sloppy.
Basically I would like to know if anyone else has had this problem and how you solved it.
Mel
Replies
If the vises worked well before you mounted them. then the problem is more likely due to the parts you added the jaws for instance. Filing should only be a last resort and it will damage the way the vise works. If you take your time, you should be able to figure out what is causing the problem.
John White
The holes in the wooden parts are bigger then the holes in the brackets, about 1/16th bigger.
I would try loosening the four mounting bolts one at a time to see if any of them makes the problem better or worse. If one of them is the problem then the casting is not flat enough and will need to be shimmed. The bolted on wood jaw could cause the same type problem.
Rich
The Professional Termite
It's normal for there to be a slight amount of binding in this type of vise. The two alignment rods are frequently angled ever so slightly towards or away from each other, which is actually useful, because it minimizes slop, but if there's too much misalignment, then you get a lot of friction and the vise is too hard to move.
What I would do: Demount the vise from the wooden parts and unscrew it all the way (so it comes apart). Line up the tip of one of the alignment rods with its hole, and see how far off the other rod is from its hole. If it's within 1/8", you're fine. If it's within 1/4", you're okay, but you might want to correct it. If you're more than 1/4", you definitely want to correct it. Correction consists of placing the front casting on some wooden blocks and tapping it with a hammer--from the outside to move the rods apart, or from the inside to move them together. Tap lightly at first and measure your progress frequently, to get a feel for how much it takes to make the rod ends move.
After you're done, you may need to shim between the casting and the wooden jaw to avoid bending it when you tighten down the mounting screws.
-Steve
Thanks, I think that clears things up.
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