What make is this vice?

[balmerchris]

I was given this vice the other day but there are no identifying marks on it.
There seems to have been a makers plate riveted to the side at one time but it is long gone.
Anyone got any ideas?

 

[balmerchris]

I was told it came out of Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast.
Got it all striped and degreaser today. It has an unusual thread on the lead screw with the pitch all on one side. Which means while it screws tight really well, when loosening it jumps out of the thread so have to use the quick adjust lever to open it up when it has no pressure on it.

 

[MattF]

Either Fortis or Ajax. The skipping on loosening will just be due to either the spring tension being incorrect, (low), else a gunged up mechanism. The buttress thread is the standard thread for most quick release vices. It's a very strong thread.

 

[balmerchris]

Either Fortis or Ajax. The skipping on loosening will just be due to either the spring tension being incorrect, (low), else a gunged up mechanism. The buttress thread is the standard thread for most quick release vices. It's a very strong thread.

Thanks Matt, never heard of a buttress thread before, only other place I've seen it is on a real big leg vice at work.
It was still skipping out of the thread after I stripped and cleaned it all out. So should I put another turn on the spring to increase tension or would a new spring be needed?

 

[balmerchris]

This is going to be my first project in an electrolysis bath, as an experiment for my big camelback drill press.

 

[MattF]

Thanks Matt, never heard of a buttress thread before, only other place I've seen it is on a real big leg vice at work.

It's a peculiar thread, but very good for the purpose. It has far more strength in the normal direction of loading, (in this case when tightening the vice), than a square/acme thread has. That's why you'll rarely if ever see a broken buttress thread.

It was still skipping out of the thread after I stripped and cleaned it all out. So should I put another turn on the spring to increase tension or would a new spring be needed?

Another turn would likely sort it. Just keep tensioning it by what minimum amount you can and then testing it. If it still skips, tension it a tad more and test again etc.

I altered the anchoring method on mine slightly, as the Fortis setup is a bit basic. The end of the spring just snugs up against the side of the front lever/collar plate on that one? Or, is there a little nub on the rear of that plate which the end of the spring hooks over? Mine, (a different model to yours), was the former, and had a tendency to skip out of place when I was retensioning it, so I added a bolt through the plate and reshaped the end of the spring slightly to suit. Made it far less of a finger gasher and more securely located.

 

[balmerchris]

Yes there's a little nub on the face plate for the spring to hook over.

 

[MattF]

That's the better setup then. How does the other end of the spring anchor/attach to the flat strip? Do they use the castellated style adjuster on that, or does it connect directly to the strip? i.e, does the setup look like this:

or this?

 

[MattF]

This is going to be my first project in an electrolysis bath, as an experiment for my big camelback drill press.

It's an experiment you'll enjoy. It's one of those processes which may not always achieve perfection, but you'll always end up with something which looks a damned sight better than when it went in. Soft bristle wire brushes, (I've started getting suede brushes from Morrisons recently and using those. They are actually brass bristles rather than brass coated, and they seem to hold together well), nylon pan scourers and a blunt scraper are things which come in handy for the process of cleaning paint & crap off when you take it out of the vat.

 

[balmerchris]

That's the better setup then. How does the other end of the spring anchor/attach to the flat strip? Do they use the castellated style adjuster on that, or does it connect directly to the strip? i.e, does the setup look like this:

or this?

It attaches like the green vice in your picture.
The flat bar slips into a slot in the end of the QR shaft and is retained with a small screw.
What makes are those vices?

 

[MattF]

That green one is a Fortis. The burgundy one is a Woden. If the spring attaches like that bottom one, you'll need to do one full revolution of the spring for each tensioning adjustment. The castellated style adjuster, (that bit that looks like a sawtooth castle nut between the spring and the flat bar on the burgundy one), allows for finer and simpler adjustment. With yours, just tension the spring at a comfortable tension and then go from there. If it's almost tensioned right when you reassemble it, I can't see it needing more than one extra turn to get it spot on.

 

[MattF]

This is one of the catalogues which CW scanned. Your vice is on the second page.

B&H 1935 Catalogue

 

[balmerchris]

That's a big file matt. My wee phone had a break down trying to open it. I'll have a look later on the laptop.

 

[Maker]

It's a peculiar thread, but very good for the purpose. It has far more strength in the normal direction of loading, (in this case when tightening the vice), than a square/acme thread has. That's why you'll rarely if ever see a broken buttress thread.

As far as I know it's also used on hydraulic cylinder ends because it's so strong (and it seals?).

 

[MattF]

Aye, that's the full catalogue. This is a similar single page, (again thanks to Cwazywabbit), showing the Fortis steels. The Record 11* series is also pretty much the exact same design, but I can't see them dropping their name from the side and leaving a plaque area, hence why I'd go with Fortis/Ajax.

 

[MattF]

As far as I know it's also used on hydraulic cylinder ends because it's so strong (and it seals?).

It probably would seal quite well . Never actually considered that aspect, but usually they put a slight undercut on the load bearing face, and the same on the nut thread face, so that they pull together under load, so theoretically it should make quite a good seal if unworn.

 

[balmerchris]

That's the better setup then. How does the other end of the spring anchor/attach to the flat strip? Do they use the castellated style adjuster on that, or does it connect directly to the strip? i.e, does the setup look like this:

or this?

Matt, is there some sort of thrust washer between the flange on the lead screw and the casting of the movable jaw on any of your vices? The seems to be a lot of backlash between tightening and loosening of the vice and it seems to be there. Here's a pic of where I mean.

 

[MattF]

A notable amount of backlash, (sometimes upto around 1/2 to 3/4 of a turn or so), isn't unusual with vices which have a collar. If it bothers you, you can add a thrust washer to take up the slack.

 

[Wendelspanswick]

As far as I know it's also used on hydraulic cylinder ends because it's so strong (and it seals?).

It's also used on U2 collets as used on Deckel milling machines, it's an external 20mm buttress thread on a 2mm pitch.

 

[Turbo]

I'm scared to click the link to the download of the B&H catalogue.

I know once I start reading through it I will enter a time warp and next think I know the alarm will go off & I'll realise I've been up all night!