Teter09
Well-known member
Hey Everyone! This board has been great for learning a variety of things I've needed for tool restoration. I've read through every thread I can find about vise restoration (and 160+ pages of the thread where everyone shows off their vises) and learned a bunch, but I still have a few questions and I have no doubt there will be others for other tools! For now I'll limit it to vise restoration though! 
I built my own electrolysis setup. It works great! First with rebar anodes, now with graphite (though I don't think its any cleaner, the water is black!). I've cleaned a few vises this way for friends. Nothing major in terms of rust but enough that they didn't want to wire brush it all. Once painted they looked awesome! But they were newer and so my questions here are more in reference to older/more neglected vises.
1. The handle and the tip of the lead screw, I love the look of the polished metal surface. How are you guys doing that? On my columbian it looks to be cast like the vise. I'm not sure how to get it gleaming unless I paint it, which I read here will just get screwed up in short order. I tried posting this thread yesterday, but I think due to the link to the thread with pictures, its been eaten by the spam protection. I'll try to reply to this thread in order to link to the pictures.
1b. I guess this is different, but similar to the question above. I like the jaws and slide nice and shiny too, so it relates to the above question. And is anything put on these surfaces to protect them if it is just polished?
3. I've used the Rustoleum spray paints on the body of the vises, but on mine I want the markings to pop. What is everyone using there? I was thinking craft enamel paint and a very small paint brush. Will that work?
4. The lock bolt for my newly acquired swivel vise looks similar to a carriage bolt. It has been rounded though and doesn't quite fit in the track anymore. Its very close to being able to spin (and thus not locking down the vise). I tried a 3/8 carriage bolt, and while the threads fit the locking nut with handle, it leaves a LOT of play in the track and I worry it will strip after some use. Has anyone else had this issue? Or is there some place I can find a suitable replacement?
Thanks for any help!
I built my own electrolysis setup. It works great! First with rebar anodes, now with graphite (though I don't think its any cleaner, the water is black!). I've cleaned a few vises this way for friends. Nothing major in terms of rust but enough that they didn't want to wire brush it all. Once painted they looked awesome! But they were newer and so my questions here are more in reference to older/more neglected vises.
1. The handle and the tip of the lead screw, I love the look of the polished metal surface. How are you guys doing that? On my columbian it looks to be cast like the vise. I'm not sure how to get it gleaming unless I paint it, which I read here will just get screwed up in short order. I tried posting this thread yesterday, but I think due to the link to the thread with pictures, its been eaten by the spam protection. I'll try to reply to this thread in order to link to the pictures.
1b. I guess this is different, but similar to the question above. I like the jaws and slide nice and shiny too, so it relates to the above question. And is anything put on these surfaces to protect them if it is just polished?
3. I've used the Rustoleum spray paints on the body of the vises, but on mine I want the markings to pop. What is everyone using there? I was thinking craft enamel paint and a very small paint brush. Will that work?
4. The lock bolt for my newly acquired swivel vise looks similar to a carriage bolt. It has been rounded though and doesn't quite fit in the track anymore. Its very close to being able to spin (and thus not locking down the vise). I tried a 3/8 carriage bolt, and while the threads fit the locking nut with handle, it leaves a LOT of play in the track and I worry it will strip after some use. Has anyone else had this issue? Or is there some place I can find a suitable replacement?
Thanks for any help!
