American Scale Red Seal Model 25 refurbish

[MushCreek]

I posted asking questions about this vise, and got those answered, so I figured I'd do a dedicated refurbish thread as I progress. It's a beast! According to the catalog, it weighs 195 lbs. 6" wide jaws. 26" long, and about 16" tall. These pics are on the back of my truck as I take it apart. The screw and nut look excellent, with no visible wear. Still covered in old grease. I feared that the dynamic jaw was rusted in place, but after a few love taps with a plastic hammer, and a little PB Blaster, it slid right out. Again, covered in dried-up old grease. I got one swivel lock out, and the big pivot bolt underneath, but the other swivel lock refuses to budge. The handle for them is soft as putty, so putting a cheater on it does no good. I may have to cut it off and slide in something stiffer, like an allen wrench. Any other ideas on how to get it loose?

 

[MushCreek]

Okay, I got the other swivel lock bolt out. I cut off the old handle and used an allen wrench to get it loose, so now everything is apart except the jaw inserts. They are going to be a hassle. Slotted screws, and from what I read, they have a long, locking taper. I drilled one all the way through and destroyed several easy-outs. No joy. I'm hoping a day or two in the electrolysis tank will eat away enough rust to make them removable. The slide looks excellent. I see no markings anywhere indicating a year; perhaps American Scale didn't do that. Once I get it cleaned up, I'll throw some paint on it. From what I've read, these vises were originally painted black? That's no fun, and red is too predictable. Maybe that nice hammertone blue-green like my Wilton.

 

[zkdiesel]

Wish I had that one in my welding table to abuse. Nice vice

 

[MushCreek]

I got most of it cleaned up pretty well. I finally chiseled the jaw screws out. Yesterday, I made new parts for it. New serrated vise jaws, a new handle for the screw (the old one was really chewed up) and new handles for the swivel locks. I'm almost ready for paint.

 

[Oregon rock crusher]

Nice job on the machine work MushCreek. You'll end up with one fine Red Seal 25. Ed.

 

[MushCreek]

And yes, I remembered to assemble everything, including a couple rubber washers before I screwed the second ball on.

 

[MushCreek]

The finished product! Just assembling a vise this big has its challenges. The dynamic jaw weighs 86 lbs. without the screw. With the screw, it's well over 100! I decided to paint it the original black, as I wanted the rush of pretending I just uncrated it in 1940. It is very smooth, with extreme pressure grease on the screw, and dry moly lube on the slide. As I assembled it, the screw began to engage at 14" opening, so you could do light-duty clamping over 12", although the official specs list it as 9". The throat depth is 8". Other numbers: The screw is 1-1/8"-4 threads. I weighed all of the components on a precision scale and it adds up to 196 lbs. 14 oz. Now- what to do with it. It would really dominate any bench I put it on. I might put it up for sale and see if there's any takers. If I can't get a decent buck, I'll just keep it.

 

[poncho455]

The finished product! Just assembling a vise this big has its challenges. The dynamic jaw weighs 86 lbs. without the screw. With the screw, it's well over 100! I decided to paint it the original black, as I wanted the rush of pretending I just uncrated it in 1940. It is very smooth, with extreme pressure grease on the screw, and dry moly lube on the slide. As I assembled it, the screw began to engage at 14" opening, so you could do light-duty clamping over 12", although the official specs list it as 9". The throat depth is 8". Other numbers: The screw is 1-1/8"-4 threads. I weighed all of the components on a precision scale and it adds up to 196 lbs. 14 oz. Now- what to do with it. It would really dominate any bench I put it on. I might put it up for sale and see if there's any takers. If I can't get a decent buck, I'll just keep it.

Nice work - very impressive!