thehorse13
Well-known member
Some of you may remember when I cleaned up this old Rock Island 574 vise only to find that the main nut was cracked along with the slide rest on the body. Urgh.
After searching for a few months, I finally came across a parts vise and now I have a virtually unused main nut inside this old WWII veteran vise. As you can see in the pictures, when there is torque on the vise jaws, the main screw stays suspended within the slide. You can also see that the slide never touches the slide rest on the body. Before I replaced the main nut, the main screw rode up along the top of the slide.
I did some testing and no matter how far out the jaws open, the rest on the body is never touched. Also, the main screw never touches the inside of the slide. This tells me that the crack on the rest is not a stress point and can remain as it is forever. Given the performance of the new main nut, I believe that the vise is safe to use in the capacity is was designed to serve. Before you say it, no, I never use giant hammers on any of my vises.
In case you don't know the history on this vise, it is marked 9 - 44 and has US Navy markings on the body. It was once used in the Washington D.C. Navy yard in the munitions factory.
After searching for a few months, I finally came across a parts vise and now I have a virtually unused main nut inside this old WWII veteran vise. As you can see in the pictures, when there is torque on the vise jaws, the main screw stays suspended within the slide. You can also see that the slide never touches the slide rest on the body. Before I replaced the main nut, the main screw rode up along the top of the slide.
I did some testing and no matter how far out the jaws open, the rest on the body is never touched. Also, the main screw never touches the inside of the slide. This tells me that the crack on the rest is not a stress point and can remain as it is forever. Given the performance of the new main nut, I believe that the vise is safe to use in the capacity is was designed to serve. Before you say it, no, I never use giant hammers on any of my vises.
In case you don't know the history on this vise, it is marked 9 - 44 and has US Navy markings on the body. It was once used in the Washington D.C. Navy yard in the munitions factory.
