First Post - need help with Columbian 9 RD

[Bumby]

Hello all, I just joined the forum today to get advice on my bench vise. It is a Columbian 9 RD quick release "front" vise (mounts on the side of the workbench AOT sitting on top) that I inherited from my great grandad. It looks cool as hell but doesn't work like I need it to. The problem is that when I really crank down on the handle to tighten something, the jaws slip or pop open. So I can only get things snugged down. This is good enough for many jobs, but not all.

I have replaced the "nut" that is bolted to the underside that the threaded shaft engages with, but this did not help.

I'm thinking I need to add material somehow to the OD of the threads on the nut, but I'm not sure.

I searched for this on the forum but couldn't find this exact topic.

Thank you for any help. Bumby

 

[Shiftless]

First of all, welcome to GJ.

Question #1
Was the original nut damaged? Your remark that you replaced the nut made me curious about how you just casually obtained a replacement nut for a vise that might be nearly 100 years old.

Question#2
If you look carefully at the threaded lead screw, do you see any specific damage? The threads aren’t supposed to go all the way around on a QR vise.

My first theory:
The vise as you got it didn’t have the original nut. One of the previous owners may have somehow broken the nut or maybe he got the vise with a broken nut and just replaced it with something “close enough” that came from the hardware store.

A quick release vise probably has a very special nut made so that it can slip at times to quickly move the dynamic jaw and grab at other times to tighten down on a work piece.

I don’t have a Columbian quick release vise, but I assume that’s how it works.

 

[Bumby]

Thanks for your reply. Here is a drawing of the half nut. I got it from Milwaukee tool. The guys said that he had heard that it works on a Columbian vise, but could not verify this. The half nut fits perfectly into the "cradle" under the vise, so it seems like the original design. The threads just seem very shallow with not much engagement to the threaded shaft.

I don't see any damage to nut or threaded shaft. Possibly the nut is moving around in the seat and shouldn't be.

 

[Shiftless]

There is a vise just like yours up on eBay now. You could buy it and mix and match to get one that works the way you want it to. Belonging to your great grandfather makes it worth extra time and money to make it right.

Try posting over on the vise repair thread. There are some very knowledgeable guys active on that thread.

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=252830&page=463

 

[Oldsoul]

Hello I noticed when I greased the screw on my qr front vise it did the same thing the grease was to think and wasn't letting it work correctly. I cleaned it off and used light oil and it works hell of a lot better it doesn't do it no more.