Reply To: Adjusting quick release lever tension in Record 52 1/2 D vise

Thanks to everyone who replied. After a few false starts, I got it all working. There are a few gotchas here worth mentioning,

– The screw in the flat bar attached to the QR handle is not located in the middle. In my case, the wider side of the bar got wedged against the steel bracket and had to be flipped before it would work as expected.

– With regards to the tension in the spring, this was not quite obvious to me at the beginning. Where you position the flat bar in toothed hexagonal ring determines how much tension you end up with. I first positioned the spring against the little nub, held the quick release handle in the position where I wanted it and then tried the flat bar against different teeth until the tension felt right. This is a bit of trial and error process.

– The hex nut and the spring go together in only one position. It is probably helpful to mark that using some marker as they disengage while making other adjustments.

If you are starting with a working vise, taking copious pictures before disassembling it would be a great idea.