Problem with eclipse vice
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Hi everybody,
I’ve bought a Spear & Jackson eclipse 9″ vice last year. Until today I thought it was a good vice but now I’m getting in trouble. The vice closes as ever but I can’t open it as expected. If I turn the handle to open it only the threaded rod come out but not the front plate. See the attached picture.
Is this something one can fix easily? Do you know this problem?
Check the other end of the screw, under your bench top, where it connects to the guide rods. Most probably it unfastened itself and is now moving freely on its own.
Look under your bench and you may find a cotter pin that fell out. On my eclipse, the other end of the rod goes through a plate that holds the two parallel guide rods. The central, threaded rod has a small through bore. A cotter pin goes through that hole and is what puts pressure on the plate to open the vise.
This is the underside of my Record 50 woodworking vice. They all differ, but you can see the principle of the cotter pin capturing one end, allowing it to rotate without unscrewing. If yours is the same (with the pin at the tommy-bar end) your cotter pin may have fallen between the front jaw and your wooden jaw liner. A hardened nail (from a cable clip) might work as a temporary replacement.
Interesting difference….on my Eclipse, the pin is at the other end, but the principle is the same. Either way, it’s time to dig around in the muck under the bench. : – )
I wonder whether yours has TWO pins Ed? Could it be that the pin at the far end is only there to prevent it from unscrewing completely, with another pin behind the front jaw? Mine will just fall out if I unscrew it completely. If we’d got a wider shot of the workshop floor, we could have helped him look for it.
I just looked and don’t see a second pin or a place for one to hide.
No need for a wider shot of the floor…Murphy’s Law says the pin is under all of those weight plates.
Thank you all for your help.
There was really the pin and the washer at the end of the rod falling off.
@ed,
it was not under the weight plates, but in the box for my tools under the bench 😉I have a Eclipes 10″ vise that is less than a year old and when I tighten a piece of wood in the vice it will not release. The quick release seems to engage and the handle just spins. The only way to release it is by pulling slightly on the front jaw and then it will reengage. Is there some sort of quick release adjustment that can fix this problem?
All suggestions or recommendations would be greatly appreciated!!
Mike– As mentioned in my post, the locking nut can be sticky. I removed my vise, cleaned and lubricated all moving parts. I removed the locking nut from its keeper to inspect the threads, suspecting that they might be damaged but they were in good shape. You mentioned that you have to pull on the vise (opening it) to get the nut to engage. I have to– after using the quick release– turn the handle in reverse a few turns until I hear the nut engage. Then I can tighten. Similar to what you are having to do.
Raleigh,
Thanks for the quick response, I will give it a try!!
Mike
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