Hi everyone, I just picked up a barely-used Record "SQ 3" 4" mechanic's vise at a garage sale. I'm not familiar with how the Record quick-release mechanism works and it seems like this one may have been messed with by someone - it makes some perhaps less-than-confidence-inspiring noises. I just wanna make sure it's in order before I start using it so that it doesn't get messed up. Does anyone have links to places on the net where diagrams and/or info might be available, or have experience with these? I've looked around but no luck. Thanks
You should find that the flat bar that the handle is attached to has a coil spring to tension the handle near the front of the jaw, then simply goes all the way back to the rear of the moving jaw. If you turn the vice upside-down, you should see that the flat bar is threaded through a notch in a post on the half nut and pivots on a steel pressing that is screwed to the other half of the half nuts.
It is possible that someone has taken it apart and not got the spring back in the right place... There is only one way to do it, and when the handle needs a pound or two to move it away from its stop, it's right. It's also possible that someone has taken the pressing off the half nuts and not got the flat bar hooked in to the tab that it pivots against when lifting the loose half nut. Again, the assembly is fairly obvious when you get to look at it. Don't worry about taking it all apart, just don't loose any bits :-) While you've got it apart, clean it all up and grease the moving parts before reassembly.
These comments are based on a No 24 fitter's vice that I cleaned up last year but the mechanism was similar on the 52 woodworking vice that had a go at as well, so your's should be similar.
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