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I'm in the process of restoring an old Bench Vise and first I'm disassembling it, so I can check parts for excessive wear, remove rust and repaint. I'm not sure what is the brand, but here's a picture of it:

Bench Vise

I could remove a plate that holds the dynamic jaw to the main frame, letting it slide and not allowing it to move up. Below the dynamic jaw already without the guiding plate:

Removed plate

But the spindle is somehow fixed inside the dynamic jaw. I could notice two small holes, after removing some grease, on the bottom (picture above), and two small holes that I had to scrap rust off on the top in the same axis.

Top holes

I suspect there are some pins inside there holding the spindle, not sure how though. Before I started hammering a small nail inside it I thought someone could answer if they've ever seem this kind of spindle fixing before, how it works and how to remove it/replace it.

Any ideas? Thanks!

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    That's a machine or milling vice rather than a bench vice. The elongated holes are for fastening to a mill table. I'd check for allen screws in the holes, and possibly try asking somewhere with more machinists around. – Matthew Gauthier Dec 10 '18 at 0:04
  • @MatthewGauthier Thanks, didn't know that! The holes barely fit a toothpick, you think it can be a very thin screw? I thought it could be some of those nails that fit by pressure, and that I'd have to hammer back and replace them on the assembly. Not sure where I can find a machinist around here, but I'll start searching! – IanC Dec 10 '18 at 12:36
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    I think that the two closest to the threads are small set screws. It also looks like you haven't removed the plates from the jaws, and there's likely screws behind them. Searching the web for "kurt vice disassembly" may or may not help; kurt's a well-known manufacturer of similar vices. – Matthew Gauthier Dec 10 '18 at 16:39
  • @MatthewGauthier I hadn't removed the jaws because the access to the screws where very short with the dynamic and static jaws still assembled. Today I tried to buy a short flathead screwdriver and was able to remove 3 of 4 jaw screws, the last is still stuck. I'll keep trying tomorrow and check for any screws behind the jaw. I was noticing that there's a high chance the head of the screws are damaged if those very small holes actually have a screw inside them, and possibly the only way to remove them will be drilling them out, but that's just guessing right now. – IanC Dec 11 '18 at 1:02
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To get the last jaw screw out try this: choose a short quarter-inch hex bit to match the jaw screw. Place the hex bit into a quarter-inch box-end wrench and close the vise jaws so the bit is trapped and pressing against the stuck screw. Use the box wrench as a handle to turn the bit and loosen the screw. Adjust the vise tension to prevent the bit from slipping.
The pair of holes look small enough to be roll pins or steel pins. They would have the hardness to clinch the groove in the spindle. Poke with a sharp tool, then use a pin punch to tap it out. The holes on the underside look smaller; there may be a step to prevent the pin from falling through. In that case it's probably a solid pin. Punch it through from the smaller hole.

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  • Thanks! I'm sorry for taking a while to answer, had no time to work on the bench last couple of days. I'll try that, I did something similar with a flathead screwdriver, but I guess with the hex bit I'll have much more support and a better surface to press against. Also will check the correct pin punch size and get one so I can try to extract the roll/solid pin! – IanC Dec 13 '18 at 0:11

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