My droopy leg vise

[tim_leo]

Adnick,
There seems to be a problem with your floor under your bench.  Where are the shavings?

[hbmcc]

Adnick,
There seems to be a problem with your floor under your bench.  Where are the shavings?

[theoldfart]

Annick, your system has a metal screw,the original poster has a wooden screw. There are no other parts beyond the screw and nut.

[Adnick]

Yes understand the wooden screw, my point was the design for the crisscross from Benchcraft comes with that "alignment/support bushing" which adds support in the same area that his is wearing and causing a droopy vise....at least that's the way it appears to me ;-) One could fabricate a similar device from brass or?

Regards,
Andy
Mos Maiorum

[Boatman53]

I've got lots if UHMW plastic in white if you want some it's 3/4" thick let me know I'll send you a piece.
Jim

[les winter]

I had the same problem.  No criss cross, but the same screw and nut.  I added a "ball transfer" to roll on the floor and take the weight off the screw.  Hudson Bearing BT-1CS from MSC did the trick. I added washers to space it correctly off the bottom end of my chop.  It's been a year and no issues have come up.  The handle now spins.

[theoldfart]

I like that idea ^

[ok_in_iowa]

I haven't had much time to work on it the last few days, but I did find one surprising result.  I tried a shim under the steel wear plate at the bottom of the track for the Crisscross arm, on the leg side.  It had no effect.  So I dismantled the chop, took the screw out and ran the screw in without the chop, just to see where things are with that.  It was almost as difficult to turn the screw as when the chop was installed.  I wasn't expecting that.  So I think the first thing to do is fix the nut seating.  I will have to dismount the nut, re-work the mortise it sits in, and get it squared up again with the leg.  I was really surprised it could have gotten that far out of whack.  It worked so smoothly when I initially installed it.  The wood I used for the legs was down to about 12% when I built it, I thought that would be good enough.

[WoodTinker]

How much sagging is in the wooden screw with it removed? Do you have a pic with a straight edge?

It appears to me that the screw is the problem from your latest post. Could it be defective? If it is then check with the Lake Erie (LE) guys for a replacement? I would think they would want to fix the situation if it is the product and stop customers from going to metal screws.

If LE won't replace and it is severe maybe use a block plane to true up the super high spots of the screw. Go little by little and check and re-check.