Huge Ridgid/Columbian 6" Combo Vise Restoration

[theastronaut]

I bought a Powermatic belt/disc sander off marketplace a few months ago and when I got there to pick it up I noticed a big vise on a table peeking out from around the back of his shop. I asked if he'd sell it, he said he'd think about it, so I texted him a few weeks later and made a deal on it.

It's a Ridgid 60FCPN, which is a rebranded Columbian 206 combo vise, and weighs 165 lbs. This one had a rough life outdoors on a table that seemed to be used for sandblasting, so there was a good bit of wear on the thrust face of the dynamic jaw and spindle, but the castings were in good shape otherwise. I'll bore and sleeve the spindle bore with bronze to make that a smooth fit since I'll already be doing machine work. It'll need a new handle, so I'll bore and sleeve the spindle to make the new handle fit with minimal clearance.


As found:







I thought my Columbian 606 M2 6" vise was big...





I started by disassembling everything and soaking all of the parts in citric acid to remove the rust.





Its going to need a sturdy table, so I built a stand for a 42x26" cast iron T-slot table I picked up last year at an auction. The mounting holes in the vise base happen to line up with the t-slot rows almost perfectly. The legs are 4x6" tube with 1/4" wall thickness with 2x2" braces. The bottom braces are low enough that the pallet jack will lift it to move it easily. I'll weld in bottom plates with nuts welded in to make threaded feet to level it.







Mocked up.








The worn thrust surfaces.







Spindle chucked in the lathe to turn the thrust face flat.






Checking to see if I could reach the spindle bore with the Bridgeport... just barely made it.





I'll be adding roller thrust bearings to reduce friction and increase clamping force, and I'll add another roller thrust bearing with a spring on the backside to take out any backlash between the spindle and lock ring that pulls the jaw open. As it was built it only had a lock collar with no thrust bushing, which works ok since opening the jaw takes very little force, but I can make it better..