A quick writeup today on a broken Wilton vice that a buddy gave me. Apparently it was headed for the scrap pile because it was broken. Turns out it was just a 5 minute fix. Read more to find out what it was and how you can fix yours.

A co-worker of mine has a little plaque on her desk that says ‘everything is figure-out-able’ and I believe it. With a little bit of gumption and willingness to take stuff apart, most things can be fixed.

As I said earlier, a buddy threw me this vice that was headed for the scrap bin at his work because it was not working. Apparently the company had already ordered a new one and didn’t even try to fix this one. It was really sloppy in the base and also wouldn’t tighten the jaws, therefore pretty useless as far as vices go…

This has been sitting on my bench for a couple of months and I finally decided to take a look at it in case I needed to order any parts. Turns out the issue was REALLY simple.

Over time after turning the vice back and forth on the vice the center bolt can loosen up and eventually fall out. A loose center bolt can also cause slop and wobble in both the swivel and jaw tightening since it is pretty much the main internal part of the vice.

How to put the vice back together

I realize this was a super simple post but some issues aren’t obvious until you get in and figure it out.

Sorry to get philosophical, but the point is that most things are figure-out-able, you just gotta slow down and take the time to look into it instead of blaming or complaining which helps nothing. Everything breaks or needs repair eventually no matter what brand it is or how much it cost.

Now YOU, go outside and fix something!