Stanley Vice Clean up.

I chip it off with an old chisel.

If you are doing a full-scale rebuilding job, putting them in a bucket of solvent overnight should loosen everything up. Mineral Spirits is a pretty good solvent to use. I always spring for the extra $ to get the odorless stuff.

Then some fresh paint and some WD-40 should get everything working smoothly. Go light on the WD-40.
 
There was a post on here years ago by someone who had quite a few Stanley 400s and stripped them to bare metal and had an auto body shop do a custom paint job.
I also seem to remember someone having a couple of them powder coated.
 
I take the shrink wrap heat gun set on high, heat up the metal and the glue softens to where it just peels off with a chisel or screwdriver.
I don't usually take the vises apart to do this.
 
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If you are not in a hurry and completely stripping them is a part of the plan, you could probably put them in a bucket with one of those citrus-based strippers. I am pretty sure that it is safe to have an open container of it inside.

I don't know about sandblasting since even the finest stuff might damage the threads.

Powder coating is an interesting idea. There is almost always someone close by who can do that on a small scale. But auto paint would probably work really well and you can do that yourself.
 
Larry just beat me to it. Scroll down to page 28 or so.
 
Soak the dried glue with acetone and scrub it with a brush.
 
I use a small a hand nail puller, looks like a screw driver but has a nail pulling head on it, and just pop off the glue after it is dry. I usually wipe my vise off every time you get finished using it., I don't like the glue stuck on it .

And for you that want to refinish you Stanley 400 vises - this is what mine look like. I sand blasted them, taped the flat surfaces and treads and then painted them with good ol rust resistant spray paint. By the way, covering the threads and flat surfaces with masking tape will insure you have no problem when sandblasting them. I wire brush the threads and steel wool the flat surfaces.

vise2 (1).JPGvise2 (2).JPG
 
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Any advice on fixing a Speed Handle?
The pin holding the speed handles on one of our 400s has broken, but the handle is firmly attached to the vise.
The pin goes perpendicularly through the Handle, and I assume through the threaded rod of the vise.
I have tried drilling out the pin, but the metal appears to be very hard.
After a few minutes of drilling, the pin is lightly pushed in, reattaching enough to make the vise work for a few corners.
Not sure if there is a better method.

Brian
 
The pin is a pressure/expansion pin and should be removed totally. The pin does go through the handle and through the threaded rod. If you cannot drive it out one side turn it over and try driving it out the other side, there may be a slight narrowing. I purchase a punch the same size as the pin from ACE Hardware, the same place I purchased the replacement pressure pin. Try some good penetrating oil like WD40 and leave it soak for a couple hours before trying to drive the pin out. I have 8 Stanley 400 and I have taken them all apart to clean and lube them. Some of the pin are really stubborn, I would be a little bit cautious about drilling them out because you may make the hole to large to be able to secure the new pin that you install.
 
The pin is a pressure/expansion pin and should be removed totally. The pin does go through the handle and through the threaded rod. If you cannot drive it out one side turn it over and try driving it out the other side, there may be a slight narrowing. I purchase a punch the same size as the pin from ACE Hardware, the same place I purchased the replacement pressure pin. Try some good penetrating oil like WD40 and leave it soak for a couple hours before trying to drive the pin out. I have 8 Stanley 400 and I have taken them all apart to clean and lube them. Some of the pin are really stubborn, I would be a little bit cautious about drilling them out because you may make the hole to large to be able to secure the new pin that you install.
Unfortunately on these speed handles, there is no exit hole to drive the pin out.
We have 2 Stanley 400s with Speed Handles.
The other set has 2 holes, each 180 degrees around the cylinder from the other.
One of those pins broke at least 2 decades ago (before I owned them) and was replaced by a masonry nail. Roughly once every two years I replace that nail.
The set in question only has one hole in the cylinder.
Drilling seems the only option.
Alternatively I could try to perfectly drill an exit hole, but that is likely to make things worse.
 
Unfortunately on these speed handles, there is no exit hole to drive the pin out. We have 2 Stanley 400s with Speed Handles.

None of my 400s have the speed handles so I wasn't aware that the hole didn't go all the way through. Sorry for the misinformation.
 
If drilling pressure helped it work for a while, maybe driving it in further? A friend in a machine shop would be handy right now. I suspect they have the tools to remove the broken pin and a press to add a replacement.
 
None of my 400s have the speed handles so I wasn't aware that the hole didn't go all the way through. Sorry for the misinformation.

The photos of your vices have inspired me.:cool:

I always thought the faucet style handles were the speed handles. :shrug:

I also have a Stanley Drill Press vice that needs a little clean up.

Where does one get the "Stanley Blue" paint?
 
Home depot carries it - it isn't called Stanley Blue but I had a 400 with the original paint that was in fairly good shape so I brought that in and matched the colors. It is the Rust-oleum Painters Touch 2X ultra cover paint and primer. I have to go back in a get some more because I have a couple more to sandblast and paint. One coat with this 2X works really good. When I go in to get more I will tell you the colors.
 
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