Sharing an obvious tip on mainspring vise

[rich pierce]

Many mainspring vises work fine for holding a spring for removal but the turn screw tabs are often narrow. Then they really wimp out (or my grip wimps out) when trying to compress a mainspring sufficiently for initial installation.

In this situation I go as far as I can by hand turning the vise screw tab, then secure the mainspring vise screw tab in the vise and spin the spring which is secured in the mainspring vise. A turn and a half usually is enough.

[Hudnut]

One mainspring vise I made, I used a hex head screw, and a long hex wrench to turn it.  Lots of leverage.

[Birddog6]

That works well if the spring is loose & you want to install it.

IF, the spring is in the lock & you want to take it out.  The easiest way to
use the Vice is take advantage of the locks working mechanism.
 
1: Remove the flint.  (Very Very important, if you like & need your fingers)
2: Cock the lock to full cock, & keep you hand away from the sear arm.
3: Slip on the Mainspring Vice to the appropriate position & just snug it up.
4: Thumb on Hammer & pull back slightly & hold it as you trip sear arm, let the hammer down.
5: The main spring can then Easily be lifted out & removed.

This is why I had 6 spring vices. May have 3-4 locks apart reshaping them or
building 2-3 rifles at once. If I am building a rifle & have the lock apart, then
entire lock & parts & vice stay in a tupperware container until I need it. 
And after the rifle is in the white & has been shot & tested, the lock comes back
apart again for finial finishing & etc.  That rifle owns that vice til the rifle is Done.
I may have 4 mainspring vices tied up at once & stay tied up most of the time.
I don't take the spring out & remove the vice, it stays on the spring til I put the
lock back together.  Never ever 1 time one time had a spring failure on dozens &
dozens of locks.  If it is a quality lock, you won't have a issue. 

[smart dog]

Hi,
Unfortunately, all the mainspring vises made commercially leave a lot to be desired and some are just outright junk.  I've had constant trouble with the threads stripping on the vises commonly sold today.  Even Tom Curran's design does not work well on a lot of springs particularly those with short upper leaves and strongly curved lower leaves.  Moreover, after a lot of use the steel at the bend or crook gets polished and slippery so the springs slide out as you tighten the screw.   Fortunately Trey Scott of TSS Steelworks is designing and making one that may work really well.  I believe folks like Jim Kibler are testing it out and it will have a very large tab or ring for turning the screw and the threads heat treated to resist wear. 

dave

[rich pierce]

I agree that there doesn’t seem to be a “one size fits all” mainspring vise. To circumvent the slipping I double over 400 grit sandpaper and slide it into the loop of Tom Curran’s vise. I find using the sandpaper grit side out works better than the other way. Hahaha.

On Tom’s vise I wish the screw end was not a narrow cylinder, but a small, flat rectangular foot.

[Jim Kibler]

Hi,
Unfortunately, all the mainspring vises made commercially leave a lot to be desired and some are just outright junk.  I've had constant trouble with the threads stripping on the vises commonly sold today.  Even Tom Curran's design does not work well on a lot of springs particularly those with short upper leaves and strongly curved lower leaves.  Moreover, after a lot of use the steel at the bend or crook gets polished and slippery so the springs slide out as you tighten the screw.   Fortunately Trey Scott of TSS Steelworks is designing and making one that may work really well.  I believe folks like Jim Kibler are testing it out and it will have a very large tab or ring for turning the screw and the threads heat treated to resist wear. 

dave

We worked with Trey in developing a good vise and they are available for purchase on our website.  We've been using one of these vises for months and it's still going strong.  Not typical with most others except the custom ones made by Boggs.

[J.D.]

In this situation I go as far as I can by hand turning the vise screw tab, then secure the mainspring vise screw tab in the vise and spin the spring which is secured in the mainspring vise. A turn and a half usually is enough.

Just thought of this as I read Rich's post; How about cutting a slot long enough to insert the "Wing" of the screw into? A 4 or 5 inch long, piece of brass, or steel rod slipped over the "Wing" should provide more than enough leverage to compress nearly any spring?
A second thought; soldering or pinning the rod to the wing would prevent slippage of the two parts, in use.

[Gaeckle]

I know exactly what Rich is saying. I've seen what Trey has come up with and it's a clever solution and a great idea. I must have about 10 of those old mainspring vices in my shop and some are easy to work due to their paddle shapes and others are painful to turn. To use those painful vices I use a pair of slip joint pliers and it's pretty simple. Just recently I was at a garage sale and picked up 3 of these pliers and  pair of Channellock pliers for a dollar. The Channellocks usually run 20-25 bucks, so that's a deal.

Today my wife and I stopped by a Habitat For Humanity store and there was a box of slip joint pliers all a buck each. I thought about getting a couple, but didn't.