Help! Something happened to my clamp!
- This topic has 23 replies, 11 voices, and was last updated 04/16/2018 at 8:28 am by
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I had the same experience with my Gen 3 Pro. The jaws remained closed when I released the clamping arm.
The tolerance between the sides of the jaws and the sides of the vise frame is quite small and friction was enough to overcome the small return spring. Try pushing out the two pins that hold the jaws in place and try cleaning out any grit that might have worked its way in. With my vise, the part that was locking up was the cam follower group and I narrowed this part a bit by lightly sanding on one side.
If you remove the cam follower assembly, be sure to note the arrangement and the number of the Belleville washers, which are stacked to provide a generous amount of compression at a relatively constant pressure.
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Thanks tcmeyer. I removed the jaws and there was a fair bit of dust, but the clamp lever is still not moving correctly.
In any case, I’ve emailed the folks at WE.
BTW, when I removed the jaws there was a small round foam tube (black in color), about 1/8″ diameter and about 3/4″ long. That fell out when I lifted the jaws off so I’m not sure where it goes.
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there was a small round foam tube (black in color), about 1/8″ diameter and about 3/4″ long. That fell out when I lifted the jaws off so I’m not sure where it goes.
That goes between the jaws, just under the top spring that pushes them apart. It’s a little tricky to get it in place but it sits on the area where the jaws transition from thinner stock to thicker stock.
You’ll probably need to take the vise apart and clean it out. I’m guessing something is holding the cam follower up in its tracks.
-Clay
I’m back in business after disassembling and cleaning it.
In the process I took photos and created this disassembly and cleaning instruction pdf file:
https://view.publitas.com/p222-16215/we-clamp-disassembly-and-cleaning-12-12-17
When this link displays, you can either view it there, or on the left, there is a button to download the pdf.
I haven’t used this publitas before, so could someone confirm that they can download it and view it?
PS, I need to figure out if I was doing something wrong, since obviously people don’t need to disassemble and clean the clamp after every couple knives.
Great document, Graphite, thanks!
Maybe someone with write-access to the knowledge base could save it there. Chris?
Molecule Polishing: my blog about sharpening with the Wicked Edge
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I put a piece of aluminum foil tape over the sides to keep grit out of the cam mechanism. Because it’s flexible, the motion of the jaws while clamping / unclamping doesn’t affect it. The idea of the cotton wad sounds workable too.
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On mine I experienced something similar but tracked it down to the cam follower (underneath the washer stack in your photos) being slightly too wide and rubbing on the inside of the vise. This also would cause the vise Jaws to stick in the closed position.
Not sure what happened with yours, but I’ve done several hundred knives on my gen 3 2017 proto (which was open faced on the sides) without covering mine up like Tom, and it’s performing flawlessly with zero issues (other than the inside of the Jaws denting up from the hardened steel blades pressing into the aluminum).
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I’ve had a grating noise in mine since I bought it a few months ago. I used your instructions, Graphite (and thanks to Clay for pointing me to them, and the advice), and sanded a wee bit from the plastic cam follower, and now it’s smooth and quiet. Thanks a bunch, easy to follow, and fun to see the innards of this device.
Regarding the cylindrical foam piece, mine had fallen into the channel where the bullnose wedge rides. I’d be interested in knowing what it’s supposed to do, and whether it’s important. I reassembled without it, and don’t see an immediate problem. I also don’t see how it would stay in place if I try to put it back.
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I’d be interested in knowing what it’s supposed to do, and whether it’s important. I reassembled without it, and don’t see an immediate problem. I also don’t see how it would stay in place if I try to put it back.
It’s there to catch debris from sharpening because a little will get down in between the jaws. Most of the ones I’ve disassembled have had the foam still in place, I think because it is a little wider than the gap between the bull nosed section of the jaws. It is a pain to put back in place when reassembling the unit.
-Clay
I’m pretty sure (not 100% positive) that the foam piece fell out of place before I removed the jaws. I wasn’t going to mention it since I wasn’t sure, but it just occurred to me that I’ve use a blower to clean off the jaws on several occasions, so there’s a good chance I knocked it out of position with that – might be useful for others to know.
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