Heavy Metal: @MakeEverything Revives a Rusted Chaz Parker Vise

What do you do with a vise that won’t turn, won’t open, and looks like it belongs at the bottom of a lake? If you’re Chris Zeppieri of Make Everything, you buy it. In a recent video on his YouTube channel, Chris talks about how he evaluates old tools like vises for salvage and then brings a frozen, rust-covered Chaz Parker vise back to life with a few smart techniques and the help of WD-40 Specialist_® Brand Products.

• How to size up a vise before you buy. Chris’s two-question test: “Is it complete, and is it functional?”
• How to free seized parts. See how WD-40 Specialist Penetrant and Rust Removing Soak helped bring a frozen, rust-red vise back to life.
• Why a swivel-jaw vise is worth hunting for. Learn the telltale pin that gives one away and what a pivoting rear jaw can hold that a straight jaw can’t.
• Lessons from the bench. Get practical tips on protecting fragile cast parts and working safely around grinding dust.

Chris runs the Make Everything workshop in Sea Cliff, New York, a 3,000-square-foot space where he builds furniture, motorcycles and metal sculpture, restores old machines, and shows viewers exactly how he does it. He’s also a dedicated vise enthusiast, and his channel is full of restorations of rare and oversized examples that have passed through his shop.

Two Questions That Matter.

Chris boils buying a vise down to two questions: Is it complete, and is it functional? A vise can be missing a part and still work, or work and still be missing something. If the answer to both is yes, you can buy with confidence. If not, expect more work, though in some cases it’s well worth it.

The vise Chris uses to demonstrate, a Chaz Parker 25 with 5¼-inch jaws, looked crusty and barely turned. A few shots of WD-40 Specialist Penetrant on the tailpiece and into the screw were enough to get it moving through its full range.

Chris also flags a trap on this style of vise. A small “ear” on the back is all that retains the screw. Force a seized screw and that ear can break, leaving the screw stuck in the body or cracking the casting. His fix: tighten things up first so nothing shifts, then work gently past the hard spot.

The $60 “Boat Anchor”

The second vise was giving strong anchor vibes: orange-red rust everywhere, completely seized, possibly pulled up from the briny deep. So why buy it? A pin at the back of the static jaw told Chris it was a swivel-jaw vise, which can be extremely useful. A pivoting rear jaw can grab uneven or tapered work, such as curved beams or the handle of a crescent wrench. Straight-jawed vises simply play it straight.

The heavy swivel base was seized on, so Chris hit it with penetrant spray before reaching for the impact driver, and got it off. The rust underneath was so caked on that further disassembly made no sense, so the vise went into a 25-gallon tub of WD-40 Specialist Rust Removing Soak (note: the solution can be reused multiple times). With some patience in the soaking process, the frozen screw could once again turn freely and its threads were still sharp.

After disassembly, Chris cleaned up the remaining rust with wire wheels run at slow speeds and a grinding and finishing disc to ease tight spots on the slide. He did the work at a downdraft table with a powered respirator, a good reminder to protect your lungs around grinding dust.

After piecing everything back together, it's wise to protect the freshly refurbished vise. Skip the grease (which collects dirt) and use WD-40_® Multi-Use Product on the metal surfaces.

The result is a fully working swivel-jaw vise that began as a rusted lump. Job Done Right.

See the entire restoration on the Make Everything YouTube channel, and explore the WD-40 Specialist line to find the right product for your next restoration.