cyrano138

Vise? Vice? Why do neither of them look right now?

Anyway, title says it. I'd like to be able to adjust hubs and as you know sometimes you have a stubborn locknut that won't turn unless the axle is in a bench vise (I'm pretty sure it's vise now) with one of those aluminum axle gripper things from park tools. Could I just use one of those aluminum things with a channel lock pliers or something like that? Is there a diy version of those aluminum things? Thoughts?

For the well intentioned person who's about to say, "just get a bench vise," I thought of that, I promise, but the real obstacle there is that I don't have a bench.

dedhed

You could probably use one in a large vise grip pliers easier than a channel lock.

I've been know to use a couple pieces of wood lath and a vise gripsin a pinch

Iride01 

You are using two wrenches to loosen it aren't you?

Are the flats rounded or is it too tight for you? If just too tight, maybe find longer handled wrenches or something to slip over the ends to give you more length and leverage.

Gresp15C

Not on bikes per se, but I've gripped threaded parts by cutting a slot in a nut and grabbing the nut with a pliers.

If you're trying to get "started" disassembling a hub, you could grab both outer locknuts with wrenches and see which one comes loose first. Once you get the nut and cone off from one side, you can pull out the axle and grab it by the middle with less concern for damage, though you don't want to weaken it to where it might break there. Given that axles often last longer than bearings, spare axles should be a dime a dozen.

I sometimes prefer gripping the axle in the middle (in a bench vice) rather than having to persuade a stubborn nut with my cone wrench, just to avoid spreading the cone wrench.

sch

VICE 1)immoral or evil practice 2) designator for second or assistant in charge
VISE 1) mechanical gripping device

_ForceD_

Soft jaw pliers might work here.

https://www.amazon.com/Metal-Magery-...38862205&psc=1

Dan

Gresp15C

VICE 3) Archaic alternative spelling for VISE, since time immoral.

kingston 

I put a half-sheet of plywood on a set of saw-horses when I service hubs. This little harbor freight special works great with the park AV5.

drlogik 

Between a cone wrench, a Vise-Grip and adjustable wrench you should be able to tear apart an entire axle without a vise. If it's ball bearing hub and neither cone side is off the bike, use two wrenches, one on each side to "crack" it. Once it's cracked, then you should be able to attack it with the adjustable wrench and cone wrench.

If the axle is out of the hub and you're trying to remove the lock nut and cone, use a cone wrench and the adjustable wrench. Only use the Vise-Grip if nothing else works and be sure to protect the threads when you do.

cyrano138

Tons of helpful suggestions -- thank you so much everyone. I think in the short term the soft grip pliers are a good solution. For those who have some makeshift bench vise setups, would you mind posting a picture?

Thanks, all!

cyrano138

I generally just work on old ten speeds, mostly loose bearing hubs. Once in a while, everything else on the hub is off, and there's one locknut that just won't come loose and there's nothing else to grab onto to torque it.

alcjphil

If you have the correct size wrench for the locknut and the proper size cone wrench you shouldn't need anything else to open up a hub

freeranger

You could put two nuts on the axle, jam the nuts against each other. Then grip one of the nuts with a wrench, depending on which way you are trying to loosen the opposite side locknut. If loosening counter-clockwise, put the wrench in the inner of the two nuts on the opposite, it would cause that nut to jam against the outer so the axle wouldn't turn. As least that's how I'm picturing it in my feeble brain!

CliffordK

Just use a 15mm (generally) box end wrench to put on the lock nut. Cone wrench on the cones. Use a 6 pt wrench if you are concerned about the corners on the bolt.

Sometimes you can get the two wrenches about 15° apart and gently squeeze together to get more force.