Restoration of the old vise. Perfect restoration of the vise

[fox craft]

[Fluffle-Valve]

Well done that man. That look lovely.

[Toolmaker51]

Layout of parts at beginning shows one many vises lack; a preload spring. Often the thrust washer is an afterthought, rarely being sized to take-up clearance and backlash of screw and nut.
Properly selected, those items make a tremendous difference how a vise works. They open quicker, the handle 'parks' and will hold before clamping at any angle, draw up smoother, adding finesse overall. It's no harder than slipping a feeler gauge in. Some vises want two, if they aren't machined at that face.

Why, you ask handle at any angle? Unless you can sprout a hand and arm on call, think of last time positioning something that you wanted "just so". When the assembly has slop, it's either not gripping, clamped a bit but slips, or too tight for tapping into position.