What prevents a vice from unwinding itself when compressing something?

Question

Say I was compressing a spring with high k value in a vice (not sure why I’d want to do that but it’s hypothetical).

As F =k(dx), there would be a force acting back against the vice when I compress the spring. In practice, how can the vice stay put and not unwind when a force is pushing back on it?

In: 3

Answer 1

Mechanical advantage. The acme screw inside the vice has I higher mechanical advantage to compress than the object being compressed has pushing back on the incline plane of the screw.