Athol 715 Vise Rebuild

[RUSH55]

Ending 2025 on a high note with this mostly forgotten vise saga!

After perusing eBay for the last couple years for vise eye candy, I came across this wretch of an Athol 714, which coincidentally bears a 4-1/2” jaw width and (hopefully) a 7/8” OD buttress thread main screw. The largest hurdle of this purchase was that the vise was in New Jersey with a ‘pick up only’ stipulation.
Fortunately, I was pointed in the direction of fellow ‘Mud member, @knuckle47 whose arm I was able to twist into picking up the vise, disassembling, and shipping me the pieces I needed, and discarding the rest.

 

[RUSH55]

Got the pieces delivered to my door several days after Christmas

The good news is that the screw, yoke and handle are complete, minus the original inner yoke spring and retainer screw.
The not so good news is that at some point in time the original spring probably broke and the original retainer bolt/screw was damaged or lost and instead of making it a mission to find suitable replacement parts, they peened the rim of the yoke opening enough that it could be covered by a washer (probably the largest they could find in the coffee can) and rigged a spring on the exterior fastened with a square head carriage bolt.

 

[RUSH55]

Went ahead and put the screw in the dynamic after some clean up and wire wheel time on the yoke and handle. It actually works like it’s supposed to, and so for the time being, will be nice to have this vise back together and operational.
My OCD will probably not be satisfied for long and will need to seek out a machinist to clean up the peened yoke rim, find a suitable spring, and make a new retaining screw.
In the meantime, a big thank you to Al ( @knuckle47 ) for all of his trouble!
Happy New Year everyone!

 

[knuckle47]

@RUSH55 that part looks familiar….haha,

Glad it’s worked out for you, I’m bringing the base to the shop up north next week and that screw will…( I mean WILL) come out clean… glad it’s worked out

 

[RUSH55]

@RUSH55 that part looks familiar….haha,

Glad it’s worked out for you, I’m bringing the base to the shop up north next week and that screw will…( I mean WILL) come out clean… glad it’s worked out

Thanks again Al!