Re: Athol 323 1/2X Vise
Thanks for the info Mark. Any thoughts about how best to sell this, once its cleaned up. Maybe what to expect to get for it?
jwp: Ive bought, collected & sold dozens of vises over the past 6 years. I can give you advise based on my experience and what the vise market is in my area. There are 4 choices to go with your vise:
1. Keep, use and enjoy the vise. For most guys, a 3" - 5" vise will do everything for the average home shop. It's handy to have more than one vise in the shop. There are not very many old vises around and they are a pleasure to use.
2. Sell the vise "as is". If you got it cheap enough, just clean, lubricate, and flip it. I do that to the Asian and small homeowner's type vises because I would lose too much in time & materials. IMO; with your vise, you would do better with a restoration.
3. Clean it down to bare metal and oil it. There are some vises that are beautiful when bare. However (all respects to those who don't like repainting), that can be impractical because of maintenance. Every time it gets used, it will need to be cleaned and oiled after holding a work piece for cutting and grinding. Because of that, most vises wouldn't sell well in my area.
4. Do a good job of cleaning and repainting. Take a lot of before & after pictures. Assuming that your vise has no cracks, breaks or welds, you can guarantee that the vise is good at time of sale. In my area, they sell very well that way.
Unfortunately, vintage vises are undervalued. As far as prices go in my part of the country, if you want to move your vise in a reasonable amount of time:
Unfinished, wiped down & lubed; retail can be as high as 60$.
Finished, cleaned, painted & polished; retail can be as high as 150$.
The plus about your vise is that it's made in USA and it has a swivel base.
The minus about your vise is that it's missing the pipe jaws. Unless you had access to a milling machine, it would be prohibitive to make a set. Also, I'm assuming that the jaw face serrations are worn down (not a deal breaker, but a concern).
The challenge is to educate your customer that the big box store vise is low quality and if he wanted a new vise made in USA, he would have to give >500$.
I hope this helps.
Ps: Tell us about the red vise in the picture.