Starrett 326 vise main screw nut

[yelchevelle]

I bought this vise about a year ago for pretty cheap. I had no idea what it was other than it was the biggest vise I had ever seen in person, and I wanted it. It was in old dark storage container, and the guy was cleaning out to move his business. It took everything I had to load it in the back of my flatbed pickup by myself. Its a 6" swivel base. I have messed with it off and on over the last year, and I am in the process of putting it back together. From my research on here, it looks like on most starretts, they have a set screw on the side to hold on the main nut, but I could be wrong. This one had a pin of some sort that had mostly sheared off when I bought it, on the bottom, right behind the main nut. I was able to get the remainder of it all out, and the hole is 3/8". What is supposed to go there?

 

[zkling]

The set screw was used on the previous athol units, but they had a solid pin to retain the nut from backing out. The later square style starrett 9xx series did not have a set screw in the side and still used a pin to retain the nut. Sounds like you are missing the pin. From the factory it was "just" a pin, you can get fancy and make a back lash compensating type of retainer.

 

[jonshonda]

The thing you will find with vises is that many models spanned so many decades that there are bound to be design changes that aren't well documented. If it had a pin to hold the main nut in, then replace it with the correct size pin. Don't worry about it missing a design element other models may or may not have had.

Or if it really bothers you, crate it up and send it my way. I would love to own it!

 

[yelchevelle]

The thing you will find with vises is that many models spanned so many decades that there are bound to be design changes that aren't well documented. If it had a pin to hold the main nut in, then replace it with the correct size pin. Don't worry about it missing a design element other models may or may not have had.

Or if it really bothers you, crate it up and send it my way. I would love to own it!

Sounds good, thanks for your response. It would probably cost more to freight it to Wisconsin than I paid for the vise . I just wanted to make sure that I was missing something if I put it back together with just a regular pin.

When I told my dad about this vise, his response was why would anyone need a vise that big? My first thought was why wouldn't a guy that works in his garage "need" something like this. I am going to try to upload some pictures when I get it painted and put together. It definitely has some battle scars from use in its former life. It was a tool that was used, and I plan on continuing to use it.

 

[yelchevelle]

From the factory it was "just" a pin, you can get fancy and make a back lash compensating type of retainer.

I saw the thread about tricking out your vise. Is that the method you are referring to, or is there some other way that I should look for.

 

[drivesitfar]

YC: here a GJ there are a lot of members that REALLY LIKE or maybe that isn't a strong enough word cause there are many that also collect them. in any case your big Starrett is one of the best vises made in some of our minds.

great find and how about posting up a few pictures?

i've got maybe another of the great old combo vises made and it's a Reed 4c that I think weighs about as much as your Starrett. i'm not positive, but since Starrett owned Athol some of their parts are very similar and when taking apart an old Athol we've helped many guys by showing them a pipe with a little cut out pushing the spring back to remove and replace the cotter pin on the main screw. maybe these two pics might help some if your vise has the same design.

if your issues are with the main vise nut removal please post pictures over on the VISE REPAIR 101 thread and several members that own your vise might have something to say.

good luck and WELCOME TO GJ and hope you stick around cause you are correct why wouldn't anybody want a huge vise if they could have one. of course your dad probably remembers when he couldn't find a used one and new ones were over a grand.

 

[yelchevelle]

YC: here a GJ there are a lot of members that REALLY LIKE or maybe that isn't a strong enough word cause there are many that also collect them. in any case your big Starrett is one of the best vises made in some of our minds.

I am going to show you some before pictures, but they aren't that impressive. It was in pretty USED condition. It was missing two of the pipe jaws and one of the regular jaws. I have it all torn apart right now, and I will post up some pictures once I get it put back together. I am planning on being done with it by they end of the year. I mess around with it in my spare time, and this is really the only time of the year that I get kind of slow.

I have kind of lurked on this forum for a really long time, so I know the love for old tools here. Also, check out this old chicago 412 metal brake I got from the same place. I scored some really good stuff from that place. Probably the best deal I got though was the 30 or so sheets of 1/2" 4'x8' steel plate and another 20 or so sheets of 1/4". I sold most of what I wasn't planning on keeping before I even picked it up and paid for all the tools I bought with a good bit of money left over.

 

[drivesitfar]

YC: all that EYE CANDY is most certainly nice and I bet a lot of your friends have some awesome steel benches now because of you.

feel free to post this over on the Vise Repair 101 thread if you need anymore help cause one of the reasons I started it was because these small threads sometimes don't get seen and once the person fixes their vise it seemed like the threads went to vise heaven never to be seen again.

take care and

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

 

[yelchevelle]

Just got a like notification from this old post. Here’s a glamour shot of the vise. I sanded on some paint scuffs the other day. I am going to repaint it hopefully soon to match my cabinets. Excuse the mess, I am working on finishing the cabinets/organizing/decluttering.