Wilton vise repair - need advice

[T. J.]

Thanks for the replies fellas. I'm thinking along the same lines as most of you that it's probably more trouble than it's worth. Although the threaded sleeve idea has got me thinking... I'm going to inspect those threads and cipher on it

 

[Groundhog]

Thanks for the replies fellas. I'm thinking along the same lines as most of you that it's probably more trouble than it's worth. Although the threaded sleeve idea has got me thinking... I'm going to inspect those threads and cipher on it

T.J. if you decide to try it please let me know the results. I'm really curious to see if it will work. In fact I'm going to keep my eye out for a deal on a similar broken tool (not necessarily a vise) and give it a try.

 

[Silverbullet]

At worse I'd at least try the brazing it up after cleaning . The other parts can be made or bought , the highest price will be the threaded adjustment piece. Then the nut , the other items are trivial. I'd try it no matter , if the brazing turns out good then go forward. Couple silicon rods is worth it . You could probably pin it in a couple spots for more strength. Just my thoughts , I never give up

 

[T. J.]

After cleaning up the threads and inspecting a little closer, the threaded sleeve repair seems to be impractical. The threads on both pieces are stripped too badly, such that it would require rethreading of both pieces. The shaft would be fairly easy to turn down and rethread. The jaw casting - much more difficult to bore out and rethread (with my equipment).

So, my plan is to braze it. I will be using oxy-acetylene for the task, as I don't have a TIG-welder. I figure I need to preheat the parts well prior to brazing. Can someone suggest a temperature to preheat to? I have a laser thermometer that I can measure with.

 

[rock_breaker]

Would it be possible to drill a hole for a round key in each half of the threads then use the J B Weld in the worn threads as mentioned earlier by marba633csi then inserting a close fitting pin in the hole?
Ray

 

[Mikebr5]

I get all giddy over old vises, and if they need some work even more so! So I saw this thread title and eagerly leaned forward ready for VISE PORN. *rubs hands*
When I saw the weld my heart dropped and stopped... and my wife could hear my audible disappointment from the kitchen.
What a shame.

 

[whitmore]

After cleaning up the threads and inspecting a little closer, the threaded sleeve repair seems to be impractical. The threads on both pieces are stripped too badly

I'm not happy with the thought of gas-brazing a deep joint like that, with uncontrolled gap; could you
instead build up the rod part with brazing, and then thread IT to match the (perhaps abused)
jaw?
Furnace brazing, on a clean pair of surfaces, with the right flux, could make the joint
effectively, but you generally want well-controlled gaps for such work. Building up the rod
part (or machining a new rod) seems more practical. It's not clear to me (from the pix)
that the casting has bad thread damage, could the shaft be a poorly made replacement
for a damaged original part?

 

[markba633csi]

If you do the JB weld repair, heat it to about 100 degrees F while it cures, makes a very strong repair.
Mark

 

[T. J.]

I'm not happy with the thought of gas-brazing a deep joint like that, with uncontrolled gap

I've been worried about that myself. I've never brazed anything this big before. Also, it seems to me that the large cast iron jaw will be a tremendous heat sink, making it hard to get it hot enough.

It's not clear to me (from the pix)
that the casting has bad thread damage, could the shaft be a poorly made replacement
for a damaged original part?

I had to use a mirror to get a good look at those internal threads, but they are stripped off flat similar to the threads on the shaft. There may be about half of the thread depth left. When I first took this thing apart I thought that those were Acme threads, but the 'valleys' are definitely a 'V'.

 

[markba633csi]

Maybe wrap some small gauge steel wire on the thread just to take up enough space so it would screw together and slather it with epoxy
Mark