Vice for milling machine recommendations

[Azalin]

I'm looking to buy a 100mm (4") opening capacity vice for my vertical mill. Is this vice good for a milling machine? A friend of mine told me that it is for drilling machines. What do you think? I will welcome any other recommendations.

Best,
Suat



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[Louis_Cannell]

No details on this looks well made but is it as close to a solid imovable object as it needs to be? A machine vice and a drill vice below I must admit to going with 2nd option to remain inside budget but am happy so far with performance, I use a micro mill a Seig X1 and it appears to be up to the job and on par my other tools, as the whole my machine is only as good as its weakest link I did not see that a £300 machine vice could improve a basic micro mill and accuracy is good with option I chose.
Model Engineering and engineering tools online from RDG Tools Ltd Home Page (Engineering Tools) Tel 01422 885069 /884605
Model Engineering and engineering tools online from RDG Tools Ltd Home Page (Engineering Tools) Tel 01422 885069 /884605

[fretsman]

That actually looks a bit like a grinding vice for a surface grinder to me.

It might work for very light milling, but not much else.

[handlewanker]

Hi....the main desire for a vice is that the moving jaw DOES NOT LIFT when you clamp the work piece..........all vice jaws rated as drill press types, and practically all other mill vices too, lift when the pressure is applied......they can't do otherwise due to their construction.

The best vices also cost an arm and a leg, but if you go to a tool maker's vice type for milling.......photo attached......they are designed to have the moving jaw pull down under clamping pressure...........a vice with a 100mm jaw width would suit a Mini mill type machine and cost approx. A$120 on EBAY.
Ian.

[Toolmaker62]

As a 20+ year CNC machinist, I can tell you that Kurt vises are the standard for milling. The cost about $400.00 for a 4" model. They are not the cheapest option, but are built for serious milling operations and are the best.

[Louis_Cannell]

As a machinist earning my living with a tool I would agree with you Toolmaker62 and would have purchased the best I coud get, but as hobbyist we have to justify the spend and for me to spend over half as much on a vice as my mill cost new I could not justify so have to compromise getting the best substitue I can find within budget allocated. A kurt vice would do little to help the quality achievable on Sieg X1 micro mill by a complete beginner.

[handlewanker]

Hi.....at the same time as you aquire a vice, invest in a decent boxed set of parallels....they make all the difference to just ground up strips of odd metal pieces, and come in pairs hardened and ground from approx. 4mm height to 25mm height......about 9 pairs in all.

BTW......if the mill is capable of machining steel or any other metal then the vice is of vital importance as regards to holding a work piece firmly and accurately......there is no compromise on that score.
Ian.

[Zenji]

Abwood, any size. A trusty chunk of british iron!