Vice Selection for X3 CNC

[dneisler]

I have a CNC'ed X3 and a shars 4" precison vice. Nice vice, but I fight with it to much. Looking to buy a kurt like vice, <$200.

What vice do you recommend?
Which is best for the X3, a 4" or a 6"?

[MetalBlade]

Originally Posted by dneisler I have a CNC'ed X3 and a shars 4" precison vice. Nice vice, but I fight with it to much. Looking to buy a kurt like vice, <$200. What vice do you recommend? Which is best for the X3, a 4" or a 6"?

If I were you, I'd buy a self centering vise. Here is a link to the one I have, and it works great.

http://www.grizzly.com/products/Prec...ing-Vise/H7576

[cadmonkey]

I have a 4" Kurt knock off - it seems a good size for the X3 table. It hangs over front and back but not bad. It takes a little less than half the work area of table if I have it placed to allow a 1-1/2" flycutter to clear the end of the clamping area.

My thought at the time I purchased it was the 6" would hang off the front a lot more but maybe a 6" owner will comment.

[uptoolateman]

I bought a 4" quad 1 CNC vise for my KX3. It's 4" wide will open up to 4" with the jaw plates in the noraml position. and the body is less than 9" long. It can be mounted on it's sides as well since they are ground and have mounting slots in them. I got one of the old style SPI branded units from Ebay for $350, The guy that's making them now wants over $1k.

[escott76]

Originally Posted by MetalBlade If I were you, I'd buy a self centering vise. Here is a link to the one I have, and it works great. http://www.grizzly.com/products/Prec...ing-Vise/H7576

He's looking for something similar to a Kurt design which uses a spherical element to pull the moveable jaw down and in to keep parts tight to the bottom of the vise.
Depending on the level of precision needed you really can't compare a self centering vise with a Kurt or even several other fixed jaw vise styles. It's a matter of convenience vs. precision.
For the OP I'll be interested to see the responses you get, I'm in the market for a similar vise myself. At the moment I'm looking at a pair of 3" screwless as I have not found the one I would like in the Kurt style at the right price. I have two vises on the machine I have at work, and with a couple different soft jaw setups I can do a real lot with the pair of them.

[dneisler]

The vise I have now is similiar to this....
http://www.shars.com/products/view/1...ers_Vise_4quot
and I cuss it more than it does work for me. Just not what I need/want.

I have been looking at this one, or similar.
http://www.shars.com/products/view/5...th_Swivel_Base

Or possibly a 4" variation of it.

[uptoolateman]

A good vise is definatly a good investment even if you have to spend a bit more on it. I looked for a long time at various vises and the weighed the pros and cons of all of them. They were either too big too small too long or the quality was lacking so I just bit the bullet and ordered the one I wanted. I have a 3" screwless on my manual X3 and it works pretty good but I wanted something a bit bigger for the CNC X3. The older style Quad 1 vise does have the kurt style pull down as well.

[cadmonkey]

I got my 4" version of that second link from this ebay store - http://cgi.ebay.com/4-MILLING-MACHIN...d=p4634.c0.m14 following that I continue to get printed Shars catalogs - I believe they're associated.

[Matt McColley]

what I'm looking for is the same vice WITHOUT the swivel head.

I can't see why I would need a swivel head with CNC X & Y controls.

It's just added weight, lost room in the Z axis and additional complexity and room for something to wiggle loose.

[MetalBlade]

Originally Posted by Matt McColley what I'm looking for is the same vice WITHOUT the swivel head. I can't see why I would need a swivel head with CNC X & Y controls. It's just added weight, lost room in the Z axis and additional complexity and room for something to wiggle loose.

When I bought mine, I went to that large grizzly store in PA. I looked at all kinds of vises, including that one. I have to admit that I wasn't very impressed either. I could just see my work getting messed up because the swivel head (swiveled) when I didn't want it to.

Nope, I picked exactly what I needed, regardless of trends, and haven't regretted it once. I do however have a vise with a fixed jaw, but find that I don't reach for it very often.

It's nice to just have to set your vise up once, and then you're ready to go. The precision is acceptable in my opinion; Your millage may very though.

[scudzuki]

Smoking and drinking are my most popular vices, not so much for a milling machine, though.

As for a vise for an X3, I think a 4" Kurt Anglock (or a copy) without the swivel base, with keys ground to fit the slots in the table (saves so much time setting up the vise not having to inicate it in when reinstalling it) is the route to go. As noted above, a swivel base is a waste of money, space, and potentially rigidity, on a machine capable of linear interpolation (2 axis moves).

Joe

[HimyKabibble]

Originally Posted by Matt McColley what I'm looking for is the same vice WITHOUT the swivel head. I can't see why I would need a swivel head with CNC X & Y controls. It's just added weight, lost room in the Z axis and additional complexity and room for something to wiggle loose.

Perhaps you don't realize with that style of vise, you can simply remove the vise from the swivel base, and bolt it directly to your table. That's exactly what I do my 6" vise on my knee mill. The bottom of the vise is flat and smooth for exactly this purpose.

Regards,
Ray L.