Milling vise question

[sierra4sport]

This is my 1st post here...

I'm looking to buy a vise for a vertical mill...
The Kurt 675's are ~$400 at on of the major mail-order houses.
They also sell imported vises that appear to be quite similar for about 1/4 to 1/3rd of the price...

The Kurt(s) are spedified as having a needle-thrust bearing, while
my preliminary inquiry at the mail-order house on an imported vise
says they don't have the bearing, but haven't confirmed this...

Also, regarding the 'paralellisim' / squareness...
The imports are not spec'ed, but the Kurt is...

I'd like to hear is some feedback from folks that have used the imports (say from Enco), or both the imports and the Kurt. Maybe you can give some feedback on how 'parallel' your vise bottom was to the jaw ways, how square the jaws were, if it had needle bearings, any other experiences - good/bad.

Thanks,
Chris

[DareBee]

Chris, please do a search on this forum, we discuss this once a month it seams.

for instance Which Kurt Vise to get for CNC

[HuFlungDung]

You can almost count on spending a few hours tuning up and accurizing a cheap vise if you want it to be accurate. It is also my experience that the cheap clones are "spongy feeling" when it comes to tightening them up firmly. It could be a combination of poor thrust bearing, poor screw and nut fit, compounding of clearances in keys and keyways used to locate the fixed jaw, soft low grade bolts used to hold the fixed jaw, said bolts being a bit too small to begin with.

Also, the cheap vises may have had their hardened jaws ground in place, so the top may not be parallel with the bottom. Frequently, the counterbored holes in the vise jaws are too constraining, and are out of position enough, that the jaw insert does not nest properly on the vise slide. So, the first time you take them off and put them back on, they are a bear to try to get level again.

[PROTOTRAKFAN]

Do yourself a favor - spend the extra money on this IMPORTANT TOOL THAT YOU WILL USE EVERYDAY- buy the Kurt vise. I am SOOOO sick and tired of cheap imported crappy tools that I cant even begin to tell you. Yuasa might be an alternative for you. I have used these vises and they are pretty good.....
Patrick

[cybeeria]

I too agonized over this same thing. I looked from one end of this forum to the other and came to the conclusion that I really wanted the Kurt. I looked high and low on the net and found two 6" Kurt II vises for $225 each in great shape. With shipping the bill was about $525. I ened up having to take them apart and clean them due to long storage but it was really worth it. A friend of mine has a good import that I thought was pretty nice until I used the two Kurts. Absolutely no comparison. The Kurts are much smoother and easier to set up and are pretty much dead on. I also like the fact that jaws and other parts are easily available if something breaks or just needs replacing. Parts might not be for an import.

I'm not sure how accurate the imports are from vise to vise but the two Kurts that I have are exactly identical to about .0002 which means that they are interchangeable and I don't have to make corrections for using one or the other. This is a huge plus for me and has saved me many hours of set-up.

I hope this helps.

Bill

[Kevin Taylor]

Amen bill I weakend and bought a clone and wish I had spent the money on the used Kurt I bought a mounth later I have one I bought new ten year's ago and it is still a peach the inport's are what you would expect for the price Carry on Kevin

[LUNCH TIME]

do yourself a favor that only time will tell. spend the extra coin and get the vise that will last until you retire. "gerardi." they cost a bit more but they are hardened and ground "right on" and they have jaws that pull the work down.every shop i have been in has had these vises.they also have the "other" types too. the only thing is the "other" vises are on shelves collecting dust!!!

[DareBee]

I know a lot of guys swear by the Gerardi, I have never liked them.
I find that they don't hold thin or odd shaped parts well, and the main reason for this is the excessive downward movement of the jaws.
If you work with material that will always fill up the jaws of a vise they are great.
I prefer the Kurt.

[fpworks]

Go ahead and buy the best you can afford.

For almost the same price (or a little more), I recommend going with a used 3600V as opposed to a new D675 or D688.

A 3600V could be overkill for what you're doing, but you'll never need to buy a different 6" single station vice...regardless of required precision, or it can even be converted to hydraulic or pneumatic operation. And you can fit them closer together, side by side. (no mounting ears)

[sierra4sport]

Thank you to all that have provided feedback to date... Looks like the Kurts get high marks from everyone... No surprise there... Is there any positive feedback about any of the imports?
In one of the photo galleries, someone showed an import that they bought (I think from Enco) that sounded pretty good (base parallel to jaw bearing surface) within .001"...

[WhiteTiger]

I always used, and still have, an old Jet clone of the kurt. Makes a dandy general use vice, and I toss the pricey toolmakers vice on when I'm doing extra close tolerance work. Can't speak directly about any of the other imports, but the jet vice has been a durable, dependable workhorse for me.

Kurts are far better than the imports, no doubt about it, but for hobby use or on one of a kind work they're not worth the price, imo. When everything is a one off and you're doing strange new setups every few cuts, the benefits of the high price vise become pretty moot in my experience.

Tiger

[widgitmaster]

I preferr KURT also, I have had the imports crack just unde the stationary jaw! The cast iron was so porus it had no strength at all!
The KURT's are made of the best micrograin cast iron! If your holding Steel and Stainless parts, then you need all the regidity you can get!

my 2 cents!
Eric