Reverse/'First Quadrant' Machining Vise Options?

[ralph@nes]

Hello all!

I'm looking for an inexpensive 6" reverse or first quadrant (fixed jaw near you) vise similar to the Kurt 3610V:

http://www.kurtworkholding.com/workh...ck_reverse.php

However, my employer isn't going for the $800 or more that Kurt is asking for these. Are there any off-brand or knockoff versions of these that can be had for less?

I stumbled across this fella:

http://quad-i.com/web/order.html

Who seems to have borrowed a discontinued SPI design and is making them again. Looks like a great deal at $395, til you try to order and it comes up 'error'. Upon calling him, he only has prototypes of a new model which are a mere $1500 each .

Back to the drawing board. Our mill operator swears the last place he worked had a few of these things and they were off-brand and worked great. I can't find anything.

Input? Other than 'buy the Kurt', save your breath--The boss isn't shelling out $800 for a vise.

[cam1]

The operative sentence is that the Boss isn't prepared to shell out the coin.
No coin=no tooling. Alot of time/money can be spent looking to save a few $'s.
I'd ask the Boss if he has any suggestions to solve the problem, make your recommendation, and leave it with him.

regards

[ralph@nes]

Well, the fella making the Quad-I offered to let us try it in-house free of charge for a little while. Surprisingly, the boss went for it, so perhaps we'll end up going that route after all.

For anyone that ends up searching for reverse or first quadrant vise and finds this thread: I've been all over the web and only found the Kurt 3610V and the Quad-I linked above. I believe they are the only two options currently available.

Ralph