Vise for TM-1

[hst]

Gentlemen:

I am looking at purchasing a TM-1 and trying to get a handle on the total cost, including a reasonable tooling set. In looking at the available vises, Kurt is apparently the gold standard. Paralec offers what seems to be a identical product for $100 less. Glacern offers a vise for considerably less than either of the other two. The Glacern looks good in the pictures, but is it really the equal of the others?

How much of an advantage is the CNC style vice with the flat sides versus the standard milling machine vise with the base flange for the tie down bolts? This mill will be used as a tool room machine and there will be little if any call for multiple vise setups.

Thanks in advance for you thoughts and advice.

Glenn

[TravisR100]

I just bought a new Haas mill as well. I purchased one of the Glacern vises as well as a Glacern drill chuck, some ER32 collet chucks, an endmill holder, and a face mill.

I bought the CNC style vise with the fixed jaw forward. This stuff seems top notch. I've not yet tried to measure runout, put the tools through any heavy cuts, etc. But if it turns out to be as good as it looks and feels I think I got one heck of a bargain.

My father was in town this weekend. He just bought an Albrecht drill chuck. After seeing the one I got from Glacern he may be sending his Albrecht back.

I particularly like the nickel plating on the Glacern tools. I also bought some of my stuff from Maritool. It seems about as well made however I'd give my nod to the Glacern stuff. This is nitpicking, but I was really shocked at the thread engagement on the Glacern collet chucks. It goes on like it's threaded with an acme thread with no backlash. The Maritool collet chuck was ALMOST as good but had a just a perceptible amount more play than the Glacern chuck.

These are just my initial perceptions. Could be the runout is ridiculous or there is some other fatal flaw with it I've yet to find. Maybe the matching on the vise bed heights is horrible. I only got one so I don't know.

I think Glacern is fairly new with their tooling and Maritool has been around a while. Maritool gets some pretty good reviews here in these forums and the stuff I got from them seems excellent as well. Hopefully the Glacern is up to the quality it appears to be. For the prices he's charging I don't see how 1) he'll stay in business and 2) how you could go wrong buying one to try out.

Just my impressions, take them for what they're worth.

EDIT: I wanted to add that both Frank from Maritool and Sol from Glacern were great about answering questions and helping me select what I needed. I was able to talk to each of them directly on the phone.

[TravisR100]

Also, you asked, "How much of an advantage is the CNC style vice with the flat sides versus the standard milling machine vise with the base flange for the tie down bolts?"

Probably not much at all until you need it.

[Geof]

Originally Posted by hst ....This mill will be used as a tool room machine and there will be little if any call for multiple vise setups. Thanks in advance for you thoughts and advice. Glenn

Don't be too sure you will never need more than one vise. When you are gripping a long part by only a very small amount two vises give you twice the grip.

[hst]

Thank you for your responses. Trying to step into the brave new world of CNC after a life time of turning the handles is a bit overwhelming. And expensive. <g> No one wants to spend money they don't have to, but neither do they want to waste it on low quality tooling.

Travis, thanks for your input. The pictures of the Glacern stuff sure are pretty, but it helps to hear from someone who has looked at the stuff up close and personal.

Geof, I can definitely see having two vices on the machine, but I can't see needing them closer together than the flanged vises will fit. But then again, I have been known to overlook the obvious.

Thanks again, and any more thoughts on this subject would be most appreciated.

Glenn

[Geof]

There could be an advantage with the flangless vises in that you can put them on their side to hold something that is tall.

Chances are if I was outfitting a new machine in my prototype shop I would get them rather than the standar Kurt.

[behindpropeller]

Originally Posted by hst Thank you for your responses. Trying to step into the brave new world of CNC after a life time of turning the handles is a bit overwhelming. And expensive. <g> No one wants to spend money they don't have to, but neither do they want to waste it on low quality tooling. Travis, thanks for your input. The pictures of the Glacern stuff sure are pretty, but it helps to hear from someone who has looked at the stuff up close and personal. Geof, I can definitely see having two vices on the machine, but I can't see needing them closer together than the flanged vises will fit. But then again, I have been known to overlook the obvious. Thanks again, and any more thoughts on this subject would be most appreciated. Glenn

I'm a newbie also. I have two kurt D688 vises on our machine. I use the second vise often. I also use the second vise so I can run 4 small parts at once. Another thing to think about with the slow TM series.

If I was buying again today I would get two of the glacern GSV-615R vises.

Tim

[John Crawford]

I bought two Parlec PWS-6900 vises from Enco and used a 10% off code to have them delivered to my door for a total price $693. (Enco has free shipping on Parlec and Kurt vises that are listed in their Hot Deals flyer.) Like everyone else, I aligned them so I can clamp long objects in both of them. I have had no problems with them so far, but I am not a professional and may not be knowledgeable enough to know where their shortcomings might be.

The Parlec vise can open 9 inches while the Kurt D675 opens 7.5 inches and the Kurt D688 opens 8.8 inches. The Parlec has a clamping force of 8200 lbs but I couldn't find on their website the torque required to generate this much force. The Kurt website says the D688 generates 7968 lbs of clamping force from a torque of 80 ft-lbs. So one could say that the Parlec has slightly better specifications. It's possible that Kurt vises would have better resale due to their popularity.

The Glacern GSV 690 vise appears to be similar to the Parlec and Kurt vises with respect to specifications such as jaw opening, weight, etc but has a 10 year warranty rather than the lifetime warranty that the Parlec and Kurt vises have. The Glacern GSV 690 is shown on their website with a price of $289 plus $55 shipping.

Someday I might pick up a Glacern GPV 615 to go along with my Parlec vises. The GPV 615 has less capacity but it can be mounted on it's side and there are times when this would be useful. The Glacern website shows a list price of $389 for the GPV 615. I wonder if there are cheaper sources for Glacern vises?

[Delw]

does anyone know ehere these Glacern are made? US Canada China or india?
is Glacern a US or canada company?
if there US or Canada
anyone use the faces mills yet, thoughts?

[TravisR100]

Hopefully Sol from Glacern will post on this one. I asked him the same question when I talked to him on the phone. Unfortunately I don't recall what the answer was. The gist of it was that they designed the product then had them manufacturerd to their specs. The "where" part is what I can't remember. Pretty darn sure it wasn't China as that would have put me off very quickly.

[Delw]

Hopefully its made in the US or canada then I will buy,
pissed me off the other day, I flipped the haas cover open and right there on big white sticker MADE IN CHINA on the litte shock absorbers.

[TravisR100]

My best advice is to pick up the phone and call them. Sol seems to be a pretty straight shooter and will answer whatever you ask. For instance, one of my questions is whether aftermarket Kurt jaws will fit the vise. They apparently will.