Vise recommendations and questions

[toyshop]

About flipping over and milling off the waste. If the part has a large cavity and thin bottom section, the bottom will probably warp.

Dave

[FoxCNC1]

um.. interesting. Funny how the more research I do the more I realize its all about fixtures and holding down.

[Steve Seebold]

um.. interesting. Funny how the more research I do the more I realize its all about fixtures and holding down.

I make a lot of small parts on my 1100 so I'll make 2 fixtures that hold multiple parts then there's no lost time while I reload one fixture. I'll have 1 in the machine running and one on the bench loading. Consequently, I use a lot of Mitee Bite stuff.

[mountaindew]

If you want to look at some others you can see many brands at this link. https://www.mscdirect.com/browse/tn/...navid=12108439

Kurt is probably the most well known of the high end vises and they are very good. There are a bunch of imported copeis from China that are low cost and sold under a lot of different brand names. I am sure the vise from Tormach is one of them with their name on it. .

My 5" machinist vice from Tormach is American made and very accurate. When I set it on table with keys it aligns dead on with x,y,z. This makes for a very nice precision material holder that is easy to move on and off the table. No shims, no aligning vice jaws to x axis. Imho this vice paid for itself 10x over in convenience alone. Would have purchased a Kurt "there is a Kurt plant 2 miles from me" but I could not find a 5" unit that is the right size for a 1100. Anyway Im going to buy another Tormach 5" in a few weeks so I have a matching pair!

[popspipes]

6" here integeral back jaw, much heavier duty than I need, I machine everything in it, no machining on the table here. I am old and make mistakes and I dont want the table screwed up........................

[Steve Seebold]

6" here integeral back jaw, much heavier duty than I need, I machine everything in it, no machining on the table here. I am old and make mistakes and I dont want the table screwed up........................

I like the 5 inch CNC vises because I can turn them on their side to hold long parts.

I make a lot of parts that get a .100 diameter hole drilled 4.5 inches deep in a piece of 3/16 thick 7075 aluminum and these vises work great for that.

[Don Clement]

I use a Kurt D688 with vise keys on the middle slot on my Tormach 1100.

Don

[C*H*U*D]

...Anyway Im going to buy another Tormach 5" in a few weeks so I have a matching pair!

Don't expect them to exactly "match". I bought the 5" vise when I got my 770, and another 5" to match a few months ago. It's not bad but the sizes are different enough to make you pay attention when setting up. The jaws are really what's off, and my new jaws now have nice machined tool paths in them because they didn't match the first vise I have, and I wasn't paying careful enough attention when setting up. I'd like to have all 4 jaws ground to the same height in the future.

[Steve Seebold]

Don't expect them to exactly "match". I bought the 5" vise when I got my 770, and another 5" to match a few months ago. It's not bad but the sizes are different enough to make you pay attention when setting up. The jaws are really what's off, and my new jaws now have nice machined tool paths in them because they didn't match the first vise I have, and I wasn't paying careful enough attention when setting up. I'd like to have all 4 jaws ground to the same height in the future.

I use aluminum soft jaws in my vises and I machine them the same height.

[C*H*U*D]

I use aluminum soft jaws in my vises and I machine them the same height.

I use soft jaws a lot as well, but if I'm holding a small amount of stock I go with steel. I'll clamp as little as .050" in steel jaws, but I don't really trust that with aluminum.

[Steve Seebold]

I use soft jaws a lot as well, but if I'm holding a small amount of stock I go with steel. I'll clamp as little as .050" in steel jaws, but I don't really trust that with aluminum.

If I'm going to hold as little as .050, I'll make sure I have a good sharp corner on my material then I'll make my jaws from 7075 aluminum.

[IMT]

There are steel soft jaws out there too. Check MonsterJaws

[84scrambler]

Here are my 2 Kurt 6" vises. I just took them off my table for the first time in about a year which means this layout has worked really well with all the machining that I do. I also like the fact that these vises are USA made as well. I actually picked them up from MSC but called and negotiated a price that was much better then anywhere I could find so sometimes MSC does work out. These do come in at a high price point compared to most other vises but the quality is great. Also note that if you get a vise this big it sticks out quite a bit. The back of my vise just barely skims my z bellows and the front of my mill tray was extended.

[CadRhino]

What about miteebite talon grips? I just bought some to try.

If I'm going to hold as little as .050, I'll make sure I have a good sharp corner on my material then I'll make my jaws from 7075 aluminum.

[CadRhino]

I have two 5” machinist vices. The second one has problems with the slide chronically lifting up/loosening up so I have to tighten it up after every operation. Other than that they are pretty good quality. I use both vises 80% of the time.

[kstrauss]

Expensive but Talon grips work great with aluminum!

[CadRhino]

Expensive but Talon grips work great with aluminum!

Yes, I just bought (8) for $12/each from zoro tools

[mountaindew]

I have two 5” machinist vices. The second one has problems with the slide chronically lifting up/loosening up so I have to tighten it up after every operation. Other than that they are pretty good quality. I use both vises 80% of the time.

I have to clean my vise about every six months. I found chips get way up inside the movable jaw casting and around the dome rocking plug thingy. "because I use air to blow chips out of the way"
Clean the vise and that area, put a little grease on that plug to hold it in place during assembly. Assemble the vise, tighten the setscrew and my vise its back moving smoothly, locking down tight and even across both jaws.