Vise recommendations and questions

[FoxCNC1]

hey guys, I have a CNC machine and have been thinking lately of getting a vise for it. I think it is going to make my life easier with the smaller parts I make sometimes.

I was looking at tormach's offerings 4" and 5" and have read some thread on here that indicate that they are no very good quality vises.
There is also a reference to the 5" vise not being a standard size and thus not compatible with other tools? Can someone please explain?

Also what does 4" - 5" refer to? the left of the jaws, is this correct?
Thank you in advance.

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[Steve Seebold]

I have 2 of the Tormach 5 inch CNC vises which work beautifully for 99.9% of what I do.

I don't take in outside work any more but I manufacture a line of running gear for gas powered remote control race boats and I'm starting to get in to gas powered 1/5 scale gas powered 4 wheel drive trucks.

Actually, with just a couple of exceptions, if I can't hold a half dozen parts on one hand, they're too big and I don't want to do them.

[WOTDesigns]

hey guys, I have a CNC machine and have been thinking lately of getting a vise for it. I think it is going to make my life easier with the smaller parts I make sometimes.

I was looking at tormach's offerings 4" and 5" and have read some thread on here that indicate that they are no very good quality vises.
There is also a reference to the 5" vise not being a standard size and thus not compatible with other tools? Can someone please explain?

Also what does 4" - 5" refer to? the left of the jaws, is this correct?
Thank you in advance.

Yes the size of a vise refers to the width of the body of the vise. So a 4 inch Vise is 4 in wide however the opening between jaws when opened all the way varies from model to model and manufacturer to manufacturer what is generally relative to the width of the body. You can put larger drawers on any advice for example you can put six in drawers on a 4 inch Vise and have one inch sticking out of either side and it'll work just fine for quite a few applications.

The level of quality and issues that do exist with the tormach models are only relevant if you're making super accurate parts. Odds are the vices are far more accurate than any machine you're going to put it on in the near future

[FoxCNC1]

Thank you,

So what is an upgrade from the Tormach and what is a down grade?
What is a standard size vise, or most common.

I have a CNC router 24x48 table. However I hardly use it to cut anything that large. So I am thinking of getting a vice for smaller parts (probably the size of a modern iphone), or maybe even mount a palet plate on it.

[brian257]

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. I have been using a cheap Chinese 6" on my Bridgeport for a very long time and it does a great job.

Glacern is also very popular. they have a lot of options, make a bunch of different jaws, and appear to be very good quality, but much less expensive than Kurt. I have not used one, but I have heard good things about them.

[toyshop]

I have a Kurt 675 on my manual home mill and use only Kurts at work. 5" Tormach vise on the Tormach home mill.I have had no holding issues with the tormach. The 5" is designed the same as the Kurts with the down pressure clamping.

If you are moving the vise on and off a lot the 5" is a lot lighter. The Kurt 675 opens up to 6.75 and the result is there is a tongue hanging out the back which could interfere with full y axis travel.

Dave

[Steve Seebold]

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. I have been using a cheap Chinese 6" on my Bridgeport for a very long time and it does a great job.

Glacern is also very popular. they have a lot of options, make a bunch of different jaws, and appear to be very good quality, but much less expensive than Kurt. I have not used one, but I have heard good things about them.

I don't buy from MSC unless nobody else sells it. Their prices are ridiculously high.

I'll buy Guhring drills from them because I can buy 4 drills of a specific size and length. I have to buy 10 from my regular supplier.

I make a part that is 3/16 thick 7075 T6 aluminum that has a .100 diameter hole 4.5 deep in the center, 3/32 from 1 edge. Guhring is the only drill I have found that I have that will drill a hole like that.

[handlewanker]

Thank you,

So what is an upgrade from the Tormach and what is a down grade?
What is a standard size vise, or most common.

I have a CNC router 24x48 table. However I hardly use it to cut anything that large. So I am thinking of getting a vice for smaller parts (probably the size of a modern iphone), or maybe even mount a palet plate on it.

Hi.....you did say a CNC router 24x48........that means you don't really need a vice as the machine won't be capable of cutting anything heavier than aluminium.

The cheapest vice you can find with a 100mm or 125mm wide jaw will probably be more than good enough to attach to that aluminium tee slot profile table without overloading it.

A lot will depend on the clearance you have under the gantry for the height of the vice jaws with a job in it......the bigger the jaw width the higher they go too, but they vary.

Don't buy the type with a revolving base as you only add unnecessary height, but you can remove the base part if the overall height is good and the price is right.

You'll also need a set of parallels to use with the vice and an edge finer too.
Ian.

[Advil]

https://www.hardwarefactorystore.com...wiveling-base/

I've got a pair of these on my 770. One is really good, the second one is disappointing but perfectly usable. Both ok for the money. Nice thing about them is you aren't paying so much that you have to worry about hurting them if you want to machine them a bit so they work as a matched set.

Just remove the swivel base and toss it. The height is about as low as you'll find for a 5" vise (2.4"). If you don't have this much clearance in Z you'll have to look at 4" or smaller.

[handlewanker]

Wooooaaahhh.....don't toss that revolving base, mount a 3 jaw chuck (or 4 jaw) on it for holding round work when end machining in the vertical or pitching holes etc.

The base has degrees engraved on it so you can have a cheap rotary work holder that gives you some degree of accuracy for basic rotary increments without the expense of a regular rotary table or indexer.

To mount the chuck you need to first attach a backplate to the base and then get a chuck with front mounting holes to bolt to the back plate.
Ian.

[FoxCNC1]

Hi guys, yes it's for a cnc router with about 8" of z travel maybe one or two more inches if I adjust it.

You guys are correct, I only plan to cut alum. On it, but I was thinking the vice would make it very easy to hold small stock and even allow me to do two sided parts wish I am currently struggling with.

Maybe what I need to do is male myself a pallet plate with several pin and threaded holes.

I don't usually utilize the entire table area, but I can probably make a 20x20 plate?

[joshetect]

Depending on what shape your two sided parts are, soft jaws may really help with that.

You could do a fixture plate, with miteebite rails and clamps. That would give you a large area and lots of fixturing options. you could also bolt the vise to that.

[brian257]

I don't buy from MSC unless nobody else sells it. Their prices are ridiculously high.

I'll buy Guhring drills from them because I can buy 4 drills of a specific size and length. I have to buy 10 from my regular supplier.

I make a part that is 3/16 thick 7075 T6 aluminum that has a .100 diameter hole 4.5 deep in the center, 3/32 from 1 edge. Guhring is the only drill I have found that I have that will drill a hole like that.

True, but was the the quickest I could think of where I could send a link showing lots of options. I used to buy from Enco a lot before MSC did away with them. I got a call from MSC recently giving me some kind of discount code, but I have not tried it yet so can't comment on the amount of discount they give.

[FoxCNC1]

I dont understand how the Mitee bite works..

[kstrauss]

Mitee Mite makes dozens of products so which one?

If you mean their fixture clamps, the head on the screw in the middle is not concentric with the screw so rotating it causes the clamp to move slightly and lock the stock. Their knife edge clamps work the same way. There is a drawing at Fixture Clamps | Mitee-Bite Products LLC. that may help you to understand the design. Incidentally it is trivial to make your own using a button head cap screw.

[FoxCNC1]

Mitee Mite makes dozens of products so which one?

If you mean their fixture clamps, the head on the screw in the middle is not concentric with the screw so rotating it causes the clamp to move slightly and lock the stock. Their knife edge clamps work the same way. There is a drawing at Fixture Clamps | Mitee-Bite Products LLC. that may help you to understand the design. Incidentally it is trivial to make your own using a button head cap screw.

I see, that stuff looks great Kstrauss. Do you have any experience with it?
Seems like I can make a plate and buy their toe clamps and even their pins and be set.

[kstrauss]

I have a number of Mitee Mite products. Some suit my needs and other don't. Many swear by the fixture clamps but in my experience, unless you get the settings exactly right, they loosen at the worst possible times. I've had more success using their PitBull clamps for similar purposes.

Their TalonGrips (TalonGripâ„¢ | Mitee-Bite Products LLC.) are wonderful when you want to hold stock in the vise and machine all except the bottom eighth-inch of it. I mill aluminum softjaws to hold their grips rather than purchasing their rather expensive "system". In the right situation their Uniforce clamps are great.

Your mileage may vary!

[Steve Seebold]

I have a number of Mitee Mite products. Some suit my needs and other don't. Many swear by the fixture clamps but in my experience, unless you get the settings exactly right, they loosen at the worst possible times. I've had more success using their PitBull clamps for similar purposes.

Their TalonGrips (TalonGripâ„¢ | Mitee-Bite Products LLC.) are wonderful when you want to hold stock in the vise and machine all except the bottom eighth-inch of it. I mill aluminum softjaws to hold their grips rather than purchasing their rather expensive "system". In the right situation their Uniforce clamps are great.

Your mileage may vary!

I have used Mitee Bite products for the last 20 plus years and I have "NEVER" had a part come loose.

[FoxCNC1]

Speaking about vise use.
I see many photos of parts that are milled to some nominal depth and they are not separated from the stock. So the last portion of the stock is help by the vise. So then how to you separate that part?

something like this part I found. (can't seem to come across one in alum). But you see how the part is still in the stock?

[joshetect]

The part is flipped over and held in a vise or soft jaws that are milled to fit the part. Then the remaining stock is removed.