mounting vice

In article , Peter Fairbrother writes

Peter,

If you mean the method of alignment, since it's hardened, the option of machining a key slot across the base and fixing a key (made as a close fit to your table slots) is out. I set my milling vice by gripping a substantial bar of gauge plate and clocking it. Takes a few minutes but can be done as accurately as you like. Does mean I am perhaps a bit more reluctant to remove it to make room for other fittings that I should be!

If you mean the method of holding, then I can't help you as mine is quite different and I haven't seen one of the ones you refer to, at least close enough to examine it in detail.

David

Does yours have a matching curved slot in the other end of the base? Those are for toe clamps or big washers. However that style works better as an insert vise clamped in the normal vise, holding the work at an angle which is how I normally employ them.

They can be used on a surface grinder or stood on end to hold small pieces in a horizontal bandsaw. The small ones are excellent for soldering electrical connectors.

If you need to level and machine the top edge of an irregular piece you can clamp that vise on it upside-down with a spacer under the vise jaw, for example a cast pipe elbow that can't be leveled from below on parallels.

jsw

I had to go down to check a few things. The tapped holes in the fixed jaw on mine take a 5/16-18 bolt, but not 8mm.

It looks like I could hold the vise flat against the end of a 1/2" drill chuck in the lathe tailstock to clamp a chucked piece like a pipe tee and nipple squarely upright, to mill the face of the tee perpendicular to the thread axis and obtain a reference surface for further work.

jsw

Peter

I have a smaller version of this vice and although I could fasten it down to the T slots by putting pegs in the side holes and using a toe clamp arrangement I gave up using it more or less altogether.

I found that the vice has to removed from the table every time I open and close the jaws because the 'trunion' type nut falls out of position and its a real pain to reposition it from any position bar underneath the vice.

The basic accuracy might be high but the usability is really poor. I would go the extra mile (I mean £s) and get a vice with a leadscrew.

Ian

I'm having some luck with it by aligning the jaw face over the pin hole center before removing the pin, controlling the screw with an Allen wrench and coarsely locating the trunnion with a pencil before reinserting the pin.

jsw

Going to reply to many posts here, thanks to all for the thoughts:

David; yes, I meant the method of holding the vice to the table.

Jim; yes, it does have a matching curved slot in either end of the base. However the mill table is maybe 6" wide, but the vice is 8" long - when in the normal position at right angels to the long edge of the mill table, the ends of the vice protrude over the table edges, making the slots useless for fixing the vice down.

Jim again; it doesn't have any tapped holes. It does have a hole through the fixed jaw, parallel to the base and at right angles to the opening direction, about 1 inch up and 8mm diameter, but I don't know what that's for.

Ian; as to useability and the nut getting twisted/lost, I too found it hard to use as supplied, but then reworked it (using an angle grinder disk in an adapter in the mill on the hardened steel, noisy ... had to buy ear defenders, don't know what the neighbours thought) and built a new nut thingy, and that's no longer a problem.

-- Peter Fairbrother

You could mount it on a plate by the ends, cut notches for tee slot bolts, and use dowel pins to align it square to the edge of the table. I located my milling vise so that the largest end mill I have a collet for is completely behind the fixed jaw face when the table is fully forward.

I bought a cheaper copy of this for a mill-drill in an electronics company:

It's no Kurt, but it was adequate for light-duty milling and drilling in aluminium, and much less likely to smash someone's toes since it had to come off frequently to drill large flat panels.

jsw

Take a look at the latest MEW 195 where such a vice is featured being mounted on a lathe - should give you some ideas.

Bob

I have a Record Imp that I use all the time for that purpose, bought by a family member in the 1950's and inherited. Clamps on the edge of the bench though, not for milling :-)...

Regards,

Chris