It's my birthday and can't decide what to get

mikey said:
True 'dat! But he can't do much to measure without a good vise - I would go for the chicken and get the egg later.
Click to expand...

not sure how to answer that. i guess he could just eyeball everything going in and out - wait a minute - that's more towards fabricating where a tape measure and a big chinese vise works :)
 
Looks like a forum member is going to set me up with the mic's. So I am deciding between the milling vise or a rotary table. I am leaning towards a milling vise with a swivel base and maybe tilt for right now. If I went for the rotary table I would want a tailstock and dividing plates which gets me into some serious $$.
My mill is a mill/drill and not a true mill. I doubt that I would ever buy a real mill. The table is only 8.5" wide and I would want the vise to sit on the table without hanging over the edges. I'll look for some milling vises and post examples of ones I like.
 
you really don't have a use for a rotary table. start with the basics
 
You are right cg285. I really don't need a rotary table right now. And might never need one to tell the truth.
It has been a cold, rainy day today. 2.5" so far and more to come Had to go to town this morning in pouring rain. 50 mile round trip. Spent the afternoon looking online at rotary tables, mic's and machining vises. I am tired.
Suzuki4evr above posted about not getting to big of a vise for a mill/drill. Good advice I think because I have a mill/drill and probably will never move up to a real mill. In looking at true machinist vises they seem to come in two sizes. Small and large. Didn't really find anything in the middle. Was looking at the Grizz catalog and came across some heavy duty drill press vises. I know. Groans and more groans. But they seem to be about the right size for my mill/drill. Here are the links.
http://www.grizzly.com/products/Quick-Release-Drill-Press-Vise-6-/G5761 and
http://www.grizzly.com/products/Quick-Release-Drill-Press-Vise-4-/G5760
I like the depth of the jaws. One problem I have found with my junk vises is the small less than 1" depth of jaw. Hard to hold stuff at times. The size is right. What do you think?
 
I have a "mill/drill", an RF-31, with a 4" Kurt on it. Works good. You seem to think that a mill/drill is not a real mill and maybe its not but at about 500# mine does a good imitation of one. Which machine do you have and are you sure you want to put a drill press vise on your machine?
 
Drill press vices are for drilling not machining + the quick release won’t hold for machining and not ridgid or accurate enough for machining. They do work ok on the drill press if well made. Haven’t seen a mill vice that didn’t hang off the front of the table some.
 
Scratch those off the list. That is the kind of feedback I am looking for.
 
There are other mill vices out there that I hear are pretty good , you might try searching mill vice , there has been conversations here on them , I’ve only dealt with Kurt there kinda pricey though
 
There is a 4" kurt for sale for $200 on CL about 125 miles from me. 250 mile round trip. And there is kurt knock off for sale for $150 not far from where my son lives in So Cal. No idea what condition they are in. What should I look for when looking at one of these?
 
Look for any cracks, make sure the jaws close evenly across their entire width and be sure there are no big holes drilled into the bed. Any of these would be a deal breaker for me. The paint can be re-done but the vise should basically be in good overall condition.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top