Milling Vise Recommendation

[Alan H.]

Curious as to why the discontinued Kurt D688 is priced $40 more than the DX6 replacement.

Suggest you give them a call and ask. They may offer you a big discount!

I imagine new D688's will be getting scarce and some folks who have these on CNC's may want an exact replacement or add.

 

[Alan H.]

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I had seen this video previously on a Winn vise comparison to to a Chinese vise, worth watching. Like anything made, no matter the country of origin it is more a matter of how it is made and the QC. In this respect if you buy something like a Glacern or a Kurt vise you can be pretty assured that it will meet tighter tolerances.

Thanks for the video link Mark. I remember watching it and briefly looked for that the other day. Wanted it to send to a friend.

 

[beeser]

I saw the Winn vs China vise video before. The Winn seems impressive but at over $100 more I'm still leaning in the direction of the Kurt DX6.

 

[Sdmf5150]

After a little research I found that although the Glacern is a little less expensive than the equivalent Kurt it is made in Taiwan. For the minor difference in cost I would prefer the US made Kurt. I also understand the warranty is better. All Industrial Tool Supply has the Kurt DX6 on sale at $539.95 with free shipping. The offer seemed even better with their 10% off coupon promotion for new subscribers but after receiving the coupon it doesn't include work holding products. Is the DX6 a good entry into vises for general prototyping work?

And yes to the observation by Alan H, the mill came with little tooling. On the plus side though a friend close by has made all of his extensive tooling available to me until I've collected enough of my own. He has even given me a few items to get started.

I have the DX6 and love it. Very repeatable. I got mine at my local tooling supply for $489

 

[Larry42]

When I got my mill it had a cheap Chinese vice. When it was tightened on the work the jaws would tip and the machine could knock the work out of the vice. Didn't take long to decide I wanted better. Bought a new Kurt D688 on sale. Works great. I usually have it mounted a bit off center on the table so I can get some parts clamped directly to the table when they don't work well in a vice. I need to make some blocks for the bottom of the Kurt so it fits the T slots nice and snug. Won't have to fiddle so much to get it true to the travel that way. There are lots of time you may need the entire table surface and need to remove the vice. I also have a small screwless vice . I opted for an import and it is less than ideal. I've modified it to make it work a bit better. Mainly used clamped in the Kurt.

 

[beeser]

I have a mill that size, I bought a Kurt D688 directly from their "Scratch & Dent" department, Saved over a hundred bucks for a brand-new vise, only had a minor blemish. https://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/new-kurt-vise-discount.38195/

Thanks Eddyde! I just ordered a DX6 Scratch & Dent for $469 shipped.

 

[RobertHaas]

I too bought the DX6, it is a very nice piece of kit

I would like to have a set of jaws with incorporated horizontal v notches but can not seem to find any.

Perhaps somebody might have a suggestion for some 6" aftermarket jaws for the new DX????

 

[jdedmon91]

After a little research I found that although the Glacern is a little less expensive than the equivalent Kurt it is made in Taiwan. For the minor difference in cost I would prefer the US made Kurt. I also understand the warranty is better. All Industrial Tool Supply has the Kurt DX6 on sale at $539.95 with free shipping. The offer seemed even better with their 10% off coupon promotion for new subscribers but after receiving the coupon it doesn't include work holding products. Is the DX6 a good entry into vises for general prototyping work?

And yes to the observation by Alan H, the mill came with little tooling. On the plus side though a friend close by has made all of his extensive tooling available to me until I've collected enough of my own. He has even given me a few items to get started.

I have bought from All Industrial often in the past year and found them to be a very good vendor. My family bought an expensive indicator from them for my birthday and it was not the exact model I wanted. They worked with me and made it easy to swap it out. They're good folks to deal with and seem to be growing quickly.

Understand your choice to go with Kurt. The Glacern 5" is hard to outfit with parallels. There are very few suppliers of 5" long parallels and Glacern's 5/8" hex drive also precludes buying standard size speed handles. They seem to really find their niche in the CNC world but at $359 it is still a strong contender for a smaller size mill, particularly for those folks who prefer the smaller overhang. The Glacern 5" apparently fills the void that Kurt left open when they abandoned their 5 incher. Glacern appears to only selling direct or via Amazon these days and offer free freight from time to time.

I have the Kurt. But if you want the Glacern Vice then don’t let the fact a speed handle isn’t available. Just make one. It isn’t that hard the way I did it. In fact I posted the handle here on the site


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[Alan H.]

I have the Kurt. But if you want the Glacern Vice then don’t let the fact a speed handle isn’t available. Just make one. It isn’t that hard the way I did it. In fact I posted the handle here on the site

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Thanks for the advice but I actually have a 5" Glacern already and also am fixed up with the handles I want/need. Just pointing out that they are bit non-standard.

 

[jdedmon91]

I have the Kurt. But if you want the Glacern Vice then don’t let the fact a speed handle isn’t available. Just make one. It isn’t that hard the way I did it. In fact I posted the handle here on the site

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Thanks for the advice but I actually have a 5" Glacern already and also am fixed up with the handles I want/need. Just pointing out that they are bit non-standard.

Great. I just wanted folks to know or think we have shops and tools for a hobby so making things for the shop shouldn’t intimidate us.




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