PhaseII Vise - this can't be normal, right?

I picked up this 5" mill vise - very solid. But I'm wondering if the jaws have been replaced or ground down, as the casting is NOT machined directly in front of the fixed jaw. See the pictures below. It makes it tricky if not impossible to use parallels. What am I missing? (or what did PhaseII miss?) Can I machine and surface grind an extension for the jaw? Should I just lay a parallel flat inside the jaws? (may not be possible for very small parts)

Anyone else own one of these for comparison?

Thanks,

-Tom
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My Japanese made Eron has that too. I asked about the accuracy of a shaper, my Chinese "kurt" style 4" was made on a shaper. It was +/- .005" I guess that was the answer.
 
I appreciate the feedback. I will look for a screwless vise, as I treasurehunt. But I know I want a Kurt-style vise for day to day use.
This has (by far) been the most responsive forum I've joined! Keep up the good work.

If anyone has had a good experience with a "fake Kurt" style vise, I'd be interested in hearing about it. No way I'm coughing up $700 at this point. :(

And I will also see what can be done to extend the fixed jaw on the phaseII. I like fixing things, so this would be a good project. I hang out at a machine shop, so I'll see what I can't mill up. Question: If I put a spacer behind the fixed jaw, will I have to surface grind it to be within .0005 of parallel? (I assume at least that close)

-Tom
 
will I have to surface grind it to be within .0005 of parallel?
Not sure if that vise would know the difference. I would indicate the fixed jaw and then the vise jaw mounting surface and see what exists currently before grinding a spacer plate to high tolerance parallelism. The vise casting can be milled in place on the mill to help correct any factory goofs in the vise geometry. A piece of flat ground O-1 tool steel, like Starrett and others sell, would be accurate enough as is.
 
I bought a 6" Kurt clone from MSC. The surface that parallels sit on has a taper of 0.003 inches from left to right.
Every plate I machined ended up wedge shaped. Finally put an indicator on the vise and found out it is crap.

Having used Kurt vises many times at various employers, I can say there is no comparison between a real Kurt and the clones.
 
When I first trammed my Shars 4" mill vise I discovered that jaws were spot on until about 1/4" from each end where the jaws went out by .002. Since the jaws got wider it has not cause me any problems. I have been happy with my Shars vise.
 
Over the years, I picked up 4 or 5 of the “screwless’ vises, since then I sold off 2-3 of them, because, I find them a PITA to use. I’ve owned a Vertex and so others and they all seem the same. Everything I put in the vise, seems to be s I’ve where, its in between the notches for the clamp mechanism. I used it for a while, with a piece of coat hanger, to hold the clamp mechanism in the proper position, a lot of fiddling around. It became easier to get a regular screw type vise.

As to the OP’s original observation, all of my drill press vises are made the same way, with a groove at the bottom fixed jaw, That make thin parallels unusable, so I always used 1/2” thick parallels.
 
Remove the fixed jaw. Mill the casting between the fixed jaw and ways flat. When you need a thin parallel use that spot. Likely won't be parallel to the table but most likely nothing else on that vise will be square, flat or true anyway. Good enough for farm equipment parts. Parts for NASA?..........Not so much............................Bob
 
If anyone has had a good experience with a "fake Kurt" style vise, I'd be interested in hearing about it. No way I'm coughing up $700 at this point. :(

Tom, what about a 5" Glacern? They have a very good reputation and they are ready to go, out of the box. No surface grinding to get stuff square and flat, no casting defects, etc. Have a look - $369.00 with free shipping:

https://www.glacern.com/gsv_550
 
Maybe I am doing it wrong, but when I mount my vice to the table, I sweep the fixed jaw with an indicator so that it is square to the table travel. I could care less if the fixed jaw is square to the casting. So why not just replace the fixed jaw with something thicker to get past the notch in the casting then use your mill to face the front edge so you know it is smooth and flat?
 
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