Tightening up a screwless vise

I don't positively know the actual size of the 3" Kurt vises, but I do have the dimensions of a 3" Kurt clone as I was curious if my Sherline could manage one, since there are no 2" Kurt style vises. The 3" is 9.9" long (so no, not going to fit on the Sherline ;) ).
 
I linked to this vise before but I wonder if he would come down on his price. He is pricing this 3" vise higher than his 4 and 5 inch Kurt vises so this guy knows the 3" vises are rare. Yeah, I know its not a new one but if he will come down to maybe $200 or so then it might be worth it. Someone drilled to holes into the bed. This won't affect the function of the vise but that right there drops its value significantly. If you are at all interested in it, try negotiating. He might just come down far enough to be worth it.

Oh yeah, these 3" vises are rare but they are not that rare. Another will pop up eventually if you can be patient.
 
mikey said:
I linked to this vise before but I wonder if he would come down on his price. He is pricing this 3" vise higher than his 4 and 5 inch Kurt vises so this guy knows the 3" vises are rare. Yeah, I know its not a new one but if he will come down to maybe $200 or so then it might be worth it. Someone drilled to holes into the bed. This won't affect the function of the vise but that right there drops its value significantly. If you are at all interested in it, try negotiating. He might just come down far enough to be worth it.

Oh yeah, these 3" vises are rare but they are not that rare. Another will pop up eventually if you can be patient.
Click to expand...

I've been watching for an "inexpensive" 4" Kurt vise off and on for about a year and they just don't seen to exist.

The $485 the All Industrial is charging for a new DX4 (retail from Kurt is $612) is less than some are asking for a used D40 and the $389 Glacern is asking for the GSV-440 is a real bargain compared to many used 4" vises.

Are there any old US vises other than Kurt worth looking at? I have a 4" Palmgren (1940s vintage) that came with my horizontal mill. It is much lighter weight (and much more compact) than the Kurt style but seems to be a quality vise. I've seen similar ones selling in the $150-200 range, so they are much more affordable, but don't know how they rate compared to a Kurt. Occassionally see vises from Pratt & Whitney, Brown & Sharpe etc, again usually much cheaper.
 
Or how about these Wiltons? I know Mikey likes their 2" vise, Amazon has the 3" for $284, and the 4" (appears to be smaller than the DX4) for $489.

Probably not as solid, but it is going on a relatively small mill.
 
Aaron, I'll offer an opinion. The current Wilton line of milling vises are made in India by Groz if I'm not mistaken. My 2" is an old one made by Wilton in the US; I do not know if the quality of those made in India is the same but I can tell you that the dynamic jaw is guided by adjustable gib screws underneath the jaw. This is meant to limit jaw tilt but it does NOT eliminate it. It is nowhere near as good as the anglelok design.

I also own a Wilton-made 2" and a Groz-made Wilton 3" screwless vise and they are excellent vises. If you're looking for one of these then I can recommend them.

There are many vises out there but if I were to do it all over again, I would still buy a Kurt (or Glacern). I cannot afford an Orange.
 
mikey said:
At the very least, I would buy a new screw and put a washer under it before sticking it into the hemispherical pivot thingy again. The receiver is not difficult to make but I would try the screw first to see if that resolves the issue.
Click to expand...

I was near LMS today, so I stopped in and found they sell this entire assembly for the 3" screwless vises for $9.95. Considering the UPS Ground I'd have to pay to buy a cap screw from McMaster, I think this worked out cheaper. Vise now holds a workpiece well, will have to see how it works out over the long run.

vise-assembly.jpg
 
Put a stainless washer between the head of the screw and that half-ball thing to reduce wear, Frank.
 
mikey said:
Aaron, I'll offer an opinion. The current Wilton line of milling vises are made in India by Groz if I'm not mistaken. My 2" is an old one made by Wilton in the US; I do not know if the quality of those made in India is the same but I can tell you that the dynamic jaw is guided by adjustable gib screws underneath the jaw. This is meant to limit jaw tilt but it does NOT eliminate it. It is nowhere near as good as the anglelok design.

I also own a Wilton-made 2" and a Groz-made Wilton 3" screwless vise and they are excellent vises. If you're looking for one of these then I can recommend them.

There are many vises out there but if I were to do it all over again, I would still buy a Kurt (or Glacern). I cannot afford an Orange.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I know they changed the country of manufacture. You recommended the 2" 2 axis to me sometime ago, and I just got my hands on a Wilton branded one. Obviously the design isn't as solid as the Kurt style, on mini-mill like a Sherline probably solid enough, but no idea on a larger mill although they do offer the 2 and 3 axis vises up to 6" so there must be some use to them.

I'm still waiting for mine to arrive so I don't know if it is an older USA made or India made, but the Wilton branded ones are 3x the price of the generic copies so I certainly hope the quality control is better. I got it at a price that compares well to the imports on Ebay so no big loss if it isn't worth paying extra for the brand name anymore.
 
If you carefully adjust the gib screws, I think you will find that vise to be quite good.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top