Vise design. Looking for suggestions, critiques.....

12bolts

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Going to make a vise for my (9") shaper, with the likelihood that it will get used on my mill as well.
I have a few odd pieces of mild steel plate that look just the bits I need. But before I start cutting I thought I would see what the rest of the group thinks about my plans and design.
I am going to put the screw thread the full length of the vise and have it supported by bearings at each end, and a removeable bearing cap to facillitate assembly. The fixed jaw will be keyed to the base and secured by cap bolts from underneath. The moving jaw will sit in a slot and travel along the fixed threaded spindle, and have a plate secured to the bottom, running in a recess in the base, to assist in helping to stop the jaw from rising during tightening.
I am thinking about making the base as large as my shaper table, (7" x 11") so that will give me a jaw width of about 5" and a clamping range of about 4-5" depending on the jaws' final size.
Vise 1.jpg Vise 2.jpg
Vise 3.jpg Vise 4.jpg
I will put mounting holes in the flange base to suit the machine T slots.

Fixed Jaw 1.jpg Fixed Jaw 2.jpg
Not sure if I will make replaceable jaws or not?

Moving Jaw 1.jpg Moving Jaw 2.jpg
Bearing Cap 1.jpg Bearing Cap 2.jpg
Not shown are the threaded spindle and the anti rise plate. My mill table is 8" x 30", with a scope of 20" x 6" x 16" (X,Y,Z) travel

So, give me some feedback

Cheers Phil
 
I'm not able to mentally assemble all the components as drawn but got most of it.
One problem I've seen on older vises that saw hard and dirty use was wear in the guide slot for the traveling jaw
and the jaw itself. Though this would take many years to develop, I've often wondered if the jaw could be designed
with removable plates or slides so the slot could later be re-scraped and new, thicker, slides installed so the vise would
again be tight. Just something I've thought about when I've seen old iron that was abused and wasted.

Removable jaws would be a excellent feature and add versatility that you would later miss without them.
Another option would be a way to set the vice at an angle. This would let you cut ways that were to use gibbs and
who knows what else. Many machines have a hole in the table and the vise base has a pin to match so the vise can swivel.
Were you going to use a hardened key under the fixed jaw?
Looks like a nice project.
Jim
 
Well over 100+ views and only one reply. I must be doing something right!
Jim, I get you on the ability to tilt and swivel the vice, but that is going to add more mass and bulk to what will already be a fairly hefty lump of steel. So I think I will leave it as is and have a separate rotab fixture for that work. Good point about the jaws.

Cheers Phil
 
If you look on Ebay, you can probably find a rotary base for a commercially available vise that you could use for the rotation. You might want to procure that first, so you can design the vise for attachment to it. I second the removable jaws comment. Being able to make V slot jaws or special jaws for holding difficult parts might come in very handy, also if you mess them up you can just replace them.
 
I will try and get some pictures and/or drawings from the parts books of the two EMCO-MAIER vices that I have, they are every similar to your design. I always thought that they would be easy to copy using stock like you have shown. One plus, that they have is the ability to adjust for wear on the moving jaw.
 
When I made a vise for my Burke #4 horizontal mill I drilled mounting holes in the bed of the vise, where the jaw slides. That was for economy of material and it has not been a problem for me. I also need a similar vise for my Lewis shaper. It has about a 7" table and 10" stroke. I have a piece of 1 1/4" plate that is about big enough to make a 7" vise.
 
This thread is really old, but what the hell. This vise design is missing one critical design feature, which will make it a pain in the rear to use as a machining fixture: Every angle is 90 degrees, therefore this vise has no locking/jaw hold down feature. There should be small angles built in that straighten and push down as torque is applied to the lead screw. Honestly, this design omission probably made the difference between a working vise and scrap.,
 
This thread is really old, but what the hell. This vise design is missing one critical design feature, which will make it a pain in the rear to use as a machining fixture: Every angle is 90 degrees, therefore this vise has no locking/jaw hold down feature. There should be small angles built in that straighten and push down as torque is applied to the lead screw. Honestly, this design omission probably made the difference between a working vise and scrap.,
The mill vise I made is like a "planer chuck" or vise. The sliding jaw backer engages key ways cut into the base parallel to the jaws and has a hold down screw that is tightened once the work is tightened in the jaws. It is not as fast to operate as a conventional vise but locks the part down solid. I used 4140 then hardened, tempered and ground it. It is probably overkill for the small machine but has served me well for about twenty years. I will likely make my shaper vise that way too.
 
This thread is really old, but what the hell. This vise design is missing one critical design feature, which will make it a pain in the rear to use as a machining fixture: Every angle is 90 degrees, therefore this vise has no locking/jaw hold down feature. There should be small angles built in that straighten and push down as torque is applied to the lead screw. Honestly, this design omission probably made the difference between a working vise and scrap.,
Vises before the invention of the Kurt vise had no jaw pull down mechanism. Just means you have to hit your workpiece with a (soft) hammer to seat it before you start machining. Pretty much all the planer/shaper vises lack that design feature, as do older milling vises. Jaw pull down is a nice feature to have in a vise, but no essential.
 
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