Vise size - 4" or 6"

[DavidR8]

I need a vise for my new mill. I see that most parallel sets come in 6" lengths so that seems to signal that a 6" vise is the norm. Or am I wrong?

 

[MontanaLon]

A 6" will be huge on that mill. I've got a 3" and it is just a little small. I am looking at a 5" Kurt and it looks like the Goldilocks vise to me. But a 4" might be OK too. I don't do a lot of big work where I would run out of jaw space. Only looking to replace the 3" because it is not really accurate or rigid.

 

[middle.road]

5" perhaps might be a good fit. 6" will be too big.

 

[Aukai]

This is the 6" Kurt, and the 4" Glacern that I bought 2 of. There may be a sale going on for them, I think I saw someone post that.

 

[DavidR8]

Jeepers, that 6" Kurt is enormous!
I think that a 4" or 5" will be the way to go. Decisions, decisions!

At the risk of completely exposing my ignorance here how does a person deal with parallels that are 6" long if the workpiece is say 5" long.
Let's say I want to square up both ends, do I just flip it end for end?
(I realize that I'm venturing into Beginners section territory here....)

 

[mikey]

I would get the 4". It is perfectly sized for an RF-sized mill.

 

[Ken from ontario]

I would go with a 4", it'll give you some room to move toward/away from the column. I have a mini mill and 3" is sometimes too small, 4" is almost a perfect size , sometimes it feels too long.

 

[Ken from ontario]

There you go ,Mikey gave you an answer that comes with personal experience.

 

[DavidR8]

Poof! Decision made. Let the shopping begin!

 

[MontanaLon]

Jeepers, that 6" Kurt is enormous!
I think that a 4" or 5" will be the way to go. Decisions, decisions!

At the risk of completely exposing my ignorance here how does a person deal with parallels that are 6" long if the workpiece is say 5" long.
Let's say I want to square up both ends, do I just flip it end for end?
(I realize that I'm venturing into Beginners section territory here....)

I just left them full length. Makes it easy to wiggle them to see if the work is in contact. They seem pretty hard, I don't think I would even want to cut them with anything but an abrasive tool. But really there is no need to cut them.