I have been having some problems with my starter "screwless" vise on my harbor freight mini mill. I think its time to pull the trigger and get a 3" angle lock style vise. Does anyone have any experience with the cheap ones that are around? Cheap is OK with me, I won`t be cranking down on it and breaking the casting like some of the horror stories... really just want a quicker setup, that has locator blocks in the base - I won`t be using the swivel part in day to day use.
This one seems decent since I can have it in a few days ...
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PX9BADE/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A2QSX0WT38UK5G
The only thing I have to go off of that screams "all made in the same factory in china" is the weight - every one of them from $89 to $189 from ebay to little machine shop to wherever, has the same weight and same casting. problem is that inexperienced or lazy sellers on ebay ship it UPS with a $50 cost, when I assume it would fit in a big USPS flat rate box.
Any suggestions or ideas? Will this thing be repeatable enough for me to make a few identical parts? What else should I be asking?
I should also add that if there were a 3" Kurt vise for $400 i`d probably go that route, to save a lot of frustration on setups - but as far as I can see, all of these cheap vises are the same, so might as well save some money?
This one seems decent since I can have it in a few days ...
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PX9BADE/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A2QSX0WT38UK5G
The only thing I have to go off of that screams "all made in the same factory in china" is the weight - every one of them from $89 to $189 from ebay to little machine shop to wherever, has the same weight and same casting. problem is that inexperienced or lazy sellers on ebay ship it UPS with a $50 cost, when I assume it would fit in a big USPS flat rate box.
Any suggestions or ideas? Will this thing be repeatable enough for me to make a few identical parts? What else should I be asking?
I should also add that if there were a 3" Kurt vise for $400 i`d probably go that route, to save a lot of frustration on setups - but as far as I can see, all of these cheap vises are the same, so might as well save some money?