I Need To Build A Milling Vise. Best Kind To Make????

Learn how to check if it is closing square.
A vise that lifts, or doesn't close square may ruin your work, endmill, and face.
Worse is when it flings it across the room (it was a very small part, I couldn't figure out how to hold- it missed my face).
A good vise needn't cost your pension.
But, not all vises are suitable for milling.

Daryl
MN
 
When it comes to milling successfully, in other words, not ruining your part or your cutting tool, rigidity is the name of the game. Not to sound like a snob, or an expert, but for a newbie, and yup I was a terminal one for a long time and surely in some folks eyes I still am, a good vise in good shape will make all your past efforts look like they were in vain. I bought a very nice Clausing 8520 a dozen or so years ago, very nice Clausing vise. Except for all the chatter, worn cutters, lousy finish, basically an unhappy camper, but I had been around the block already a few times and thought every thing looked good. In frustration, I bought a very well used 4" Kurt Vise off Epay, and holy sh*t did my problems disappear. If the vise can not do its job all your efforts are in vain. Building a very good vise is an act of Zen IMO. I have seen fellow hobbyist build killer vises, but if you want get down to specs and accuracy, they were not making 5$ an hour for their effort. Is it cool, sure it is, and a feather in your or their cap. But if you want to make square parts on a mill, get a good vise somehow and do it quick because the alternative is madness IMO. Like Ugly Dog pointed out, alternative clamping is better than a sketchy vise.

cheers
michael
 
Im in a similar situation. I need a BIG vice for my shaper. Even if I could afford one they are pretty much non existent around here and shipping would be ridiculous. Its on my ever growing list. Im thinking the parts I need can be clamped directly to the table as Im making them as Daryl suggested. Haven't seen any plans yet but the Kurt design with the wedge and half ball to pull the moving jaw down isn't rocket science. Just pretend your Chinese and reverse engineer it. Wish I could help, if you do come up with plans please post them, I could hopefully scale them up to what I think I need.

Greg
 
Your in the same boat as me Greg. This area has prices that boggle the mind for some very old and worn vises and machines. And as you mentioned getting one shipped here is even crazier. In the states they can get a package sent clear across their country cheaper than we can ship it to the next town. Ontario has become rediculously expensive for everything and most of us are making far, far less than we made 20 or 30 years ago. And getting a better job is 1 in a million because there aren't any left for the bluecollar guys. Fords gone, GM's going, hell even Toyotas pulling out, (the list goes on) and most of these guys that got let go are currently making minimum wage doing jobs the kids used to do. Manufacturing is quickly dissapearing and being replaced by absolutely nothing for us. They claim we're getting more technology type jobs, but that doesn't do much if your over 50 with a highschool diploma or less. Even my son can't find a summer job because a bunch of us older people need them to make the bills. The rich are doing fine but the average guy is quietly struggling regardless of what the government claims. Most of us no longer have any pensions so growing old will be interesting even though they've tripled our contribution payments and upped retirement to 67. My American friends are shocked by our cost of living compared to the average wage around here. Ok, enough complaining from me. ;) I had an idea when looking at a screwless vise on line. They seem straightforward to build but scaling one up to a descent size would be a pain because of all those holes that have to be drilled through the body. takes a pretty long expensive drill bit I don't own. After I looked at its design for a while it clicked that those half holes that the locking pin rides in, could be built as a separate piece. Take a piece of whatever flatstock drill holes with the appropriate spacing as used in the screwless design, then cut the flat stock in half along the centerline of the holes. Now you can bolt or weld it to a heavier piece of stock and basically build a screwless as big as you'd like from multiple pieces. I have lots of smaller pieces so I'm hoping I can piece something together. I think on it. I might as well. I can't sleep anyways thinking about my bills. lol
 
Uglydog said:
Have you tried carefully placed hold downs?
Much cheaper than a vice.
Take a alot longer to set up. However, there are things you can do with hold downs you will never fit in a vise.

Daryl
MN
Click to expand...
Yes I have a few clamps and some I made. They do work, but as you stated they are slow and awkward. I'm not opposed to using them but the convenience of a vise is really nice when you only get short lengths of time to use the machines. The main problem with the clamps on a mill drill is that I sometimes can't get enough clearance for a tool change without cranking up the head. With a taller vise I can usually just move the table over and change tools. Then my alignment doesn't get screwed up. Not the end of the world but it does use up a lot more of my very precious machine time. At first I was soooo thrilled just to finally have the machines I've wanted since I was a kid, now I'm complaining about them. Maybe I'm being a little too greedy.
 
Doubleeboy said:
When it comes to milling successfully, in other words, not ruining your part or your cutting tool, rigidity is the name of the game. Not to sound like a snob, or an expert, but for a newbie, and yup I was a terminal one for a long time and surely in some folks eyes I still am, a good vise in good shape will make all your past efforts look like they were in vain. I bought a very nice Clausing 8520 a dozen or so years ago, very nice Clausing vise. Except for all the chatter, worn cutters, lousy finish, basically an unhappy camper, but I had been around the block already a few times and thought every thing looked good. In frustration, I bought a very well used 4" Kurt Vise off Epay, and holy sh*t did my problems disappear. If the vise can not do its job all your efforts are in vain. Building a very good vise is an act of Zen IMO. I have seen fellow hobbyist build killer vises, but if you want get down to specs and accuracy, they were not making 5$ an hour for their effort. Is it cool, sure it is, and a feather in your or their cap. But if you want to make square parts on a mill, get a good vise somehow and do it quick because the alternative is madness IMO. Like Ugly Dog pointed out, alternative clamping is better than a sketchy vise.

cheers
michael
Click to expand...
I'm hoping it will solve my problems as well. The vise I'm using does work BUT every now and then it will let the part move. Annoyed barely describes how I feel when a part I've worked on for days as time allows is suddenly scrap because the vise decided to let go. It sure didn't take long for that dovetail cutter to loose her teeth after the part shifted up a few thou suddenly. I'm sure a better vise will make this hobby even more enjoyable. If I can enjoy it this much even with the problems I've been having, I can only imagine how much more fun it will be when my part stays put. :) I may be complaining right now, but I can honestly say this is the most enjoyable, mind freeing hobby EVER. I absolutely love it. Give me a time machine and I'd do it all again as a Machinist.
 
One thing that comes to mind is that you might be able to make modifications to your existing vise that would make it more useful to you. Probably for minimal cost. You just need to understand why it's letting go and correct those issues.
 
First thing I thought of when reading your post was for a screwless vise. They seem straightforward. There will likely still be limitations to it, but there are with any vise, really.
 
ih8beinggold,

Just for our curiosity, would you post a photo of your current vise... and mill?

Ken
 
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