picking a mill vise hellppp

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umahunter

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Ok I've been pondering this for awhile and I'm confused. I've got a old jet mill drill and I'm thinking a 5 inch vise is the best size not to heavy not to big my choices are limited my biggest quandary is how great a vise I need. the top for me is a glacern or next any of the other chi vises at less then half the price I've been going back and fourth and I'm lost I mean I'm not gonna build a space shuttle but I might lol thanks for any help
 
As a general rule you rarely go wrong when you choose quality equipment.
The Glacern certainly qualifies.
That said, some of the Asian sourced vises offer better than decent quality at very nice prices. I like Interstate brand vises.

My one suggestion would be to look for a CNC type vise. The type with flat sides and end.
These are just very versatile as you can use them on their sides or even on their end.
 
Another thing to ponder is if you think in the future you might upgrade to a larger mill. If so and you can afford it now I'd buy a higher quality vise. You may not have the money for one after an upgrade.
 
I think a 5" vise is too big for a Rong Fu. I have a 4" and any bigger would cause problems with table mounting and clearance in the back.
 
If I do upgrade it will likely be to a pm45 or the like so same basic size good point on the 4 inch just trying to squeeze out as much capability and rigidity as possible
 
umahunter said:
If I do upgrade it will likely be to a pm45 or the like so same basic size good point on the 4 inch just trying to squeeze out as much capability and rigidity as possible
Click to expand...


A PM45/932 wants a 4" vise. Hands-down advice (or should I say "ad-vise" ? ).


Ray
 
Ok, on this vise thing. I purchased a 3" vise from LMS thinking maybe it would be better than the Chinese ones on eBay. WRONG! same exact vise, I tightened the jaws up on a piece of aluminum and right out of the box it didn't feel like it was tightening correctly. You know that feeling you get when you expect something to have resistance as it gets tight? well this didn't have that. That's because it was screwed up. There is a set screw that pushes the jaw closed against another radius part, that is supposed to provide the downward force like the Kurt brand, mine was messed up and required fixing (right out of the box). Do a search for polishing a turd and you will find an article about these vises. I ended up fixing mine up enough to use but its hard to trust it.
I'm not knocking LMS they are simply re-sellers of imported goods. My next vise will be a Glacern 4" myself, quality only costs a little more.

As far as size, think about how much of the vise will hang off the front over the Y axis handle, a 5" vise is almost 15" long.
Just food for thought.

Mark
 
Who else makes a good 4 inch vise besides kurt and glacern ???
 
Ray C said:
A PM45/932 wants a 4" vise. Hands-down advice (or should I say "ad-vise" ? ).


Ray
Click to expand...

I wholeheartedly agree. I have an Enco mill/drill that is a copy of the Rong Fu. I bought a 5" vice for it and can't count the times I wish I had something smaller. The 5" works and is very accurate but as others have said it's so big it gets in the way. FWIW.

Tom S
 
I've got the 5" on my G0755 (RF-45) and I'm glad I didn't get the 4".

Dave
 
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