- Joined
- Mar 21, 2013
- Messages
- 26
I bought a used 6" mill vise with rotary base recently off Craigslist. There are no identifying marks anywhere on it. It's old enough to have been probably made in Taiwan but all the dimensions and hardware are American SAE. Very well made and the saddle fits perfectly with a close tolerance. The jaws are perfectly parallel and the movable jaw operates smoothly. There was no handle, but an 8-point 11/16 socket and a flex handle do the job well.
Anyway, I was happy with my $50 find until reading all the blogs about mill vises and how they ain't worth dog doo unless it's a Kurt Angle-Lock $700 name dropper. After giving it some thought I came to the conclusion that the only thing the expensive one has is the function of forcing the movable jaw down to eliminate lifting if the work piece isn't perfectly square. I figured I could do the same thing with gib locks that could be loosened to move the jaw easily and snugged down once the work piece is in place before the jaws are finally tightened with the main lead screw.
Before this mod the gibs were snug enough to prevent lifting but were shimmed to slide without much drag. Now there is even less drag until the gib dogs are socked down. The gib nuts are 1-1/8 cold rolled, 3/8 thick tapped 5/16-18 to fit the set screw studs which replaced the original Allen cap screws. The dog handles are 1/4 bolts with heads removed and tapped 1/4-20 on both ends. Shim washers under the nuts prevent damage to the gibs. Nice little 13/16" phenolic knobs from McMaster finish it off. It works great!
Oh, and the last vise is another recent find. It's just too cool. I've heard them referred to as a "farmers vise". The best feature is the wide space under the jaws to hold things like a shaft with gear on the end - or something.
Anyway, I was happy with my $50 find until reading all the blogs about mill vises and how they ain't worth dog doo unless it's a Kurt Angle-Lock $700 name dropper. After giving it some thought I came to the conclusion that the only thing the expensive one has is the function of forcing the movable jaw down to eliminate lifting if the work piece isn't perfectly square. I figured I could do the same thing with gib locks that could be loosened to move the jaw easily and snugged down once the work piece is in place before the jaws are finally tightened with the main lead screw.
Before this mod the gibs were snug enough to prevent lifting but were shimmed to slide without much drag. Now there is even less drag until the gib dogs are socked down. The gib nuts are 1-1/8 cold rolled, 3/8 thick tapped 5/16-18 to fit the set screw studs which replaced the original Allen cap screws. The dog handles are 1/4 bolts with heads removed and tapped 1/4-20 on both ends. Shim washers under the nuts prevent damage to the gibs. Nice little 13/16" phenolic knobs from McMaster finish it off. It works great!
Oh, and the last vise is another recent find. It's just too cool. I've heard them referred to as a "farmers vise". The best feature is the wide space under the jaws to hold things like a shaft with gear on the end - or something.
