What Size Vise For Rf30 - 4" Or 6" ?

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HBilly1022

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The title says it all. I'm looking at getting a milling vise for my machine. I already have a cheap 4" that came with it but it is not square and very light duty. I looked at a 4" Magnum brand Chinese vise and while it is a LOT bigger, the opening is still only 4" but it does come with a swivel base. It weighs 13 Kg. The 6" is a monster of a vise and weighs 32 Kgs.

What do you RF30 owners use and are you happy with the size?
 
HBilly1022 said:
The title says it all. I'm looking at getting a milling vise for my machine. I already have a cheap 4" that came with it but it is not square and very light duty. I looked at a 4" Magnum brand Chinese vise and while it is a LOT bigger, the opening is still only 4" but it does come with a swivel base. It weighs 13 Kg. The 6" is a monster of a vise and weighs 32 Kgs.

What do you RF30 owners use and are you happy with the size?
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I bought a 5" vise several years ago for my RF30. I also have a 4" but I like the 5" best for the type of work I do. Either size will work but IMHO a 6" is too big.

Tom S.
 
TomS said:
I bought a 5" vise several years ago for my RF30. I also have a 4" but I like the 5" best for the type of work I do. Either size will work but IMHO a 6" is too big.

Tom S.
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Thanks Tom, I was thinking a 5" would be better but it's not available at this store. I spent some time searching the net for answers and found 2 good indicators. Rick Sparber has some posts and videos that show his vise on an RF30. I could not find any reference to the size of the vise but from a couple of pics I tried to scale it relative to the width of the table and it appears to be a 4". I also found a youtube video with ChuckE2009 showing his RF30 (Grizzly version) with an 8" vise on it and that was kind of funny. The 8" is obviously waaaaaaay too big for it. I still couldn't find anything showing a 6". But I think you are right. I'm heading into the big City in the next few days and will try to compare the 2 sizes to see what makes sense. After posting my original question I checked the vise that came with my mill and found it is actually only 3 1/2" wide, with a 3 1/2" opening. I think the 4" will be a better fit but will see tomorrow.

John
 
I'm interested to know the size that you choose. With picture installed. I temporary using a 4" drill press vice. I looked at a 3" at princess auto and the movable jaw was all over. If I had a surface grinder I would try making my own vice. I did see the 2 piece vice on busy bee site, not sure how useful it wouldbe.
Jack

Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk
 
Hi,
I have a 6" on my RF31 and it is to big. It overhangs the back of the table and I loose travel in the Y direction which is especially troublesome as I have converted to cnc and if I am not careful, the vice will strike the column and bad things can happen. I would really like a 5" as the 4" that I have is a bit lacking in jaw opening at times.

Just my .02
 
Go for the 5 inch. Glacern makes a vey nice one, now for $399.
 
I have a 4" but then I have several smaller ones, also 6" for the drill press I'll use in a pinch. Have to make sure it's set up and clamped down and don't make anything precision or with deep cuts.

UH....Yea, I think that's it.
 
I was gonna suggest that the size of your work would dictate the size of the vice, Then Bubba mentioned Y interference. I have that problem with my 4" vise. I guess it's a matter of what fits for what you're doing.
 
atlas ten said:
I'm interested to know the size that you choose. With picture installed. I temporary using a 4" drill press vice. I looked at a 3" at princess auto and the movable jaw was all over. If I had a surface grinder I would try making my own vice. I did see the 2 piece vice on busy bee site, not sure how useful it would be.
Jack
Click to expand...

I have one of those two piece vises from Enco:

http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INSRIT?PMAKA=425-7403

It is useful, but it is not a substitute for a machinist vise.
 
Ok I went into town early this morning and just got back. They only had a 4" and a 6". I thought the 6" was too big and would have liked a 5" but settled on the 4". I checked it over and the jaws seemed to be nice and parallel and closed with no apparent gaps anywhere. If the jaws lifted I could not feel or see it but I'm sure it will show up when I put something in it an lock it down. I will get a pic later and post it. My thinking with this size is that it will likely do for most, if not all, the work I envision and if it doesn't I will make a larger one that clamps to the table. Something like this http://www.millerwelds.com/resource...ng-projects/2249-nice-project-for-mill-owners

Atlas ten: I got this at KMS Tools for $100 and I think it is a great deal. The sale is on all month but the selection varies by store.
 
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