# Pm-932 Vise



## abrace (Jan 3, 2017)

All,

          Looks like I will be buying a PM-932 from Matt after all. Unfortunately, he is all out of HOMGE 4" vises and won't have one for quite a while. I am looking for recommendations on a decent affordable vice for the 932 in lieu of the HOMGE.

          Yes, I know, Kurt D40...but they are scarce on CL and EBAY. I want something affordable and attainable.

          Decent precision and quality would be great, but I am not doing machining for nuclear power plants. This is all basic stuff.


----------



## petertha (Jan 3, 2017)

I had to look up Homge but this low profile one looks very much like my (no longer made) Bison. Smallest one, 100mm = 3.94".  There is another name that looks conspicuously similar, GS maybe? Anyway I'm every happy with this style on my RF-45 mill. Low profile, very precise, excellent clamping & nil part movement when clamping. Not sure how it compares to your more conventional mill vise style $ wise. I know when I compared height vs. Kurt & clones I gained something like 2" headroom which was a good thing on my mill. It doesn't have the angle swivel base but when I had one on another vise a) I didn't use it much b) it removed even more headroom c) the angle is just a guideline anyway, its not precise, it wasn't ground that great, it tilted the vise a bit at different angles. Another nice feature is the continuous slot along the whole vise base which gives much more flexibility to clamp to T-slots of different widths & configurations. This can be a headache when casting lugs or slots are mismatched & you cant set the vise where you ideally want it. Food for thought anyway, good luck.


----------



## JR49 (Jan 3, 2017)

abrace said:


> Unfortunately, he is all out of HOMGE 4" vises


     If Matt has any 5" HOMGE vises in stock, you might want to go up an inch.  I have the 5" on my 932, and it fits just fine.  Been using it for just over a year now and I love it.  Happy New Year,  JR49


----------



## darkzero (Jan 4, 2017)

I have a 4" vise that Matt gave me with my PM45 & I have a 5" Glacern. I prefer the 5" much more. I only keep the 4" around cause it has the swivel base but I rarely need the swivel.


----------



## 38Bill (Jan 4, 2017)

I just bought a PM-932. I'm running a 5" vise and I think that the mill handles the size well. The only problem I have with it is that my vise uses a cast in boss for the hold down bolts. This limits the mounting options as they have to line up with the table slots. I think a 5" vise with the mounting side slots (no boss) would be just about perfect. That way you can slide the vise forward  or backward as needed.


----------



## Chris Bettis (Jan 4, 2017)

I have a glacern 6" its excellent quality. I highly recommend the glacern vise. 

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk


----------



## abrace (Jan 4, 2017)

Matt is out of 5" HOMGE as well as 4".


----------



## abrace (Jan 4, 2017)

I priced out Glacern, unless there is some special coupon codes I don't know about they seem almost as expensive as a Kurt D40...especially after you factor in Glacern's ridiculous shipping.


----------



## Bray D (Jan 4, 2017)

I have the 4" vise that came with my mill, but I often needed more clamping capacity. I wanted at least 6" between jaws, so I opted for a 6" vise. I picked up a super cheap 6" import from an auction then modified it for my application.

By re-machining the fixed jaw mounting holes and keyways, I was able to relocate the fixed jaw and gain full cutter access to the edge of the piece. It also gave me more travel towards the movable jaw, as the bed of the vise now fits beautifully under my column ways. I still have ~6.5" of clamping capacity as well.

While likely an unpopular solution, it has been a huge win for me and only cost me 50 bucks. If I need more accuracy, I can just bolt on some soft jaws, take a clean up cut, and the vise is then as accurate to the machine as possible.

All of this being said, if there were a 5" vise with a 6"+ clamping capacity, I would consider getting one. This 6" vise is pretty big/heavy.

View media item 95675View media item 95676View media item 95677


----------



## Bray D (Jan 4, 2017)

Not sure if the gallery images will work for everyone so here's a couple embedded pics.


----------



## darkzero (Jan 4, 2017)

abrace said:


> I priced out Glacern, unless there is some special coupon codes I don't know about they seem almost as expensive as a Kurt D40...especially after you factor in Glacern's ridiculous shipping.



Unfortunately you just missed their sales. They have sales for Halloween, Thanksgiving, & Christmas. I paid $318 for my 5" vise during their Halloween sale in 2012.


----------



## lpeedin (Jan 4, 2017)

Here is a link to the 4" vise that both I and lpeedin have for our PM 727's.  The price is decent and seems to be a quality vise.  I had originally purchased a cheap 4" vise from Matt that was OK, but didn't really impress me.  This vise seems to be approx. 50% heavier as it definitely has more cast iron than the cheap vise did.   http://www.hhip.com/machine-tool-ac...ro-quality-milling-vise-with-swivel-base.html


----------



## mksj (Jan 4, 2017)

I have used a 6" Teco (same as the older Parlec) on both my previous smaller bench top mill (about the same size as the 932) and on my 9x42 knee. Physically it just hangs out further in front, and you are limited because of your Y travel. But you can clamp a longer piece and mill on one end of the clamped piece, which was helpful in some cases. It also is nice if you ever get a bigger mill. Otherwise you might look at the Shar's 5" vises, good quality and decent price, although they bite you in their shipping costs. http://www.shars.com/5-550v-cnc-milling-machine-vise-0-0004-1

This is a very good price on the 6" Teco (smae model as my Parlec which is a PWS-6900), I paid a bit more 6 years ago put had free Enco shipping.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/TECO-PWS-69...NG-MACHINE-MILLING-KURT-NEW-NIB-/112258031195


----------



## abrace (Jan 4, 2017)

3dshooter80 said:


> Here is a link to the 4" vise that both I and lpeedin have for our PM 727's.  The price is decent and seems to be a quality vise.  I had originally purchased a cheap 4" vise from Matt that was OK, but didn't really impress me.  This vise seems to be approx. 50% heavier as it definitely has more cast iron than the cheap vise did.   http://www.hhip.com/machine-tool-ac...ro-quality-milling-vise-with-swivel-base.html



Looks like a decent vise. They ever have any discount codes for shipping? They want over $120 to ship one to me...Makes it almost the same cost as a Kurt D40 from MSC if I wait for free shipping.


----------



## Hozzie (Jan 4, 2017)

I have a 5" Glacern on mine.  They had coupons to cover shipping when I bought mine.  Don't recall the exact price, but excellent quality for what you pay.


----------



## abrace (Jan 4, 2017)

Anyone have any experience with this?  https://www.amazon.com/HFS-Milling-Machine-Lockdown-Vise/dp/B00KRRBROE

Seems to get good reviews...but you never know with Amazon. Half the reviews there are from shills.


----------



## lpeedin (Jan 4, 2017)

abrace, if you have Amazon Prime, it looks like they have the vise I linked to on there with free shipping.  Just search for 3900-2204 vise and it comes right up.  $286.  Can't go wrong.


----------



## abrace (Jan 7, 2017)

Thanks everyone for the feedback. I have been doing a lot of thinking on this, and I decided to start with something relatively cheap. I am likely to mill the vice instead of the work a few times while I am getting the hang of things. Once I figure stuff out I can spring for a nicer one like a Kurt, Glacern, or maybe the HHIP.


I bought this relatively cheapo: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KSC80RU


----------



## richard_rex (Jan 8, 2017)

abrace said:


> Thanks everyone for the feedback. I have been doing a lot of thinking on this, and I decided to start with something relatively cheap. I am likely to mill the vice instead of the work a few times while I am getting the hang of things. Once I figure stuff out I can spring for a nicer one like a Kurt, Glacern, or maybe the HHIP.
> 
> 
> I bought this relatively cheapo: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KSC80RU


Looks to be a good alternative to the Homge. (I have a 4" Homge, and have been very satisfied with it.) What has been a pivotal issue for me - probably because I am endlessly removing and replacing the vise - has been the ability to re-install without the need for tramming. I followed the suggestion in the manual to make keys to fit precisely in the vise and table slots. This took a fair amount of effort (the custom keys were hardened and honed). Not sure whether that was strictly necessary, but the end result has been more than worthwhile - I can re-install with only a +/- 0.001" variance measured along 8" ground stock. So, for most purposes, no tramming is required. The other suggestion in the manual was to shim the fixed jaw if the keyed vise is out of tram (vise slots not parallel with the jaw). I did that, too, on a lower quality 5" vise. It's functional, but aesthetically not a winner.


----------

