# Prismatic Jaw, V-groove, or what for holding round parts?



## Twisted Road (Dec 16, 2011)

Several of the small jobs I'd like to do on my new Grizzly G0704 mill require holding round parts. It seems the easiest way to do that would be a v-groove in the vise jaws. I have a 4" (cough) "precision" (cough) vise from Grizzly. It seems to work well enough so far (whack, down?, no, whack, no, whack, yes...) but I have not found any jaw replacements that have a v-groove. I thought I could perhaps make some (heck, I *DO* have a mill now), but I honestly can't think of a good way to make the v-groove.

So, is anyone aware of aftermarket jaw inserts or other method for holding round parts? If not, how would I go about making adapters or whatever myself to make this work?

Thanks for helping out a new guy!

--Mike


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## kd4gij (Dec 16, 2011)

I use a small V block to hold round parts in the vice. If you don't have them yet you could make a set of soft jaws for the vice. I would use cold rolled steal. to cut a V in them clamp the new jaw at a 45 deg angle in the vice and use a 1/2" endmill to cut the V. You would be using the corner of the endmill. hope that makes scence.


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## Twisted Road (Dec 16, 2011)

Does the v-block need to be attached to the vise or is it just held there by the compression of the vise jaws? (or am I missing something?)

Thanks,

 --Mike


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## 110octane (Dec 16, 2011)

If you are not having to run the full length of the piece you are machining, I use the little "collet indexer."  ENCO (part no. 235-6011) and many others as well as ebay, of course, sell these new for prices from $35 up; watch for a sale, they go on sale frequently.  Don't buy the "certified high precision unit" unless you are cutting to tenths, I have found things close enough for anything I can do with the less expensive unit. For long shafts, I use a tailstock from a rotary table to support the center drilled end of the stock; the tailstock I have has an adjustable feature.  I can't remember where it came from but must have been with a rotary table I bought at a close out since the paint matches nothing else I have.  Of course you need a 5C collet of the size for the shaft you wish to machine.  Advantage is you can put a long length of stock through all but the larger collets and you have the indexing feature for turning hex, square, splines, keyways, etc.  
The unit comes without any provision for mounting, since the rationale is that it will be held on a magnetic table, like a surface grinder.  No problem, just drill four holes in the base and bolt through or tap for a base plate rigged for your mill table.  I was fortunate to have a piece of Blanchard ground plate (long story) but I don't see why a piece of cold finished flat bar wouldn't be OK for basic tolerances. There are three and four jaw chucks with 5C mountings that may be used for larger short lengths of stock and odd shaped pieces (meaning the four jaw used here).
Now you can make that Whitworth headed bolt with the metric threaded shank!


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## kd4gij (Dec 16, 2011)

Twisted Road said:


> Does the v-block need to be attached to the vise or is it just held there by the compression of the vise jaws? (or am I missing something?)
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> --Mike



  No just lay the part in the V then clamp bouth the V block and part in the vice


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## Twisted Road (Dec 16, 2011)

DaveH said:


> Hello Mike,
> 
> This may help a little, there again it may not. :biggrin:
> 
> ...



The thread looks interesting but does anyone have any idea why I can't see the in-line pictures?. I wonder if that's because I'm "Swarf"? 

--Mike


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## Twisted Road (Dec 17, 2011)

No, I do not see the links. I've tried two computers and both IE and Firefox.

Oddly, if I select "Printable Version" the links do show up and I can click on them. However, when I do, the page loads but there's nothing there.

It seems to be DaveH's posts that don't show the pictures, there are other pictures posted by others in the same thread that show up fine.

--Mike


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## Tony Wells (Dec 17, 2011)

Depending on the nature of the work to be done, some just clamp the round in one of the tee slot grooves in the table using toe clamps. Obviously there are limits on the size of the round that will accurately lay in the slot, and what size hole you can drill thru, etc., but it's straightforward, simple, and quick.


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