# Vise size - 4" or 6"



## DavidR8 (Feb 17, 2020)

I need a vise for my new mill. I see that most parallel sets come in 6" lengths so that seems to signal that a 6" vise is the norm. Or am I wrong?


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## MontanaLon (Feb 17, 2020)

A 6" will be huge on that mill. I've got a 3" and it is just a little small. I am looking at a 5" Kurt and it looks like the Goldilocks vise to me. But a 4" might be OK too. I don't do a lot of big work where I would run out of jaw space. Only looking to replace the 3" because it is not really accurate or rigid.


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## middle.road (Feb 17, 2020)

5" perhaps might be a good fit. 6" will be too big.


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## Aukai (Feb 17, 2020)

This is the 6" Kurt, and the 4" Glacern that I bought 2 of. There may be a sale going on for them, I think I saw someone post that.


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## DavidR8 (Feb 17, 2020)

Jeepers, that 6" Kurt is enormous!
I think that a 4" or 5" will be the way to go. Decisions, decisions!

At the risk of completely exposing my ignorance here how does a person deal with parallels that are 6" long if the workpiece is say 5" long.
Let's say I want to square up both ends, do I just flip it end for end?
(I realize that I'm venturing into Beginners section territory here....)


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## mikey (Feb 17, 2020)

I would get the 4". It is perfectly sized for an RF-sized mill.


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## Ken from ontario (Feb 17, 2020)

I would go with a 4", it'll give you some room to move toward/away from the column. I have a mini mill and 3" is sometimes too small, 4" is almost a perfect size , sometimes it feels too long.


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## Ken from ontario (Feb 17, 2020)

There you go ,Mikey gave you an answer that comes with personal experience.


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## DavidR8 (Feb 17, 2020)

Poof! Decision made. Let the shopping begin!


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## MontanaLon (Feb 17, 2020)

DavidR8 said:


> Jeepers, that 6" Kurt is enormous!
> I think that a 4" or 5" will be the way to go. Decisions, decisions!
> 
> At the risk of completely exposing my ignorance here how does a person deal with parallels that are 6" long if the workpiece is say 5" long.
> ...


I just left them full length. Makes it easy to wiggle them to see if the work is in contact. They seem pretty hard, I don't think I would even want to cut them with anything but an abrasive tool.  But really there is no need to cut them.


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## MontanaLon (Feb 17, 2020)

Although you want to be careful when reaching around them, they are sharp and will slice and dice like they were meant to be filet knives.


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## francist (Feb 17, 2020)

LMS sells parallels in 3", 4", and 5" long if you really want shorter ones.


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## mikey (Feb 17, 2020)

Dave, I should elaborate. The 4" vise, at least a Kurt, will bolt up to the second T-slot from the front of an RF table. This puts the rear of the vise just shy from the back edge of the table so you do not lose any travel in Y. There will be times when this matters. A larger vise will project beyond the table in back or extend way out in front. 

I own a Kurt D40. It is of a known quality with a lifetime warranty. Glacern is said to also be very good; I suspect it is comparable to a Kurt. I would not go for a cheap vise if I were you.


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## darkzero (Feb 17, 2020)

Just echoing here. 4" is the right size vise for that mill as well as my PM-45. 6" is way too big IMO. I went with a 5" & I'm happy. Went with a Glacern cause Kurt no longer makes 5" anymore & I did not feel like searching for a used one.

I use 6" wide parallels. If using longer parallels really bothers you HHIP sells 4" & 5" wide parallels. LMS carries the same ones but sell them for cheaper. I picked up 4" parallels for my 4" screwless vise as well as the 5" set last year. I didn't really want the 5" set but I was at LMS so I thought what the heck. Haven't used them yet though.


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## darkzero (Feb 17, 2020)

David, look at Mike's (Aukai) pic of the 6" & 4" vises. Anytime you have to bolt a vise on the outer most table slot in order for your spindle to reach the fixed jaw, that vise is too big IMO. Lots of overhang & you probably don't have enough Y travel to make use of the full capacity of the vise anyway. I prefer my vise to be able to mount on the middle slot (or slots, some RFs have 4 slots instead of 3).

Plus a smaller vise is easier to lug around. I never thought about this until my body started telling me I'm getting older. I take my vise off the table quite often to use other accessories. But some people rarely need to remove the vise & I have seen 6" vises on smaller mills than ours. I'm not knocking those guys. I suppose they have more use for the wider jaws. Just my preference.

Kurt does have a 6" vise that is shorter in length now. Maybe one day I'll try one if I come across one used. It's fairly new so not sure if they come up used. Too expensive for me to purchase new.


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## DavidR8 (Feb 17, 2020)

This is my RF table. 
It’s 9.5” x 23.75”







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## darkzero (Feb 17, 2020)

My table is something like 9"x32". It's not just about table size though. Depends on your Y travel in relation to where the vise would mount on the table. On my mill I don't have enough Y travel to make full use of my 5" vise (outer jaw capacity).


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## Aukai (Feb 17, 2020)

My table is 9.5 x 31.5, and 17.5 Y travel. The Kurt works, but I like the 4" better, and I have had needs for 2 to hold 2 ends to profile the middle of a project. For that one bolting to the table was real sketchy.


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## DavidR8 (Feb 17, 2020)

Gotcha, that makes sense. 
I just measured 6” of Y travel. The spindle centre is right on the inside edge of the innermost t-slot. 










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## darkzero (Feb 17, 2020)

Aukai said:


> My table is 9.5 x 31.5, and *17.5 Y travel*



Holy crap, how big is your mill!?!


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## mikey (Feb 17, 2020)

I think that "1" snuck in there!


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## mikey (Feb 17, 2020)

Dave, from what I've seen so far, I would plan on tearing that thing down to the last nut and bolt and giving everything a really good cleaning. None of it is hard to do. Take lots of pics and don't force anything. Sing out if you need help.


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## DavidR8 (Feb 17, 2020)

It’s absolutely coming completely apart. 
It seems to be in good mechanical condition just really dirty. The rack is full of what I bet is the original grease. 
Took a bit of coaxing to engage the fine feed clutch. Simply because it hasn’t been used in ages (if ever perhaps) 


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## Aukai (Feb 17, 2020)

Sorry I was measuring how far out from the column the table came out, not travel, 8" travel. This is full/max Y, and Z.


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## DavidR8 (Feb 21, 2020)

Waiting for a shipping quote for a GSV-440 from Glacern. It's on sale for $329 from $529 so that seems like a reasonable price to me.
KBC has a 4" Homge for $340 so on a converted dollar comparison the Galcern is $110 more. Of course shipping is going to add a bunch of dollars.


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## Aukai (Feb 21, 2020)

I have 1 6" Kurt, and 2 4" Glacerns for the odd jobs that the work holding would be better. You might check to see if you could get a break on the price, and or shipping if you think you want another one later. I have seen a couple of the crew here with more than one vice/vise.....


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## Ken from ontario (Feb 21, 2020)

You got a decent vise .


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## DavidR8 (Feb 21, 2020)

They are already at $200 off their regular price so not likely too much room for bargaining but we shall see.


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## DavidR8 (Feb 21, 2020)

And a 4" Glacern vice is on its way to me!


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## GunsOfNavarone (Feb 26, 2020)

Yeah...I went with the good old Kurt DX6....its HUGE on my PM727. It came with  4"...much more reasonable, however I can crush a 1.25" solid stainless rod like a tin can with the Kurt!!


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## GunsOfNavarone (Feb 27, 2020)

BTW, I got my Kurt from Kurt's scratch and dent page.For the life of me, I couldn't find a scratch or dent 
(they said it would be superficial and have no bearing on quality or capability). I paid $425...couldn't pass that up. It really doesn't interfere with travel, but its a beast to heft about!


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## GunsOfNavarone (Feb 27, 2020)

man..this would have been pretty sweet...new old stock Bison
 Vice


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## darkzero (Feb 28, 2020)

GunsOfNavarone said:


> man..this would have been pretty sweet...new old stock Bison
> Vice



I want that. If I had it though it would get mounted to my bench instead of for use on the mill. Probably best if someone else buys it than me.


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## Aukai (Feb 28, 2020)

I did... Perfect for assembling AN hoses, and instead of using drop in Al soft jaws.


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