# New vise - Teco or Shars Tegara



## springer (Jun 29, 2020)

Ready to order a vise. Looking at these 2. 



			TE-CO Teco CNC Milling Machine  vise Vises
		







						5" 550V CNC Milling Machine Vise 0.0004"
					

Shars Tool




					www.shars.com
				




Not much chatter about either but it's what I've narrowed it down to. My thought process, found the shars as a reasonably priced unit I suspect to be a step up from the typical imports but then found the Teco with a huge 9" jaw opening that may even be nicer for just a little bit more. 

Before the kurt recommendations come, if it comes down to it, I'll get a cheaper one as the teco is already pushing my budget. 

Thoughts?

Thanks in advance.


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## Winegrower (Jun 29, 2020)

If you have a Bridgeport, I believe you would not be happy with a 5" vise.    An 8" vise is just way bigger than needed.   Ergo, get the 6".   And yes, a 9" opening is pretty valuable.


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## springer (Jun 29, 2020)

The table on my mill is 9-3/4 x 43-1/4. I guess for a more fair comparison, I should have linked this one...






						6" 690V CNC Milling Machine Vise 0.0004"
					

Shars Tool




					www.shars.com


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## springer (Jun 29, 2020)

Guess I didnt realize the tegara had similar jaw opening. Or maybe I've forgotten. I've been looking at these for a while until now that I'm ready to order. Just found the teco today and dont know much about it  

Anyone think the teco is worth the extra $$?


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## darkzero (Jun 29, 2020)

TE-CO purchased the vise line from Parlec. I've never used one but Parlec vises were pretty nice, made in Taiwan. No idea if TE-CO changed anything with the vise line.


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## Zyox Jägergeist (Jun 29, 2020)

I would stay away from kurt nowadays, use them at work daily and the new dx6 is a step backwards from the older d688.
Defiantly get a 6" vise, you wont regret it. 

Another good company is glacern, just picked up four of their 6" vises and have no regrets, import castings but machined and ground in the usa.


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## springer (Jun 29, 2020)

I'll throw glacern in the mix too. When I was looking at a 5", I took glacern out of the consideration. But the 6" is comparable in both price and jaw opening. 

So now, tegara to save some $$ or a glacern or teco?


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## darkzero (Jun 29, 2020)

I've got a 5" Glacern & I'm happy with it. Kurt no longer makes a 5" & I didn't feel like searching for a used one. As said, the castings are made in Taiwan & the final grinding is done in the US. Great company to deal with too if you ever need customer support.

Not very many options if you want a 5" since they are not common. Magnum & Homge offer 5". Tormach also offers a 5" which used to be made by Magnum, not sure if they still are.

Glacern often has sales so if you can wait I would wait til the next sale. They'll probably have one for July 4th. Next ones after will probably be Labor Day & Halloween.


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## pontiac428 (Jun 29, 2020)

The Shars vise linked in the first post is what I have on my RF31, where 5" is the right size. It's a nice vise, I think it's a good value. Get a 6" for a knee mill.


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## projectnut (Jun 30, 2020)

Winegrower said:


> If you have a Bridgeport, I believe you would not be happy with a 5" vise.    An 8" vise is just way bigger than needed.   Ergo, get the 6".   And yes, a 9" opening is pretty valuable.



As mentioned the most popular size vise for a Bridgeport is 6".  Having said that I have 4", 6" and 8" vises.  the 4" and 6" both have swivel bottoms.  They work fine, but raise the vise about 2" higher off the table.  That's alright in most cases, but I do find occasions where the additional height causes interference problems with large parts.

The one most often used is an 8" Palmgren without the swivel.  It's so old it was made here in the US.  In any case it looks and operates like new.  It's shorter that those on the swivel bases.  Without the swivel once it's bolted to the table it's pretty much a stationary piece of iron so I don't have to tram it every time I use it.  The downside of the Palmgren is its weight.  It weighs in at a little under 140 lbs.  It's a beast to move from the mill to the storage cart.  That may be another reason it's the most used. 

The vises in order of use are:  Palmgren 8", 70%,  Bridgeport 6" with swivel base, 29%, and no name 4" with swivel base 1%.


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## frugalguido (Jun 30, 2020)

Glacern has free shipping right now on vises, just got a email from them.


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## springer (Jun 30, 2020)

I just ordered the glacern. Not sure one is better than the other, but I'm sure glacern will be nice. Honestly I wanted to try the shars unit to see how nice it was or the teco since I cant find much info on it, but I went with the glacern since it has a solid rep and figure itll be more than I ever need.


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## derfatdutchman (Jul 1, 2020)

I just purchased a 4" Shars Tegara vice for my mill. I have to say I am impressed, its too big for my tiny surface plate so all my checks where done on the mill table. The bed was parallel side to side and end to end, jaws were parallel to the bed. All it seems well made, don’t feel like I’m going to snap the screw like on the cheapie it replaced.


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## Mitch Alsup (Jul 1, 2020)

As far as swivel base vises--forget them. Get a real vise and then put it on a real rotary table. The rotary table is miles easier to tram in (and at any angle.)

Although I am using a 4" vise (Grizzly) on a 10" Rotary table, my whole setup would be more optimal with a 5" or 6".


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## projectnut (Jul 1, 2020)

Mitch Alsup said:


> As far as swivel base vises--forget them. Get a real vise and then put it on a real rotary table. The rotary table is miles easier to tram in (and at any angle.)
> 
> Although I am using a 4" vise (Grizzly) on a 10" Rotary table, my whole setup would be more optimal with a 5" or 6".



That's fine if you have the room for it and the strength to put the combination together.  My 8" Palmgren vise weighs just shy of 140 lbs., and is about 6" high.  My 12" Index brand rotary table weighs a tad over 150 lbs., and is a little over 6" tall.  The combination would take up more than a foot of headroom, and weigh close to 300 lbs.  I wouldn't want to have to put it on a and take it off the mill table on a regular basis


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## springer (Jul 23, 2020)

Welp, went with the Glacern. Super nice and this thing is a beast. Well for me at least. Huge step up in size from my last 4" on my PM-932.


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## Winegrower (Jul 23, 2020)

Your vise looks too pretty to mess up with chips.


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## frugalguido (Jul 24, 2020)

Did you get to take advantage of the free shipping?


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## springer (Jul 24, 2020)

frugalguido said:


> Did you get to take advantage of the free shipping?


Yes I did. It was a better savings than the military discount.


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## frugalguido (Jul 24, 2020)

I really think that free shipping on a heavy item like a vise is a really good deal. I can't imagine what it would cost to ship that vise. Enjoy!


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