- Joined
- Feb 17, 2013
- Messages
- 4,417
I recently bought a used Enco 5” mill vise - one of the Kurt knockoffs. I’ve been refurbishing it - did a major cleanup, lubed, and ordered a new ball thrust bearing. This vise is for my RF-30 clone in Oregon. It’s much too large for the mini-mill I have Arizona.
The vise includes a rotatable base. My latest task has been to mount a pair of adjustable indicators on the main body. I wanted the ability to do fine adjustment of the zero after indicating it in with the fixed jaw. By having indicators on both sides, I wouldn’t need to do contortions to see the angle setting, as when a single indicator ended up on the “back” side of the vise.
First off, I discovered that the side originally without an indicator overhung the protractor by about 1/8”. I used the following setup to mill off the excess with my mini-mill. Used the 3” vise and a couple of machinist jacks, and took light cuts.
Next, I cut out two rectangles of 25 gauge sheet metal for the indicators. I fabricated a machining fixture from hard maple. A step held the steel piece against the vise jaw, without applying too much pressure and buckling it. Undercuts at the ends let me use the edge finder to determine the center. A notch in the wood let the engraving cutter (D profile, with a sharply pointed end) run all the way to one side of the workpiece.
The next step was to center drill the ends of the adjustment notches. A previously completed piece is shown atop the vise.
Finally, I used a 1/8” endmill to make the notches. I used light cuts (plus black oil and high speed) to face mill as much as possible, so there’d be no tendency to lift the workpiece with the sides of the mill. The final cut was something like .005”
After using a belt sander to slightly round off the milled flat on the side of the vise, I marked out two suitable hole locations. Had to go to the frill press to do this, as the mini mill just didn’t have the vertical capacity (even with the LMS hydraulic lift and its extended rack). Tapped the holes 4-40.
The last picture shows the adustable indicator mounted on the vise. I set this one to the approximate center of the adjustment slots, rotated the base to zero degrees, then set the opposite indicator at the zero degree mark on that side.
I’ve heard that most of these vises are used without the rotating base, and I may well end up using mine the same way. But if I do use the rotation feature, I expect it will be a lot handier and easier as modified.
The vise includes a rotatable base. My latest task has been to mount a pair of adjustable indicators on the main body. I wanted the ability to do fine adjustment of the zero after indicating it in with the fixed jaw. By having indicators on both sides, I wouldn’t need to do contortions to see the angle setting, as when a single indicator ended up on the “back” side of the vise.
First off, I discovered that the side originally without an indicator overhung the protractor by about 1/8”. I used the following setup to mill off the excess with my mini-mill. Used the 3” vise and a couple of machinist jacks, and took light cuts.
Next, I cut out two rectangles of 25 gauge sheet metal for the indicators. I fabricated a machining fixture from hard maple. A step held the steel piece against the vise jaw, without applying too much pressure and buckling it. Undercuts at the ends let me use the edge finder to determine the center. A notch in the wood let the engraving cutter (D profile, with a sharply pointed end) run all the way to one side of the workpiece.
The next step was to center drill the ends of the adjustment notches. A previously completed piece is shown atop the vise.
Finally, I used a 1/8” endmill to make the notches. I used light cuts (plus black oil and high speed) to face mill as much as possible, so there’d be no tendency to lift the workpiece with the sides of the mill. The final cut was something like .005”
After using a belt sander to slightly round off the milled flat on the side of the vise, I marked out two suitable hole locations. Had to go to the frill press to do this, as the mini mill just didn’t have the vertical capacity (even with the LMS hydraulic lift and its extended rack). Tapped the holes 4-40.
The last picture shows the adustable indicator mounted on the vise. I set this one to the approximate center of the adjustment slots, rotated the base to zero degrees, then set the opposite indicator at the zero degree mark on that side.
I’ve heard that most of these vises are used without the rotating base, and I may well end up using mine the same way. But if I do use the rotation feature, I expect it will be a lot handier and easier as modified.
