Kurt DX4 or Tegara 550V vise for new PM-833TV?

I have a Kurt on my Bridgeport clone and it is pretty big.

I think you are right about going smaller. I would think you would lose a little Y travel with the Kurt.
 
jarhead said:
I have a Kurt on my Bridgeport clone and it is pretty big.

I think you are right about going smaller. I would think you would lose a little Y travel with the Kurt.
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Yeah it looks like I lose .5" for the opening with the Kurt, however, it's 2" shorter and has a 7500lb clamping force vs the 7000lb clamping force of the Tegara.

The Kurt is also ~20lbs lighter I believe and everyone makes replacement jaws for it whereas the 550V uses odd hole spacing from what I've read.
 
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jlficken said:
Yeah it looks like I loose .5" for the opening with the Kurt, however, it's 2" shorter and has a 7500lb clamping force vs the 7000lb clamping force of the Tegara.

The Kurt is also ~20lbs lighter I believe and everyone makes replacement jaws for it whereas the 550V uses odd hole spacing from what I've read.
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A DX4 will clamp up to 12.43". https://www.kurtworkholding.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Kurt-DX4_Manual_2024-05-10.pdf
Jaws and jaw blanks are easy to find for the DX4.
Screenshot 2024-10-22 at 11.50.52 AM.png
 
jlficken said:
or
www.shars.com

5" 550V CNC Milling Machine Vise 0.0004"

www.shars.com www.shars.com

Which would be a better match for the new mill? I really like the bed being a single piece on the Kurt, however, the Tegara 5" seems to be a happy medium in size between the 4" and 6" as I'm thinking the 6" is just too big for this machine.
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I Bought a vise for my mill from PM and I like it very much, if your mill hasn't shipped they will ship it with the mill at no additional cost.
 
@jlfiken

I have the PM-30V mill, which has the same exact table size (33" x 8.25") as your 833 if I'm reading the specs correctly. I went with a 5" vice (PM sourced Homge) and it fits my table very well. No loss of Y travel. The swivel base spends the bulk of it's life in a drawer - but does get used occasionally.

A 4" vise would probably have been a disappointment.

Everyone raves about the Kurt vises. I don't doubt they are quality, but I just couldn't justify 3X the cost to get there at the time, and in the end I have no complaints about my Homge vise, fwiw. A little tap after clamping down with a chunk of copper to seat any lift off the parallels, and good to go.

Screenshot 2024-10-22 093110.png
 
WobblyHand said:
A DX4 will clamp up to 12.43". https://www.kurtworkholding.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Kurt-DX4_Manual_2024-05-10.pdf
Jaws and jaw blanks are easy to find for the DX4.
View attachment 506767
Click to expand...


Yeah that should be plenty for me. I think I'll save the extra money for the Kurt as I like the features it has like the easy to change sized keys and single piece bed (including the fixed jaw).

I can't believe I typed out "loose" rather than "lose" :rolleyes:
Red96 said:
@jlfiken

I have the PM-30V mill, which has the same exact table size (33" x 8.25") as your 833 if I'm reading the specs correctly. I went with a 5" vice (PM sourced Homge) and it fits my table very well. No loss of Y travel. The swivel base spends the bulk of it's life in a drawer - but does get used occasionally.

A 4" vise would probably have been a disappointment.

Everyone raves about the Kurt vises. I don't doubt they are quality, but I just couldn't justify 3X the cost to get there at the time, and in the end I have no complaints about my Homge vise, fwiw. A little tap after clamping down with a chunk of copper to seat any lift off the parallels, and good to go.

View attachment 506772
Click to expand...

The mill is actually out for delivery as I type this so that won't work.

I'm trying to find the smallest vise with the largest possible opening. I'm not aware of any others that offer the same size to capacity as the Tegara or the new Kurt vises but I'm open to other quality options.
 
jlficken said:
Yeah that should be plenty for me. I think I'll save the extra money for the Kurt as I like the features it has like the easy to change sized keys and single piece bed (including the fixed jaw).

I can't believe I typed out "loose" rather than "lose" :rolleyes:


The mill is actually out for delivery as I type this so that won't work.

I'm trying to find the smallest vise with the largest possible opening. I'm not aware of any others that offer the same size to capacity as the Tegara or the new Kurt vises but I'm open to other quality options.
Click to expand...
What do you plan on doing with it?

Added, If your needing something for plate work where you want to face large areas build yourself a Gack free vise.
 
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I have a Burke Millrite with an 8x32 table and went with the 4" Tegara over the Kurt DX4. The big opening of the DX4 is attractive, but if I really needed that, I could just mount the jaws on the front of the traveling block, or the back of the fixed one to get bigger. 4" is a good size for that size mill, I was debating the 5", and still might get that some day, but I am happy with the 4" size. I would not want a 6" vise on my mill. One thing you will want to check is how much it will overhand the back of the table. Both the 4" and 5" Tegara vises would hang off the back and eat up some of the Y travel wen mounted in the center t-slot, so I went with the 4" since it overhangs less.

The Kurt does have the advantage of a lot of off the shelf accessories, but you can easily make soft jaws for the Tegara. When making them, make a batch and have them on the shelf for when you need a new set.
 
Oh! And my favorite accessory by far was this little speed handle I bought off eBay for less than $10! No longer on eBay that I can find, but would be a good project. Clamps onto the hex with a set screw, and leaves enough hex protruding through for a tool to finish tightening. Really a little gem of a tool.

Screenshot 2024-10-22 093520.png
 
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