Milling Vise Recommendation

My mill has an 8"x30" table. I have a Kurt 4"
I have done a few projects where a larger vise sure would've made things much easier.
 
If you have your heart set on a Kurt and don't mind spending the coin to get one then I say go for it. I've never owned or used one, but my understanding is they are awesome.

When someone asks me a question like that, I ask them what do they plan on doing with it? Are you a production shop or at least planing on doing a lot of work as a business? If just a hobbyist, then do you have a huge budget for your hobby and have plenty of money for not only a vise but all the other tooling, cutters, collets, holders, measuring tools, dividing heads, turn table, angle plates, etc. etc. that you will need to get tooled up? I think you can see where I'm going with this...

I have two mills. One has a 5" and one a 6" mill vises. Both are imports and cost me much less that a single Kurt (bought one new, one used).

If your budget is limited, pick your battles carefully! If you currently have no tooling, you've got a long row to hoe!

Ted
 
beeser said:
After a little research I found that although the Glacern is a little less expensive than the equivalent Kurt it is made in Taiwan . . . . . . .
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I was surprised by the comment that Glacern's are Taiwanese since that was contrary to my research of a little over a year ago, so I asked them again by email today. Here's their response:

"We have a mixture of procedures as our premium vise castings are sourced through our Japanese supplier, ground locally and are assembled / inspected and tested in house. Some more recent castings have been Korean and they've been fantastic."

By the way, I have nothing against Taiwanese at all. I have several pieces of what I consider to be very good equipment made in Taiwan and am in the process of buying more tooling that also originates from Taiwan.
 
Glenn Brooks said:
Don’t overlook using t nuts and all thread as work holding. Vises are very handy, but you can do a lot of work by simply clamping work to the table, or bridging it up off the table with parallel bars- particularly if your budget is such that a vise has to wait a few months. You can make everything you need for work holding with your new mill! Good first project.

Glenn
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I'm just starting out with a new to me mill, and being on a budget I'm going to try to build some of these to start out. They look like they do a good job.

 
Try to find a good quality vise. I had a clapped out bridgeport and a kurt copy from overseas. I finally got a good condition Kurt vise it is sooo nice and saves much aggravation
 
I have a Glacern standard 5" and really like it. They have some pretty good specials and sales now and then. I believe they also give a vet/military discount if that applies. I think mine was under 300 including shipping but it's been a year or two.
Just looked and they have free shipping (which is great because the 5in weights 50lbs plus)
HAPPY2018 - Free UPS Ground on all vises
 
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There are a half dozen used Kurt 5" vises on ebay right now. Some of them are in really nice shape - worth a look?
 
Thanks all for the recommendations. I plan to purchase either the DX6 from All Industrial or the D688 directly from Kurt's Scratch and Dent. The DX6 is about $80 more but is their current model for this price point. Any opinions on what would be a better vise or does it really matter?

This seems to be a nice video that shows the differences between the two vises.
Kurt DX6 versus D688
 
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