[Newbie] New (to me) milling machine in need of a 4" vise.

[Nutfarmer]

Look and see if Kurt has any scratch and dent vices for sale. The price is more affordable and you will have to look hard to find a reason why it was sold as a scratch and dent. They are still fully in spec. The 6 inch I have had a couple of small pits in the casting that was just cosmetic.

 

[tominboise]

I have the high precision vise from PM and it has worked fine for me thus far.

Can you get the screw out of the vise you have? You may be able to straighten it and get it working. Worth looking at as a project, anyway.

 

[JustBen]

Depending on your budget, you may consider a 4" toolmakers vise. Shars has one for about $165. Here's a better price. https://www.amazon.com/shars-toolmaker-grinding-ground-202-1123/dp/B07ZPC24F3?th=1 $120! They aren't fast to use, but they have very low jaw lift. I modified mine and replaced the screw with a stud and a hex nut. I have both a DX4 and the 4" toolmakers vise, both are quite useful.

Try to get the version of toolmakers vise that uses a machined slot as the hold down, rather than the one that uses pins. One of my early projects was to make my own hold downs for the vise.

I hadn't considered a toolmakers vise. I will look at those.

Unfortunately 4" is not nearly as popular as 6" so good used name brand 4" vises are not much of a bargain. I have a 4" Glacern, but I didn't pay anywhere near $500 in 2020.
I don't know how they are now about sales, but a few years back Glacern seemed to have sales a few times a year. I got mine during a sale when they were also offering free shipping.

I can't recommend another specific vise but it is certainly worth looking at some of the higher end options from Little Machine Shop or Precision Matthews.

That is a good point. They are running a spring cleaning deal of sorts, so I calculated the cost with 5% off for now.
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Code: JUST10 | $10 off shipping - any order size

 

[JustBen]

Look and see if Kurt has any scratch and dent vices for sale. The price is more affordable and you will have to look hard to find a reason why it was sold as a scratch and dent. They are still fully in spec. The 6 inch I have had a couple of small pits in the casting that was just cosmetic.

I didn't know they had this. I did a check and they don't have one for me currently. Thanks though.

 

[JustBen]

I have the high precision vise from PM and it has worked fine for me thus far.

Can you get the screw out of the vise you have? You may be able to straighten it and get it working. Worth looking at as a project, anyway.

I will look at it. "You can't break what is already broken" so it is worth a try.

 

[WobblyHand]

I bought my toolmakers vise after not being able to fix my regular vise. My regular vise had too much jaw lift even after my repair efforts. I wasn't a very talented machinist then. I've gotten a little more experienced now, but I have yet to be able to figure out how to fix it with what I have in my shop.

I used the toolmakers vise for quite a while, waiting for a decent deal on a DX4. Finally, I found a sale on the Kurt and jumped on it. Do check periodically for scratch and dent sales, they are a great way to save money.

There's times when I swap for the toolmakers vise, since it's smaller and it's more precise. $120 is a pretty good deal these days for a 4" toolmakers vise. Even if you get a Kurt later, the toolmakers vise won't be wasted.

 

[matthewsx]

Probably fine to get the Shars, I have one and it's good for the money.

My experience with Bolton makes me think having a high quality vise will probably be overkill.

John

 

[Aaron_W]

Having multiple vises isn't a terrible thing. Starting with a decent inexpensive screwless tool makers vise will still get occassional use even if you later splurge on a Kurt.

I have several vises ranging from 1" to 5", and different styles, screwless toolmaker, Kurt style, a tilting Wilton vise.
3 mills, a mini-mill, small horizontal mill and a small knee mill so the vises do get shared to some degree.

 

[Aukai]

I like my Kurt scratch, and dent better than the Glacerns I have. I had to wait awhile, but it was worth the ~200.00 dollars off, the parallels under the work stay tight when tapping, and tightening the jaws.

 

[neilkingent]

I have the high precision vise from PM and it has worked fine for me thus far.

Can you get the screw out of the vise you have? You may be able to straighten it and get it working. Worth looking at as a project, anyway.

I have a 5" Homge from PM it's been a good vice. I just bought a 5" with a swivel base from Vevor for $45. The screw is a little chinsy but it looks really good for $45. I haven't used it yet however. I have a 4" grizzly that come with a mill I'm working on. It looks pretty good too. Haven't used it yet either. Vevor has 4" vices for around $70 without a swivel base. I don't know why the 5" was so cheap.

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