PM883 Vise?

Thanks 7milesup, that puts it into perspective.

I use a toolmakers vise in my larger vise on my current tiny mill, too. That's a good point about the jaw opening being close to the Y axis travel. You definitely have to go to the larger vises to get that. I like the idea of two vises which I've not used before. I have two of the toolmakers' vices and a 3" that's currently on my little mill. I can always use those in some fashion to actually utilize the larger X axis. For that matter, I could order two of the 5" GMT vises (or even the 4") and they will match the bed heights. That's a lot of coin up front, though, since most everything I've done so far just needs a single vise. I'll have to ask them if they can match a second vise at a later date.

Mark, that Shars vise in 6" is shorter than the GMT 5". Good idea to look at it.

Will, I wonder about the overhang, too, for the reason you said. I wouldn't be able to see the dial on my current mill but don't know about the 833 since I don't have it yet.
 
Not to beat this to death, but if you ever want to put a cylinder on end in the vise for end-milling, the necessary V-blocks to clamp the round profile are often 2 to 3-inches each side.
 
I looked a bit deeper at the Shars site. Their 5" CNC vise, 550V, says the jaw opening is 7" on both the diagram and the highlights section with pictures. The dimensions link shows 5", though. If that indeed is a 7" opening that's astounding. I'd buy that without hesitation. It's 2.5" shorter in length than the Kurt 6" and 2" longer than the 4" GMT and Kurt. It's a manageable size. But that opening is huge and would allow use of v-blocks which I've definitely not been able to do on my smaller vise.
 
I picked up a Kurt DX6 on their scratch and debt sale and couldn't be happier. It took a long time to figure out why it was a second . There was some minor pin hole in the casting on one of the mounting lugs. It's been a great vise.
 
parshal said:
I looked a bit deeper at the Shars site. Their 5" CNC vise, 550V, says the jaw opening is 7" on both the diagram and the highlights section with pictures. The dimensions link shows 5", though. If that indeed is a 7" opening that's astounding. I'd buy that without hesitation. It's 2.5" shorter in length than the Kurt 6" and 2" longer than the 4" GMT and Kurt. It's a manageable size. But that opening is huge and would allow use of v-blocks which I've definitely not been able to do on my smaller vise.
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The Shars 550V is indeed 1-inch narrower, and 2.5" shorter than the Kurt 6". However, if you want to buy Kurt-compatible aftermarket products like softjaws, they will not fit the Shars. I'd rather have Kurt standard sized vise jaws than save the 2.5". MonsterJaws.com (which is where I buy my soft jaws) makes 5" jaws that do fit the Shars 550V, but the maximum length you can get is 6". I often use 10" and 12" long jaws in my Kurt 6".

Just something else to consider.
 
I run a 5" Kurt with both steel and aluminum 6" jaws. Gives me the best of both worlds IMO without all that silly overhang off the front of the table that I won't use anyway.

But that's just me. As I said before, I do small hobby stuff and pistolsmithing, with the occasional long-gun work, and I don't seem to need anything larger. YMMV of course. :)
 
Hey Bill, you're doing the same type of work I'm doing.

In my typical use, I run out of jaw opening or jaw height followed by height from the quill. Length of the jaws has been an issue a couple times.

I'm going with the 4" Shars (440V) that Mark linked above. It's got a 6" jaw opening and there are a lot of jaw choices in various heights and lengths for the 4" vs the 5" which is limited. I'm ordering two of the vises so I can utilize the long X axis on the 883 bed for rifle stocks when I need it.

I think this will give me the best of all worlds. Less vise overhang, more choices for wider jaws and a larger than normal 4" jaw opening with this vise. For most everyday work a single 4" will work for me.
 
parshal said:
Hey Bill, you're doing the same type of work I'm doing.

In my typical use, I run out of jaw opening or jaw height followed by height from the quill. Length of the jaws has been an issue a couple times.

I'm going with the 4" Shars (440V) that Mark linked above. It's got a 6" jaw opening and there are a lot of jaw choices in various heights and lengths for the 4" vs the 5" which is limited. I'm ordering two of the vises so I can utilize the long X axis on the 883 bed for rifle stocks when I need it.

I think this will give me the best of all worlds. Less vise overhang, more choices for wider jaws and a larger than normal 4" jaw opening with this vise. For most everyday work a single 4" will work for me.
Click to expand...

Well, let us know how it works out for you! :)

I've run out of jaw opening capability once IIRC when trying to use a large flat fixture for holding frames. But I moved the jaws to their external positions and made it work. I then modified my fixture. :)

And for holding round stuff I just bought some extra jaws and cut v-grooves in them. Seems to work for me.
 
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