[Newbie] Recommendations On A New Vise For Mini Mill...

[higgite]

I second the advice to give LMS a call. Ask to speak to Chris, the owner. I'm sure he will do right by you.

As for a new vise, I'm also a rookie so take this FWIW, I have a Tormach 90mm screwless vise on my LMS 5500 bench mill and it has suited my needs (although not that many) so far. The jaws are 3-1/2" wide, 1-1/2" deep and open up to 4+". It cost me under $150 shipped. They also sell a 120mm model for under $250 shipped if you want bigger.

If I do ever upgrade, I'm thinking it will probably be to something like the Tormach 4" CNC vise to have the ability to change out and/or rearrange the jaw plates. But, that's somewhere down the road for me yet and my thinking may change as I gain experience.

Tom

 

[MeredithJL]

I second the advice to give LMS a call. Ask to speak to Chris, the owner. I'm sure he will do right by you.

As for a new vise, I'm also a rookie so take this FWIW, I have a Tormach 90mm screwless vise on my LMS 5500 bench mill and it has suited my needs (although not that many) so far. The jaws are 3-1/2" wide, 1-1/2" deep and open up to 4+". It cost me under $150 shipped. They also sell a 120mm model for under $250 shipped if you want bigger.

If I do ever upgrade, I'm thinking it will probably be to something like the Tormach 4" CNC vise to have the ability to change out and/or rearrange the jaw plates. But, that's somewhere down the road for me yet and my thinking may change as I gain experience.

Tom

Thanks for the Tormach info -- I did send him an email last night asking if it was covered under any type of warranty, as it's only been in use a couple of months.

 

[petertha]

Not sure how big your mill is or what you plan on making, but here are some links to ponder.

Youtube Stefan Gotteswinter. Aside from some great machining vids, you will see he uses what looks to be a ~4” wide screwless vise (one of the multitude of offshore vises that look more at home on a surface grinder). He also did an episode on vises. This style might be on the smallish size for your application, but I would spend my 300 on that & then drop the big lump on a good big vise when the day comes. My experience so far is these ‘grinder vises’ have been very accurate & good bang for buck. If you go this route & upgrade one day, keep it for secondary purposes. They provide lots of utility: grip in your big vise for special setups, set at compound angles, repetition position clamping, supporting a long part as a second extension vise…

Not in your $$ target range, but read post#12 regarding vertical height of Kurts/clones vs. other options. Limited headroom is something to consider. I personally like the low profile euro-models on my RF-45 mill. But they are spendy. http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/baby-kurt.42979/#post-369821
Interesting footnote since I wrote that. Offshore (probably China) clones of this style are starting to appear like this. It’s a 6” but 756 Kanuck bucks = 580 US bucks.
https://www.accusizetools.com/1202-1025b-6-x-8-cnc-machine-vise-system-matched-vise-bases-0-0004/

Good video on a Vertex mill vise. His findings generally align with my experience/readings Kurt-like mill vise clones: Vertex/Taiwan seems to be pretty good stuff. Chinese… well throw the dice & hope for the best. They vary from rectangular boat anchor quality to ‘not bad’. Just ensure you can return it without getting killed on (heavy) return shipping. Its not uncommon to see impressive 'specs' with lots of 0.00000” zeros even though its total BS. Catalog pictures can be deceiving.
https://youtu.be/l5m-kA_Oq_4

 

[MeredithJL]

UPDATE: I got a response from LMS today, they are sending out a replacement free of charge today. Much appreciated, both the gesture and the quick response

I went ahead and ordered a USA-made Palmgren 4" vise as well through the Walmart.com portal and my boss is going to pay for that purchase (I was only going to ask him to go halfsies with me, LOL), since I use the machine for work projects as well as personal stuff after hours. Double bonus

 

[Charles Spencer]

UPDATE: I got a response from LMS today, they are sending out a replacement free of charge today. Much appreciated, both the gesture and the quick response

I went ahead and ordered a USA-made Palmgren 4" vise as well through the Walmart.com portal and my boss is going to pay for that purchase (I was only going to ask him to go halfsies with me, LOL), since I use the machine for work projects as well as personal stuff after hours. Double bonus

I figured that they would do right by you. I haven't had any bad experiences dealing with them.

I ordered an indexing arm and plate from them on Friday. It arrived today.