What Kind Of Vise Do You Use On Your Burke Horizontal Mills?

thenrie

thenrie

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I've been looking at vises for my new Burke #4 mill. I am inexperienced as a mill operator, but one thing I have figured out is that I am going to need a decent vise. Seems to me that about a 4" vise is going to be all this little mill, with a one-slot table, can handle. I'd like to see what others are using on theirs before I invest in one.

Please post photos of your vises and provide details, like make, model, size, how well you like it, etc.

Also, what other setup devices do you find useful on this mill?IMG_1813.jpg

Thanks.
 
I use a 4" with a swivel base on mine. I use the swivel base as a tool that I make needs to be swung in both directions for a milling process when I use it with the vertical attachment. But yours has the better table with the swivel from the factory. So you could save some money purchasing a 4" vice with out the swivel. The 4" I use is just a cheap import but it holds well so I am happy with it.
 
pineyfolks said:
https://m.mscdirect.com/mobileweb/product_detail?id=00303594&hasRestrictedParts=false
This might be an option for you.
Click to expand...

Coincidentally, I just ordered what looks like that same vise from Enco during their 25% off and free shipping sale:

http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INSRIT?PMAKA=425-7403

It cost me a total of $33.20. I haven't got it yet.


My Garvin mill appears to be a similar size. I use a vise like this one on it:

http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INSRIT?PMAKA=328-0138&PMPXNO=24730480&PARTPG=INLMK3

Garvin mill.jpg

I also ordered this one and it sort of fits, but you certainly wouldn't want to go any larger:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SHARS-4-x-4...190280?hash=item4d0047d888:g:Nf8AAOSw~gRVlYVY

It only costs about $5.00 more to get the swivel base with it.
 
Thanks for that. I am looking at a 4" heavy-duty vise from "The Little Machine Shop" that looks pretty good for the price. For under $200 it looks pretty good and they have a good reputation. They advise against it for a "mini mill", although the minis they compare to aren't quite what the Burke is. I am also looking at their 3" screw vise, but I have a precision 2", so I'm leaning more toward the 4" precision heavy-duty, #1755. I am seeing a lot of what I think are 4" vises on the Burkes on Google Images.

This 4" vise has a swivel base, but I can remove that, correct?

http://littlemachineshop.com/info/vise_compare.php

MSC has another one I like, but it costs more and is considered non-precision. Has anybody any experience with this particular vise?

https://m.mscdirect.com/mobileweb/product_detail?id=00453712&hasRestrictedParts=false

Between the two, any opinions?
 
The one from the "Little Machine Shop" looks just about like the Shars one. Some of the Shars stuff I have found to be good, other things not so much. Do you like the Shars vise?
 
I have scene the one from msc, pos in my opinion. I have one like the shars, would work well on the burke without the swivel base, they can be removed.
 
I haven't had any problem with the Shars vise. And yes, it easily detaches from the swivel base.

The MSC vise you mention doesn't look like it would work well. I think there would be a tendency for the work to lift up.
 
Here's another home built one that I've seen that would be easy to make. I rarely use a vise on mine. I just use a clamp set, v-blocks or an angle plate. I used the MSC link because Enco hasn't worked for me in over a week.

vise1.jpg
 
I plan to buy a clamp set, 123 blocks, and angle plate pretty quick here. I have a set of V-blocks. I guess, thinking about it, that the vise is probably not the first piece of tooling I need. I appreciate that perspective. I have a couple projects in mind that I thought would necessitate a vise, but now that I'm thinking about it, I could do most of them with hold-downs and blocks. Maybe I'll hold off on the vise until I have a few other things.

Wish the Burke had at least 2 T-slots in the table.
 
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