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  • From: Lawrence London <lfljvenaura@gmail.com>
  • To: machinist@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [machinist] Two piece mill vises - what is the ultimate ?
  • Date: Tue, 4 Feb 2014 20:43:42 -0500

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/general/two-piece-mill-vises-what-ultimate-211269/

  1. 09-22-2010, 10:20 AM #1
    Milacron's Avatar
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    Default Two piece mill vises - what is the ultimate ?

    Below is POS example just posted to confirm the type of vise I'm talking about. What would be the highest quality example of this style of mill vise in 5 to 6 inch width range ?

  2. 09-22-2010, 10:31 AM #2
    donie is offline Diamond
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    You did say the ultimate two piece vise.
    This one has to be mounted to a plate or plates, "of any length" first however.

    Stevens torque limiting sub plate vise, I have not come across anything remotely close to the quality of this.

    Stevens torque limiting vise picture by donsmonarch10ee - Photobucket
  3. 09-22-2010, 10:36 AM #3
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    Hi there Milacron..

    The Quad-I Vise shown in my Avatar can be set up for large parts using long Acme screws.

    So you buy two and use them normally and then when needed stretch them out and have a large vise too. It's done by removing the moving jaw from one and the fixed jaw from the second, then setting in the long screw. The vises are very easy to "remodel" in 5 to 10 minutes. The screw is from Keystone and is a 1"-6 Acme rolled thread they come in 3' and 6' lengths. The mill table doesn't feel any stress as the screw connects the two vises.

    It's a more expensive way to go but the vises are quite versatile. Quad-I Precision CNC Milling Vise

    If you have interest I can email some pics for you.

    Best regards,

    Stanley Dornfeld
  4. 09-22-2010, 10:51 AM #4
    donie is offline Diamond
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    I will point out that the vise Milacron pictured is a piece of crap. The reason a good vise Co does not make them is.

    This type of vise most likely will damage the machine by bending the table.

    A wise person would use a subplate vise.
  5. 09-22-2010, 11:53 AM #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Metalcutter View Post
    Hi there Milacron..

    The Quad-I Vise shown in my Avatar can be set up for large parts using long Acme screws.
    Stanley, are the 6 inch Quad vise jaw bolt mounts same CC/size as Kurt such that one can use existing "quick change" jaws with it ?
  6. 09-22-2010, 12:10 PM #6
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    A boring mill jaw and just a bar on the other end. Don't know where ours come from, but we've got a couple around the shop. Looks like they were made to fit the tables on our Cincis. The "fixed" end is just a solid bar that's been Blanchard ground with 3 holes for SHCS.
    Kind of like this except the top jaws are different.
    Small Tools Inc.
    JR
  7. 09-22-2010, 12:13 PM #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by JRIowa View Post
    Kind of like this except the top jaws are different.
    Small Tools Inc.
    Re the price on that one.... are those guys on Crack or what ??
  8. 09-22-2010, 12:16 PM #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Milacron View Post
    Stanley, are the 6 inch Quad vise jaw bolt mounts same CC/size as Kurt such that one can use existing "quick change" jaws with it ?
    Hi again..

    Yes! The six inch vises from Kurt had usable hole patterns, so I didn't want to change them.

    On the Four inch Quad-I Vise I did change the hole pattern and bolt size. I thought 5/16" bolts were big enough and I also moved them down a bit so soft jaw sets could have deeper steps without cutting into the bolt counterbore.


    Here are more pictures.. Quad-I pictures by Meta1cutter - Photobucket

    Thanks for your interest,

    Stan-
  9. 09-22-2010, 12:21 PM #9
    gregormarwick is online now Stainless
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    I'd say the carver vices are about as good as they come in this style.

    Machine Vices


    My dad has an 8" one, it's the only split vice I've ever used that doesn't just slide across the table when you tighten it up.
  10. 09-22-2010, 12:25 PM #10
    Limy Sami is offline Diamond
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    A mate of mine has a Carver 2 piece, and it's the mutts....... jammy swine picked it up BNIB for a tenner, Carver gear is big ££££££
  11. 09-22-2010, 12:27 PM #11
    gregormarwick is online now Stainless
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    Quote Originally Posted by Limy Sami View Post
    A mate of mine has a Carver 2 piece, and it's the mutts....... jammy swine picked it up BNIB for a tenner, Carver gear is big ££££££
    Dad's one was a similar steal on ebay. Think he paid like £50 for it, it's like new!
  12. 09-22-2010, 02:15 PM #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Limy Sami View Post
    A mate of mine has a Carver 2 piece, and it's the mutts.......
    "mutts" ? Is that good or bad ?
  13. 09-22-2010, 02:16 PM #13
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    Mutts is good,...... as in ''mutts nuts''
  14. 09-22-2010, 02:18 PM #14
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    Sorta curious, Milacron. What do you/customer want/need to use it on? Is it overall capacity or height that is the determinant? I assume the former?
  15. 09-22-2010, 02:31 PM #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by gregormarwick View Post
    I'd say the carver vices are about as good as they come in this style.

    Machine Vices


    My dad has an 8" one, it's the only split vice I've ever used that doesn't just slide across the table when you tighten it up.
    What is the secret feature that prevents it from sliding across the table? The times I have used my table vise, I had to put additional stop blocks behind the thing to make it stay put.
  16. 09-22-2010, 02:33 PM #16
    VSMI is offline Hot Rolled
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    Saw these in a trade mag, so no actual experience with them. But they do look similar to what you had a pic of and I think they are made in the US, http://www.hrmfg.com/custom/cart/edit.asp?p=127143.

    On edit, just realized these are somewhat similiar but different than your pic - may help someone though.
  17. 09-22-2010, 02:33 PM #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by Milacron View Post
    Re the price on that one.... are those guys on Crack or what ??
    Remember you get 4 of those for your $5736.00 Owie!
  18. 09-22-2010, 02:34 PM #18
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    OML MC Vise is my personal favorite.

    http://www.omlusa.com/pdf/CATALOG_USA_MC%20Vise_03.pdf

    The vises are totaly modular you can use a Base with fixed support with jaws, and a Complete extension element.

    Or buy one of the MC 150 x 200 vises with an extension element. The vise is under $1k and the extension element is around $400.

    I love these vises, awesome quality. The tolerance on the vise is good enough that they don't need to offer matched sets either. There also ground pretty much everwhere, even the slot that the vise jaw slides through is ground. They use an Acme thread instead of a regular 60 deg thread like kurt uses too.



  • [machinist] Two piece mill vises - what is the ultimate ?, Lawrence London, 02/04/2014

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