vises ?

Discussion on all milling machines vertical & horizontal, including but not limited to Bridgeports, Hardinge, South Bend, Clausing, Van Norman, including imports.

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pete
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Joined: Tue Feb 10, 2009 6:04 am

Re: vises ?

Post by pete »

Yep they pretty them up with bondo filler and paint and put any surface grinding work into the exterior that the future buyer sees, but both mine look exactly the same inside Earlgo. It's impossible for them to work correctly as supplied so that they do pull the sliding jaw down as the vise is tightened. In fact it's more likely that the jaw would be pushed up without the work you did to yours. Probably I have no one to blame but myself I guess since I should have known all to well that your not going to get anything built so they function properly at the prices the cheap ones are selling for. With some luck I'm hoping one of mine is going to be properly tested maybe to destruction and against a good vise by a well known vise manufacturer at some point in the future. If that happens I'll be sure to post those results here.
spro
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Location: mid atlantic

Re: vises ?

Post by spro »

I hope that happens without the destruction, yet look forward to your acquisition/comparison. Many Kurts on the bay now, some are real deals compared to others. I'm beginning to see more clearly about Kurt's design and their Company now. I'm impressed about many aspects and one is a program to assist and hire our Brethren.
You guys were way ahead of me. The one I'd been saving for a larger mill, is going to be used now. D60 #47103
pete
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Re: vises ?

Post by pete »

Actually Spro I hope it does get tested to failure just to see where that point is for at least that vise. I've long since replaced the both of them with what I should have bought in the beginning so it's of no real use other that gaining some information from it.
johnfreese
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Re: vises ?

Post by johnfreese »

I have a Shars 6" CNC style vise. I am entirely satisfied. Jaws are hard. The jaws are deeper than on Kurt. Kurt jaws will fit it but they do not project far enough to permit use of a jaw mounted work stop.
SteveM
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Joined: Mon Jun 27, 2005 6:18 pm
Location: Wisconsin

Re: vises ?

Post by SteveM »

If anyone around southwestern Connecticut wants to get a REAL Kurt vise, I have one left.

It's a D50, 5" vise. It has a CNC'd aluminum sub base in which keys on the base of the vise fit.

It's been pulled apart, cleaned of chips, checked out and re-assembled, although I did not degrease it.

It works like it should. Has a set of non-hardened steel jaws.

Image
Image

Price is $175, but I can't find the handle, so I will knock off $25 and make it $150.

You can pick it up from me, or I can meet you half way if you are not too far.

Steve
shootnride
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Joined: Tue Jun 05, 2012 12:31 am
Location: Sacramento, Ca.

Re: vises ?

Post by shootnride »

J.Ramsey wrote:
Harold_V wrote: Kurt understands that problem, even with their design, but they address the issue (on some of their vises, if not all) by inserting a pair of small O rings under the slide, forcing the moveable jaw upwards, so it is restrained by the keeper. That way it has no where to go when the vise is tightened.
Harold
As the material is being clamped tight the jaws compress the o-rings helping to pull the material down against the parallels.

When I bought my 688 about a dozen years ago it came with instructions on the o-rings and how they work.

https://www.kurtworkholding.com/downloa ... ll_Use.pdf


I called Kurt and asked why the o-rings were supplied loose and the customer had to install them because I didn't feel that I should have to take apart a brand new vise and they replied "the o-rings have a limited life and pre installing them would make it shorter".

I can tell when they need replaced when the part needs tapped with a dead blow.
I bought a used Kurt D-675 several years ago that was in very nice condition (aside from the shallow groove on top of the jaws that someone accidentally milled into them !). I have always had to tap parts down with a dead blow hammer to seat them tightly against the parallels. So, a few days ago, after reading this thread, I decided to disassemble the vise, do some preventive maintenance and replace the O-rings under the movable jaw. I was surprised to find that there were no O-rings. So, I got on Kurt's website to see about ordering the O-rings as well as the large O-ring, and found that those little O-rings are no longer listed on the parts list (they are shown in the break-down diagram). I e-mailed Kurt to inquire about the O-rings and the response I got was that they no longer use those in the new vises, but he did say that there wasn't anything special about them, just common O-rings. I decided to go ahead and install O-rings to see if they would eliminate the jaw lifting problem. Well, even after setting the jaw clearance to .002" as Kurt advises, I still have to tap parts down to get them tight against the parallel that sits against the stationary jaw. I think the O-rings have improved the situation, but did not eliminate it. Anyone have any suggestions as to how to cure this problem.

Thanks

Ted
Some people raise the IQ of the room when they enter.........others when they leave.
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GlennW
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Re: vises ?

Post by GlennW »

I have a couple of used D60's and a D688 that I bought new and have never clamped anything using parallels that didn't need a tap with a small deadblow hammer to seat it tightly against the parallels.
Glenn

Operating machines is perfectly safe......until you forget how dangerous it really is!
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ctwo
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Re: vises ?

Post by ctwo »

shootnride wrote:I still have to tap parts down to get them tight against the parallel that sits against the stationary jaw. I think the O-rings have improved the situation, but did not eliminate it. Anyone have any suggestions as to how to cure this problem.

Thanks

Ted
This is what happens on my Eron vise. I thought the fixed jaw bolts might be loose or the jaw does not seat to the ways (rocks on the key?).
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Disclaimer: I'm just a guy with a few machines...
shootnride
Posts: 298
Joined: Tue Jun 05, 2012 12:31 am
Location: Sacramento, Ca.

Re: vises ?

Post by shootnride »

Thanks for the replies guys.

ctwo - I just put my vise back together so I know that the fixed jaw is tight to the base, but if it were loose, I'm sure that would be a problem.

Glenn - Well, based on your experience, I suppose I should just quit wasting time on this and move on.

Thanks again

Ted
Some people raise the IQ of the room when they enter.........others when they leave.
Jaxian
Posts: 154
Joined: Fri Mar 15, 2013 1:38 am

Re: vises ?

Post by Jaxian »

On the subject. This just arrived today for the new mill.
New Kurt DX6 small 002.jpg
Haven't had a chance to try it yet because I have only had it for a few hours and the mill it is going on isn't supposed to show for a few weeks. Not really the correct vise for the new mill but tooling up is costing me a fortune so figured this would work just fine until I can afford CNC specific vises.
New Kurt DX6 small 001.jpg
Has some neat new features. Excited to see how it works. Be surprised if it is more accurate than that D60 I have a toolmaker modified. Still the most accurate vise I have used for normal heavy mill use.
spro
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Location: mid atlantic

Re: vises ?

Post by spro »

Looks really nice.
SteveM
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Joined: Mon Jun 27, 2005 6:18 pm
Location: Wisconsin

Re: vises ?

Post by SteveM »

As an aside, I have several Kurts and want to restore them to new looking at some point, so I talked to the folks at Kurt and asked if they sold paint.

They said that they don't, but Ford engine blue is the closest match.

Steve
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