Mill Vise Adjustment

[bluwolf]

I have an Enco mill vise. http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INSRIT?PMAKA=425-7251&PMPXNO=952362&PARTPG=INLMK32

I know there is always some jaw lift on these cheaper vises. But mine seems to have developed a bit more. Is there any adjustment for these, like underneath? It's mounted and aligned on the mill right now. If there's no adjustment then there's no sense in taking it off the mill, right?

Thanks,
Mike

 

[Mirage_Man]

I have an Enco mill vise. http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INSRIT?PMAKA=425-7251&PMPXNO=952362&PARTPG=INLMK32

I know there is always some jaw lift on these cheaper vises. But mine seems to have developed a bit more. Is there any adjustment for these, like underneath? It's mounted and aligned on the mill right now. If there's no adjustment then there's no sense in taking it off the mill, right?

Thanks,
Mike

I think the adjustment is in your back pocket... in your wallet when you bust out the plastic and buy a Kurt! :crackup: :D

I have one of those vises too and wish I had spent the cash on a Kurt to begin with now that I have had it for awhile.

As to a real response to your question? I have no idea but one of our resident gurus might.

 

[precisionworks]

the adjustment is in your back pocket... in your wallet when you bust out the plastic and buy a Kurt!

+1

That and the ER-40 collet are the two best investments that can be made for a mill.

Is there any adjustment for these, like underneath?

Not underneath, Mike, but rather from the top, as shown in this pdf file:

http://www.kurtworkholding.com/downloads/guides/D-Series_Rework.pdf

Kurt copies can be adjusted better to eliminate some of the moving jaw lift. Or you can regrind the jaws & bed on a surface grinder & then scrape the ways - like rebuilding a lathe - except you'll have more money in it than the cost of a new Kurt. Try the adjustment first & you should see improvement.

 

[bluwolf]

I think the adjustment is in your back pocket... in your wallet when you bust out the plastic and buy a Kurt! :crackup: :D

I have one of those vises too and wish I had spent the cash on a Kurt to begin with now that I have had it for awhile.

As to a real response to your question? I have no idea but one of our resident gurus might.

Gee, thanks Brian:grin2: Just for a frame of reference to my budget, a Kurt would cost me about $300 more than I paid for the mill, which is the Jet version of the 8x30 that wquiles and gadgetlover have. If you think Will got a good deal on his, you don't want to know what I paid for mine w/ a bunch of tooling:naughty: That and being unemployed at the moment makes a Kurt about as feasible as the Ferrari I've had my eye on.

Fortunately the PM1236 I'm waiting on was in the budget before I was laid off.

+1

Not underneath, Mike, but rather from the top, as shown in this pdf file:

http://www.kurtworkholding.com/downloads/guides/D-Series_Rework.pdf

Kurt copies can be adjusted better to eliminate some of the moving jaw lift. Or you can regrind the jaws & bed on a surface grinder & then scrape the ways - like rebuilding a lathe - except you'll have more money in it than the cost of a new Kurt. Try the adjustment first & you should see improvement.

Thanks Barry. You da man. It worked great. Of course there's still a little lift but it's as good as when a I got it. I put the 1/8" spacer at the bottom and tightened the adjusting screw. It seemed to take most of the slop out and moved the rest to the back if that makes any sense. I assume (yes, I know how dangerous that is) that the rest of the disassembly instruction was if you were going have it all re-ground?

Mike

 

[precisionworks]

One other thing to try is to do exactly what Kurt does when then make the moving jaw ... machine in an O-ring recess on the bottom of the jaw, can't remember the O-ring dimension but it may be on the Kurt site (or easy to get with a phone call to Kurt). There is one on both the left & right side of the jaw bottom, each one spaced about 1/2" from the outside edge. The O-rings serve as a preload (really a prelift) that pushes the jaw upwards at all times so that the jaw can move no farther up when tightened against the work. A really simple idea that isn't copied (as far as I know) by the copiers :D

 

[StrikerDown]

I have an Enco mill vise. http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INSRIT?PMAKA=425-7251&PMPXNO=952362&PARTPG=INLMK32

I know there is always some jaw lift on these cheaper vises. But mine seems to have developed a bit more. Is there any adjustment for these, like underneath? It's mounted and aligned on the mill right now. If there's no adjustment then there's no sense in taking it off the mill, right?

Thanks,
Mike

Hey blue,

That is the same vise (should spell it vice, or vi$e) I have. I just flipped it over and don't see any adjustment on the bottom. The only thing underneath is the screws for the fixed jaw and the table guides.

If you would like another one you can have mine for cheap, I haven't used it since my big boy Kurt arrived.

 

[cmacclel]

I have a couple cheapy's one is an Enco and the other I don't know where it came from. I didn't really notice a difference between my Kurt D688 and the cheapy's in holding material but the build quality is definetly much better. I actually think my big Parlec vise looks higher quality than the Kurt. I'd like to pick up a 4" Kurt but there Big$$$$ Locally there is a Kurt 4" Dual setup that looks almost new for $375 (they sell for $1200)

Mac

 

[bluwolf]

One other thing to try is to do exactly what Kurt does when then make the moving jaw ... machine in an O-ring recess on the bottom of the jaw. A really simple idea that isn't copied (as far as I know) by the copiers :D

Sometimes the simplest ideas are the most ingenious.

Hey blue,

That is the same vise (should spell it vice, or vi$e) I have. I just flipped it over and don't see any adjustment on the bottom. The only thing underneath is the screws for the fixed jaw and the table guides.

If you would like another one you can have mine for cheap, I haven't used it since my big boy Kurt arrived.

Striker, thanks for checking that for me. I appreciate it. And no, one paperweight is plenty for the moment:grin2:

I have a couple cheapy's one is an Enco and the other I don't know where it came from. I didn't really notice a difference between my Kurt D688 and the cheapy's in holding material but the build quality is definetly much better. I actually think my big Parlec vise looks higher quality than the Kurt. I'd like to pick up a 4" Kurt but there Big$$$$ Locally there is a Kurt 4" Dual setup that looks almost new for $375 (they sell for $1200)

Mac

So I take it you're not interested in the dual setup vise or you would buy it? Because $375 sounds like a good price. But not, if it's not what you want.

 

[precisionworks]

not interested in the dual setup vise

Dual (or triple, quadruple, etc.) vise setups can be handy for some types of work. Kurt will gladly match any number of their vises to identical height, ±0.001", at a small additional charge - or any number can be ground at a shop with a larger surface grinder. These can be used on a manual mill, but are most often seen on a small mill (Bridgeport size) with CNC controls, as that allows the machine to run dozens of small parts in each vise while the operator does something else.