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Milling vice

YYCHM said:
@Dusty You have to a pic of that machine with some chips on it LOL:p It's too clean for the rest of us....
Click to expand...

Hi Craig actually I don't, just gave my mill a good cleaning and wipe down with way oil after finishing a project that's been on my mind for years even. Shall take some photos and post them to the forum, I'm sure you'll like the project. Your post on fishing tackle prompted me to check my hoard in our storage room, thankfully all is well with that. Thank you!
 
Thanks for checking.

So I can get a 6" GS for $469 USD all in from Ajax Industries, or the 4" Glacern for $472 all in from Glacern Machine Tools. SOWA tools is $650 USD for the 6" GS, but I don't know what the shipping would be. Quite the price difference from US to CA suppliers on the same vise!

My concern is with it coming out of US, if it comes by one of the couriers, they change an additional up to $100 for processing and duty. Will have to make sure that's not the case.


Any Canadian suppliers you can suggest for something decent in this price range?

Is a 6" overkill for an RF30 clone?
 
Tomc938 said:
Thanks for checking.

So I can get a 6" GS for $469 USD all in from Ajax Industries, or the 4" Glacern for $472 all in from Glacern Machine Tools. SOWA tools is $650 USD for the 6" GS, but I don't know what the shipping would be. Quite the price difference from US to CA suppliers on the same vise!

My concern is with it coming out of US, if it comes by one of the couriers, they change an additional up to $100 for processing and duty. Will have to make sure that's not the case.


Any Canadian suppliers you can suggest for something decent in this price range?

Is a 6" overkill for an RF30 clone?
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Have a look here https://www.kbctools.ca/products/pg/1?Keyword=milling%20machine%20vise&v=j&facet=%5B%5B%22catname%22%2C%22catname%22%2C%22Milling%20Machine%20Vises%22%5D%5D Lots of choices.

Ya, I think a 6" on a RF30 is a little too big.
 
No 6" is not overkill for RF30 - I have old RF30 I am converting to CNC and I will use 6". The table on mine is only 0.5" narrower then on a large BP clone. Thus 6" is perfect size for it. I could also install large double station CNC vise on it.

New toolmex with all duties and taxes and shipping is just touch under 600 USD - https://www.ebay.com/itm/313343030824?epid=24031744770&hash=item48f4b33628:g:2AQAAMXQUY1Q-olj&LH_ItemCondition=3

Above is at least 200+ cheaper then same vise at KBC.

Accusize vise (their non CNC vise) is same as the one you get at Busy Bee etc.

You can usually pick up quality vise on auction in Calgary for around 300 CAD used.
 
The Accusize has a 4" at a reasonable middle ground and free Prime shipping. (model FA20-4204)

Decent vices?
 
David_R8 said:
I would not want a 6" vise on my mill. There's too much overhang off the front of the table for my liking.
If you push it forward on the table it to reduce the overhang then it uses up Y-axis travel.
Accusize has good tooling in my experience
https://accusizetools.com/collectio...-milling-machine-vises?variant=35246390476954
KBC also does for a bit more of a premium.
https://www.kbctools.ca/CatSearch/352/milling-machine-vises
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Thanks for the comment. $300 seems like a decent price and probably middle of the road quality, which is what I am looking for.

As they say, not building parts for the space program. So far not building anything... ;o)
 
And if it's awful, send it back. Accusize are good to deal with. Busy Bee is horrible.
 
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No one mentioned a 2 piece vise clamped to the mill table. If you want low profile and maximum gripping capacity, that is the way to go. Also, it is not that difficult to make your own by creating one fixed jaw and a second 2 piece jaw using slightly angled jack screws to provide the clamping action by pushing on the second plate.

1621388514976.webp
 
I never yet used a vise like that. Judging by the RF30 I have there is little need for low profile vise on it - there is LOTs of room in the Z axis. I did not measure it but I recon there is more Z on RF-30 then on a smaller BP clone.

The cheap price point of RF30 is due to the round column and belt drive. The RF45 has a square column & gear head speed control and is far more rare to be found. I am guessing RF45 is same table and main casting, different column and head. Interesting is that they both weight about the same. Price is a whopping 2x.

Of interest is the fact that you can run RF30 (but not RF45 due to gearhead) at a whopping 5000 rpm - same as a regular drill press.

I can see why some people are OK with RF30 vs. small BP.
 
Tomc938 said:
So I can get a 6" GS for $469 USD all in from Ajax Industries, or the 4" Glacern for $472 all in from Glacern Machine Tools. SOWA tools is $650 USD for the 6" GS, but I don't know what the shipping would be.
Click to expand...

Sowa is kind of a middle distributer but you can get any of their offerings through CDN tool suppliers. Thomas Skinner & DMH in Calgary. I like their low profile precision vise, its like the (no longer made) Bison. But its spendy.
https://www.sowatool.com/
Vertex makes a similar one but equally spendy. Glacern is Taiwan I believe, seems like everybody likes them. It wouldn't surprise me if the PM John mentioned is same/similar supplier. The PM keyless drill chuck I bought was exact same as one I got from Glacern previously. Another consideration is replacement or different configuration of jaws. such as horizontal/vertical Vee or step. Kurt is hands down standard for popularity but other manufacturers match their bolt pattern. If the vise has a dedicated pattern, consider getting an extra set tossed in for the incremental weight & cost. I wish I did that on my Bison, now they are unobtanium.

Ajax is a good seller I bought by Bison lathe chuck through them at lower cost landed than any CDN dealer. I've used DYK shipping service on several items because its a USA address & then they truck to their CDN location for you to pick up. Some items it pays to go that way, other times not. Just depends on weight & options. Vises are heavy. Just avoid UPS/Fedex if you can because of dinger fees. Lots of info on this forum just do a keyword search.
 
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