Milling machine vice suppliers

[variant22]

I am looking around for a decent 4 to 6 inch milling vice for a RF-45/HM-46 style machine. A Glacern or Kurt vice would be perfect but the shipping is horrific :oo: to say the least. What are my options here? I am looking for something that is reasonably precise without costing me an arm and a leg to get it here. I am willing to look at Chinese/Taiwanese vices. Not big on Hafco and the like as they seem on the surface to be double the Kurt price for half the vice.

[morrisman]

Hi

I bought a Chinese 100mm vice from the Ebay seller OZMESTORE in Adelaide . It performs very well and it is surprisingly accurate once it is set up on the table :2tsup: Mike

[pipeclay]

You could look at Titan tools on ebay,I use his 4" and 6" vices,only thing if you need a swivel base these will have to be bought seperately.

You will at times come across undamaged 2nd hand vices on ebay or other auction sites.

[bollie7]

Just a thought. There are quite a lot of companies who bring cars in from the USA in containers. Might be worth a call to find out if they could ship a vice for you in a container with some cars. Might work out a lot cheaper than having it sent over on its own.
bollie7

[variant22]

Thanks for the suggestions. I have been keeping an eye on Ozmetstore1, but I have not found anything that really suits.

As for bringing a Glacern in via a US container shipper the thought had crossed my mind. It does however seem quite a task to undertake. I do not really have the time to organise it unless someone can point me to a company that is reliable and knows exactly what they are doing.

[Greg Q]

It depends where in Oz you are. Last year I brought two Galcern vises over with a car importer. They are good vises. Having said that, there are better vises out there than the Kurt type. Quad I is one, Rohm another. I own a used German vise that is nicer than my Glacern, but the label is indistinct...it might be a "Star"

I wonder if there would be a market for Kurt 6" vises here?

Greg

[.RC.]

For milling I would not buy anything other then the Kurt 4 or 6" style..... Simple because of the versatility... You can move the position of the jaws around so you can clamp a hell of a lot more then something 4 or 6 inches wide..... It is a no brainer in my opinion.....


I know many here are not big fans of this shop, but I think these products should be OK https://www.machineryhouse.com.au/Anglock-Machine-Vice

[Greg Q]

Those prices on the vises RC linked are pretty good. I never check their site so I was surprised. Vertex are supposed to make reasonable things according to opinions on forums.

Richard's point about the versatile jaws on the kurt style vise is a good one.

Greg

[Greg Q]

Those prices on the vises RC linked are pretty good. I never check their site so I was surprised. Vertex are supposed to make reasonable things according to opinions on forums.

Richard's point about the versatile jaws on the kurt style vise is a good one.

Greg

[shedhappens]

I bought this vise off hare & forbes a couple of years ago and didn't use it much except for holding shafts to put keyways in them, and then about 6 months ago I needed to hold a fiddly litte job in it and when I took the first cut off the top :C WHAT'S GOIN ON HERE !!!!!! The vise was holding the job on an angle, there was swarf under the fixed jaw block so I cleaned that out but it still wasn't right so I had to put a .007" shim at the bottom of the the fixed vise jaw and also at the top of the moveable vise jaw.

To repair it properly the jaws will need to be ground.

I'll take an engineers square if I ever are contemplating another Chinese vice.

john

[variant22]

For milling I would not buy anything other then the Kurt 4 or 6" style..... Simple because of the versatility... You can move the position of the jaws around so you can clamp a hell of a lot more then something 4 or 6 inches wide..... It is a no brainer in my opinion.....


I know many here are not big fans of this shop, but I think these products should be OK https://www.machineryhouse.com.au/Anglock-Machine-Vice


I may well have to give the V306 a try. It is a real shame there is not much local competition in this space. It seems like one always comes full circle back to Hafco.

[bwal74]

Old and pricey but:

6" MILLING MACHINE VICE | Tools & DIY | Gumtree Australia Swan Area - Malaga (http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/malaga/tools-diy/6-milling-machine-vice/1006454430)

Ben