neksmerj 3rd March 2011, 09:21 PM I came across this GMT site, and was fascinated with a series of short videos on milling.
Nine chapters, each about a minute. I was transfixed being a new comer to milling.
Glacern Machine Tools - Premium Quality Vises and Tooling (http://www.glacern.com/)
Bloody superb tooling and milling machines.
Greg, was it GMT where you purchased your machine vice?
They have some lovely stuff, I want it, I want it, I want it..........
Ken
Greg Q 3rd March 2011, 09:46 PM Yes Ken, its a GMT vise. I like it, but it wants a speed handle. Their face mills look good, but I can't recall if I've heard any reviews good or bad. I will be buying a face mill in a few weeks...might get one, or a Maritool* one if nothing washes up on ebay in the meantime.
I did not opt for the swivel base as I didn't need it, and I'll have to get the keys ground to fit my 12mm tee-slots, or just bin them.
If you want videos check out the MIT series:
MIT TechTV – Machine Shop 1 (http://techtv.mit.edu/genres/24-how-to/videos/142-machine-shop-1)
Greg
neksmerj 3rd March 2011, 10:37 PM Hi Greg,
I would love one of their face mills too, however they don't seem to have one with an MT3 arbor.
I guess most of their stuff is for CNC mills. Pretty slick Web site.
Just love their 4" machine vice, and at $220, it's almost affordable. Why did you feel the swivel base, was not a necessity? If you had to mill a slot on an angle, how would you achieve that?
Thanks for the MIT link, I had a squize at some of the videos, a few weeks back. Pity the audio is out of sync with the video.
Ken
Greg Q 3rd March 2011, 10:50 PM Ken I have a universal table for the Deckel that does that already, plus I didn't want to lose another inch (or so) of headroom under the spindle. The vise cost me around $80 to ship here (one of a pair). I haven't decided yet if it was worth it. You might be better served by a local purchase so you can buy parallels with the savings. And more indicators and edge finders etc.
There have been some machine vises on ebay lately that are good quality but ugly.
GQ
neksmerj 3rd March 2011, 10:59 PM "There have been some machine vises on ebay lately that are good quality but ugly".
Correct, the vice that came with my Arboga is Russian made, and as ugly as sin, and stands up fairly high. Spindle height above the table is not an issue in my case. I can move the table up and down, a fair way.
Ken
Greg Q 3rd March 2011, 11:10 PM Thinking about the GMT face mills and arbors: There are plenty of MT3 face mill arbors around, but they seem to all be sized in metric, whereas the GMT stuff is all one inch. I have a 27mm arbor that has removable drive lugs. I'm going to try and turn it down to an inch to use some of the cheaper tooling on US ebay. Obviously the arbors with fixed lugs won't work for that. The other possibility is making a 22mm: 1" sleeve to shim up a 22mm model.
On the other hand, the CTC stuff looks pretty good, and their Mitsubishi insert prices are very low (if genuine).*
*I had a Chinese crew member the other day who claimed his name was "Genuine". I still don't know if he was taking the or if that is what is passing for a high quality name in China now.
GQ
accept no substitutes
Anorak Bob 4th March 2011, 08:45 PM "Yes Ken, its a GMT vise. I like it, but it wants a speed handle"
Here's my speed handle.
Fortunately, both the Brown and Sharpe (pictured) and my 3 inch Hercus vise have 1/2 inch square shanks. I had been fooling around, trying to come up with a neat way of utilizing some sort of ratchet in the design of a more convenient handle. The answer was sitting in my toolbox. Standard 1/2" drive, 12" extension. Works well.
BT
neksmerj 4th March 2011, 09:00 PM AB/BT,
Now that's thinking outside the box and using your noodle.
Not only but also, I now know what a "speed handle" is. Wasn't game to ask when Greg mentioned it.
That's a bloody nice setup you have there. How difficult is it to find a Hercus machine vice, ie, how scarce are they. It looks like a nice compact unit.
Spose you will say as scarce as Hercus milling machines.
Ken
Anorak Bob 4th March 2011, 10:00 PM KJ,
The vise in the previous photos is a beautiful example of a circa 30's Brown and Sharpe 4 inch flanged vise. I bought it on Ebay from the "Machinistbox" in Connecticut. It had been used but was, and still is, in flawless condition.
The Hercus vise was purchased from a fellow Hercus owner, Steve Brennan in Sydney. Steve had two vises, both 3 inch Hercus's and offered me one. It had no screw, no bronze nut and was missing the cast iron boss at the rear of the sliding jaw. Of course I had to buy it. I've seen 2 Hercus vises on Ebay in eight years.
The B and S offers far greater support of the work piece with it's full width bed. The Hercus swivels but look at the height difference. Critical on Gregory's FP1 and my 13.
BT
Greg Q 4th March 2011, 11:13 PM Bob that B & S vise looks fantastic! I prize B & S items, and Lufkin too. More than the Starrett equivalents in fact. I have a tiny Brown & Sharpe toolmaker's vise that is only 1" wide...I hope to use it in the jaws of my larger vises for small work.
I also have a German made 6" vise that is in great condition, but it is a bit too big for daily use on the Deckel I think. I use it on the bench for holding items for scraping. It's rock steady. Rock steady baby. (Sorry..what I laughingly call my mind is a giant word-association engine):doh:
My version of a speed handle is a hub that fits onto the square drive and has three or four handles that the operator spins with abandon to close the jaws. I do like Bob's version though, and can see in it a new career for an air wrench. My problem is the GMT has an (I believe) 9/16" drive nut. :~
GQ
neksmerj 4th March 2011, 11:49 PM Easy peasy, just sculpture up a 9/16" to 1/2" adaptor.
Kennef
Anorak Bob 5th March 2011, 12:00 AM KJ,
Is that the Germanic spelling of your name or are you and forgotten how?
BT
neksmerj 5th March 2011, 12:10 AM Right on both counts.
My ex calls me Kennearth, being down to earth and probably boring, others call me Kenny, Kennefffff, I'll answer to almost anything, just don't call me late for dinner.
Kennearth
Anorak Bob 5th March 2011, 12:17 AM Greg,
I wont grab for the camera but I also have the same one inch vise. I also have a slightly abused Starrett vise which is a bit smaller than the B&S. It has proven invaluable for holding small items square when using the disc sander. Helps keep the knuckles whole.
I never thought that I'd get one but I managed to win on Ebay a few years ago, a neat Eclipse Vee Vise. I'll post a couple of snap shots tomorrow.
Brown and Sharpe made machines, Starrett didn't. One of my all time favourite mills would have to be the No.O Omniversal. Both the table and the knee slide moved on one of those babies giving a total longitudinal travel of 34 inches. 15 inches vertical travel . At three and a half thousand pounds, just a bit too big to move into my shed. Can't have everything.
BT
Greg Q 5th March 2011, 12:32 AM BT, I have Homer Simpsonesque moments when confronted with B & S mills (or K & T). I own a copy of Brown & Sharpes's treatise on milling where the #0 and later versions feature prominently. I too would upscale if only the floor loading (and she-devil overlord)would allow. There was a K & T biggish mill here last year that made me forget all about Deckels and focus instead on the possibilities of milling a V-16 cyl head in one go. Big machines, and seriously stout. Reminds me of the pipe vise that my Dad taught us to thread pipe on. It had 5" round legs on the tripod! The die was about 9" diameter, and had a ratchet handle six feet long. I think my brother and I were 7 and 9 years old at the time. We were steam-fitting before we could drive. (I always was better with boilers than V-8s)
GQ
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