Mill: Kurt-Style Vise

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http://benchtopmachineshop.blogspot.com/2017/04/mill-vises.html


After using my screwless vise for over half a year I've become kind of fed up using it as my everyday vise. The hassle of adjusting it to hold different parts and trying to re-position the jaw constantly interrupted and slowed down the work. The modifications I made had improved it, but not enough.

I ended up getting a 3" Kurt-style milling vise. The Kurt-style vise forces the moving jaw downward as it's tightened, which keeps the part from lifting. While it's not quite as precise as the screwless vise, it is a lot nicer and faster to use. If I need the extra precision I'll just mount the screwless next to it.

The first thing I did was take it apart and clean it up. It turn out the casting for the jaw where it meets was the nut was deformed with extra material in the jaw. Using my Dremel I cut away the extra. Also with the Dremel I smoothed out the location where the hemisphere rides in the jaw. After this I lubed it up and reassembled it.

At the end of the day if I could only have one vise I'd go with the screwless vise just for its precision and multiple ways of mounting it.