A thread about Milling Machines

My uncle once told me Scotch was an "acquired" taste. I told him I could probably eat enough dog shit to "acquire" a taste for it too, but no thanks. Enjoy your drink.
 
I even double checked my spelling, lol.
 
Just having fun. I regularly see Vices vs Vises used wrong ... you did it right.

Cheap scotch is a taste that requires a long time to get used to. Good single malt is easy to acquire a taste for. There are varieties for every palate, from super smooth and light to heavy and smoky.
 
Lorien said:
anyone have thoughts regarding vises?
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I like Kurt vises. They have gotten much more expensive in the last couple of years though.

Standard parallel sets are made to work with 1.75-inch-tall jaws, so I would personally make sure to get a vise with 1.75-inch jaws along with a set of thin (1/8 inch thick) parallels in 1/8 intervals. That will do a lot for you.
 
i have a chinese kurt. it works for me and was 1/3 price of a real kurt. Like everything when milling, weight helps
 
I just got a Vevor 5" and I'm impressed, $87 shipped and it weighs a ton.

I had a Kurt before that, it was awesome but got melted. I got a discount casting that was supposed to have a visible flaw and could never find it.
 
My Little Machine Shop 3" Precision Milling, Professional Grade vise is everything I could ask for.

littlemachineshop.com

Vise, 3" Precision Milling, Professional Grade

This is a very well-made professional grade precision 3" Kurt-style milling machine vise with a swivel base. The top, bottom of vise bed, gib, jaws, swivel base, and all plate mounting surfaces are hardened and super precision ground. The detachable swivel base features easy to read divisions...
littlemachineshop.com littlemachineshop.com

IMG-0680.jpg
 
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been doing a bunch of youtubing and found this channel. Pretty good stuff for the neophyte, imo
 
Contender Machine said:
I like Kurt vises. They have gotten much more expensive in the last couple of years though.

Standard parallel sets are made to work with 1.75-inch-tall jaws, so I would personally make sure to get a vise with 1.75-inch jaws along with a set of thin (1/8 inch thick) parallels in 1/8 intervals. That will do a lot for you.
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100% A 4" Kurt would probably be about the largest vise that would fit a small bench top mill. It'll last you a lifetime. Watch the "Scratch & Dent" section of their website, and sometimes you can find a hell of a deal.
 
I've got my eye on this vise;
U0EN0Kp.jpeg

it costs a bit over 500 bucks. A vise and the basic accessories for it is the first thing I think I'll need. I prefer to pay $300 for a $500 vise and I have plenty of time to find one, although sooner is always better. Just knowing what to look for is a big help, so thanks all ya'll for advising in this thread. Mucho appreciado
 
Looks like a Taiwan copy of a Kurt, so it should be a good vise. Taiwan made tools are generally a step up from China, and quite often of very high quality.
 
ak650 said:
100% A 4" Kurt would probably be about the largest vise that would fit a small bench top mill. It'll last you a lifetime. Watch the "Scratch & Dent" section of their website, and sometimes you can find a hell of a deal.
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This is probably true and I should add that 1.25-inch-tall jaws commonly found on 4-inch vises will work with standard parallels as well. You just won't be able to use the tallest 4 sets.
 
Lorien Lorien check out the Tegara vises that Shars sells. They are a Taiwanese built Kurt clone and are probably the best bang for the money. Keep in mind that a rotating base will add height to the vise and is something that you aren't likely to use much at all, if ever.
 
yeah, I can't imagine I'd use the rotating base for much. Maybe for milling a fuller in something that needs to be run out of axis or whatever 🤷‍♂️ Most of the vises I've looked at come with that removable base, but there are a couple in the price range which don't.

A rotating table, on the other hand, is not far down the list. Lots of things I can imagine doing with one of those
 
Contender Machine said:
Lorien Lorien check out the Tegara vises that Shars sells. They are a Taiwanese built Kurt clone and are probably the best bang for the money. Keep in mind that a rotating base will add height to the vise and is something that you aren't likely to use much at all, if ever.
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Shars stuff is good and well priced. I'd consider an Albrecht style chuck from them for the mill.

I'm tooling up again after the fire and all I really bought was a shars chuck, a 1/4" collet, cheap vise and 1-2-3 blocks. I need to order some 6061 drops for fixture plates and a dial gauge. I just make folders with the mill and only need to fo a few operations with it along with all of my drilling.

I had that vise if it is from lms, it is fine but the vevor (generic) one is about the same build quality, weighs about 4x as much. Yeah ditch the base, or at least I never used mine.
 
^I like that
 
had a productive weekend in the shop, and was able to get the pallet out from under my machine, and place the unit near its final resting place. It wasn't pretty, but it was pretty stupid. Got the job done tho 🤷‍♂️

I have two of these steel plates. They are made for Park Tool bicycle workstands and weigh 70lbs each. One will be at either end of the stand I'm designing for the machine, and I'll be using some kind of dimensional lumber for in between. I'ma make sure I have a storage space in the stand for collets, cutting fluid and whatnot. Might drop by the local mill and see what the have for fir
xaVctXN.jpg
 
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