# Homemade vise wide and low



## I. Klemetti (Apr 12, 2015)

Inspired by this I made my own simplified version of a wide and low vise. It is basically three steel blocks with some holes. Very easy to make.

ilkka


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## BronxFigs (Apr 12, 2015)

*: ))))))))))


Frank
*


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## bazmak (Apr 12, 2015)

Looks good and could not get more simpler.Next step up
from the one i made and next on the list.Well done thanks for sharing
Post some more details when you start to use it.How about fitting key/tenons to slide in the t slots and keep the jaws square to the table


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## aonemarine (Apr 12, 2015)

OH Great! something else I need to put on the to do list....:wall:


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## SmithDoor (Apr 12, 2015)

Looks great 
This last a life time 

Dave


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## kquiggle (Apr 12, 2015)

Nice! Simple and effective.


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## ironman (Apr 12, 2015)

Simple but practical.  Good job.


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## TorontoBuilder (Apr 12, 2015)

very nice... I must make one of these


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## deverett (Apr 12, 2015)

bazmak said:


> Looks good and could not get more simpler.Next step up
> from the one i made and next on the list.Well done thanks for sharing
> Post some more details when you start to use it.How about fitting key/tenons to slide in the t slots and keep the jaws square to the table



Tenons would be good on the moveable jaw and pusher plate, but on the fixed jaw may be better without to allow for out of square jobs.  I repeat May Be.

Dave
The Emerald Isle


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## bazmak (Apr 12, 2015)

Tenon is only requ on the fixed jaw.Pusher plate is not necessary
 and no on the moving jaw.I posted a similar vice here
Bazmak diary of a very useful vice,and intend to make another
more simpler,basically as yours.I have used it many times 
and its very useful. Regards barry


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## gus (Apr 12, 2015)

Hi Ikka,

 The standard milling vise will not hold long&wide&thin jobs.  Clamp on the sides is waste of material and also having to trim off the sides.
One more ''Must Make Tool''

Thanks.


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## FCJimmy (Apr 13, 2015)

That's a great looking vise!  I have a similar one about 2/3 done, but had to pull off that project to work on the motor home. My vise has tenons on the stationary block, will have two 1/2" slide rods from that to the moving jaw, along with 2 allen bolts to push the jaw, and the other jaw is just flat on the bottom with a flange at the back to bolt it down. Will send pictures to this thread when I get it done.


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## kiwi2 (Apr 13, 2015)

I'm not too sure how this works.
 Is the middle block left loose and secured down onto the bed only after the work has been clamped between the jaws?
If so, does it tend to buckle up as the jaws are tightened onto the work?

Regards,
Alan C.


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## Mechanicboy (Apr 13, 2015)

Here are my old tool as i am using in my homemade milling machine. Easy to set up more precision and hold the parts firmly. No more tilting jaws.


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## Mechanicboy (Apr 13, 2015)

kiwi2 said:


> I'm not too sure how this works.
> Is the middle block left loose and secured down onto the bed only after the work has been clamped between the jaws?
> If so, does it tend to buckle up as the jaws are tightened onto the work?
> 
> ...



Clamp the piece of work with 2 bolts or nuts and then tighten the moveable jaw with 2 bolts. Give the piece of work light tap with hammer to set the piece of work on place on table of milling machine and loose a bit of bolts on jaw and clamp firmly and retighten the bolts on jaw. Ready to use.


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## bazmak (Apr 13, 2015)

Yes its a combination of nip the jaws to the job,nip the jaw to the table etc ,etc 
to get a good grip on the job and no lift to jaw.My first one works well
and now will make mark 2 nearer to your design with tenon to fixed jaw


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## kquiggle (Apr 13, 2015)

I have added a link to this on my website, along with some other interesting variations along the same lines:

[Clink on the link and scroll down to "Vise"]

https://sites.google.com/site/lagadoacademy/useful-links#millingtools


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## digiex-chris (Apr 13, 2015)

as someone that screams, cries, and moans for more spindle to vise height, this is becoming more of a priority for me. Thanks for posting! I'm adding it to the list. Till now I've just been c-clamping some 123 blocks around my part then clamping them down to the table. This looks way more handy.


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## kd0afk (Apr 13, 2015)

Very nice.


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## kiwi2 (Apr 14, 2015)

Thanks for clearing up the procedure Jens and Bazmak.
I'll certainly make one of these. I always have problems getting supplies of bright steel but I reckon I could use pieces of keysteel which is readily available for this.
Regards,
Alan C.


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## I. Klemetti (Apr 14, 2015)

Thank you for your kind comments. I have yet to use this device but your comments suggest it might be useful 

The jaws don't have tenons as I thought it would be an advantage to be able to adjust the jaws to hacksaw-sawn workpieces. (Or was I just lazy?) The screws of the moveable block are tightened just enough to remove any slack between the block and the table.



gus said:


> The standard milling vise will not hold long&wide&thin jobs. Clamp on the sides is waste of material and also having to trim off the sides.


Gus, these are exactly the reasons I ended up making this.



kiwi2 said:


> I always have problems getting supplies of bright steel but I reckon I could use pieces of keysteel which is readily available for this.


By coincidence, I made mine from keysteel as I just happened to have some.

Ilkka


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## bazmak (Apr 14, 2015)

Anybody else going to build.Just a thought,rebate 2 corners for different sized steps .Buy and adapt the threaded section of a couple of G clamps to form the pusher screws.Anybody else please build on this thread and see what grows


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## DJP (Apr 14, 2015)

As much as I like my wide and low home made vise it can't beat a bolt down clamp set for rigidity. Holding a work piece by the edges has meant light cuts in my experience and the jaws tend to loosen so they need constant checking. 

A low and wide is nice to make use of the full table area but it is not as strong as you may think.

Just some comments of caution for the discussion.


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## bazmak (Apr 15, 2015)

I agree with what you have said,however i do use the steps in vise jaws quite a lot.rather than paralels.Most milling on small bench mills is light anyway
and i do like this design for drilling multiple holes in larger plts


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## I. Klemetti (Apr 15, 2015)

I am aware of the limitations of this way to hold workpieces. My mill is Proxxon FF 230 so I really cannot plunge into metal with it.

Well, as blocks with some holes is good so blocks with more holes should be even better. So I drilled and tapped twelve more. Now I can hold circular pieces as well. As you can see in the last picture the movable block can not be re-tightened after a large piece is clamped. I cannot do that with a conventional vise either.

Ilkka


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## petertha (Apr 15, 2015)

That's a neat idea. Do you do anything special like round over the ends of lateral clamping bolts or recess the block where the bolt ends contact?

I've heard that good milling vises have geometry which results in some secondary element of down force into the part (in this assembly, tending to seat the part down into the recess groove as opposed to 100% straight horizontal force. But maybe that's more headache and/or not necessary. 

I like the fact that its low profile for larger slabs outside the range of mill vise, even if just for fly cutting.


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## I. Klemetti (Apr 15, 2015)

petertha said:


> Do you do anything special like round over the ends of lateral clamping bolts or recess the block where the bolt ends contact?


No, the bolt ends are left as is. And no recesses for the bolts in the middle block. I thought this would allow the block to conform to the workpiece more freely. (Another lazy man's excuse.)

ilkka


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## DJP (Apr 17, 2015)

The movable jaw will lift when tightened in this simple vise design which I compare to a drill press vise. My solution has been to let it lift then as a final tightening step, clamp down the movable jaw tight to the bed. This wedges the jaw harder into the work piece for max holding. 

A vertical groove cut into one jaw will hole round pieces well.

The best part of this simple design is that it can remain at the ends of the bed and not interfere with a precision vice mounted in the middle of the bed which holds 90% of my work. 

I like this separate jaw vise design as it is easily made. You don't need a vise to make this vise so it's like bootstrapping a new mill to make it more productive. Making this vise should be the first project for anyone new to milling when they acquire their first machine.


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## TorontoBuilder (Apr 17, 2015)

DJP,

So the bolts just bear against the side of the movable jaw?


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## DJP (Apr 17, 2015)

I'm not sure of your question. My homebuilt vice has horizontal bolts that push the moveable jaw towards the fixed jaw but it also has vertical bolts that run in the table slot to T nuts. The fixed jaw is always squared and tightened down  while the moveable jaw T nut is left slightly loose until the last step which takes away the jaw lift and further tightens against the work piece.

The vise design works but it's not as simple as tightening up a Kurt type milling vise, in my experience. My home built wide and low is not my primary holding vice. It's actually my third choice if precision vice and hold down clamps are not usable.


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## FCJimmy (Apr 17, 2015)

I love that idea of the extra bolts sticking up to do odd shapes or round work. I chose not to put the small step in the top of my jaws to hold thin stock just because I wanted to be able to still clamp small model engine type parts at the top edge of the jaws, and figured I'd just make do with parallels if needed. With your method, thin stock could still be worked by using bolts or pins or something the right thickness on top of the jaws to grip whatever is laying on top of them. I'm now going to further modify mine, but attached are current pictures of the vise I just finished making as my first milling project. The first pic is narrowing of some T nuts I had that wouldn't quite fit in my mill table grooves. The next pic shows all the parts upside down. I use the ball bearings between the jaw-tightening bolts and the slide rods which push the jaw forward, as that makes the bolts turn easier with less friction. The third pic shows that by making the end holes oblong (oval), the stationary jaw can be angled quite a bit.


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## bazmak (Apr 17, 2015)

Another improvement.Combine 2 short slide pins in line with the pusher screws
and still have hold down screws for the moving jaw.Things are getting better from a simple idea.Will try combine all to my next set. Maybe a ball inbetween the slide pin and end of the pusher screw Thanks Barry


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## FCJimmy (Apr 17, 2015)

I drilled and reamed the holes for the slide pins through both the moving jaw and the "anchor" block very accurately so that the moving jaw can only lift if the rods bend or spring, and when setting up to hold a part the rods are all the way into the "anchor" block, and when I tighten the vise "push bolts" the jaw is only about 1/32 to 1/16 inch away from the "anchor block" I may find that for really accurate work I will need to put in a hold-down bolt in the center of the moving jaw, and maybe even the other small jaw, but so far it seems that won't be necessary. As I said, this is my first actual milling job, so time will tell


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