Double vise setup

[kvom]

I recently acquired 2 4" Kurt vises from a local machine shop that is shutting down. I decided to move my 6" Kurt vise back to the Bridgeport and mount the 2 smaller vises on the CNC mill. Here's the end result:

The vises are mounted on the tilt table since the spindle can only reach to 5" above the milling table.

I wanted the fixed jaws to be lined up as closely as possible so that I would be able to clamp long workpieces. To accomplish this, I first mounted and trammed the left vise in the normal manner. Then I clamped a 6" parallel in its jaws, and positioned the second vise so that its fixed jaw seemed flush with the parallel. This got it to within a few thousands of being good. A few slight taps with a soft hammer got is trammed parallel. I think that the hard jaws are "pretty close' as is. However, I like using soft jaws for CNC work as they make fixturing easier in a lot of cases. Once I get the proper-size aluminum stock I will make soft jaws for both vises; then facing the jaws with a single pass will ensure that they are precisely aligned. With the vises 3" apart I should be able to clamp pieces up to a foot in length. Unfortunately I will still be limited by the maximum jaw opening.

Having two vises also allows for two separate setups for CNC work, which can speed up some operations.

In case of need,there is room to remove the right vise and remount the larger Kurt.

 

[Lew Hartswick]

I haven't done it BUT I think I'd have clamped a long straight edge in the two and
tramed the pair as one. That way the two fixed jaws are guaranteed to be
co-planer.
...lew...

 

[kvom]

The piece clamped would need to be pretty rigid. These vises are hefty, and I think it would be pretty easy to bend the material slightly as opposed to shifting both vises together.

I think a good setup would be to mount both vises on a metal base. Then you could use a straightedge to align the jaws, and then tram the pair by moving the base.

I do need to get a second set of parallels if I ever want to clamp a piece in both vises.

 

[GailInNM]

I currently have 2 four inch Chick vices on my Bridgeport. I had 3 but my son borrowed one for a while and it just came back. It will be going back on the BP soon.

When you make up your soft jaws, make a two sets that are taller that can be mounted on the rear of your fixed jaw and the front of your moving jaw and another set the same size to mount in the standard positions. By mixing and matching you can support wider stock above your regular jaw carriers. Not quite as rigid, but quite adequate for most operations.

Gail in NM

 

[kvom]

Good advice Gail. Thanks for the tip. I had previously put my hard jaws on the outside of the 6" vise, but I had forgotten I could do that.

How did the steam meetup go?

 

[GailInNM]

kvom,
Sorry we could not meet in Moab. Steamup went well. Weather was cold with a high temp reaching 46 degrees and rain over half of the weekend. Still the high humidity and cool temp made for wonderful plumes from the locomotives. We ran all the time except when the rain was too hard. I will put photos in a new thread when I get them uploaded to Photobucket.

Since you like softjaws, you might be interested in a system that uses a carrier for mini softjaws that are mostly made of approximately 1.5 x 4 x 3/16 alum plate. It works well for small odd shaped parts and since the material requirements are small for a set of jaws it keeps costs down. I have been using it for about 20 years on my Bridgeport. If you want I will take a photo of it and post it.

Gail in NM

 

[Twmaster]

Kvom...

You could put the straightedge in the vises horizontally. Try bend that!

 

[mardtrp]

Tram one vice, doesn't matter which one, then loose mount the second vice and then get a 3 foot piece of 2 inch precision ground bar. Lock down the end that's in the trammed vice and then lock down the loose vice. Tighten up the bolts on the loose vice and it should be with-in a thou, of being truly parallel, with the jaws of the trammed vice.

Now how much closer than that do you require.