Miami Vise
June 10th, 200975 Pounds of Sexy Iron
My Parlec milling vise arrived. I never realized 75 pounds could be this heavy. I put it on a scale because I was sure it had to weigh more.
Is it a good vise? No way to know. Og had no problem with the choice. Once the mill arrives, I can put the vise on it and do things to it with a dial indicator and a test indicator. That will tell the story.
I’ll say this. The workmanship appears to be spectacular. It’s gorgeous. It’s going to kill me to crud it up with swarf and cutting oil.
Where do you put a thing like this until you have a mill?
June 10th, 2009 at 6:43 PM
Well dude, if you want to be a proper redneck, either set it on the couch, or the bathtub! LOL!!! Have fun!
June 10th, 2009 at 9:45 PM
That is my new favorite post title.
June 10th, 2009 at 10:14 PM
The workmanship on a parlec is OK. A new Kurt or Chick puts a parlec to shame. But most people booger them up in a week anyway.
Get/make extra jaws. Get a Parlec swivel base for that, you’ll need it to make that dovetail cutter.
June 11th, 2009 at 8:13 AM
Man, that sucks. I wanted the prettiest vise possible. If this thing falls apart, I’m sending you my Workmate.
June 11th, 2009 at 9:56 AM
the function is all that you’ll need. Scars on a vise are the sign of work having been done. I’d never trust a machinist who had a pristine vise. A parlec will do all you ever require of a vise.
Amazing how many people are taken in by the “parlec vises open wider” thing. They may, but it is inconsequential. As you can now see, you take the jaws off the inside of the vise and put them on the outside. Now the Parlec and Kurt are on equal footing.
June 11th, 2009 at 10:01 AM
Ditto on the post title. I love it.
June 11th, 2009 at 10:09 AM
It is unbelievably hard to get straight, comprehensive advice on vises. The only things I’ve learned for sure is that Kurts are a safe bet and the vast majority of Chinese vises are really bad. And Bridgeports are so bad, it’s hard to understand why anyone buys one.
.
I thought the wider opening was exciting, because one of the universal qualities of tools is that they rapidly become too small.
June 11th, 2009 at 10:20 AM
Sometimes you have to see stuff for yourself to understand. I have an extra set of “tall” vise jaws just to put on the outside of the vise. And a set of aluminum jaws with holes drilled in them for pins so I can hold large round objects.
June 11th, 2009 at 10:58 AM
If “pretty” is your goal, make yourself a plaque out of your found mahogany and bolt the vise to it, perhaps with a few milling cutters arranged artistically beside it.
Then hang it on your living room wall with little pinspots to bring out the gleam of the machined surfaces.
Regards,
Ric
June 11th, 2009 at 3:15 PM
There’s a company, now defunct, that was called “Jig Jaw”. They made quick replacement vise jaws that had patterns of holes drilled in them so you could use pins and Vees and other stuff to hold parts. We have a set on our Kurt. They work like crazy. The nuts drove themselves out of business, but the jaws- if you can find them- are the nicest thing I’ve ever used. Keep an eye peeled. They were in Rockford but I think they advertised in a lot of old magazines. The excess inventory was sold as scrap metal, IIRC.