WM16 with big Vice

Hi,

I recently picked up (what i think) is a Jones + Shipman milling vice, no makers marks, 150mm jaw width.

A tad overkill? I've inspected it and it seems like a good vice.

Michael W

Hi Michael,

I was thinking my 4 inch vertex was overkill. That's huge!

Ed.

Not overkill at all that is a nice vice and yes it does look to be a J&S. I like a vice of that pattern without the more usual two strips to rest your work on. So much easier if setting an angle wedge or little sine bar. Nice find.

... It should preload the dovetails nicely

MichaelG.

Michael - I have a 3.5 inch on mine and find it "just so" but f I were you I would carry on with this monster and see how you get on. My guess is that before very long you will find that the height of your new vice will start to cause problems even with the mill head at its highest setting.

The positive side of course is that if your vice is sold on the auction site it would - with luck - get you enough cash to pay for a new three or four inch from say Axminster or similar. I only mention Axminster because I bought a 5" from them for my shaper a few months back when they were at an "offer" price and find it to be surprisingly accurate.

Rik

At 45kgs it's certainly going to load the slides nicely. It also came with a swivel base but alas it was too big for my tee slots, they could be carefully trimmed and thinned down provided i don't disturb the parallel alignment of the tabs.

Thanks for the comments,

Michael W

Michael, I think you owe it to yourself to have a requirement for a larger machine to fit the vice.

Pete

It may well load the dovetails but I would check the front to back tram of the table with all that weight hanging over the front.

I suspect that you will find it necessary to have the vice only in the centre of the table. Anywhere else and the offset load on the ways will make it very hard to turn the handles.

If you don't intend to get a much bigger machine, you might consider advertising (here?) for a swap with a smaller version.

Just a thought, Tim

.

Me too ... [Note: I did not mention the direction of loading]

I was initially wondering about the reduction in feed-screw life.

MichaelG.