"micro mill milling vise"

Any thoughts on the 55mm micro mill vise seemingly only available from Axminster.

About the only vise designed specifically for the X1 micro mill i think?

Price is err, pricey, but looks like it could be useful, wide opening, cam lock,low profile.

Anyone used/got one? ~robust enough?

Thoughts anyone?

I've already got a standard milling 80mm vise from Arc~ really excellent for the price,I'm just looking for a possible better mousetrap.

thanks.

Some things that Axminster sell are remarkably good value for money, that however doesn't look like one of them. To me it looks as if they've bought a thousand of them for a tenner each and are now ready to maximise profits.

There you go.... Just my thoughts

Regards.

David.

And it's here **LINK**

David.

The concept looks good; but its usefulness [and thereby, Value for Money] will depend on its accuracy and build-quality ... Frankly; I am not encouraged by the photo, and am a little concerned by the fact that the one-and-only Customer Review dates back to 2009.

I don't need one; but if I did, I would need to see it 'in the flesh' before spending £146

MichaelG.

Ok, thanks. Be nice to here from someone who actually has one.

I think it's made by Seig~ but can't find it on sieg's website now, was under "accessories" a while back.

Arceurotrade used to list a similar vice but seem to have dropped it in catalogue 7, they listed it at £56 in cat 6 which was 2009.

Mike

There is very little flat surface to the fixed jaw and for milling, could even mark some work such as Aluminium. I would be wary of using the steps in the jaws to hold work, far better to tap it down onto parallels

Never liked any vice with the swivel on the base as it lifts the vice up closer to the head and reduces clearance , i use a toolmakers type vice on my small mill and a vertex copy of a Kurt vice on my big mill .

You can get toolmakers vices down to 1 inch capacity so finding a size for your machine should not be a problem .

Ian.

Most vices will come off the swivel base which can then be put into a cupboard and only come out on the odd occasion where it is needed.

Have you seen the alternatives to a vice on Harold Hall's website?

Arc dropped that vice from its range a while back.

We had about two in ten returned because the vice casting used to break where the fixed jaw joined the bottom part at the ‘L’ shape. It was difficult to say if this was due to weakness of the casting in this area, or if this was due to incorrect use. There was also an increase in cost to us from sieg. When combining the two issues, we felt the overall costs to be more than we could consider, to continue to sell this product.

Ketan at ARC

I was just about to post but read Ketan's comment.

Yes, I bought an 80mm one from Arc and the back jaw dropped off, after several years, in exactly that spot. I never used anything other than hand pressure on the lever. It started getting harder and harder to tighten then one day went ping so I think it was a gradual failure. Four M6 hex-head screws into the back across the fracture rescued it. I wasn't 100% happy how well the two surfaces went together, so some later I milled the mating surfaces flat, it kept going and I used it for several years before buying a new vice.

It's now fixed to my shaper.

This is 'the invisible mending':

I bought a small mill vice from Chronos, see here, which I have been very pleased with. It is slightly bigger than the one you were looking having a jaw width of 75mm rather than 55mm. You will need to check the dimensions to see if it is suitable but as mentioned above they can be used without the swivel base.

Martin W

The sharp-0eyed will see mine has the swivel base removed and the slots broken out

Neil

Thanks for all the replies, sounds like it's a non starter for the price then,

& 2 in 10 returns Hmmmm...., surely not down to the X1's motor power breaking anything