Todd Burch
01-07-2013, 12:43 PM
Hi All.
I've gotten a couple hinge leafs for my 18" Emmert vise from CS Machinery that I'm not too enthused about. CS Machinery has had great customer service, but after two poorly made parts, they opted for a full refund and I keep the parts.
The main issue is the poor alignment of holes bored for the hinge pins. One ear is drilled properly, but the other is drilled offset, which causes the collar to rest proud of the surface of a bench on one side.
The minor (non-functional) issues are the quality of the casting, the total lack of squareness of the leaf, and thickness variances of the leaf - both of these last two issues would require creative mortising of my bench, or other machine work (both additive and subtractive).
Can this thing be re-machined to have the hole plugged and rebored? I ordered this replacement(s) as the original was broken when a friend dropped the vise. Perhaps having the old original one welded might be an option?
The first picture shows the hole offset in the ear, as compared with the second (properly drilled) ear on the other side. It's too far to the right side.
Third photo shows how the collar is offset in the hole on the improperly drilled ear.
Forth photo shows the gap difference between the two sides with the collar installed.
Fifth photo shows the out-of-squareness of the leaf itself. (Note, the first 4 pictures are the first replacement leaf I received, and the 5th photo is the second replacement leaf. The 2nd leaf has the same issues as the first, and the 1st leaf is just as out of square as the second, although the 2nd leaf also has the additional issue of the center screw hole casting divot being too deep.)
Thoughts? Suggestions?
I've gotten a couple hinge leafs for my 18" Emmert vise from CS Machinery that I'm not too enthused about. CS Machinery has had great customer service, but after two poorly made parts, they opted for a full refund and I keep the parts.
The main issue is the poor alignment of holes bored for the hinge pins. One ear is drilled properly, but the other is drilled offset, which causes the collar to rest proud of the surface of a bench on one side.
The minor (non-functional) issues are the quality of the casting, the total lack of squareness of the leaf, and thickness variances of the leaf - both of these last two issues would require creative mortising of my bench, or other machine work (both additive and subtractive).
Can this thing be re-machined to have the hole plugged and rebored? I ordered this replacement(s) as the original was broken when a friend dropped the vise. Perhaps having the old original one welded might be an option?
The first picture shows the hole offset in the ear, as compared with the second (properly drilled) ear on the other side. It's too far to the right side.
Third photo shows how the collar is offset in the hole on the improperly drilled ear.
Forth photo shows the gap difference between the two sides with the collar installed.
Fifth photo shows the out-of-squareness of the leaf itself. (Note, the first 4 pictures are the first replacement leaf I received, and the 5th photo is the second replacement leaf. The 2nd leaf has the same issues as the first, and the 1st leaf is just as out of square as the second, although the 2nd leaf also has the additional issue of the center screw hole casting divot being too deep.)
Thoughts? Suggestions?