Vise

[Julian Ashcroft]

I’m looking for a vise I can bolt onto the bed of my fiber laser. I’m after a self cantering type fairly low profile, which will help positioning small items quickly, v and flat jaws would be good. I have had a look around the Internet and they don’t seem to be that common, Roland do a few but they are very expensive.

Found the one in the image which might work and I understand you can get v cut jaws for it.

Any 389661other suggestions will be most welcome.

[John Lifer]

Julian, I have an ancient version of a viSe similar to this

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Wolfcraft-Quick-Release-Drill-Press-and-Workbench-Vise-4920405/304087081?cm_mmc=Shopping%7cTHD%7cG%7c0%7cG-BASE-PLA-AllProducts%7c&gclid=CjwKCAjw4avaBRBPEiwA_ZetYrCR1L2s6Np71OcVYUB-MTC4RnASG9r-y69lOPyIZf9gbYkk5iNJ3BoCofcQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=CL-VwvGHotwCFVSRaQodfi0LlA

Mine is a no name but works well. I have the x-y table offered and I bolt this viSe to it when needed. If you don't have xy, I'd be springing for a viSe with built in xy. I find I use it a lot to adjust location. Yes you can use software, but I like to keep my image centered and move the subject part. Beanbag and non hardening clay helps too. I just built a 30" long wood fixture with magnets to hold long items better. Jigs. . Necessary

[Kev Williams]

The issue I see with that low profile unit in your pic is being able to operate the jaws, they're so close to the 'ground' that it would be inconvenient at best just to in and out parts.

I have several self centering vices I use, all various New Hermes pieces--
I'm using this one right now on the fiber-
389671389672
^^ this is the vice that came with my new V5000XT, it's screwed to a piece of 1/4" thick aluminum, the unit gets parked in the upper left corner of the table, and the clamp's centerlines coincided with the software's 'center clamp' function. The clamp bases are all dovetailed so no problem adjusting the clamp center-

These are 2 others I use, one on the left is from my original 1981 C2000, I have it screwed to some 3/4" cherry, I have the centerline coordinates job saved in relation to where it's parked in the machine...
389673
the clamp on the right is even older, it's from a circa 1974 IRX-IV pantograph (which I finally sold about a year ago)...
It doesn't have the lower dovetail base as the pantograph had it's own dovetail it slid into. I have it propped up with some scrap aluminum pieces, without which the clamp knob would hit the table! As it sits, it's great for holding bracelets, as there's room under the clamp base for the bracelet ends.

The nice thing about these clamp is I can use all the New Hermes parts that fit it, and because the jaws have pins and threaded holes on top, I've made many of my own jigs over the years. The drawback to these is to buy them and the parts from New Hermes (Gravograph) is they are EXPENSIVE.

I use one of these almost every day, so you WILL like a self-centering clamp if you find one! But as long as your machine's table is adjustable, I suggest re-thinking the low-profile aspect...

For what it's worth, I have several non-centering clamps too-- I laser etch a ton of cowbells in the Triumph, and since one at a time sucks, I screwed 3 clamps to more chunks of wood to hold 3 cowbells at once in the Triumph-
389674
Since the clamps never move and their coordinates are job saved, once one clamp is verified, all three are good to go :)

[Julian Ashcroft]

Just found a Gravograph Self Centering Vice on eBay, for £35.00, worth a gamble.
389721

[Gary Hair]

How about this? https://www.woodcraft.com/products/pen-makers-center-drilling-vise

I bought one about 15 years ago for drilling pen blanks and have used it a lot since then on the fibers as well as the Trotec. It's a little bit limited on the size of an object, but if it fits what you need then it's a pretty good deal.

edit: I just found it on Amazon for $43.99 with Prime shipping. Search "pen blank drilling center vise" and you'll see lots of them.


Just found a Gravograph Self Centering Vice on eBay, for £35.00, worth a gamble.
389721

[Kev Williams]

Just found a Gravograph Self Centering Vice on eBay, for £35.00, worth a gamble.
389721
Does the support base of the vice come with it? Because what's in the pics is simply the double-threaded rod and jaws, the base that supports the rod ends is missing-

Gary, that little vice looks interesting, but the ad is severely lacking info...

>edit< I found the ad for the vice in Julian's pic, upon further scrutiny, it's actually a very nice vice!
389731

If I were to buy one, first thing I'd do would be to make up some aluminum or wood risers for the ends:
389732

this allows room to work the clamp knob, and many times it's very handy to have space under the vice, something most vices just don't have. Need more space? No problem, prop it up on some 2x4's if you want! ;)

[Nick Hale]

https://m.harborfreight.com/4-inch-jaw-capacity-drill-press-vise-30999.html?utm_referrer=direct%2Fnot%20provided

I have three of these that I arranged to clamp different sized objects. When searching for them I did notice that Sears had a different brand name they were only $8 a piece.

[Julian Ashcroft]

https://m.harborfreight.com/4-inch-jaw-capacity-drill-press-vise-30999.html?utm_referrer=direct%2Fnot%20provided

I have three of these that I arranged to clamp different sized objects. When searching for them I did notice that Sears had a different brand name they were only $8 a piece.

I have several of these, but they aren’t self centering.

Once correctly positioned on the plate of the laser a self centering vice should make positioning items to be lasered that much quicker and also be accurate every time. The one I have bought through eBay, will need some sort of frame making, but hopefully I can make something that can quickly be put on or taken off the laser plate.

[John Lifer]

self centering is a good option. I Do like Pen blank vise, I've got a small one that I don't use for pens often, might try to set it up. But I find I don't leave the vise bolted down to the table all the time. So many things are too large, long or otherwise made wrong to clamp in center. Only when the part is heavy enough to twist the vise do I worry about it and screw it down. Oh, get you a good handful of the correct metric screw/bolts for the holes. I did slide for a 1911 yesterday and if I had the vise bolted down it would have been way too much gyrations of rotations to get the guy's initials at the correct angle and placement on end of one side. Leave image centered and rotate the vise with the slide mounted. quick and painless, especially with EzCad. My vise is cast aluminum with steel screw and vise plates, but is pretty light. The heavier really is better.

[Kev Williams]

I have 3 of those exact clamps too, plus a few similar to them. I prefer the aluminum ones (those I use for cowbells) because they're Soooo much lighter and easier to muckle around than cast iron clamps, plus they have the quick-adjust moving jaw...

Self centering is a nice convenience, but isn't really necessary in most cases; the top jaw doesn't move, so as long as you know the X or Y coordinate of it's edge, centered from there is half the width of what you're clamping + or - that coordinate...

[Julian Ashcroft]

The ‘half’ vice I bought off eBay arrived today. I made a frame to hold it and also mount it on the laser bed. This is just a trial made out of some 6mm plywood, it needs a few tweaks, then I’ll make it out of something a bit more stable.

389993