Two piece mill table vise - video

[Jon]

Two piece mill table vise. By Old Mans Workshop. 4:31 video:

[the harmonious blacksmith]

A lot of guys don't realize that the vise jaws can be put outside the moving jaw and on some vises the fixed jaws as well, giving more than enough capacity to hold the plate shown in the video. Granted, there isn't room to set the plate up on parallels but often the area between the jaws is sufficient area for the required drilling and slotting and other operations.
The table vise idea isn't new but this is a good example of something simple to make and use. ?The fixed jaw could be slotted on the bottom to fit a shallow key to align it square in the table slots as many mill vises are made. Most often that is sufficiently square for all but the most critical squaring which is often called for in unnecessarily tight tolerances drawn by engineers that don't understand the problems in holding those tolerances by the poor guy in the shop who actually does the machining. Engineers should be forced to work in the shops as part of their training. Some companies insist on that option.

[Improvised DIY]

Definitely something I need to make for myself.

[tonyfoale]

A lot of guys don't realize that the vise jaws can be put outside the moving jaw and on some vises the fixed jaws as well, giving more than enough capacity to hold the plate shown in the video.................

Here is a photo of just that. i have been told, even on this forum, that I shouldn't have done it because it was unsafe. The vice makers would not include that feature if it had been found to be dangerous because they would not like being sued often.

Click image for full size.

[DIYer]

Thanks tonyfoale! We've added your Mill Table Vise to our Vises category,
as well as to your builder page: tonyfoale's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

Mill Table Vise by tonyfoale

tags: vise, mill