Which Vice

[Arbalest]

I have a plain Vice on my Mill which is nice and rigid but once in a while I guess it's handy to have something "Tilty"!

So which one would you get?

2 Way:
http://www.chronos.ltd.uk/acatalog/info%5fMX1092%5f%2ehtml

3 Way:
http://www.chronos.ltd.uk/acatalog/info%5f110051%5f%2ehtml

Or Universal: - (think I'd have trouble setting this one up!)
http://www.chronos.ltd.uk/acatalog/info%5fSIUPV0050%2ehtml

I'm leaning (pun intended!) towards the two way as it's likely to be more rigid and maintains the Z on my mill a bit better.

All thoughts and links to alternatives gratefully received!

I like the Universal on this page but it's way over budget:
http://www.arceurotrade.co.uk/Catalogue/Workholding/Machine-Vices

[steamer]

Arbalest,

That's a tough one.     My F1 has a tilt swivel which is similar to the second one on the list.   I've never needed a 3 way tilt so far.....though I have done 2 way tilts.....

I guess the first one would be my bet........

Dave

[Jo]

I have one of the 2 Way vices: http://www.chronos.ltd.uk/acatalog/info%5fMX1092%5f%2ehtml. I originally brought it donkeys years ago. My only complaint is that because of the second tilt it is a bit high. Having a rotary base on such a small vice is really useful but I think I have only ever used the top tilt once or twice.

I am hoping to buy one of these Stainer vices when they finally become available again :

http://www.homeandworkshop.co.uk/894019.jpg

Jo

[Arbalest]

We have one of these plain Vices at work. Very nice but bit spendy ... 

http://rotagriponline.com/components/com_virtuemart/shop_image/product/Bison_150mm_Prec_4dd56e634a0cb.jpg

[Jo]

Not bad, the thing with the Stanier that you may have missed is its size: It has 3" jaws and is only about 1 1/2" tall including the rotating table.

Jo

[b.lindsey]

I would tend to favor the first one unless you have a specific need for the 3 way feature. Fewer degrees of freedom should equate to more rigid and also easier to set up. Just my 2 cents.

Bill

[Bogstandard]

Your first one and the one Jo has is what I have sitting in my tooling cupboard.

If you need the third angle, then a little Wixie digital gauge could be used in the beginning to set the part up in the vice jaws.

The more axis you start to add, the more throat on your milling machine you lose.
Even on my largish mill and a 3" jaw version of your first selection, I am starting to get tight on throat depth if the part sticks up any more than a couple of inches above the vice jaws (that is with an ER32 collet chuck, OK if I use spindle collets).

John

[Arbalest]

Thanks guys. Sounds like my first thoughts were justified but it does'nt hurt to get the advice of others!