Model Builders Vise from Morrison & Marvin Castings

[Dave Otto]

Hi Guys

I finished building my vise about 8 years ago and just recently completed the drawing package that is available for download on the M&M web site.
http://www.morrisonandmarvin.com/vise_drawings.php

Chris Rueby had express interest in seeing a build thread on the vise, so this will be a condensed version to show the steps and tooling I used to build this wonderful little vise.

I will also show the ½ size Power Arm Jr. (Powrarm) swivel base that I scaled and built from my full sized one.



Here is the kit as received from Morrison & Marvin, very complete with the 4140 steel castings, all the necessary materials and hardware. This is a current kit that I picked up last year; I wanted to have one on hand to keep all the rest of my casings company. 


<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNMmgZqK3Zk" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNMmgZqK3Zk</a>
If you are interested, here is a video from the foundry showing the casting process for some of the vise parts.



Starting work on the moveable jaw; there was a bit of a shrink and the shaft had a pretty good warp to it. So it took a little fussing to get it running true in the lathe. The foundry has changed the way they mount these on the wax tree to prevent this from happening; the current castings are much better in this area.



Turned around in the collet and finished to dimension.



Drilling clearance for the screw.



Machining the front end for the screw and lock plate.


Thanks for checking in.
Dave

[b.lindsey]

Thanks for posting this Dave. I suspect they might get a few orders as a result 

Bill

[crueby]

Excellent, thanks!!!


 

[crueby]

Thanks for posting this Dave. I suspect they might get a few orders as a result 

Bill

I am putting in one, adding to the project shelf... 

[b.lindsey]

Thinking about it here too Chris. They will need time to age properly 

Bill

[crueby]

Thinking about it here too Chris. They will need time to age properly 

Bill

May need a copy of Jo's book, Casting Fondling For Dummies!

[Dave Otto]

Thinking about it here too Chris. They will need time to age properly 

Bill

May need a copy of Jo's book, Casting Fondling For Dummies!

 

[Dave Otto]

Hi Guys

I should have included these pictures with the last ones.


The Front Jaw is squared up in a collet block to dill and tap for the lock plate retaining screws.


Then set up in the mill for drilling and tapping for the screw reatiner.


Next, on to the swivel base.

Dave

[zeeprogrammer]

Thinking about it here too Chris. They will need time to age properly 

Bill

May need a copy of Jo's book, Casting Fondling For Dummies!

 

I would prefer a night course. 

[crueby]

Great sequence Dave - thanks!!
 

[crueby]

Wow, that was quick, the tracking shows that my model makers vise kit will be here Friday - they shipped it right out!
Rats, now Zee knows its coming and will try and raid the porch.... Have to sit up in the tree with the bow Friday to pick him off...  Or maybe leave a jug of Stinking Hoppy by the driveway to distract him!
Should make a nice project next time I am bored...      Maybe as a break halfway through making all those track segments next month!
Thanks again for the build log Dave!
 

[Dave Otto]

 

[Dan Rowe]

Dave, I have a set of these castings sitting next to my computer, just waiting for some shop time. It is a bit hot in the shed right now so I moved the Levin to the house so I can play. Thanks for posting this thread

Dan

[Dave Otto]

Hi guys

Thanks Dan, glad to have you along.

The next parts are the Swivel Base, Nut Housing and Lock Plate. The Swivel Base and Nut Housing are cast as one piece so the Nut Housing needs to be finished first and then parted from the base. Otherwise there is not an easy way to hold onto it, you may come up with a different plan but this is the way I chose to go about it. All of the castings have chucking lugs which makes setups a little easier.


First the casting was held by the end with the Nut Housing so the chucking lug could be trued up. Then it was flipped around as shown here, and chucked using the chucking lug. The Nut Housing was turned to the proper diameter then parted off.

Not shown; after the Nut Housing was parted off the recess for the Lock Plate was machined using a boring bar. The bottom surface of the Swivel Base has also been faced.



Next the Swivel Base was flipped around mounted in a 4 jaw and indicated in using the chucking lug. The chucking lug is cut off and the Swivel Base is bored for the Lock Plate and faced to length. Notice the Sherline 4 jaw chuck.



I machined the Lock Plate from a piece of 12L14 that I had on hand. The current kit has material supplied so a different approach will probably be needed the make this part. One other deviation from the new drawings is, I machined the Lock Plate Pin as an integral part of the Lock Plate. On the current design this is a pressed in dowel pin; which is how the original Wilton vises are made. All though I think they may be using a roll pin.



After the first lathe operation is complete the part, chuck and all was transferred to the mill and the pockets were machined and the holes for the Lock Bolts drilled using the CNC.



A quick trip to the band saw and the Lock Plate is removed from the stock. Then back to the lathe and faced to length.

Next will be starting the machining of the Back Jaw (body)

Thanks for checking in.
Dave

[Dave Otto]

Hi Guys
Here are some pictures of the vise body machining.



The lost wax castings are very nice and require little to no fettling; starting on the body the excess material is removed using the band saw.



The body casting has a straight section at the rear that can be used as a chucking lug. The casting is cored so all that is required is to bore it to size. It is also a good idea at this time to take a facing cut across the jaw face to clean it up and insure that it is square to the bore. I didn’t indicate it before but the front jaw should also be faced while in the lathe.



A snug fitting mandrel was turned and the body casting pushed on, so the back end can be cut to length.



Body casting set up in the mill vise to face the bottom and drill the holes. The top of the jaw is sitting on a parallel for proper alignment. The casting was centered on the boss, the center pivot hole drilled and reamed and the Lock Bolt holes drilled.



Trial fit of the pieces completed so far. Sorry I didn’t take any pictures of the nut machining. One word of caution on the nut is that it is only partially threaded you need to be sure that you are turning the correct end down. Also the large end of the nut may need a little file work to get it to seat properly in the nut housing.
You can see in the picture that I have added the Lock Bolts and when this picture was taken the end of the body casting hadn’t been cut off yet.



Bottom view with the lock plate and hardware; on the original vise they used carriage bolts; these are dummies that screw into the Swivel Plate.



Ready to press the nut retainer into the body.



The Nut Housing has been pressed in, blended and lightly bead blasted.


Thanks for checking in.
More later

Dave