What's new
What's new

New vise time. first accounts welcome

yoke

Hot Rolled
Joined
Sep 26, 2013
Location
PA
With the end of the year approaching it looks like I'll be getting some new work holding. Most of what we do is vise work as opposed to fixtures.

I only have single action Kurt's and have been happy with them. I am now in need of 6 inch double action vices. I am interested in feedback on Kurt, Chick, and Orange regarding price you paid and any issues or praise you might have.
 
With the end of the year approaching it looks like I'll be getting some new work holding. Most of what we do is vise work as opposed to fixtures.

I only have single action Kurt's and have been happy with them. I am now in need of 6 inch double action vices. I am interested in feedback on Kurt, Chick, and Orange regarding price you paid and any issues or praise you might have.

We have a ton of Kurt singles, and a few Chick 4" doubles.. I'd be looking at the Orange, as it appears to be the perfect blend between the two.
 
I think I'd be looking at the Orange vises as well. They look very nice, and I like that they can be set up as a single station as well which just adds to their versatility. I like the sidemount option, but who knows how much it adds to the cost (well, someone does).
 
1798100_378419548988322_6078118359806501096_n.jpg

2 oranges here, will order 2 more soon to fit on this plate we made.

10704041_378419528988324_8843085465917172529_n.jpg

I love them and the owners of the shop seem to love them. I would buy them if I had the choice.
 
Whats the advantage with the Orange Vise? Seems like they cost quite a bit more than a simular Kurt.
 
works as a single or dual station vise, normal or reverse style, fixture base plate, quick change ball lock type system (optional) to remove them and reinstall them without having to tram. These things are accurate enough that we now have all our offsets in the machine and taking out a vise and moving it then back in, it was right on the money and didnt have to redo the work offsets.

I cant say that Sol will give you a discount for ordering more than 1, all I can say is money talks and im would assume he would give discounts for ordering more than 1 like he did with us.

We make our own softjaws in house that are quick change and they are fast to change out with a slot on the backside that with a dowel pin locates the jaw to the vise. This whole system has really helped us with repeat jobs, the setup is so easy now.
 
I've switched to 6" double station vises from TE-CO. You can set them up with soft jaws to machine, one giant plate that sits on top, carrier jaws that hold standard bolt-on jaws, etc. The vises seem to be priced right and you can machine your own soft jaws from scratch for not too much scratch. The outside jaws just snap on and off and I can tell you from using them for the past couple years now that they work just as advertised. And they are made in the USA, too.

Relock® Double Station Vise with Machinable Soft Jaws : toolexvise.com : Vise Workholding Solutions for Vertical and Horizontal Milling Machines

ReLock2-StationVisewithHardMasterJaws-COLOR.jpg
 
Whats the advantage with the Orange Vise? Seems like they cost quite a bit more than a simular Kurt.
Really? Where are you getting the quotes from?

Kurt Double Lock 6" list price $1934 (source Kurtworkholding.com)
Orange Double station 6" list price $1799 (source Orangevise.com)

If you are comparing the Orange to a D688 or 3600 Kurt, these are not remotely the same sort of vise.

Kurt makes a nice vise. The Orange is a bit better - all machined, greater setup flexibility, quicker changeover between them. I own both.
 
We have 2- 6" double vices from Glacern on one machine. They are decent vises but there are a few things I'm not really pleased with.

1. There are a bunch of tapped hole along the length of the bed for installing stops which is not a bad idea however it makes tramming in the vise a real in the butt.
2. The sliding swath cover are a problem when doing 2 narrow parts (less then 1") as they are too long and bind up and bend.
3. Constantly have to adjust the friction stop during the day to open the vises properly.

Not a bad product, just needs some refinement.

We recently got a quote from Orange for 3 - 6" double vises with the ball couplers and sub plate to install on a new machine when we get it in and it was an attractive price.
 
I have 6 TOOLEX, 4 Kurt and 12 Chick double vises at my shop. I wish I could trade them all in for more chicks!

I have 4 chick doubles 15/40 and wish I had 4 toolex. I wish the chicks opened farther and I need to make a few single plates to be able to convert them to singles.
 








 
Back
Top