Trunnion vises: 5th axis, Kurt, ... opinions?

We have a Yuasa 5th axis indexer (i think its a eutrt 180 or something like that), has a 5.5" rotary table. Relatively small, have it set on one of our 30" machines.

Anyway, I've ran a few jobs on this thing, I love it. We got it used for a great price (about 5 grand?), works fine, no complaints.

The previous jobs, I made fixtures for them. A simple dovetail fixture out of aluminum (it worked but it is beat up and the clamp "arm" of the dovetail is bent from overtightening), a modified 5c collet fixture for another. But now I have an aluminum job to set on it, and will have many other random jobs for this thing, and want to get a fixture (or two) that will work for a wider range of parts we do.




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So I was looking for vises, and came across 5th axis' vise.
looking at the 3x4" vise (75x100mm) here: V751 | 5th Axis


I actually saw it at the last IMTS, held it in my hands, I really like it. But with a 1000$ price tag, my boss needs to be damn sure that I'm sure I'll be able to use it. So I'm looking for opinions on it.

I like the wide range of sizes, the fact that you don't necessarily have to create a dovetail on the stock if you don't want to, there are screws in the side of the jaws for stops, and the jaws are reversable

I see that you can buy (we would likely make) soft jaws for it. I would probably use those all the time too.


The thing I am not sure about is reach. I know that mostly depends on the part and tooling, but I want to know if anyone has one of these and runs into clearance issues often.

My idea to get around clearance issues is just to make taller jaws and you can mill out whatever clearance needed for that job.





Another one I saw, much cheaper in price (600$) is the kurt dt20r here: DoveLock DTR2 5-Axis Dovetail Vise | Dovetail Workholding

There is more clearance for tools, its cheaper, and the jaws are reversable so it can clamp on .5-1.6 stock according to them. Not quite as versatile as the 5th but still seems ok.

I don't like how off center it is when you reverse the jaws, and I don't particularly like always prepping the material with a slot (yes, I know sometimes that is necessary to keep the part from moving during roughing)

So, anyone have any input (real world or otherwise) about either of them?

I know some people will have other brand suggestions, I'll take em. But just know I'd rather have a vise-type fixture that can accommodate a large range of sizes, not be tied down to 1 size dovetail. I would probably be doing parts 3/4"-2" thick. And I'd like to be about 1000$ max, because thats what I can convince my boss to spend. Not much more than that.

Of the two you mentioned, I use the 5th axis brand. Works well in our shop. They replaced the Lang brand we used to use. The Kurt you showed seems less versatile like you already mentioned. Like us, you may find you will use your 5th axis for much more than you plan. We do. As for clearance, obviously it depends on your application. Ours typically sit 5" from the table so it clears the spindle column when the trunnion is tilted up.

I'm using a Lang Makro-Grip 77 on a round Lang Quick-Point 52 mounting plate on my TR-160Y trunnion. I love being able to quick swap vises; I have one I use for 1st ops and another I put soft jaws on for 2nd ops. Softer materials don't need any stock prep op since the hard jaws teeth will bite in, but for harder materials I cut a dovetail for a more positive grip. I just got another mounting plate, this time with a center hole, so I'll be able to mount a collet fixture and hold stock through the trunnion up to 1.5" diameter. I also have another mounting plate on the table, so I can put my 2nd op vise there if the 2nd op is only 3 axis.