Advice on "split vise" for VMC modular fixture plate

I recently bought a used Hurco VMC. It came with an unexpected gift: a Stevens Engineering subplate for their modular fixturing system. Basically, it's a piece of ground steel 1.4" thick that is permanently attached to the top of the bed. It's slightly longer, and a bit wider than the bed itself. It has a grid of threaded 1/2-13 holes on 1.250" centers, and a grid of 1/2" hole bushings on 5.000" centers for locating pins. I like it, but it came through with zilch for tooling .

In addition to all kinds of tombstones and locating fixtures, Stevens sells a 6.24" split vise, which they call a modular vise. The moveable jaw and the fixed jaw are seperate components, so you can move them as far apart as your bed allows to hold large stock. Also, they've got bushings on them, so once you insert them in the subplate they're registered: no need to indicate the jaws. OK, well, the first 50 times I use it I'll indicate thoroughly, anyway!

The snag (there's always a snag) is this vise costs a rather hefty $980. I'm not saying it's not worth it, I'm saying I don't have the money.

I'm looking for workaround ideas. I can machine 1/2" pin registrations as well as the next person (almost), and I suppose I could take an older 6" vise and cut/mill/grind it into something that worked, but I'll bet one of you has a much better idea!

Thanks very much for looking at my problem!
Dave

several places sell $150 or so split vises.

all you need to do is bore a few pin holes in one. or if you cant find a suitable meaty portion to modify then mount them on a little 1/2" plate which does have your pin holes.

http://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/NNSRIT?PMPXNO=17739624&PMT4NO=47692116

If you can wait, the stevens vises show up on ebay every once in a great while. dsergison's suggestion is what I would do if I needed the large capacity right now. If you have a Kurt type vise now, just bore 2 1/2" holes 10" apart on the bottom to dowel it to the plate and you'll have the advantage of quicker setup right away. You could mount 2 vise bodies in line, the rear body with the jaw and screw removed, the front body with the rear jaw removed, and hold a large piece of material. (I presume you'd have to mount them left to right, but call the right side the front vise and the left side the rear vise unless you've got a really big plate and machine!) There are other things like toe clamps that could work well too. http://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/NNSRIT?PMPXNO=2006234&PMT4NO=47701409 with your cool plate, you sure wouldn't have to worry about them slipping.

dsergison said:

several places sell $150 or so split vises.

all you need to do is bore a few pin holes in one. or if you cant find a suitable meaty portion to modify then mount them on a little 1/2" plate which does have your pin holes.

http://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/NNSRIT?PMPXNO=17739624&PMT4NO=47692116

Click to expand...

dsergison,

Thanks a million! I'll order one and see how it goes.

Thank you again!
Dave

Mudflap said:

If you can wait, the stevens vises show up on ebay every once in a great while. dsergison's suggestion is what I would do if I needed the large capacity right now. If you have a Kurt type vise now, just bore 2 1/2" holes 10" apart on the bottom to dowel it to the plate and you'll have the advantage of quicker setup right away. You could mount 2 vise bodies in line, the rear body with the jaw and screw removed, the front body with the rear jaw removed, and hold a large piece of material. (I presume you'd have to mount them left to right, but call the right side the front vise and the left side the rear vise unless you've got a really big plate and machine!) There are other things like toe clamps that could work well too. http://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/NNSRIT?PMPXNO=2006234&PMT4NO=47701409 with your cool plate, you sure wouldn't have to worry about them slipping.

Click to expand...

Mudflap,

Also excellent suggestions; thank you very much! As you point out, the quick setup registration feature is really very seperate from the long stock holding feature. Also, the toe clamps: maybe combined with the remove-the-rear jaw on the Kurt, maybe a high-riser toe clamp to match up with the base platform of the vise?

So, let me ask another question please. The Kurt-like vises have that nice anti-rise feature where the stock doesn't tend to slide upwards as you tighten the vise. Is that feature part of the screw-side moving jaw, or the rear static jaw, or both? Reason I'm asking is I'm really liking your idea with the toe clamps, but don't want to lose the anti-rise feature.

Thanks again; more than one way to skin a vise!

Dave

Dave - it's the moving jaw that has the clamp-down feature. It doesn't act on the material, it only keeps the jaw from lifting under the forces of milling. Taking the jaw off won't hurt anything.

Mudflap said:

Dave - it's the moving jaw that has the clamp-down feature. It doesn't act on the material, it only keeps the jaw from lifting under the forces of milling. Taking the jaw off won't hurt anything.

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That's fine, then. I want to upgrade my (pretty rough) old clamps anyway, so it seems like the best thing to do might be to buy the modern Kurt vise I want, pin it for registering, and play with some toe-clamps for future needs to hold long stock.

Thank you both for the excellent help!

Dave