Who do you feel makes the best parallel keepers?

For years and years I have been using Kurt parallel keepers and LOVE them!

What I'm upset about though is their longevity.

Ok....I guess you could call it a "love - hate" thing then so let me explain........

I love the fact they do an incredible job of keeping my parallels in place, which are the thin .03" thick parallels, and they are used all the time on practically every job and every program states which size parallels to use.

I am NOT going to switch to step jaws, so don't even go there......with the type of work we do, and the materials we machine I am often times just holding parts with the cheeks of my ass (as one of the first "old-timers" I worked with when just getting started in this trade used to call it) so the parallels are a necessary evil to often times allow me as much of the part in the vise as possible for holding purposes.

So my beef continues...........

The problem with them is usually about 9 months after getting them, inevitably one of the tabs inside the tube that keep the springs in place bends back enough and allows the spring to decompress past the tab making it virtually impossible to bend back, compress the spring, and then bend the tab back in place again to hold the spring in place. You MIGHT be able to do this once, but the second time......it's junk!!.....the tab will break off making the keeper useless!!

Those things aren't cheap either........at almost $70.00 a pop delivered despite their invaluable time savings..........(ok, not cheap, but at the same time invaluable......you know what I mean ).....I am often left wondering......is there an alternative solution, a better product perhaps?

I don't want mickey mouse solutions either..........have enough of that already!

Best Regards,
Russ

wrustle said:

I don't want mickey mouse solutions either..........have enough of that already!

Best Regards,
Russ

Click to expand...

This may be the mickey mouse solution you are referring to, but it works. I make this shape out of banding material and place it between the parallels.



Another option under the mickey mouse category would be jaws that are drilled and tapped to allow you to bolt the parallels to the jaws.

Russ,
I use the Kurt "6PJS'' parallel jaw sets. They have a small but strong magnet in the jaws to hold the parallels. No springs, no nothing. I think they were around 100 bucks. Couldn't do without them!

http://www.kurtworkholding.com/seo_urls.php?url=accessories/magnetic_jaw_plate.php

Anyone who has had a knee mill for a while has probably had to replace the spring that retracts the quill. Years ago I had to replace a return spring and took the broken one and cut it into sections to use as parallel keepers. They are perfect for this. Material looks like banding material, but is spring steel. Basically it's just a arc shaped piece of spring.

Kyle Smith said:

This may be the mickey mouse solution you are referring to, but it works. I make this shape out of banding material and place it between the parallels.

Another option under the mickey mouse category would be jaws that are drilled and tapped to allow you to bolt the parallels to the jaws.

Click to expand...

We use those and sometimes elastic bands when the parts are thinner than the parallel keepers will close.

The problem with those are they don't always hold secure enough to prevent the parallels from moving when blowing out the vise prior to loading parts or even better.....they blow out of the vise, and usually end up the absolute farthest from reach in the back of the machine!!!!

Later,
Russ

Strap banding,...... foam rubber (as in upholstery foam),.......... and a collection of old valve springs from the engine shop next door.

Russ,
I know what you mean aout the tabs breaking off. Been there, done that. My solution was to drill and tap a 4-40 hole and put a stainless steel screw in. So far so good.

Michael

mthomure said:

Russ,
I know what you mean aout the tabs breaking off. Been there, done that. My solution was to drill and tap a 4-40 hole and put a stainless steel screw in. So far so good.

Michael

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DAMN MICHAEL!! You sir are a fricken genius!!!

You just saved me $130 cause I was about to buy two more today!!

I'll have the one that just broke repaired, and just for good measure I'll have the other one drilled and tapped as well just to prevent it from breaking tomorrow afternoon after it's already too late to do anything about..........cause you all know......it's GOING to happen that way, and almost always does!!

GREAT idea!! Thank you so much!

That's the beauty of this forum........

Best Regards,
Russ

I'm with ya on those parallel keepers. If they are going to charge 70 bucks a pop, they could make them last longer than approximately a year.

What am I missing here? Is there an advantage to the keepers? These magnet jaws eliminate all the crap and don't really cost that much more. Plus, you can buy just the jaws (without parallels) for about the same price, with work stops.

Ray Behner said:

What am I missing here? Is there an advantage to the keepers? These magnet jaws eliminate all the crap and don't really cost that much more. Plus, you can buy just the jaws (without parallels) for about the same price, with work stops.

Click to expand...

Just ordered 2 sets (kits), comes w/ 3 pair of parallels and 2 different works stops MSC, $115.00
very cool

Magnets and cutting anything steel is going to be a mess. Chips will congregate, things will get magnetized..... not my idea of fun.

Have you guys tried the Kurt "CLAK Jaws"?
They are a regular set of parallels with a 1/4" square brass bar screwed to the bottom edge of the parallel. Mounted in the upper surface of the brass bar are a pair of spring loaded steel balls. The vise jaws have a matching 1/4" recess cut into the bottom of the jaws, with a Vee groove that accepts the balls, and locks them in place.
You can slide the parallel to one side if you have to drill mear the end of the part.
These parallels stay in place!
They aren't cheap, but worth every penny. I have three sets in the shop and I could not function without them.

Kurt Workholding - One Stop Workholding - Kurt Workholding

Lee (the saw guy)

Just ordered 2 sets (kits), comes w/ 3 pair of parallels and 2 different works stops MSC, $115.00
very cool

Bud,
I've got two sets also. I have never had the slightest issue with the magnets. They don't transfer through to the parallels. Nor is it difficult to clean the jaws.
I agree with the CLAK system......but pricey!

Ray Behner said:

Just ordered 2 sets (kits), comes w/ 3 pair of parallels and 2 different works stops MSC, $115.00
very cool

Bud,
I've got two sets also. I have never had the slightest issue with the magnets. They don't transfer through to the parallels. Nor is it difficult to clean the jaws.
I agree with the CLAK system......but pricey!

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Only problem with the clak system is you cannot use the 1/32 parallels with this system.

The magnetic system intrigues me though. I'm wondering if you have 1/32 wide parallels that aren't super flat, will the magnets still hold them well?

Dave K said:

Only problem with the clak system is you cannot use the 1/32 parallels with this system.

The magnetic system intrigues me though. I'm wondering if you have 1/32 wide parallels that aren't super flat, will the magnets still hold them well?

Click to expand...

Yes they will. I've got a ten cent set of 1/32 parallels. I think they were guaranteed to not be flat! They flatten right out with that puny little magnet. The magnets are neodymium iron boron (sp), so they're pretty strong.

Brian said:

Magnets and cutting anything steel is going to be a mess. Chips will congregate, things will get magnetized..... not my idea of fun.

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Lucky for me, steel is only about 10% of my vise work and even then it's usually A286 or something similar

Ray Behner said:

Yes they will. I've got a ten cent set of 1/32 parallels. I think they were guaranteed to not be flat! They flatten right out with that puny little magnet. The magnets are neodymium iron boron (sp), so they're pretty strong.

Click to expand...

Cool!! I might check into these then.

The old anodizer that was here left me some of his racking equipment. There were some titanium clips and they are so perfect its almost not fair. They last forever too. I will try to find some on the net and post a link. They are like 10$.

Kyle Smith said:

This may be the mickey mouse solution you are referring to, but it works. I make this shape out of banding material and place it between the parallels.

Another option under the mickey mouse category would be jaws that are drilled and tapped to allow you to bolt the parallels to the jaws.

Click to expand...

I have done this exact thing many times and it works very well. And who cares if its mickey mouse, it beats paying $100 or more for a keeper. Something else I have done is rubber bands. They only last about a week at the most but they are only a couple bucks for a big bag.