USA Mini Self Centering Vise - Development Progress

[Orange Vise]

What finish is that? Is it the same for the vise body in the foreground?

That's a basic TiN coating. Nice looking but we ended up going in a different direction.

Turns out that that thin PVD coatings are porous and not as corrosion resistant as we would've hoped. Thick PVD provides much better corrosion resistance, but then starts to affect dimension.

 

[Orange Vise]

Hi again OrangeVise:
Have you ever explored the idea of offering a 5C collet vise option.
I ask because that partner I was on about in an earlier post, built a very clever one that he seemed to use a lot, and it was pretty simple but also bullet proof.

The "clever" came from the little dovetailed pocket he milled in the end of a collet.
It was triangular as I recall, was a very shallow dovetail angle (maybe 5 degrees??) and would grip the end of a blank with a true death grip while requiring very little height... I think it was something like 0.100".

He particularly liked it because the collet nose is so small... so he could sneak his tool holders in nice and close...much closer than with any other system he tried.
I was always impressed with that solution, but I've never looked for it commercially, so I don't know if anyone out there is making these.

What do you think?

Cheers

Marcus
www.implant-mechanix.com
www.vancouverwireedm.com

I have thought about it. ID grinding isn't in our wheelhouse yet. Might have to call up the boys at Maritool.

I do see a sizable market for a 5C collet block with an integral ZPS interface like the Erowa ITS50. It would be a cost effective way to add hundreds of pallets to an automated cell.

Blanks with those aforementioned 5 degree dovetails could be easily whipped out on a the most basic lathe. I like it.

 

[Vancbiker]

……..The "clever" came from the little dovetailed pocket he milled in the end of a collet.
It was triangular as I recall, was a very shallow dovetail angle (maybe 5 degrees??) and would grip the end of a blank with a true death grip while requiring very little height... I think it was something like 0.100".

He particularly liked it because the collet nose is so small... so he could sneak his tool holders in nice and close...much closer than with any other system he tried.
I was always impressed with that solution, but I've never looked for it commercially, so I don't know if anyone out there is making these.

On a somewhat similar note, I’ve done stainless investment cast parts in a lathe with a triangular dovetail milled in excess material on one end and held in softjaws that had a matching dovetail pattern cut in them. It ended up a much better process than the previous method which was a chucked up fixture plate with clamps to hold the part in nesting details.

 

[mhajicek]

That's a basic TiN coating. Nice looking but we ended up going in a different direction.

Turns out that that thin PVD coatings are porous and not as corrosion resistant as we would've hoped. Thick PVD provides much better corrosion resistance, but then starts to affect dimension.

Who do you use for coatings, if you don't mind my asking?

 

[5 axis Fidia guy]

We had one of the stampers at a previous shop I worked at. It worked pretty well. It uses basically the same system as the vise, so you are essentially just transferring the wear to the really expensive stamper jaws instead of the vise.

The main thing we used the stamper for was production runs. If we pre-stamped a thousand blanks, it made it really hard for the off shift to find a way to load the parts off center in the vise.

In my shop we really just clamp-and-go. Some of the older vises are starting to show wear, but they are still going strong after about 5 years of heavy use, so they have already paid for themselves many times over.

I never went for the Lang version. I have Schunk with the serrated jaws. With Lang, if you stamp the workpiece crooked, there is no way to straighten it for machining. I do allot of finish work and accuracy is most important for me. For those insisting on dovetails for strength, I just recently cut a hard S-7 56RC insert, and the Schunk serrations dug into the hardened block, that's an indication of how much holding power they really have. For the original question, I would make offer these in a stainless steel version and plate them for wear. A few extra bucks would be worth it.

 

[Philabuster]

I find it interesting the OP has only one post and has not returned to this thread.

 

[Milland]

I find it interesting the OP has only one post and has not returned to this thread.

In fairness, it did sort of get hijacked. But I'd be interested to get his reactions to the on-topic posts.

 

[dandrummerman21]

I find it interesting the OP has only one post and has not returned to this thread.

Plot twist: The OP was actually a Chinese vise maker and has us engineering his vise for him, and price will look real good compared to what the made in us version was supposed to be.

I'm not serious. But it's possible!

 

[Fal Grunt]

Plot twist: The OP was actually a Chinese vise maker and has us engineering his vise for him, and price will look real good compared to what the made in us version was supposed to be.

I'm not serious. But it's possible!

I had the same thoughts. . . India, China, etc.

 

[EmGo]

I had the same thoughts. . . India, China, etc.

Unlikely. Way too idiomatic

 

[mhajicek]

With Lang, if you stamp the workpiece crooked, there is no way to straighten it for machining.

Flip the block over and stamp the other side.

 

[5 axis Fidia guy]

Flip the block over and stamp the other side.

I do all finish work so the mold cores and cavities cannot be flipped.

 

[vomelkojr]

Hello everyone, its been a while and I have been busy with work related things.

The interest seems to be there for a smaller size self centering vise. I am still planning on proceeding with this but I do realize that it will be a decent undertaking, especially to get the price down (not sure how easy it would be to hit the $150 price point). I will post details of the newest revision of the design and will work on getting my thoughts about the various comments back to you as soon as I have a few moments to step away from work.

I appreciate everyone's input. As the design is finalized, I will either make a post or video highlighting the key features of the vise and the reasons for the decisions being made. The plan is to have a few different mounting solutions available at launch. I was also considering to make a quick swappable jaw system but at the same time the cost is also of a priority. We are working on making future parts compatible with the V1.0 vise body so that early customers can have different jaw options (most likely you will be able to customize your exact vise setup online, options such as mounting type, jaw type, etc.)

Stay tuned for an update, probably towards the end of the month.

Thank you again everyone,

Vlad