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Speedio vises

trochoidalpath

Cast Iron
Joined
Jan 17, 2016
A quick sanity check on vises for a S500X1 before I go spend some (more) money — a couple of Orange 6x17.5"s looks like the sweet spot? I drew it up, and it looks like 6x20" would get you a little more usable range in Y, but would hang off the end of the table quite a bit.

I know could get better space utilization with Delta IV-type vises, but I have some parts that won't fit in the jaws.

Thanks!
 
You should be good with that. I have an Orange 6x17.5 and a Chick 4" double station on our S500.
 
The 20" is doable on your Brother with a consideration. If centered on the table in the Y axis direction, the vise will hang off about 2" at each end. Only an issue at the back of the table when you are attempting to use all of the Y- stroke. I think there is somewhere around 1 to 2" of clearance between the sheetmetal and the table at full Y- stroke. If the 20" doesn't quite clear the sheetmetal when centered, you can offset it slightly to the front of the table or limit the Y- stroke slightly in your machine parameters.
 
17.5" is pretty standard on the S500 and S700 models.

We do have longer versions of the Delta vises in production. The standard is 6" nominal (5.88" actual). The longer versions are 7.5" (7.38" actual) and 9.0" (8.88").
 
I use an Orange 17.5, usually set up as a reverse vise. This works VERY well for us. There are times I set things up as a double if better for the job.
Kudos to Orange for great products, and great support.
 
you might look at the 4" kurt single vises ,, there like $510 each and work great for smaller parts ,,, I have some double vises and find them to be a pain to use ,, any thing more than like 200 parts and I just fixture them and don't use vises ,,
 
I have an Orange 17.5" double and a Kurt Dx6 on my Brother. I guess it all depends on how you are going to use your machine. I wish I had gotten a second Orange 17.5, and probably will at some point. They are just so versatile.

Mine is an older machine but I think near the same Y travel. The nice thing about the 17.5 on my machine at least is that I have it setup so it can't hit on either end of travel and if I forget to take the wrench off the vise, which I have not done yet, it won't tear anything up.

Also, as has been said but can't be said enough the other half of what makes the Orange vises so good for me has been the company's unreasonably good support. I can't think of another company that has given me better support than Orange Vise. I have had a few issues over the years with it that were related to earlier designs and every time I have called they just sent the updated parts out.
 
Also, as has been said but can't be said enough the other half of what makes the Orange vises so good for me has been the company's unreasonably good support.
Just bumping this to thank Eric and the gang at Orange Vise. I ordered another Brother R650 and it was going to show up much faster than I anticipated. Orange originally quoted a six week lead time for my CUSTOM order of vises, but that mean the machine would be sitting for several weeks before it was usable. I offered Eric to forego my discount to jump up in line. They ended up delivering vises to us in 2.5 weeks and still gave me the discount. Again, this was a custom order. I have them add a center dovetail clamp on all of the jaw carriers.

And our last order about 7 months ago got screwed up in freight. The machine they were for had been set in place the same day that freight (Saia) said that they only deliver once per week in my town, even though all the other major carriers were in town every day. Chris at Orange jumped through his ass to get it fixed for us and Saia made a 'special' trip for us the next day. I can only imagine the language used on that phone call. :D

This makes 14 of their vises that I have bought over several years, so we're not a big customer, but still get great service. Thanks guys!

One tip though... email any docs you need to email, but CALL if you need to speak to a human. Much better service that way.
 
a couple of Orange 6x17.5"s looks like the sweet spot? I drew it up, and it looks like 6x20" would get you a little more usable range in Y, but would hang off the end of the table quite a bit.

Yes, I have two 17.5s on my S500 and i's about perfect. About 3/4" overhang on front and back. One thing that has helped me (vs. the 20" version), is sometimes I forget to remove my socket wrench off the front of the vise. When I do an MDI move to get the table up front for loading, the wrench always clears, sometimes just barely. If you use the choked up position on the vise, the hex stud and wrench stick farther out the back. I have not had it hit, but I'm sure if I had 20s on there, my door would have been crunched a couple times.
 
I have 3 17.5s on my S700 and love them. I think 2 would be great on a 500. They are so quick to set up and flexible.
 








 
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