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Vise Caddy

Yeah, it's actually called a vice crane.

Used to be a crane was a gadget that swung from the wall of old kitchen fireplaces for suspending heavy cooking pots and I imagine that's where it takes its name.

Great gadget. Saves time and it foils the chiropractor.

The ones I've seen were home brew and attached to the machine's column. This allows the vice to swing further around the protecting the vice from chips and accidents.

Needless to say the hinges have to be stout and the members designed to resist tortional deflection. Otherwise the crane will drift where you don't want it to go due to machine vibration from heavy cuts.

On turret mills where there's a door on the left it's best to attach it to the right side of the column and design the crane in a way that allows the turret to swivel freely.

On lathes where the chuck are weighty a chuck crane attached to the head stock is a great convenience. Particularly if the crane is "double barreled" so it can carry the 3 jaw and the 4 jaw.

I'm about that far (meaures an Angstrom between thumb and forefinger) from making a chuck crane myself. My 4 jaw weighs 95 lb.

[This message has been edited by Forrest Addy (edited 09-03-2003).]
 
most vise swing arms are a little clunky. Most gys I know pick up the arm out of the socket and hang it on the column instead of jacking the knee to unload the vise. good concept, but for my money, build yourself a special cart" table height and just slide the vise onto it, make a place for the bolts and nuts and all the tools to sweep it in and then you have an efficient tool.
 
I bought and installed the vice caddy on all three of my manual mills. They only work with a Kurt vise. Most vise clones that I have, have a different hole pattern on the jaws, so they don't work without making new jaw inserts.
I also built(welded up) some special tables of the aprox. height of my mill tables. Just scoot the vise onto the table, and wheel the table off...That is until the 4" caster hits an overly large chip on the floor, (and you have loaded your SuperSpacer on the side of the table due to the crank handle) then you end up with scrap iron, and a BIG DIVOT in the concrete floor
biggrin.gif
 
Hey Forrest
I wouldn't mind seeing your ideas for a chuck crane. My 3 jaw is the chiropractors favorite tool in the shop.
Thanks
Fred T
 
I wish I could remember where I saw it but someone has plans on the internet for an overhead swivel crane. It's basicly an I-beam with a pivot on one end and an arched rail (support) on the other. The beam will swing and the lift moves along the I-beam. He set it up so it can reach all the machines in his shop.
 
Ken is describing a jib crane. They're a handy, low budget easy to make for the home metal fabricator.

The crane consists of a post that pivots in a vertical plane, a horizontal boom at the top of the post, a trolley that runs along the boom, and some kind of hoist that hangs from the tolley.

If the walls of your shop are stout you can mount the lower pivot bearing on the floor and the upper on the wall. The wall has to be very strong and the building stong in shear to withstand the forces. An engineered approach is strongly reccommended if the crane is to handle over 200 lb and has a reach of over 6 feet.

You can find them in Google.com using "jib crane" as a search object or in Industrial catalog.

Here's a link for a catalog page showing a photo.

http://www.mscdirect.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Merchant_Id=1&Section_Id=1259&pcount=15&Product_Id=39369&Keyword=Y
 
Yea, I've seen the jib cranes but this was all attached to the ceiling (joists). The swinging end ran in a curved track (not "arch" like I said before-sorry). You would still have to have good sturdy joists though. But it was intended only to carry vices, chucks and work not equipment.
Using a light duty I-beam and 1/4" track, I think you could carry at least 200lbs. Most standard garages will handle that (spread over several joists). You'd probably have to box the pivot end. That's more chuck and vice than I would ever need.
 
Hey guys I put in an I beam and chuck rack about two months ago, my back might now last another 30 years......

Here's a pic

hoist.jpg


got the electric hoist for $40 at a local auction- it's only rated for 1/4 ton - perfect for chucks etc.
 
New Vise Caddy

Hey, Guys I know this is an old post but the company I work for just got two of these for our Bridgeport Knee Mills and they work really well. The ones we got have a dovetail mount, so they literally took two minutes to put on. We bought them from a company called EMI Inc. I think they were about $600
Vise Caddy.jpg:)
 
Hey, Guys I know this is an old post but the company I work for just got two of these for our Bridgeport Knee Mills and they work really well. The ones we got have a dovetail mount, so they literally took two minutes to put on. We bought them from a company called EMI Inc. I think they were about $600
View attachment 224158:)

All well and good till you need to move the ram. The one I made bolts on that hole in the other end of the ram. (where the slotting tool goes if you have one)
 








 
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