Kurt HD690 vs. DX6 or similar vise recommendations.

Does anyone have any direct experience with the Kurt HD690 vs. DX6 series? I have the D688's on one machine which I have no issues with other than wishing they didn't have the flange mount. Then I bought DX6 vises for the new mill but I can't say I like them that much. They are not as smooth as the older vises and I seem to get more issues with jaw lift and chips packing under the moveable jaw requiring a lot more cleaning and fiddling with the retention set screw. Is the HD690 any better or is it just 1/4" taller for "less deflection"? From what I can see it looks like it's pretty much the same design as the DX6 other than the body height.

I need a 3rd vise for my mill right now and all the bed heights need to match so I'm either looking at dealing with another DX6, or buying three new HD690's. There are some good deals on the HD690 right now so if it is really better than the DX6 I will go that route and put the DX6's over on the manual mill.

I think I've looked at every vise on the market and decided I just want to stick with a simple 6" Kurt style vise. I have an assortment of talon jaws, snap-jaws, soft jaws, work stops, etc. that I'd spend way more retooling than I'll ever get back in saving a few seconds on jaw changes before I retire in 25 years lol. I also want to stick with an 8"+ opening for a lot of the work I do. I don't know why nobody makes a 3600V style vise with a larger opening, or why all the bigger vises DX6, HD690, Glacern, TECO, etc, etc. still have that old 2-bolt flange style mount. I've looked at Chick, Orange, Jergens, TECO/Parlec, Glacern. Let me know if there is anything I'm missing that you think might fit the bill.

I’m getting the HD690 right now there on sale on msc 699 right now. I like them for the moveable jaws lifts off so you can change jaws way easier I use the thin chip guard under the jaws to keep it clean. It is for sure taller. I personally like the vise
Don


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Thanks Don. Yes that MSC sale is what has me looking at the HD690’s. Does that lead screw support bracket have a lot of play in it like the DX6 vises? That is one of my dislikes about the dx6, when the vise is near closed there is a lot of screw sticking out behind the jaw carrier and that support bracket has a lot of play in it so the screw is wobbling around as you turn it.

Anybody else have direct comparison between the two? I’m giving those Orange single stations a lot of thought. I could get the 8” capacity with them using hard jaws.

It has a little but not too bad
Don


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Metal Head said:

I don't know why nobody makes a 3600V style vise with a larger opening

Click to expand...

Well, it looks like Kurt decided to do just that. They have a DX6 V2.0 out now that has a fixed cast rear jaw like the 3600V vises and retains the 9" opening.

Kurt (R) CrossOver(R) Vise - DX6 - Kurt Workholding

I have two Kurt HD690 that I bought in 2013. I would not recommend any of these HD69x models. There is no take-up/locking screw in the rear of the moveable jaw, there's a spring instead, so when you tighten or loosen jaw plate bolts, the moveable jaw will flop around despite trying to hold it down on the opposite side. There is also quite a bit of stationary jaw deflection. Those two wimpy screws don't do a good job of holding it down.

The DX6 V2.0 with the non-removable stationary jaw is the way to go. They re-introduced the take-up/locking screw as well. Apparently Kurt learned from their mistakes with the HD69x series, although they are still selling the things....