New to me Happenstance machine vise (Rohm). Worth having?

Hi folks, I got involved in my first auction (might have to be my last too) of a company who closed their US facilities. I was after a band saw, but chickened out on the powermatic they had available. I got a couple items I can use but bid on and won 1 of two milling machine vises. I wanted both of a matched set but someone else wanted one more badly than I. I ended up with a single vise and now I’m a 2x import vise owner with my 6” yuasa and now this somewhat unusual Rohm hydraulically boosted and settable 5” vise.


The question I have is will this vise be of any benefit to me, doing mostly one off tools and product modifications on my manual series 1 Bridgeport knee mill? Will this vise be “better” than my Yuasa which seems pretty good to me?

I’m likely suffering some buyers remorse as I didn’t get the matched pair which would have helped (I think) on some ganged and long work.

I thought I’d research this thing some before I decide if I’m going to keep it or try to move it on. It has some pecker marks but works well and looks in decent condition (for me). I like the feel of the repetitive force via the hydraulic “torque wrench” type action. All my parallels are an inch too long :-)

Thanks for any insight!

Don't know anything about that vise but if you decide to keep it, Tormach has 5" parallels on their website for a reasonable price.

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Thanks for the comment! I’ll check out tourmech. That will save me from wrecking saw blades cutting mine down �� 95% of the time, I doubt the extra stick out on the parallels.

I used the vise today on what passes for a “Run” for us. I had a dozen parts that needed a cross drilled hole in a 3/8” rod which had some turning operations on them. The hydro action is cool! It takes little force input and releases like magic only moving the jaw enough to pul and insert the next part. The controlled clamping would likely be a nice thing on more technical work. The vise has a taller profile than the Kurt style Yuasa. Not having access to standard replaceable jaws is a significant disadvantage I suppose but really, besides having plans to buy step jaws, our work isn’t demanding enough for things like soft jaws to be so important.

One of the cool aspects I notice is the sealed ways with rubber lip seals and sliding covers. I don’t use coolant so I don’t see how it helps me so much. For sure, it’s nice to use I think. I’ll give it a while.

Rohm makes high quality stuff, so does Yuasa. Keep them both.

I fail to see any problem in using 6" parallels in a 5" vise. So they hang out 1/2" on each side or 1" on one side. So what?

I have decided to keep both. It makes sense. My last post didn’t come out right because I was trying to make a joke about sawing parallels. I don’t see the problem with using the 6” ones either but I may find it at some point.

Thanks folks!