Be very careful using bolts to clamp anything to the table, it's all to easy to use one too long which is how you break out the table slot.

Studs are much safer and any tee nuts should have the thread dinked on the under side to prevent screwing through.

Two studs are fine.

Two I think will be adequate. Have a look at my ** Milling Vice Clamps ** on Journeyman's Workshop, may or may not help a bit.

John

Comments for others reading this thread and considering these types of vise.

One may well only have a two hold-down option if the table is imperial – unless one makes off-set clamps.🙂

I bought the type ll vises as sold by ARC. These have slots along the length of the vise and can accommode more clamps if felt necessary (my tables are imperial).

I always use two on one side and one on the other (at least) on my three T-Slotted table and two on each side on the Centec as it only has two T-slots. Belt and braces, probably – but better more than too few.🙂

It costs naff-all to make extras, in both materials and time, when making them as a batch. I think I have about ten clamps – mostly made from scrap. The others (if I can find them) are always available if/when I drop one behind a machine.

The ones not in use with a vise have come in handy once, so far, for holding down a ~10mm part.

Journeyman's type may not be so useful elsewhere.

Journeyman's option for fixings is, IMO, the better option – as long as the countersunk set screws are the correct length for the job. With mine, I can use hex or Allen head, as the height will not interfere with parts held in the vise. I would have gone countersunk cap heads if clamp height was an issue. I leave the T-nut and bolt with the clamp, so they don’t get separated, if possible.

Journeyman’s fixings are closer to the vise than mine (with hex heads), so marginally better clamping force.

Place a fixed stop either side of the vice, fitted into the tee slot and pushed up to the side of the vice. This will stop the vice from rotating under a cut, relying purely on friction between the vice and table under clamps is not perfect. Make sure the clamp heels spread the load and don't indent into the table.

Just using 2 clamps seem to leave the chance of a heavy cut moving the vice. Although vices are usually fixed with 2 bolts they are often a very wide flange where the bolt slots are located. With the fixings being so close together I feel the vice could pivot with a heavy cut. Of course I may be over cautious and a lot will depend on the use of the vice.

Mike

Hi Chris, Guys,

There are five pictures, I've put them in an album, so they don't get lost on my computer.

I've very recently spent some time fitting a DRO and doing some maintenance on the mill. The wooden way covers and the aluminium ones at the back are just a couple of new items.

The long hold down studs are M8 with 8 mm thick clamp plates. The other new item is the stop on the vise at the left. The one on the right is just a piece of 4 mm plate that I had kicking about.

These are just close up pictures of the clamps. You can see the 12 mm precision ground plate.

Hope these pictures help.

Best Regards:

BaronJ:

I don't understand the need for all the extra complexity involved with this set up and even if the table is made of cheese Johns vise and clamp combo should not need the plate. I would be worrying more about the table humping under the pressure of the tee nuts.

Hi Guys,

Just for the nay sayers, I can remove and replace my vise without all the hassle of setting it up square again ! Which of course also means that I can move the vise anywhere on the mill table and not have to get the gauges out to set it up square. These vises do not have any grooves or slots for alignment keys.

It also prevents the screw from digging into the table when the vise moving jaw isn't quite far enough back !

So thanks for your comments, this system works for me, and that is all that matters.

Hi John,

My only criticism of the vise is that I've discovered that the rear jaw is not true vertically. I've only found out recently.

Is this since you fitted it to the base plate? Is the bottom surface not quite horizontal, too?

Are you sure your baseplate is perfectly flat and of uniform thickness? So far, I’ve only checked my smaller vise for perpendicularity, which was spot on. I will check the other at some point.

My larger vise required a smidge removing from the tightening bolt, to avoid any possibility of the bolt touching the bed. It was a fault on some of these vises. My smaller one was OK but the larger example could protrude below the base level. It cannot do that now.