My usual vice for the manual mill is a Vertex K4 (100mm) bought from Chronos used without the swivel.

-I like the starting handle type handle more than the knuckle types though they can be changed.

-I like that there is no hole in the middle of the base as it is handy for small work but that can be countered by the base not being the full width you need to take a bit of care when tapping down something at the end of the jaws.

-It has a smaller footprint than the Kurt types which also allows the handwheels to be seen though not really a problem as i have a DRO

-It does have slight jaw lift maybe a thou or two.

The main one on the CNC is a 80mm ARC universal again without the swivel again.

-Better support for parallels right out to the ends of the jaws

-Handy to be able to reconfigure for large items

– Comes with keys so quick for locating on the table

– No sign of jaw lift

-Jaws are proportionally slightly shorter so size of a cylinder laid flat is a little less

– You can drop small work into the gap in the middle

– “gutter” around the edge makes the footprint larger so can obstruct the handwheels when used on the manual mill

I’ve also been using the 100mm versatile on the manual mill over the last couple of weeks as I have been working on some plates that needed 75-100 jaw opening and it worked fine despite a bit of excessive front overhand and handwheel out of sight let alone the dial.

I have 30mm and 80mm type 2 but don’t really like them, only vice I have had a couple of items move in. The 80mm hardly sees light of day, the 35mm handy for holding at an angle in the bigger vice for small light work.

Regular forumites will know that I’ve been most satisfied with the pair of vertex VJ400 vices I’ve owned for something approaching 20 years. Probably outside your budget at almost £350 now

https://www.rotagriponline.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&product_id=19436&flypage=shop.flypage&pop=0&keyword=vice&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=29

but the combination of 110 mm jaw width with up to 180 mm opening in a vice not seriously larger than a common 4″ vice is very handy. Maybe a little more than half as long again.

The VJ400 is basically an economy version of a hydraulic vice with a screw instead of the hydraulic doobie. There is hefty pull out pin provided so the nut can be mounted in one of three positions giving a choice of maximum openings. At full extension some extra care is needed to ensure the work is securely beaten down on the base and, obviously it does then stick out rather a lot. But for the general range of jobs its a most excellent compromise between a nominal 4″ vice, which tend to be too small for me, and a 6″ vice which is just too much of a lump and still can’t take the biggest things.

It seems to be general rule with the common type of vice that capacity is roughly square with jaw width and opening dimensions pretty similar with the moving body at least twice the opening so as to control jaw lift. So they re inevitably quite large and heavy.

The Gerardi and clone style modular vices sold for the CNC community seem to be usefully smaller in overall size for any given capacity at a cost of slightly less convenient operation. Still spendy tho’ at maybe £350 up for a clone in the sizes you’d like. Attractive Ali-Express prices being counterbalanced by high shipping!

As you already have a strong vice I do wonder if it’s practical to make a Gerardi style one from stock sections of material using glue’n screw techniques for the base which is clearly a major project to cut from solid. All the rest seems relatively easy. There are a couple of YouTubes by folk who have made one from scratch.

There is “Chick-like” clone vice in my future once a certain project gets to the top of the list.

Clive

I needed to get a wider opening vise than the Bison 100mm ones that we have at the museum and got an ARC versatile 125mm model with the rotary base. The base is only used occasionally, but takes very little time to fit and has saved a lot of bother at times. The rear flange overhung the tables of both mills and I cut it off to get the full Y axis movement. The Bisons also overhung the mill beds and because the mount for holding the vises longitudinally  was at the end another solution was used. The ends of both Bisons was removed and milled square to fit a removable foot in case we needed to hold the vises the other way round.

Taf, I think one of the things that will inform your choice is how much throat you have between spindle axis and front of the column – no point having a vice that will take 150mm in Y if you can only reach 125 before the back of the vice hits the column..

Note the slot positions below – table is 210 wide, vice O/A length 320, open at 150.

It’s a ‘100’ vice longer than ARC’s 100, shorter than their 125 I think.