If a person wanted to secure a machine vice like this to a pillar drill or mill table, how would he go about it? Are 'off-the-peg tie-downs' to fit the edge holes [which are 10mm in diameter], or do I have to make my own?
Would be easy enough to make your own, you could use a shim under the pouter edge rather than try and form the lip
I've got a solution buried in my storage unit which I've used for decades. a simple sliding frame track you can make up with some 1" angle iron. It slides loosely back and forth on a "square" table like yours, and the vice slides left to right within the frame to position the work under the drill bit. With a simple twist of your hand, the sliding frame jambs itself against the vice and the table at the same time with adequate grip to keep the vice from moving or lifting. I'll try and work up a sketch for you John, as I won't be able to get to my storage unit this week. Its a simple brilliant idea that my Junior High School metal shop teacher devised, and has stood the test of time for me. EDIT: Of course repetitive work would require bolting down.
just angles bolted on the sides and slots milled in the base of angle so you can bolt through with tons of adjustment in all directions same as most machine vices
if its just for drilling you probably wont need the lip. Its for pulling the vice down tightly to the table for milling. On the bottom right block on the photo, the lip is on the top right corner. So as you tighten the bolt it holds the outer end up pulling the end with the pin downwards.
If its just for drilling and light use, You could get a bit of square bar, drill a hole and tap it to M10 and put a bolt through to make the peg (or drill a 10mm hole and put a bolt/bit of bar through and weld on the outside) Drill another hole at 90deg to take a T-nut bolt (or nut and bolt through the slots on your table. Depends if the location of the clamp holes are of any use to you for anything. A place i worked once had a vice like that. They use it for drilling holes into the center of box section. It was set up on the drill table for one size of box section and then you unclamped it and moved it forward 2 holes which then left it in the right place to hit the center of a bigger box section.
Ok, my drawing skills aren't what they use to be but here you go. The clearance needed between the frame and vice and also the frame and table is only enough so that it doesn't unintentionally snag when you position the vice. I found the thickness of a a piece of cardboard from a cereal box ( or Porridge Oats for you Scots ) would worked fine. Just hand tighten the nuts and dimple the threads to stop them working loose when you find the sweet spot where everything works smoothly. Hope this helps. EDIT: Forgot to mention. When you jam the frame by twisting the vice, in either direction, you need to hold pressure against the vice while drilling; but you know that. MOD: Pictures removed at poster’s request. Updated versions are below.
Many thanks for all the replies lads - def several options to consider. Confirmation were it needed just how great this place is.
That is superb, thanks. Could I prevail upon you to do some light Tippexing on it and reupload. The direction in which you show it being skewn is, I think, incorrect. From the top, a normal twist drill will rotate clockwise, so the skew should also be in that direction so the drilling force tightens the clamping force rather than loosens it.
Thanks for noticing, you are correct. Sorry, it was late at night and was a quick sketch to show the concept. I can't edit the previous post, but here you go, a corrected table sketch with the frame skewed the opposite way. I'll ask the Moderator to delete the photos in post #9. It would be interesting to know if anyone makes one up, how they get on with it ?
I made this sort of style for mine, but with two pins per side to slip into the holes in the vice side. Works well on my small Chinese mill - never moves unless I want them to. If you want a photo let me know.
Aye please, that would be helpful. I'm slowly working my way through the small projects list so it may take a wee while to get to the job, but it'd be nice to be able to get 'proper' use of this vice. It was given to me by a pal and I discovered [he didn't know] that it's an apprentice piece.
Here's mine, one for each side, nothing fancy just a lump of steel with three holes drilled, two pins (old HT bolts) to go into the holes and a cap head for the T nut. 0.2 mm gap when not tightened to allow it to clamp down.
@Arc Tourist In the course of doing something else, I found enough angle of exactly the size to make up a frame like you show . @RichardM Many thanks for the pics - something to work towards @hotponyshoes I like the simplicity of those , might hunt down a length of square bar of suitable size and have a go. Thanks again, lads your ideas/suggestions have provided the answer(s).!
Yeah, old habits die hard. It all started years ago when we were building a broadcast centre. There were radio production rooms, an on the air booth, and other rooms which required acoustically rated walls which were to be built on and through a vast raised computer floor grid system. Interpreting the complex wall configurations were a nightmare to discern on the blueprints, so I used different coloured pencils to highlight the half dozen different types of walls for my crew and I to easily see which went ware at a glance. So, that's my long winded explanation of how old habits die hard.
Ha! I wondered if you'd borrowed thé kids coloured pencils. Nice plans, well drawn, i was just drawn to thé fact you'd taken thé effort to colour them in. Fair play mate, nicely done.
