Mill Toe Clamps For ToolMakers Vise

[@yuri2006]

Hello from Stoney creek Ontario Canada. I'v been a machinist for about 35 years and there is one thing I keep learning even today is that your only as limited as your emagination. With a beautiful vise like that, of course your not going to be making heavy cuts but you sure can use it on a mill. Some of your respondents on your program need to relax and rethink their ideas. My suggestion is making a slot on the bottom of that vise and screwing on a key way on it. That way you can locate on the milling table nice and square. That with some hold down clamps, now your good. Nothing beats home made and well thought out. Thanks for your info my friend! Keep going. I always learn something new from the older talents.👍

[@joseeduardomartins6541]

Hello Mr. Lee great idea. God bless you for your altruism. I'm an amateur and I'm learning a lot from those who have been on the road for a long time.

[@nathanielharms9931]

Thank you somebody else who understands clamps come in sets. My grandfather used to say when it comes to Milling you either have a brace or a Boggle

[@adaml52]

I've been using that type of vice for 6 years. My mill is a small bench top type. I don't take large cuts, so that vice is good for the price. No complaints with work holding. Thumbs up !

[@MakinSumthinFromNuthin]

The finishing touches make all the difference between a part, and a nice looking part. Nice Job Lee ~ Richard

[@billchiasson2019]

Great video they came out awesome! Thanks for taking the time to make the video!.

[@sharkrivermachine]

Very nice job. Stefan Gotteswinter uses this style vise on his mill for all of his milling.

[@dinotom1]

Nice work Lee. A very ‘pragmatic’ approach to the task

[@reideichner8597]

Nice looking and very functional clamps Lee. Good video.

[@terrycannon570]

Thanks Lee.. I have one of those vices and still have not made the clamps for it. I've been waiting to see how to make them the best way. If I were you i would store them in the wife's jewelry box. Meaning they are like fine jewelry.

[@howder1951]

Great little project Lee, everyone needs a set of those! I really appreciate your processes you show all the details that I like to see, cheers!

[@ActiveAtom]

Yes, thank you for standing up to the tool and die troll guy that shared this Kirk thought. We use these toolmaker vises all of the time and we prefer them for our work types. I mean we all likely have, and like we do use our 6 inch vises, my favorite 6.00" here is a 1940 to 1950 Ellis vise out of El Monte, California (no longer in business) we rebuilt it and it is great, rounded off like a 40's Cadillac, but not always the right vise choice for our small machine parts work, we nearly always use the toolmaker vises, because for one, are parts are just too small to hold, though we do have a New/Old stock Kirk 3.00" with the swivel base, NFS (Kirk no longer makes it). We are used to a giant 6 or even the 10 incher. We are from aerospace air-frame parts making, so 6 and 10's were all we saw and all we used vise wise. Now back to your video, I could watch you make these toe clamps to this caliper of quality all day and night long, you sure put a lot of love into them.

[@19441978]

Nice video Lee. I use my vise on the mill every once in a while. Usually just put it in the curt, comes in handy for 2nd operation if you don't want to take your part out of the tool maker vise. Have a good one.

[@robertoswalt319]

Nice video Lee. I haven’t used one of those small vises on my mill in a long time. Your hold downs look like a great idea and I may be making some in the near future.

[@JamesDedmon]

Those are neat clamps. Love the detail on them

[@MaturePatriot]

Great looking toe clamps. Very nice work overall.

[@brandontscheschlog]

Nice clamps Lee. You’re getting good with that surface grinder

[@howardosborne8647]

Lee,I heard you mentioning the 'pissing contest' and allegedly 40 years expert saying these toolmakers vises don't have enough clamping force to be used on a mill. I'm another who frequently uses one of these vises ,about the same size as yours,on the vertical mill and even more shocking I also use it on a 10" Alba shaper. Never had any issue with workpieces moving under cutting force.

[@donpollard9460]

Hmm ... most impressive - I couldn't see how you were going to get 4 clamps out of that little chunk of steel, until you showed the drawing and began milling. I would not have thought of this method - it's real 'thinking out side the box' - then again, that's what real machinists do!

[@physicsguybrian]

Pretty efficient! Drills twice, gets four holes (still must countersink 4 times though - but easy op). Slits twice, gets 4 pieces, though slight mis-registration required (due to personal choice, not function) milling 3 surfaces to make them equal before final slitting. Important thing here is order of operations. He wanted nice results that were also functional so there will be effort and the pride one takes in their work makes the extra time not extra at all - instead, it is standard. Excellent!

[@ChrisB257]

You are dead right about that style of vice usage! The block looked super after the surface grind. The slitting saw sounded like a real good one. Those turned out really nice Lee - how I envy your surface grinder. :)

[@cosimomarotta9552]

Very beautiful job.

[@RockingJOffroad]

If someone uses one of these vices on a mill, just remember that the vice does have limitations, it’s just a case of selecting the proper tool for the job. If this vice is all that someone has, it just limits the type of work that can be done. On the smaller mills this type of vice will probably work for anything the mill can handle.

[@ROBRENZ]

Enjoyed Lee! ATB, Robin

[@gangleweed]

That vice has been a big headache for me due to the nut at the bottom slipping out of the side slots and twisting making it very hard to reposition it again. The design i have has the nut with a pin through it to engage the side slots.........but......the screw that does the tightening is threaded into the nut and it gives you a range of 20mm before the screw comes out of the nut and the nut falls down. So, I punched the cross pin out and made a long cross pin to go across the side holes, then I fitted a long screw in the nut tightly and fitted a long nut at the top to do the tightening....this gives me about 30mm travel for each cross hole position. To move the jaw back to a wider position I just pull the pin out sideways and slide the jaw back to the next hole....the nut is captive to the screw so can't twist and fall down and the screw itself has a saw cut across the top of the thread to indicate the horizontal position of the pin hole in the bottom nut. Using this method of clamping the vice to the mill table with the clamps in the side slots means I'll have to loosen one clamp at the back left side to get the pin out and in but it only happens when I want to set the jaw further back but it solves the problem.

[@johnknox5692]

beautiful work

[@nickhall5959]

but do they work when taking a cut

[@tced2858]

Lee maybe a 4ft or bigger x 1/2 thick plate of steel on the floor under the base of surface grinder would make it a little more stable...that is a problem with a wood floor shop...

[@jamesreed6121]

Nice Job! A little bit over engineered, but it looks like it will get the job done. I like that you do more than just make it functional. It looks good an should perform ver good. I would like to suggest that if you should attempt a second set, see if you can make the surface that touches the table have a round profile. Keep makin chips!

[@larryrobinson7492]

Nice Work as usual

[@TomMakeHere]

Nice video The only time that these vises may not work on a mill is for heavy CNC cuts that sort of thing Otherwise no problem in my opinion

[@makkfitty1627]

There are all kinds of machinists, this is first year project where I got trained.

[@RRINTHESHOP]

Came out nice Lee. Should work out well.

[@tcarney57]

"Forty-years experience," huh? Could be, or it could be one year repeated forty times. One the other hand, Stefan G. uses nothing but those grinding vises on his mill, and one of his years of experience could be worth forty years of some other "machinist."

[@makkfitty1627]

Todd Carney I think he was hoping that no machinist will watch .

[@physicsguybrian]

"it could be one year repeated forty times" THAT is likely the case and is also funny as well! Nicely put!!! So many experts out there proving that the age of reason has not quite managed to wipe out all dark-ages thinking.

[@BobSmith-cx4og]

Machinist Jesus (Stefan G.) uses one of those vices on his mill - that's all I need to know.

[@howardosborne8647]

I also frequently use one on the mill and an even greater test of gripping power when I use it on the Alba shaper. Never had any problems keeping the workpiece firmly gripped.

[@tomkizis7014]

nice job.

[@SgtCude59]

wow just to make clamps you went way to far on …… But you did a real nice job on the made them, looks bought

[@brandontscheschlog]

Haha, that was me giving him a hard time on Facebook !

[@robertburns2415]

the guy who claims he has 40 years of experience as a machinist has one year experience 40 times.

[@donpollard9460]

7:12 - you could lap it ...

[@richardcurtis556]

Speaking of Stefan G., he has an ingenious chamfering tool partly shop-made, partly store-bought. He has a video of how it was made kzbin.info/www/bejne/g2nTfXicgL-satk. I'm a new viewer, glad to be aboard.

[@wierzbicki1]

plesae ,please cut the nails before you recording.....