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Milling vises, Christmas came early!

Rauce

Rauce

Ultra Member
Spotted these on FB marketplace today. Two vises for $600. Figured I’d get some of that back selling what I have now. Was on the fence about keeping both but managed to sell a toolbox today. Sometimes a matching pair of vises can be very handy.

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A little light surface rust and some grime (coolant and shop dust) but should clean up nice. Got one wrench and 4 of the clamps with them.

The guy that I bought them from is downsizing as he approaches retirement. Small machine shop that specializes in roll forming dies. Had a neat surface grinder of a type I’d never seen before, a rotary horizontal surface grinder.
 
Well if you want to call those "matching" vises wont you have to go take a fly cutter to the other one too? :p A good score IMO.
 
Susquatch said:
They look like Gerardi Vises. Do they have the Prismatic Jaws?

If so, you made out like a bandit! I LOVE mine!
Click to expand...
Yes they have the wedge shaped jaws!

PeterT said:
Sounds interesting, did you snap a pic?
Click to expand...

I didn’t snap a pic but it was like this one. Table was around 16” or so in diameter. Used for grinding the sides of the roll forming dies. The profile of the dies are hard turned on a CNC lathe.

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Good deal on the GS vices @Rauce. The best milling vice money can buy IMO.

In case you haven't used these types of vices in the past,

They have 2 SHCS that hold the jaws in place, the jaws should have 2 springs under them as well.
If you keep the SHCS tight, you may find harder materials (blocks PH4140, A2, D2 etc) will not clamp down very well, unless ground nice and square.

Myself, I always crack them 1/2- 3/4 truns each, that way, the vice jaws will pull the material down onto the parallels nicely and hold well. Just a light tap on the block with a brass hammer is all you will need to get the block nice and snug.

If you leave them tight, you will soon notice, it will be difficult to get a block to sit down nice on the parallels. Especially if the blocks haven't been ground and are slightly out of square.

The only thing you will need to do is keep the jaws blown out and clean. Pulling them out, blowing the spring holes out, putting springs back in will save you much grief over time.

1 other thing to keep in mind is, If you, like myself, keep the jaws loose so to speak.. If the vice needs re-indicating, you will find a step on the back of the vice. That is where you would indicate the vice when the jaws are loose.
However, when blocks my are not ground, I always indicate the block and not the vice at that point.
I have 8 of these vices, I wouldn't machine in any other vice now after using them.

You got a good deal, grab a nice Indian stone, mineral spirits mixed with oil, they will clean up really nice !
Hope you enjoy working with them.
 
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little ol' e said:
Good deal on the GS vices @Rauce. The best milling vice money can buy IMO.

In case you haven't used these types of vices in the past,

They have 2 SHCS that hold the jaws in place, the jaws should have 2 springs under them as well.
If you keep the SHCS tight, you may find harder materials (blocks PH4140, A2, D2 etc) will not clamp down very well, unless ground nice and square.

Myself, I always crack them 1/2- 3/4 truns each, that way, the vice jaws will pull the material down onto the parallels nicely and hold well. Just a light tap on the block with a brass hammer is all you will need to get the block nice and snug.

If you leave them tight, you will soon notice, it will be difficult to get a block to sit down nice on the parallels. Especially if the blocks haven't been ground and are slightly out of square.

The only thing you will need to do is keep the jaws blown out and clean. Pulling them out, blowing the spring holes out, putting springs back in will save you much grief over time.

1 other thing to keep in mind is, If you, like myself, keep the jaws loose so to speak.. If the vice needs re-indicating, you will find a step on the back of the vice. That is where you would indicate the vice when the jaws are loose.
However, when blocks are not ground, I always indicate the block and not the vice at that point.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tips! I’ve used this type of vise at work before but I had not set up them up myself. The bit about indicating I wasn’t aware of but it makes sense since the fixed jaw can move.
 
little ol' e said:
Myself, I always crack them 1/2- 3/4 truns each, that way, the vice jaws will pull the material down onto the parallels nicely and hold well. Just a light tap on the block with a brass hammer is all you will need to get the block nice and snug.
Click to expand...

@Rauce - if you have used them you prolly already know all that, but if they were not set up right here are my tips to compliment what @little ol' e said.

He is right. The springs and prismatic slide surfaces must be kept clean. AND OILED.

I keep my screws 3/4 turn on each of the screws "loose". I do that by first tightening the clean and oiled Jaws against themselves or against a parallel. That way I know that a 3/4 turn is really 3/4 turn.

I like to tram my vise with an indicator against a spare parallel I had held tightly in clean oiled jaws. Again, that is where tight jaws are so that's what it should be trammed to.

You can get spare jaws and other parts from any outfit that stocks Sowa parts. They will cost you......

I put 4 base Clamps on mine - I don't think 2 is enough. I made mine myself. It was my first milling project. Easy peasy job.

One last point. I guess every situation is different. I have NEVER needed to tap down my work with a brass hammer no matter what material it was. My vise ALWAYS clamps my work down tight. The only times it didn't is when I didn't clean and oil the prismatic jaws properly. There is no brass hammer beside my mill. Just a plastic one to tap the R8 collet drawbar loose.
 
PeterT said:
Sounds interesting, did you snap a pic?
Click to expand...
Hey, it may be a small Blanchard Grinder.

We used a few at Ex-Cell-O, in the 1980s for multiple parts that required truing up reference surfaces. They had a large magnetic rotary table that swung under a large grinding disc that was similar in diameter as the magnetic table.
 
LenVW said:
Hey, it may be a small Blanchard Grinder.

We used a few at Ex-Cell-O, in the 1980s for multiple parts that required truing up reference surfaces. They had a large magnetic rotary table that swung under a large grinding disc that was similar in diameter as the magnetic table.
Click to expand...

I initially thought it was a small Blanchard grinder and asked about it. The owner corrected me and pointed out that the spindle is horizontal unlike a Blanchard grinder. It’s more like a conventional surface grinder but the table spins instead of going side to side.
 
Rauce said:
I initially thought it was a small Blanchard grinder and asked about it. The owner corrected me and pointed out that the spindle is horizontal unlike a Blanchard grinder. It’s more like a conventional surface grinder but the table spins instead of going side to side.
Click to expand...
Can you find out the manufacturer ? Model # ?
Even if it’s an old one, I know a guy who looks after records on ‘Vintage Machinery’.
 
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