Apart from the obvious advantages of the larger 6 inch vise (larger opening, larger jaws, heavier/stiffer casting) is there anything i lose from going with a 6 inch vise vs a 4 inch vise on an 1100mx?
16.81” long and 4.61” height for a Kurt DX6 vs 12.5” long and 3.365” height for a Kurt DX4.
Other than losing about 1.3” of z-axis work envelope, does a 6 inch vise still fit within the enclosure for full travel of the bed? Any other potential issues with going with the larger 6 inch vise?
I have the 5 inch tormach vise. If I need a larger gap I put on a 6" Kurt and turn it sideways. Just have to toe clamp it.
Dave
Are you clamping 6” stock? What I did was get 2 vevor 4” cheap vices $50 each and that way I can put them both on the table and clamp long stock. (Like 8 foot long 4” stock). Anything bigger than 4” I bolt down to the table.
I have seen people mount a 6" vise to the 1100 so it will work. Your mounting options are somewhat limited though. Becuase the table gets so close to the column at max -y travel, the vise has to hang off the front of the table quite a lot. It will clear the sheet metal but not by a lot.
FWIW, I have a cheap 5" vise that I bought when I first got my 1100 and I almost NEVER use it in favor of my saunders mod vises. Granted, there are times when a “proper” vise would reduce setups between ops because the mod vises don’t have much travel, but it’s just so much easier to drop them on my fixture plate, know they’re already trammed in, and make chips. The loss of Z from the fixture plate is less than a large vise and I can still drop a big vise on there if I need to for any reason. If I have to do it again, for what a DX6 costs, I’d buy the fixture plate and a couple mod vises, and probably have money left over for some soft jaw blanks (though I usually make them myself, using my mod vises).
I use a Kurt 3600V on my 1100MX. I do mostly one-offs and small-run prototypes that fit well in that size. It hangs off the front of the table but the back is flat and there’s no lip or rear protrusion like a D-series which helps with Y. It is tall but that’s rarely a problem for me. I use a lot of soft jaws and find those work well in the 6".
I have a couple 4" Kurts I’ll throw on for more volume/small part work, but don’t do that very often and there’s a 5" on the vacuum plate I rarely use. These were all bought used at similar cost to imports with a bit of patience
Check the weight of 6" vises if you plan to move them on and off the table a lot. They can be pigs to move by hand, especially leaning into an enclosure.
FWIW, the reverse 6" Kurt with the fixed jaw at the operator end does not fit the 1100 work envelope without sawing off the back end or mounting lengthwise to the table.
Matched pair of Tegara 6” 660U’s
These are very accurate … within .0002
Comparing the beds or top of the fixed jaw
The vises have plenty of room in Y without hitting the enclosure
I machine many parts that are large and use both vises… parts that use the entire XY envelope
And they mount with no clamps which is helpful
Ed
Holy crap I thought I had a lot of swarf to clean up.
It’s was much worse then the pic showed
Just finished cleaning
Two 40 gal garbage bags full
About 30-40 lbs worth
Maybe 2 weeks work
I use a Glacern GPV-615. 6" vise. It fits well. Use toe clamps to hold it to the table. The back of the vise is in line with the back of the table.
My Kurt is a 675 and the tongue sticks out the back side when the jaws are close.
I have to pay attention when it is on my Tree, if the ram is pulled back from edging a piece.
Dave
I have a Glacern 4 inch.
Really like it.
The great young guy I bought my 2018 770M from threw in a beautiful near-new Kurt DX6 that he’d been using sideways on there; my 60’s J-head Bport demanded I put it on him, and Santa brought me a Kurt DX4 for the Tormach that I’ve yet to be unhappy about. Both machines, very happy : )
