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I was unable to get the excessive play out of the ways, even after much tinkering. This makes it almost impossible to position anything in the vise reliably.
I was going to bring the whole thing to my relatives machine shop to re-mill the entire vise, but I think it would be easier to build a whole new vise from scratch instead of fixing this one. After taking the vise apart, I noticed that one of the adjustment shims was drilled completely through so the adjustment screw wasn't pushing on the shim, but directly on the way itself.
Very poor quality. The bottom axis on my vise slides back and forth about 1/8" without turning the lead screw.
Don't waste your money, no matter how low the price. The ways were machined poorly (very rough and uneven machining with lots of chatter) and the adjusting screws were cheap.
There is also a lot of end play in the lead screws, especially the bottom axis.
I am very happy with the vice and the outcome on the pieces I needed to make. I had need to mill some light aluminum for an experimental airplane. Once bolted to my drill press, the vise was solid and easy to line up with the bit.
The micrometer indicators are kind of hard to read, but it's easy enough to set up an indicator with a magnetic base to read the distance.I took mine apart before using it and filed/sanded all the surfaces that touch. I then coated it with regular synthetic oil (same lube I use on my mini lathe) and put it back together.
For $38, this blows the $50 harbor freight vise out of the water. There is no play at all in either direction.
This vise is completely different that the Harbor Freight cross slide vise or any of the other cheap ones. Some of the liquid coating that covers that casting dripped onto the ways, so I scrapped that off before sanding and filing.
They aren't even in the same category. It has adjustable gibs on both slides, so you can take any play out of both of the cross slides.
Some of the ways were a little rough, so Im sure this helped.
I was able to achieve the required accuracy I needed of +/-.01 inches. I had guidance from an experienced machinist in my set up and measuring. Very nice vise for the cost, I couldn't find anything else even close for the same cost. This is the first milling project I've ever done and the milling was done with a drill press not a mill. The vise has also been immensely useful for drilling so i don't have to constantly reclamp the work piece to move it. The slide adjusters are accurate enough to use for basic milling. I milling to a precision of.01 inches, the vice is a little loose so you have to take shallow cuts each time.
It`s very nice for big machines,but not for my little drill press.Even so it`s worth every penny I paid.Very,very,convenient.
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