After a new drill vice

[petro1headParticipant @petro1head]

I currentlu have one of those chea clarke drill vice which are rubbish. The jaws are not squre so dont hold the work properly.

Should I be looking at better drill vices are just get a machine vice?

If so any reccomendations please

[petro1headParticipant @petro1head]

[David TParticipant @davidt96864]

I too had a 4” drilling vice which quickly fell into disuse, albeit for different reasons. In my experience it’s just far easier, quicker and more convenient to clamp directly to the table using a machine clamp. For small bits I use a little Myford milling vice or a finger plate.

Sorry that’s probably not the answer you were looking for.

[Clive FosterParticipant @clivefoster55965]

Machine vices tend to be overly heavy for pillar drills with rather restricted opening given the size of the beast. Typically the moving jaw on machine vices is longer than the opening to give plenty of support to the jaws under milling loads so the base has to be in proportion to give sufficient support. Drill vices have much shorter jaws, too short in the case of many cheapies, so the opening is much greater proportion of the base size.

When considering a similar issue I seriously considered using the design for a simple adjustable planer vice published in Popular Mechanics, vol 037, 1922 , March issue on page 462 :- **LINK** as a basis for a home brewed one with suitable adjustments to size. Doesn't seem that difficult to make from standard sections glued'n screwed together if you have adequate milling facilities to make the slots. Jaw lift should be well controlled.

Being an (over)ambitious type I've decided to make a Chick style one as being neater and a touch faster in operation. More interesting to design and build to but a metric shed-load more work! But I have an adequate 6" cross vice so the need isn't pressing.

Strongly reccomend prismatic jaws on a drill vice. Mine have one horizontal Vee slot and three vertical ones of different sizes. I have prismatic ones on bot moving and stationary jaws but could easily be persuaded that only one is needed.

Clive.

[not done it yetParticipant @notdoneityet]

An expensive/accurate vise on a cheap pillar drill may well be a total waste of resources. You don’t give any clue as to the rigidity and squareness of the drill, so I doubt if anyone can give you a definitive reply to your post.

If the clarke item is crass, dump it and get a better one, certainly. How much better is the unknown.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

One feature that a drill vice usually has over a machine vice is rebated tops to the jaws which are handy for holding flat stock without worrying about using parallels, many also have vee grooves for holding round stock. You also get a reasonably sized handle to hold onto or butt up to the drill's column as often the vice is not fixed to the table.

I think Neil rather likes the Axminster one he has on long term test.

[petro1headParticipant @petro1head]

Which one is that Jason?

 

Edit: I think its this one – https://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-engineer-series-drill-vice-150mm-103676

Edited By petro1head on 27/09/2018 16:46:12

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