Drill press vises

[ear3]

Rather than fabricate a full table for my new Nova dp, I was thinking of getting a fancier vise than the current no-frills 4" Irwin dp vise I currently have, maybe a 2-way cross/compound vise or even a cradle style one that allows angle adjustments.  Wondering if anyone has recommendations, as there seem to be an assortment of options available at a huge range of price points:https://www.amazon.com/s?k=drill+press+vise&ref=nb_sb_noss_1

 

[Alanbach]

I have a standard DP vise and a Wilton style cross vise (X & Y). The truth is that I almost never use them. They sit down on the base of my DP. 99% of my DP work is woodwork and almost always at 90 degrees to the table. I built a table with a fence with stops and embedded tracks to accommodate hold downs galore. It is oversized to support large work and I find it to be infinitely more useful than all of my vises put together. It also has a replaceable piece in the drilling area so that I can have a fresh surface when I need a solid backing to prevent blowout splintering. If I do need angles it has a vertical side with more embedded tracks that can be swiveled into place for vertical drilling straight or at an angle.

Just my opinion and what works for the type of work that I do.

 

[Dick Mahany]

I used one of those vises for a threading jig on my lathe.  They do work, but are not very good vises in general.  Too fiddly and the clamping threads and handles are rough and crude.  Travel is not consistent through its range of travel and the adjustments to tighten the gibs don't help alot.

Mine was branded Bitmore and there is an identical version in a different color at HF. The ones linked to look to be more of the same.  For the price, they can get the job done if you are willing to put up with all of the fiddling around to adjust it.

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[Michael Kellough]

This is what I bought for working with aluminum. It’s the smallest/lightest I thought would suffice.

No complaints but I’m pretty sure it was at least $100 less (on sale) when I purchased.

 

[rvieceli]

Edward for mostly woodworking just go ahead and make the table. You'll be better off. Kurt is the big name in milling vises. also with a big price tag. The cheaper ones are frustrating and really no help for wood.
https://www.mscdirect.com/products/...U5aj6_kurt_p_165572223273_c_S&mkwid=sXK3U5aj6|dc&pcrid=165572223273

Michael interesting set up. Consider adding some loc-line vac parts to your rig.
https://www.loc-line.com/product/80813/

Ron

 

[Cheese]

I agree with Ron's assessment. better yet, just purchase the Woodpeckers drill press table and attach it to the Voyager. It's a really nice table and for woodworking I use it 95+% of the time. Very few wooden items need to be held in a vise, I use the vises for metal working projects.

On that odd occasion when I need to mount a piece of wood in a vise, I use a little 6# Palmgren vise. Here's a comparison between it and the 40# Heinrich. And the Heinrich is small compared to a 80# Kurt Vise.

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Every woodworking project can be held by hand or clamped to the Woodpeckers table with simple table clamps. With all of the metal working projects I do, I haven't had the Woodpeckers table off of the drill press for over 4 years. It's just that versatile.

If you purchase the Woodpeckers table, do consider the DP3 drill press fence option. It has been a godsend for certain tasks.
https://www.woodpeck.com/drilling/drill-press-tables/dp3-drill-press-fence.html

The other option for drilling holes at an angle is to pick up one of these. Another Palmgren issue that's well built.
https://www.palmgren.com/category/Angle-Vises

 

[ear3]

Thanks for the recommendations.  I guess I should rethink building the DP table then.  I'll add it to THE LIST!

 

[ear3]

Those Palmgren tilting vises look sweet BTW.

I agree with Ron's assessment. better yet, just purchase the Woodpeckers drill press table and attach it to the Voyager. It's a really nice table and for woodworking I use it 95+% of the time. Very few wooden items need to be held in a vise, I use the vises for metal working projects.

On that odd occasion when I need to mount a piece of wood in a vise, I use a little 6# Palmgren vise. Here's a comparison between it and the 40# Heinrich. And the Heinrich is small compared to a 80# Kurt Vise.

[attachimg=1]

Every woodworking project can be held by hand or clamped to the Woodpeckers table with simple table clamps. With all of the metal working projects I do, I haven't had the Woodpeckers table off of the drill press for over 4 years. It's just that versatile.

If you purchase the Woodpeckers table, do consider the DP3 drill press fence option. It has been a godsend for certain tasks.
https://www.woodpeck.com/drilling/drill-press-tables/dp3-drill-press-fence.html

The other option for drilling holes at an angle is to pick up one of these. Another Palmgren issue that's well built.
https://www.palmgren.com/category/Angle-Vises

 

[nclemmons]

[member=37411]ear3[/member] - check out Lee Valley for a couple of options for vises for drill presses.  Less money than the nice Palmgren's but still useful. 

 

[rmwarren]

My  [2cents] would depend on the use.

Woodworking - I'd mostly recommend a WP Style table. For me this is mostly about repetitive setups/multiple parts with hold-down as the secondary aspect.

Metalworking - hold-down is my primary concern, twist drills tend to grab metal to twirl around a bit and do their darndest to take chunks of flesh with it. You can still use the WP table to clamp larger stock or a small, heavy machinist vise works well for small stock. I tend to favor older vises in general but you'll end up haunting ebay or garage sales/auctions to find them.

Metalwork also requires lubricant often which tends to muck up tables for later use with wood.

RMW

 

[rst]

I use two Grizzly quick adjust vises...a small and and a large one.  The large one weighs enough that I seldom have to secure it.  For heavy duty work I have a 80# Wilton that lives on my bench mill.

 

[rmwarren]

Total coincidence but I needed to drill then tap some 1.5" round 1214 yesterday, snapped some photos to illustrate its use.

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To give this context, these are posts for mounting a Versa Vise to my work cart.

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Very handy vise for lots of uses.

RMW

 

[Cheese]

Nice standoffs Richard, simple to install, simple to remove, takes just a twist of the wrist.

I really like that vise, it's so small and compact. All of my vises are big chunks of iron that you leave in one place, except for the little Palmgren. I haven't moved the Wilton 400 in over 20 years as it weighs probably 70#.

I'm going to start looking for one of the early examples like yours Richard.  [smile]

 

[Bob D.]

Looks like it's raining there rich when you took those photos of the new vise.

I grew up in Absecon and spent a good portion of my younger years where you are,
so I wonder how you handle the humidity and salt air with your tools in the shop.

Do you stay away from cast iron tools or is it a constant battle against rust.

 

[Jiggy Joiner]

Edward, when I made my most recent drill press table, I still wanted the option to be able to use the stock cast table if I needed too. So I made mine quick release with toggle clamps. I can fit or remove it in seconds.

 

[Cheese]

Those Palmgren tilting vises look sweet BTW.

Hey [member=37411]ear3[/member] just found this on eBay and it's probably actually a re-badged Palmgren...it sure looks like it to me.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Cr...justable-USA/392381317821?hash=item5b5bbfc2bd:g:baIAAOSwF3ldUuZw:sc:USPSPriorityMailPaddedFlatRateEnvelope!55104!US!-1

 

[ear3]

Thanks for the link.  Kind of incredible that he's doing free shipping on it, so I took the offer.

Those Palmgren tilting vises look sweet BTW.

Hey [member=37411]ear3[/member] just found this on eBay and it's probably actually a Palmgren...it sure looks like it to me.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Cr...justable-USA/392381317821?hash=item5b5bbfc2bd:g:baIAAOSwF3ldUuZw:sc:USPSPriorityMailPaddedFlatRateEnvelope!55104!US!-1

 

[Cheese]

Total coincidence but I needed to drill then tap some 1.5" round 1214 yesterday, snapped some photos to illustrate its use.

[member=69167]RMW[/member] do you think 1.50" aluminum round would work for the vise mounts or would they dent/disfigure when the vise is tightened?

 

[rmwarren]

Total coincidence but I needed to drill then tap some 1.5" round 1214 yesterday, snapped some photos to illustrate its use.

[member=69167]RMW[/member] do you think 1.50" aluminum round would work for the vise mounts or would they dent/disfigure when the vise is tightened?

[member=44099]Cheese[/member] not sure, I was considering that myself but shied away for that reason. The fit is tight, no more than a few thou, so it wouldn't take much upset metal to jam it.

I'll take a closer look at the clamping mechanism later.

The 1214 came from McMaster, about $30/FT.

@ear that was smart, I looked at the link when it was first posted and was tempted... That vise will serve you well.

RMW

 

[Cheese]

[member=44099]Cheese[/member] not sure, I was considering that myself but shied away for that reason. The fit is tight, no more than a few thou, so it wouldn't take much upset metal to jam it.

I'll take a closer look at the clamping mechanism later.

The 1214 came from McMaster, about $30/FT.

Thanks for that Richard ...I just checked and I have some 1 1/2" Ø 6061 so I'll make a standoff and see what happens.

Interesting pricing from McMaster...12L14 from Discount Steel (which is local) is $13 per foot.

Curious why you chose 1214 rather than 1018? Better machinability?

Whoops, almost forgot........

But Mom, it followed me home...

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