The emery paper method works well also for clamping several pieces at a time
for gang milling, when there is a few thousandths difference between the
width/diameter of the parts. The emery cloth will hold it well. At work, we
hold 5 pieces of 7/8" bronze round stock about 4" long standing on end in
the 2" deep vise, and mill wrench flats on the upper portion of the rods
with a horizontal mill, using 1/2"X4" dual cutters and an abuttment stop to
help keep them from leaning over from the feed pressure. This will not hold
the parts without the emery cloth. One or more will always be loose in the
vise jaws.

RJ

"F. George McDuffee" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 2 Apr 2008 13:08:51 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

I have a Sherline vertical mill (the 5000 series) and I keep having a
problem with my aluminum workpiece pulling loose from the mill vise.
I have NEVER had very good luck getting the Sherline mill vise to hold
aluminum terribly well. Is this a deficiency of their mill vise?
Would a different mill vise solve the problem? Is it possible that .
010" cuts are too much?
==============
How big an end mill are you using? Feeds? Speeds?

One trick to hold relatively smooth work pieces in a vice with
smooth jaws or on a smooth faceplate is to insert a piece of
rough brown paper as from a paper bag. In general the paper is
uniform in thickness so parallelism to the fixed jaw should not
be affected. It can be helpful to put a rod in between the part
and movable jaw parallel to the base so the part will be clamped
square to the fixed jaw and not lifted by any tilt of the movable
jaw.

I have not tried this my self (brown paper was always enough),
but some of my shaper books suggest using worn emery paper in
place of the brown paper for even more "bite."




Unka' George [George McDuffee]
-------------------------------------------
He that will not apply new remedies,
must expect new evils:
for Time is the greatest innovator: and
if Time, of course, alter things to the worse,
and wisdom and counsel shall not alter them to the better,
what shall be the end?

Francis Bacon (1561-1626), English philosopher, essayist, statesman.
Essays, "Of Innovations" (1597-1625).