The clone "Kurt" vise acquired in July 2009 has a few vices. This is
the story of one such vice.

The two bolts that clamp the vise to the swivel base felt spongy when
tightened, and tended to rotate the vise when tightened, ruining the
alignment. The reason is interesting.

The castings seem to have been made using original Kurt components as
forms, but the resulting castings were fitted with metric hardware.
Specifically, the as-cast holes were for 1/2 inch hardware, but 12mm
hardware was used, along with a very thin washer to bridge the gap, and
too-short bolts that didn't quite fill the nuts.

The solution was simple. It turns out that the vise and swivel base are
sized to accept real 1/2-13 hardware, including a T-slot bolt sliding
around freely in the circular T-slot in the base. No machining was
required. Just install the hardware. It made for a considerable
improvement.


The bill of materials:

Two T-slot bolts, 1/2-13 by 2.5" (Gibralter 842525-G, MSC 77415826).

Two 1/2" spherical washer sets (Jergens 41105, MSC 82429358)

Two 1/2" hex nuts (Jergens 20714, MSC 04555322).


The total cost was 2(4.42+3.96+1.44)= $19.64, call it $20.

The bolts are about 1/4" longer than really needed, so I may trim them.

Joe Gwinn

Joseph Gwinn wrote:
The clone "Kurt" vise acquired in July 2009 has a few vices. This is
the story of one such vice.

I got one of the 6" knock-off vises quite a few years ago, and was quite
impressed with the quality of the vise. The swivel base was a nasty
thing, and I had some trouble getting the vise off the swivel, the
center pin was almost a press-fit. I found the whole thing very flimsy
and prone to vibration when on the swivel, and it stiffened the setup
greatly when I pulled it apart. I've never put the swivel base back on
since. Now that I have a CNC mill, there's really no need ever for the
swivel, anyway.

Jon

On Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:46:17 -0600, Jon Elson wrote:

Joseph Gwinn wrote:
The clone "Kurt" vise acquired in July 2009 has a few vices. This is
the story of one such vice.

I got one of the 6" knock-off vises quite a few years ago, and was quite
impressed with the quality of the vise. The swivel base was a nasty
thing, and I had some trouble getting the vise off the swivel, the
center pin was almost a press-fit. I found the whole thing very flimsy
and prone to vibration when on the swivel, and it stiffened the setup
greatly when I pulled it apart. I've never put the swivel base back on
since. Now that I have a CNC mill, there's really no need ever for the
swivel, anyway.

Jon

Nearly all machine shops buy the vises and immediately toss the swivel
base into the nearest trash can

I can get them occasionally if anyone really NEEDs one.

Gunner

Whenever a Liberal utters the term "Common Sense approach"....grab your
wallet, your ass, and your guns because the sombitch is about to do
something damned nasty to all three of them.

In article ,
Gunner Asch wrote:

On Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:46:17 -0600, Jon Elson wrote:

Joseph Gwinn wrote:
The clone "Kurt" vise acquired in July 2009 has a few vices. This is
the story of one such vice.

I got one of the 6" knock-off vises quite a few years ago, and was quite
impressed with the quality of the vise. The swivel base was a nasty
thing, and I had some trouble getting the vise off the swivel, the
center pin was almost a press-fit. I found the whole thing very flimsy
and prone to vibration when on the swivel, and it stiffened the setup
greatly when I pulled it apart. I've never put the swivel base back on
since. Now that I have a CNC mill, there's really no need ever for the
swivel, anyway.

Jon

Nearly all machine shops buy the vises and immediately toss the swivel
base into the nearest trash can

I can get them occasionally if anyone really NEEDs one.

How about used Kurt 4" vices?

Joe Gwinn

On Sat, 06 Feb 2010 22:10:53 -0500, Joseph Gwinn
wrote:

In article ,
Gunner Asch wrote:

On Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:46:17 -0600, Jon Elson wrote:

Joseph Gwinn wrote:
The clone "Kurt" vise acquired in July 2009 has a few vices. This is
the story of one such vice.

I got one of the 6" knock-off vises quite a few years ago, and was quite
impressed with the quality of the vise. The swivel base was a nasty
thing, and I had some trouble getting the vise off the swivel, the
center pin was almost a press-fit. I found the whole thing very flimsy
and prone to vibration when on the swivel, and it stiffened the setup
greatly when I pulled it apart. I've never put the swivel base back on
since. Now that I have a CNC mill, there's really no need ever for the
swivel, anyway.

Jon

Nearly all machine shops buy the vises and immediately toss the swivel
base into the nearest trash can

I can get them occasionally if anyone really NEEDs one.

How about used Kurt 4" vices?

Joe Gwinn

Thats gonna be a lot harder. Most Kurts are the standard 6" ones

Gunner

Whenever a Liberal utters the term "Common Sense approach"....grab your
wallet, your ass, and your guns because the sombitch is about to do
something damned nasty to all three of them.

In article ,
Gunner Asch wrote:

On Sat, 06 Feb 2010 22:10:53 -0500, Joseph Gwinn
wrote:

In article ,
Gunner Asch wrote:

On Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:46:17 -0600, Jon Elson wrote:

Joseph Gwinn wrote:
The clone "Kurt" vise acquired in July 2009 has a few vices. This is
the story of one such vice.

I got one of the 6" knock-off vises quite a few years ago, and was quite
impressed with the quality of the vise. The swivel base was a nasty
thing, and I had some trouble getting the vise off the swivel, the
center pin was almost a press-fit. I found the whole thing very flimsy
and prone to vibration when on the swivel, and it stiffened the setup
greatly when I pulled it apart. I've never put the swivel base back on
since. Now that I have a CNC mill, there's really no need ever for the
swivel, anyway.

Jon

Nearly all machine shops buy the vises and immediately toss the swivel
base into the nearest trash can

I can get them occasionally if anyone really NEEDs one.

How about used Kurt 4" vices?

Joe Gwinn

Thats gonna be a lot harder. Most Kurts are the standard 6" ones

So I've found. And the 6" vises are cheaper than the 4" ones as well.
But 6" is way too large for my mill.

If anyone comes upon a homeless 4" Kurt in good mechanical condition, I
could be interested.

Joe Gwinn