Drill press vise

wildcard · Post by **wildcard** » Thu Aug 20, 2009 6:02 pm

Has anyone ever used one of these, i was wondering if it would mount to the shopsmith
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/d ... umber=1631

or if anyone has a better alternative, i normally dont use harbor, but for something like this you would really have to try to mess it up

stevespix · Post by **stevespix** » Thu Aug 20, 2009 6:21 pm

I have a stand alone drill press and use one very similar that I bought at harbor freight. It does the trick and have had no problems for $16 how can you go wrong.

wildcard · Post by **wildcard** » Thu Aug 20, 2009 6:46 pm

That was what i was thinking, my main question is more of a will it mount to the shopsmith or not

beeg · Post by **beeg** » Thu Aug 20, 2009 7:00 pm

It should fit. As long as you drill the holes in the table correctly.

rkh2 · Post by **rkh2** » Thu Aug 20, 2009 7:33 pm

Another suggestion that might work instead of drilling holes in your table top is using a couple of the Shopsmith T-nuts(514491) and either some 1/4 20 bolts or knobs to hold it in place.

anmius · Post by **anmius** » Thu Aug 20, 2009 8:12 pm

In the past 30 years, I have only run across a need for a drill press vise when drilling harder metals like steel. Otherwise, I have had great success using either the miter gauge or the rip fence or both (occasionally with clamps) to hold a wood workpiece. In a production situation, a standard drill press vise is just too slow unless it has a speed screw.

regnar · Post by **regnar** » Thu Aug 20, 2009 8:37 pm

Something to point out is this is made of steel where your table is made of aluminum. It will scratch the table top when you move it around. So something in between would be suggested.

Something to check out when you are at HF is the moveable jaw. The base of the moveable jaw is short so you might end up with lift up. This will make your hole no longer cut at 90 degrees. There is a easy fix by inserting a round stock in between the object getting clamped and the moveable jaw.

A good thing to note is that it looks like it has replaceable jaws so you can add your own custom ones.

Bring a level to the store or pick one off the shelf. Sometimes where the piece that is getting clamped is not in plane with the bottom of the vise. This will just make setting up that much more of a pain.

Although this one is pretty light just keep weight into consideration incase you find a different one there that you like better.

What do you plan on using this for. If it is to hold small work you might want to look for a toolmakers vise instead.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Thu Aug 20, 2009 8:53 pm

The swivel adds one more thing to cause mis-alighment. Unless you have some need for the swivel feature, get a simpler one. One with a sliding clamp(plunger and clamping lever) is preferable as has been mentioned. IMHO the heavier the better. Its purpose IS to hold things. v grooves in the jaws is a plus(holding round objects properly aligned).

regnar · Post by **regnar** » Thu Aug 20, 2009 9:17 pm

Heavier is better until you stick a bunch of weight onto a 2 tubes and a aluminum table. I have a vise now that weight almost as much as my wife but throwing it onto the SS might bring some bigger problems than just holding the work piece. I have seen table flex with just 40lbs in table saw mode. It would be even worse in drill press mode. Just IMHO

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Thu Aug 20, 2009 9:57 pm

regnar wrote:Heavier is better until you stick a bunch of weight onto a 2 tubes and a aluminum table. I have a vise now that weight almost as much as my wife but throwing it onto the SS might bring some bigger problems than just holding the work piece. I have seen table flex with just 40lbs in table saw mode. It would be even worse in drill press mode. Just IMHO

OK! Bigger is better UP TO A POINT!:rolleyes: