A Guide For Choosing The Right Vise For The Job
A good vise is a crucial instrument for precision machine. To ensure that your workpiece is safe while being milled, it is essential to select the proper size vise. Three types of vises are commonly used for CNC milling The machinist vise (also called the CNC vise) and the vise that is called the toolmaker (also called the toolmaker vise).
Machinist Vise
Popular due to its ability to be used in a variety of ways, the machinist's vis is a great multi-purpose tool. It has a flanged base, which gives greater stability and facilitates an easier clamping of the mc power vice. It's great but it takes up too much space. All high quality machinist vises are "lock-down" vises. This means that the moveable jaw will not rise up while the vise screw is tightened.
CNC Vise
The CNC vise is a small version of the machinist's vize however, it still has the rigidity and strength of a machine vise. Multiple vises can be utilized in parallel with minimal space due to the smaller size of its footprint. CNC vises are precisely ground on multiple sides so that they can be used sideways and horizontal. The absence of the flange makes securing them to the table slightly more challenging, but that can be addressed with specially designed table clamps included in the mc power vise. CNC Vises can also be secured.
Toolmaker Vise
Vises for toolmakers can be smaller and cheaper than full-length screws. They are easier to use because of the multistep locking technique. When the work must be transferred between machines, vises designed for toolmakers are a popular option. The work can be put in the toolmaker vise, and then moved to another machine, such as to a drill press or mill. Manual Quick Lock -down mechanism prevents the jaws from lifting. However, vises made for toolmaking aren't often equipped with additional features like interchangeable jaws or work stops.
The History of Workholding
The development of trial and failure, and ingenuity is the basis of today's workholding. While the idea of locking workpieces has been around for centuries, early examples were found in Egyptian tombs. Their version of clamping included a robe being wrapped around a piece of workpiece, and then inserting a stick, that was then bent to hold the piece in place.
Fortunately the screw was invented and eventually resulted in the development of modern vises around the mid-1700s. The first screw vises made of wood were designed using precise ground design in metal. Vises with lockdowns were added to make them more precise. Before the invention of lockdown vises jaws around the workpiece would lift and tilt slightly as the screw was turned forward, since they didn't directly apply force to the movable jaw. Lockdown vises are equipped with a joint mechanism inside and beneath the jaw that translated the forward force of the screw into forward and downward forces on the jaw. The jaw is able to stay down and at a square angle to the base even if the work is elevated and only held by the very tops the jaws.
Workholding is continually being reviewed by the makers and the people who do the work in machining, so this isn't the final word on vises. But it is an interesting review of the way in which the vise on your bench came to be.