Shop Efficiency Part 3 : The Infamous Milling Vise

Part 3 in our Shop Efficiency Series will expand a little on Part 1 ... and key in on one of the most common workholding options used in the milling world ... the vise. Some of the ideas we will present might be old hat for the more professionals in the group ... but it's never a bad idea to refresh and re-look at this subject. For me ... something new always clicked when I looked at my vise set-up or holding configuration. Ideas usually led to different set-up ideas ... how to position the vise or vises ... as well as jaw ideas ... material, change-over and others. So we thought it was a good plan to outline some of the newer options available ... and to get your idea machine cranked up.

FIRST - Dump the Knee Mill Vise
We still see a lot of shops using an old style knee mill vise ... or some revised configuration of one ... on their new and modern CNC machine. Ya ... you know the ones ....

If these look all too familiar to you ... the first step in improving your workholding and basically your whole shop floor efficiency is to dump these vises and step up to today. Sure in a pinch ... they are OK ... but you should really think about putting 'em on Ebay and stick some "hobby machinist" ( whatever the hell that is ) with these toys. If you have a CNC machine and want to be a pro ... here are your new alternatives.

Here a just couple of important reasons to dump your 1950's vise for a new CNC vise :

1. SIZE and SPACE : Without the "wings" sticking our from the sides, these types of vises are slimmer and trimmer ( not to mention lighter ) and will take up less room on your table or fixture plate. That allows for more efficient use of your machine travels and table capacity. 
2. MULTI PART MACHINING : configurations can include double vise jaws ... again, multiple part machining. The whole concept of efficiency is to perform the most machining while the tool is in the spindle. That may entail multiples of the same part or combining different parts during the tools cycle.
3. QUICK CLAMP : The ever present annoyance of rapping your fingers while turning the handle to clamp can also easily be eliminated by incorporating a power clamping system such as a pneumatic wrench instead of the handle ... or if you want to "crank it up a notch" ... check out the CHIC video below :

SECOND - Jaws for the Modern World

Now that you have upgraded the vise itself ... it's time to incorporate new holding options into the vise. Almost every shop with a CNC vise uses some sort of aluminum vise jaw that has been machined to accept the stock to be machined. It's a basic ... it's a staple ... if you don't do it it's time to step into the 70's. 

So the most basic step is to create a CNC program that will machine a blank aluminum vise jaw to fit your CNC vise. That way anytime you need some jaws ... call up that proven program and machine some jaws for stock ... or keep some on the shelf. Done.

But hold on ... now there's an even better method. We have talked about these jaws before in Making Chips and we are high on their use and rewards. No cap screws ... 2 min changeover ... and tons of configurations make quick change vise jaws the new go-to vise jaws. Here's a sample video from Carvesmart ... one of our favorites :

THIRD - Don't forget the TABLE

Part 1 in our series dealt with how to bring your VMC machine table into the 21st century. Combining your new table configuration with these new vise and jaw options can really expand your efficiency. This is a really important read ... if you missed that post ... here's the link : 

http://kipware.blogspot.com/2014/12/shop-efficiency-part-1-cutting-time-vs.html

FOURTH - Don't forget to MOVE THAT VISE !!

Always placing the vise so it looks nice in the middle of the table causes a lot more harm than you might think. Here's a past Making Chips post dealing with that subject in detail ... http://kipware.blogspot.com/2013/01/move-that-vise.html ... required reading if you use a vise ( and seriously, who doesn't ?? ).

RESULT - New Shop Floor Efficiency ... 

with the sky as the limit.
As you can see ... these are some fairly simple but really important changes that will greatly effect your shop floor efficiency. From faster set-up changeovers ... to more advanced configurations ... to faster part load / unload ... to simply better cycletimes ... these tried and proven changes mean more profits ... a happier workforce ... with the sky as the limit. We are also confident that as you implement these changes ... your "machinist" mind will think of even bigger and better changes now able to be implemented with the upgrades that come with the ones outlined here.

Please come back for our next installment in our series on Shop Efficiency.

Until next time ... Happy Chip Making !!

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