Mini mill vise

[Tiger]

I have a mini mill which I use to drill pen blanks. There is a drill press vise attached but the jaws are not very high, I notice when drilling blanks with a drill larger than 1/2 inch diameter the blank tends to shudder because I suppose the blank is not well supported. What type of vise are others using with mini mills? Are you adding homemade jaws to your mill?

 

[Penultimate]

I use a 4" toolmaker's vise on my mini mill. The jaws are taller than a DP vise and they don't deflect. I used it to drill blanks on the mill but now I drill on the lathe.

 

[KenV]

V block and clamps works too.

 

[frank123]

A mill vise will hold things much more securely and precisely than a drill press vise.

In lieu of that, you can always clamp the blank between a couple of 123 blocks and clamp the directly blocks to the table or possibly even clamp them in the drill press vise if it will clamp tightly enough to hold them securely.

 

[campzeke]

V block and clamps works too.

That's what I use .... never had a blank blow out because it it fully supported while drilling. Works for me....

 

[TonyW]

If you only do a few of the pens that need a 1/2" plus drill, you could always drill a pilot hole with a smaller drill first. I found this beneficial with acrylic and resin blanks as it stops me overloading the flutes and thus overheating the blank by going straight in with the big drill. I know that I should drill more slowly and so forth, but as I can't seem to break the habit ....

Tony.

 

[PenPal]

I use an X Y axis vice with two prismatic 4 inch jaws as shown. Two types from Grizzly.

Peter.

 

[Rockytime]

This is my mill vise. Indicates in perfectly but I prefer to drill on my drill press and mostly on the lathe.

 

[Tiger]

Thanks for the replies, has anyone got a picture of their mill with the v block/clamp set up?