Spent $400 on a fancy 5-axis vise and it ended up being overkill for my Haas Mini Mill

I kept seeing these super rigid vises online and thought I needed one to finish a titanium job. After 3 setups that took twice as long because the thing is a beast to adjust, I went back to my old 6 inch Kurt and finished the part in half the time. Anyone else bought expensive tooling that just slowed them down?

2 comments

2 Comments

paul_webb451mo ago

Oh, I've seen that happen. A buddy of mine bought a high-dollar 5C collet chuck setup for his old Bridgeport, thinking it would speed up his production work. He spent two days making custom stop blocks and adjusting the thing, then finally gave up and bolted back on his trusty 6-jaw chuck to finish the job. It's funny how the simplest stuff usually wins.

sagea881mo ago

MAN, you're SO right about simple stuff winning. @paul_webb45 That story reminds me of a time a guy I knew tried to get fancy with a quick-change tool post on his lathe. Spent a whole weekend dialing in the repeatability, only to find out he'd been holding the block wrong the whole time. He went back to a regular old lantern tool post and knocked out the same part in half the time. It's like the universe just laughs at you when you overthink machining.