Monster machine vise as bench vise?

[AzulShiva]

I got a perfectly working 5 inch Gressel bench vise which is built like a tank weighing around 80lb. This is about the best vice you can own, every professional mechanic I know has one of these in their shops.

I was gifted a machine vise that was mounted on a 10ton mill. It's an italian vise, from the company Allen, a new one costs around 2000$. It has 8 inch jaws, 2 inches high, weighs in about 100 pounds and has a monster 2 inch screw (3/4" for the Gressel) with 6threads per inch. I haven't cleaned it yet, but even with dirt and grime inside it, the screw and the turning pivot are buttersmooth. It feels like it was designed to crush bench vises for breakfast. The best part is, the jaws are screwed on, so I can 3d-print my own jaws and screw them on, instead of 3d-printing vise pads and clamp them over the jaws (If you look at my Gressel vise you will see the black 3d printed pads). Also there are flat surfaces below the jaws on the Allen, which would make hammering a loosely clamped workpiece so much easier.

The Gressel vises are sold 2nd hand for around 500$, while the Allen machine vises are being sold around 200$. So of course, I'm thinking of getting rid of my Gressel and installing the machine vise as my to-go bench vise. But, if they are so cheap and sturdy at the same time, why isn't everyone using them?

The machine vise looks smaller on the photo than it actually is due to the camera angle.

 

[TexPrep]

As a retired machinist I've always loved KURT Vises.
They're extremely precise and have a feature that pulls down on the piece when tightened.
And there's a lot of different jaws you can put on them. Love the soft jaws,you can machine them to fit irregular shaped parts.

 

[MNwr786]

...Love the soft jaws,you can machine them to fit irregular shaped parts.

Ever seen a fractal vise? Those are cool!!!!

 

[TexPrep]

Ever seen a fractal vise? Those are cool!!!!

I've seen them but never used one.
They'll leave marks on your workpiece which would be fine if the finish didnt matter.
And there's also repeat ability. With custom machined jaws your part will line up every time without the use of a stop.
It would definitely be handy in the garage though.

 

[MNwr786]

I've seen them but never used one.
They'll leave marks on your workpiece which would be fine if the finish didnt matter.
And there's also repeat ability. With custom machined jaws your part will line up every time without the use of a stop.
It would definitely be handy in the garage though.

People on youtube are making them out of wood, I'd love to see one made of brass!

 

[DrHenley]

I made wood jaws (white oak) for my larger vise and use them most of the time. If I need steel jaw I usually use the smaller vise.

 

[Mountain Dragon]

The Gressel vises are sold 2nd hand for around 500$, while the Allen machine vises are being sold around 200$. So of course, I'm thinking of getting rid of my Gressel and installing the machine vise as my to-go bench vise. But, if they are so cheap and sturdy at the same time, why isn't everyone using them?

Something like an old Gressel you won't find anymore really. The real old swiss quality works like an Schaublin, Oerlikon or Aciera. Things like this are 40 / 50 years later still expensive. If i had an working bench where i could mount such an Gressel i would do it.
My first 3 months in my mechanic training i worked daily with it.
My advice: If you don't need to sell keep it. Findsch nüd bessers.

 

[AzulShiva]

Something like an old Gressel you won't find anymore really. The real old swiss quality works like an Schaublin, Oerlikon or Aciera. Things like this are 40 / 50 years later still expensive. If i had an working bench where i could mount such an Gressel i would do it.
My first 3 months in my mechanic training i worked daily with it.
My advice: If you don't need to sell keep it. Findsch nüd bessers.

Gressel are made in switzerland. I live in switzerland. The country is littered with them, they are everywhere. If you come here on vacation you'll be lucky not to trip over one of these lying somewhere randomly on the street. More people die yearly from tripping over gressel vises in switzerland then from shark attacks. "Findsch nüd bessers" means, you won't find anything better in swiss german. Well that's the thing, I think I just did.

The only thing I like more about the Gressel, is that the clamped workpiece ends up quite far away from the table edge, so you have space to access it from more angles. With a bolted on vise, the table can get in the way. But there is nothing stopping me from building myself a stand out of scrap steel to suspend the machine vise halfway over the table edge.

 

[Mountain Dragon]

Gressel are made in switzerland. I live in switzerland. The country is littered with them, they are everywhere. If you come here on vacation you'll be lucky not to trip over one of these lying somewhere randomly on the street. More people die yearly from tripping over gressel vises in switzerland then from shark attacks. "Findsch nüd bessers" means, you won't find anything better in swiss german. Well that's the thing, I think I just did.

The only thing I like more about the Gressel, is that the clamped workpiece ends up quite far away from the table edge, so you have space to access it from more angles. With a bolted on vise, the table can get in the way. But there is nothing stopping me from building myself a stand out of scrap steel to suspend the machine vise halfway over the table edge.

LMAO

Guess as an Swiss i know how's Switzerland....

 

[DrHenley]

I'm guessing "nüd" is Swiss German. Even Google can't translate it, LOL.
Is that "none" or "nothing"?
What would the German German be? "Findsch nichts bessers"?

 

[Mountain Dragon]

I'm guessing "nüd" is Swiss German. Even Google can't translate it, LOL.
Is that "none" or "nothing"?
What would the German German be? "Findsch nichts bessers"?

"nüd" is Swiss German, but it will written an spoken a bit different in every area. You're right, it means none / nothing.
"Findsch nüd bessers" in German would be "Du findest nichts besseres"

Swiss German is a primarily spoken language, more or less different in every valley or area. The written Swiss German came up in the last 20, 30 years especially by the younger people. The government, media, schools ect are using German German as language.
Official we're using 4 languages as official languages in our country:
- German
- French
- Italian
- romansh

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Switzerland

 

[Crabapple]

I have a machine vice, three mechanics vise, one has a pipe jaw on the bottom & rotates 360 degrees.
Two blacksmith pole vise. wood clamps, spring clamps & ratchet straps.
I do not have a assembly table for welding or clamping station for making cabinet doors & table tops.

 

[AzulShiva]

I dismounted the Gressel and shoved it into a carton box. Gonna sell it for 500-600. I built a pedestal for the Machine vise and moved it forward by 4 inches. It's equal in approachability except that you cannot adjust the height (no need to anyway). 3d Printed some parts to lock the pivot and open/close the jaws REALLY fast.

Now bolted onto the new position its potential really comes forward. This thing is an absolute beast, superior to the Gressel in every way. I'm gonna give it a name: The Hercules Vise. I'm gonna teach my girl how to properly worship the Hercules vise resting on the holy altar that is my workbench. At minimum, I expect human sacrifices to appease the vise gods everytime it is available to behold.