Name that Tool

[Runs With Scissors]

The Bridgeport brand vises are not the best, you want the type in the lower right position in your photo. The BP vise has no support for your workpiece at the outer edges and the rear jaw will lift when clamping a piece near the top.

What “type” of vise(s) did I buy?

Here are close up’s of the “non-BP” one's that I got.

Agreed, Bridgeport brand vises will generally "jack up" parts (a little or a lot depending on wear)
and often allow parts to move under heavy cuts.
Kurt mill vises are the way to go, but beware, there are a lot of Kurt look-a-like clones from the asian world out there.
We had a job that required a large vise (12" jaws) and a buyer substituted a chinesium clone for the Kurt brand we ordered.
It was the biggest POS I've ever seen.
Once we found out how bad it was, it was relegated to bench vise duties, where it had trouble holding parts for hacksawing or filing, and even those parts often shifted.

I do know that the Kurt’s usually command a LOT more money at auctions, so it is no surprise they are better.



Is there a way to “test” these to find out how bad/good they are?

One day, I am pretty sure a "Kurt brand" vise will find its way onto my mill, but in the mean time, these should/will have to do.



I got a little carried away with bidding on these end mills, (138 bucks) but after buying a small “Good Chi-com set” (is that a thing?) for 70 bucks off Amazon about 3 weeks ago, maybe I didn’t do too bad.

 

[Yooper]

Put a piece of round stock in the vise, say around 2” diameter, and have the jaws lightly grip it. Put a dial indicator on center and zero it out. Now tighten the jaws and watch the indicator show the round stock rising from the clamp jaw rising as it tightens. The Kurt vises have a ball and socket mechanism that exert pressure down as you tighten to negate the lifting action of the clamp jaw. It definitely helps but I still keep a soft blow hammer close by and tap on the jaw as I’m tightening.

I have the exact same vise as the one in the picture that came with an old horizontal mill I bought several decades ago. It’s in my storage shed getting a coat of rust on it. Just haven’t found a place for it. Shame, it’s a heavy vise but that is why it has not been moved in years. It is heavy to lift!

 

[lynnmor]

I have one Parlec brand vise that is a copy of a Kurt, it has been excellent. Your vises have been abused so check for wear by disassembling them for cleaning and inspection. I see one of them has bumps raised up from clamping junk, those jaws should be hard, you can buy replacements. Having two vises that are matched can be useful for long workpieces.

I went to an auction a long time ago and bid on a very large block of endmills but the yuppie outbid me. I cringed when he pulled each endmill out of the block and tossed them in a bucket one by one, what an idiot.

 

[Lil Foot]

Here's a tubalcain vid on Kurt mill vises.

The two pictured above LOOK like Kurt.
I was once told by a Kurt rep that all Kurt vises and swivel bases have serial numbers that can be used to date them, but I'm not sure that applies to very early ones.
We had a couple old ones at work that had no serial number tags, but look at the sides for evidence of the rivet holes or adhesive residue. where the tags were.
If all else fails you can take them apart. (and you probably will anyway, I'm guessing )

 

[Lil Foot]

Congrats on the new mill.
You did great on the cutters, looks like a good variety, assuming they are not dull beyond use.

(close one, I started to type "assuming they are not duller than a _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ .")
(fill in your own politically incorrect word)

 

[Gary Olson]

We had a job that required a large vise (12" jaws) and a buyer substituted a chinesium clone for the Kurt brand we ordered.
It was the biggest POS I've ever seen.
Once we found out how bad it was, it was relegated to bench vise duties, where it had trouble holding parts for hacksawing or filing, and even those parts often shifted.

Had a cheap owner buy a couple cheap vises -- half the cost of a Kurt vise. Inspection detailed lack of flat surfaces, 90 deg surfaces that were not, unparallel surfaces, and not so hard jaws that would not interchange with Kurt vises.
After proper trueing of surfaces and tightening up the clamp shift, they were still crap. Cost more to buy and fix cheap vises for the saw guy to use than buy Kurt.

 

[Lil Foot]

When I started out in machining, the shop got low on work, so a toolmaker was assigned to try and remedy the non-Kurt style vises, and he requested me to help with the grunt work.
I think we did 7 or 8 vises, regrinding all the surfaces, making new gibs, making new nuts, straightening screws & handles, and even grinding the worst ones so that the jaws were angled in at the top, in an attempt to get the parts to stay down in the jaws where they belonged.
Then they all got a new coat of paint, bright colors to differentiate them from the non-rebuilt ones.
We were probably 90% successful, but in a year or so of production use, (wear) they reverted right back to where they were.
It was decided that the effort was not worth it, and over the years they were all phased out.

I'm positive at least some of the vises we did were identical to the Bridgeport vise in the video at 11:55.

Quick observation- one of the vises you posted has allen head bolts & light washers securing it to the swivel base.
Probably need to upsize/upgrade those.
I have found those to be less than satisfactory under heavy cuts.
I like large heavy bolts/t-nuts with thick hardened washers. (as you can see in my pics)

 

[Lil Foot]

Another Kurt ID clue.
A buddy mentioned that all the Kurts have a boss with graduations for the swivel base.
Not sure about that, but I thought I'd pass it along. (yellow oval)

 

[Runs With Scissors]

Wow guys!

I have learned more about vises in the last 30 minutes than I have in the past 50+ years.

So apparantly it’s true that even a “blind squirrel finds a nut, once in a while”.

I went out and took a closer look at my vise(s) and one appears to be a “Genuine Kurt"


The tag is tough to read, but in the Tubalcain video posted by @Lil Foot , Mr. Pete points out the “slanted L” in the word ‘angle-lock’” at about the 3:29 mark

I see that same “slanted L” on mine, as well as the “boss” that Bill pointed out, and the tag appears to have a serial number and is clearly blue in color.

And although it’s difficult to see clearly in the pics becasue it’s so dirty, the vice appears to have a “blue tinge” to it.

I am going to clean it all up and we will see.


I don’t think the other one is a “Genuine Kurt” though; It does appear to be an “angle lock” style.


No boss and no tag…..darn!

Here is the bottom of the “Kurt knock-off"

 

[Lil Foot]

I went out and took a closer look at my vise(s) and one appears to be a “Genuine Kurt"

Great!
Different degree markings on the swivel base.... hmmm....