Vent: A guy at the shop said my vise setup was junk

He pointed at my part and said, 'You're getting .002 lift on that back jaw, no wonder your finish looks wavy.' I was using a standard vise with just the center clamps. Now I always use two extra clamps on the outer edges for long parts, and I check for lift with an indicator before any heavy cuts. Anyone have a better trick for holding long aluminum stock?

3 comments

3 Comments

leelewis12d ago

Sounds like that guy was a bit of a jerk, but he wasn't wrong. Your new method with the extra clamps is the standard fix for that exact problem. Not much else to do besides that or buying a better vise.

rose_cooper12d ago

True, but the attitude wasn't needed (the fix works fine).

king.andrew3d ago

Oh man, that guy was totally right though. I had the same thing happen with a piece of 6061, got that stupid chatter because the back corner was lifting a hair. I started putting a block under the overhang for support, just a scrap of aluminum, and it made a world of difference.