Jury is still out for me on these SMW vises.
Had two instances already were the part has move in the jaws. Parts were installed as tight as possible. The steel part even had small punch dimples put in it. I may be converting to the low profile langmuir type if it persist. I purchased both types when I ordered the machine. Sure would hate to sideline two $400 vises.
Well dang. I purchased 2 of each as well. Did it move bad? What material?
Had one 8" piece of 1/2 steel come right out. And had several aluminum pieces move 1/8 or so.
They seem to be loosing under vibration. I literally am tightening then down with 3/8 drive ratchet. They move during X carriage moves.
Its not like I’m taking .375 deep cuts. Maybe .125 and had ipm down to a crawl.
Don’t know. Probably me doing something wrong. Cannot believe all these vises out there and this hasn’t happened before.
Right. SMW is well known for making quality stuff. Does smw recommend a torque value for tightening? I haven’t opened mine yet.
Get off this forum and start assembly already… Anything you need let me know pal.
Lol. We started last night. We are making a completey new base instead of the legs it came with. Ill be posting in the thread.
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Sound great. Legs are definitely a weak link.
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On their videos, they recommend 30 ft/lbs, but I have also heard 35 ft/lbs max.
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How much torque on the clamping screws?
You should identify where the movement is happening. I’d guess the problem is on the repositionable side of the vise. I’ve had that happen before I really understood how the system works.
You should watch the video below on how to set up the SMW system - there’s an important “back and forth” you have to do between the base plate fastening bolts and the clamping bolts to make sure the adjustable side can’t slide. The procedure involves un-setting the clamping bolts slight, and then sliding the vise body all the way towards the stock before tightening down the baseplate bolts and then the clamping bolts all the way.
Relevant part starts at 2 min and 15 sec.
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Thanks, I appreciate you sending me this.
Awesome. Thanks for info
Ugh. I hate to hear that. I bought 2 of the SMW vises along with an extra set of clamps for each one.
I didn’t buy the Langmuir vises at all. I’ve just finished the stage mounting the vises and am closing in on some real part creation. I hope these things work as promised - I thought I was upgrading to a better solution.
The SMW vises are fine, and they work. Don’t get bummed out because one person had some trouble, that’s just something that comes with learning a new system.
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Don’t sweat the SMW vises. It was me not using them correctly. All good.
Watch this video
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