Found a trick for squaring up vises that changed my setup time

I was spending like 15 minutes each morning tapping my vise with a deadblow to get it square until I tried using a pair of 1-2-3 blocks on both fixed jaws with a feeler gauge last week. Turns out if you snug the bolts just enough to let it slide then crank them down after the gauge reads zero on both sides it holds perfect every time. Anyone else got a weird setup trick that cut their time in half?

2 comments

2 Comments

nora103d ago

Oh man, that's a slick trick with the 123 blocks. I do something similar but I use a machinist square against the fixed jaw and a feeler gauge on the moving jaw side. Get it to zero on both then snug it down. Also started just marking my bolt positions with a sharpie after the first perfect setup so I can rough it in way faster the next time.

piper_green3d ago

You hear about that tip from someone in a machining group or pick it up from an old timer? Seems like everyone's got their own twist on the same basic setup.

-1