Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi Folks,

I am looking at John's Bridge making video, and think I will attempt to make a bridge as he shows in his video. The video calls for a cross slide vise, and was wondering if the following vises are decent enough, or if I should look at something else?

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=32996

http://www.grizzly.com/products/Cross-Sliding-Vise/G1064

Thanks!

Glenn

Either will work the difference is in the construction tolerance. I bought on of the harbor freight and had to work on it a bit because the cross slid was a tad out of square with the long slide. There is a wedge shim for this adjustment on the track mounting that has to be set to achive true square. the other issue I had with the harbor freight was in the worm gear on the cross feed was sloppy. you want this smooth with no slack so that you can control your feed rate well.

If you reall want one you will not have to mess with find a machiest supply house and by one from there you will pay more but in 99 percent of those they will be rady to go out of the box.

Thanks Michael,

I also just found this one at woodcraft:

http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?FamilyId=5512

Should I assume this one would have the same issues as the previous vises?

Thx!

Glenn

Glenn, a few years ago I bought a Grizzly and sent it back. It was clearly inaccurate and cranky - a sloppy half turn of the handwheel was necessary to reverse the travel, and the scales on the crank collars had no apparent connection to English or Metric measurement. Despite this, I was stuck for the shipping both ways, and, I think, a restocking fee.

So I bought a Palmgren from MSC, more expensive, but superior above all increase in price.

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Dan
http://www.acme-archtops.com

Bitmoore is good Palmgen is a bit higher quaility.

I have the grizzly one you posted in yours. It's a decent vise (got it for free when I ordered something from them). It has some slop so I had to tweak it some, but it does the job. The bitmoore and plamgren are for sure a step up.

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John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

I have the Shop Fox from Grizzly and with some minor tweaking works OK. I'm also in agreement with the upgrades. Get the best tools your cash supply can stand!

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Jim Howell
Charlotte, NC

These vices are not designed for slotting and are low quality.
http://www.grizzly.com/products/Compoun ... able/G5757
This is more what you need. Those cross vises are so inaccurate and they have a lot of play in them. They are useless. The compound table will be more to your liking. Yes it is a bit more but if you are buying tools , either buy good or don't buy at all. Cheap tools are not tools. The play in one of the compound tables is usually minimal and they are designed for the type of job we need. You also get a micrometer dial so you can do accurate work.
Tools are investments. Cheap tools are costs.
john hall
blues creek guitars

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Thanks John! I would much rather pay for good tools than throw money after bad . How would I attach the Bridge to this unit? Would I just use a couple clamps onto the Table?

Glenn

you can make a table that will screw down using the slots. I used to use a similar table . I made a wooden piece that fit the slots. , that way I could screw a piece of plywood onto the table. Then you can set up a bridge blank with the bridge at a 3 degree angle for the comp angle. If you want to use the martin style of bridge you can drill the holes first then slot the bridge using the holes to screw it to the wooden table.
You can also mount a vice to the table . The compound table uses tee slots and is very versitle
john

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Not that I disagree with everything you wrote John, but not everyone can "buy good or don't buy at all" Many of us have to buy what we can afford and if we have to put in some of our own time to make it useable then so be it. I'm all for buying the best you can afford, but not everyone can afford the best. Not all cheap tools are bad, not all good tools are expensive. I have the cross sliding vise grizzly sells and I have slotted well over 150 bridges with it, and never have had an issue with accuracy. Maybe I just got lucky.

Respectfully,

John

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John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

lets face it , you get what you pay for. Being a machinist , I can say you got lucky. I assume you are slotting on a drill press. I can tell you that a drill press isn't designed for the lateral thrust applied with sideways cutting. I agree that price often is not true test of a tool. A sliding vise uses gibbs , they are adjusted to control the amount of "play". The better the tool the more precise the gibbs can be adjusted and the proper metal heat treatment process for wear.
I tried that very same vise you have . I gave it away as it was not stable enough. I have seen some very interesting jigs for slotting a bridge. One of the easiest is a simple fence , on this you make the "bed" that holds the bridge. It can slide against the fence. Using a simple start and top post you can make very repeatable slots with very decent accuracy.
Harbor freight , I will agree is a total hit or miss. I have seen the routers toss bits. I have seen some of the tools work well. It is a crap shoot. Grizzly is a bit better , and then you have the big guns like Steel City , Jet , Bridgeport , etc. My advice is still the same , buy the best tool you can afford , often name brands can be purchased used at great savings. Your cross vise is not designed as you are using ,to slot accurately you should use the compound table.
John Hall
Blues Creek Guitars

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

"buy the best tools you can afford"

I can get behind that. I never suggested otherwise.

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John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

Consider the router jig that John How presented in the jigs section. I've used it for 4 years now and it works flawlessly. With all due respect, I also believe that the drill press is just the wrong tool for this purpose.

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

I ask: "When was the last time you kicked yourself, for buying a GOOD tool?"

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https://soundcloud.com/jeffreylsuits/he ... -runnin-13

I picked up one of the HF vises and took it back. I didn't even want to wipe the quart of oil off it. I ended up buying what I could afford which was a mini mill. I'd go for the sliding table before the cross vise. The cross vise is for drilling holes. If you get a vise for the table you will need to indicate it in. I myself would use a router jig if I had no machining experiance. There's more there then meets the eye. I worked for a couple of years in a production machine shop and learned quite a bit by setting up tooling(jigs) and operating a CNC. It's something that will take a while to learn if you haven't been around it. If you're not sure how to mount to the table then go with the router or dremel jig and save that learning for later and pick up some books or machining. Just a suggestion.