# Drill Press Vise



## fitzman163 (Apr 18, 2008)

Has anyone here bought the Pen Press/Drilling Jig from Rockler I'm not real happy with the one I have from PSI, and the gentleman on this site that makes them seems to be a little busy. Any suggestions?


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## JHFerrell (Apr 18, 2008)

Jim, I haven't actually got one, but one of my buddies at work does. He is very happy with his. I have the Paul Huffman and it is worth both the wait and every penny you pay for it. I started with the one from PSI and quickly realized it wasn't going to keep me satisfied for long.

If you have a Woodcraft store nearby, check out the new one they have from General International. It's pretty heavy duty and about the same price as the Rockler.


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## maxwell_smart007 (Apr 18, 2008)

General International Vice looks pretty good...here's a pic from the website:


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## sbell111 (Apr 18, 2008)

I just picked one of those up from Woodcraft.  It hasn't even been out of the box, yet.  Hopefully, it's a winner.


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## markgum (Apr 19, 2008)

I picked up the less expensive model from WC.  I'm happy with it.  Used a couple of C clamps to hold it to the base of the drill press.  So far it works well. but,, I'm just beginning.


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## holmqer (Apr 19, 2008)

I've got the Rockler press/vise and it seems to work ok. Once I clamped it to my drill press table, I've never had to move it despite running variously sized blanks through it as the self centering feature works fine.

I assemble my pens on the drill press.

My only long term concern is that the threads pass through some plastic bushings that have a groove cut into them that slips into a thin metal bracket. I suspect that either the bushing or the bracket will eventually fail.


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## walking_tall (Apr 19, 2008)

I have the Rockler press/vise also. I did experience one problem with it. After making about 10 pens over the course of 2 weeks I was cleaning my drill press and found 3 ball bearings on the the table and floor. Thinking I had something coming apart on the DP I grabed my sweeper magnet and quickly found 3 set screws and 3 springs. Then I realized they were to  small for the DP. Then I noticed empty holes in the pen vise. There are two set screws on each jaw of the vise with a spring and a ball bearing under the set screw. I am presuming that they take some side to side slop out of the jaws. Unfortunatley I only found 3 out of 4. I took it back to the Rockler here in Detroit and the guys there swapped me for  abrand new one with no hassle. The moral to this story is if you buy one check those set screws or do what I did and put a dab of threadlock on the set screw.

Other than that it works just fine


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## sbell111 (Apr 21, 2008)

> _Originally posted by markgum_
> 
> I picked up the less expensive model from WC.  I'm happy with it.  Used a couple of C clamps to hold it to the base of the drill press.  So far it works well. but,, I'm just beginning.


We have one of those in my FIL's shop.  It seems to not clamp the blank perfectly vertical.

I finally got around to trying out the 'deluxe' one yesterday.  It worked very well, but it could be a bit of a hassle if you are often changing between blanks of different sizes because you have to keep fiddling with the adjustment bolt.


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## killer-beez (Jan 2, 2009)

*Rockler Drill Press vise*

I have the Rockler Drill Press vise and I am having problems.  After having it only a couple of months, when setting a blank either round or square, the vise will open at the top when tightened allowing the blank to wobble closest to the drill bit.  This in tern makes the hole bigger then desired.  Does anyone know of any adjustments?

UPDATE!!! Just talked to Rockler. The have not had this problem before to his knowladge.  Because it was within a year they are sending out a replacement.  Great Customer Service!!!


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## Rick_G (Jan 2, 2009)

Since I rarely do more than a couple blanks at a time I couldn't justify the cost of a pen vise for drilling blanks.  Checked the drill press vise that came with the drill press all the non moveable surfaces were either square to or parallel to the table surface.  The back fixed jaw holds the blank vertical in one direction and a small plastic square sets it vertical in the other.  Mark the center of the blank move the vise into position clamp it and you are good to go.  

Only doing a couple at a time the few extra seconds to make sure everything is square don't mean much.  If I was doing a hundred or so at a time and there are some here who do that, the extra time will add up.


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## wdcav1952 (Jan 2, 2009)

Consider drilling on the lathe.


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## Jim Smith (Jan 2, 2009)

I have one of the Rockler Pen vise/clamps and while it is fairly well made, it has it's limitations.  First of all, I switched over to drilling my blanks on the lathe for accuracy since I wasn't getting what I wanted on the drill press.  Secondly, this vise can be somewhat difficult to assemble pens with.  There are many times that I really have to put some muscle into pressing the pens and almost as much to release the vise.  I'm talking full arm strength just to turn the crank handle.  I may not be Charles Atlas, but I am fairly strong and this vise is not the easiest way to assemble pens.  I am on Paul's list for a new Pen Vise and can't wait to get it.  The only thing I use the Rockler vise for is to hold the blanks while I use the pen mill to square up the ends.  Just one person's opinion...

Jim Smith


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## Chris Bar (Jan 2, 2009)

Just came across this "old" post and since I am interested in obtaining something new, thought I would mention a smallish vise I have used for metal and wood work for many years, that I pressed into service when I recently started assembling pens.
Similar to the Grizzly G5760 quick release with the prismatic jaws G1065, my vise is Craftsman.  Only problem is that the vise is limited on how tightly the work is held due to limited cam travel.  Work movement when drilling has occured from time to time.
So, the reason for the post: is there a similar vise which is operated by a screw that also has the prismatic jaw design, other than the _expensive_ G1064 cross sliding vise.  I always clamp the vise to the drill press table so the _pen specific_ type vise previously mentioned, and using this vise for other purposes, negates that type of vise for my needs.  Might be that the G1064 would be my best bet, but I hate paying those ripping shipping charges.  Started today to order a simple parting tool from PSI for about $12, but shipping was $7.50 .  Wish CS had what I wanted...they are much more reasonable on shipping.  Guess I'll just make the one I want.
But back to the vise....sources?


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## jhs494 (Jan 2, 2009)

wdcav1952 said:


> Consider drilling on the lathe.


 
Ditto! 

This works better for me.


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## JerryS (Jan 2, 2009)

I have the vise and haven't had any problems with . I only use it to drill centers not assembling them .


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