Angle Tight II Precision CNC Machine Vise at Enco

I have frequently bought from Enco because their prices are much better than other places especially if you shop from the Enco flyer. Recently a machinists vise came up on sale. It is a presumably Chinese copy of a Kurt vise and seemed a good deal. However, while all the "good" vises such as Kurt or Parlec gave some kinds of specs for repeatability, flatness or parallelism the Angle Tight II ads listed nothing but holding force.

So I emailed Enco...
toEncoTechandParts@use-enco.com
dateThu, Sep 24, 2009 at 2:49 PM
subjectAngle Tight II Precision CNC Machine Vise PN SU327-5893 Questions



I am interested in the Angle Tight II Precision CNC Machine Vise PN SU327-5893 that is on sale right now for $159.95.

I want to use it as an inexpensive CNC vise but there are no specs published in the flyer or the catalog.

What are the specs for accuracy, flatness or parallelism of the jaws? Is the bed ground to flatness?

Also, do Kurt style soft jaws fit the vise?

I am sure with some of this information on the ads the product would sell better.

Thanks,
Very quickly I did get a reply:

fromEnco Parts
date
Thu, Sep 24, 2009 at 3:25 PM
subject
RE: Angle Tight II Precision CNC Machine Vise PN SU327-5893 Questions

Hello Gary

Unfortunately I do not have any specs on the vise you are looking at. We would have to measure the vise jaws and the kurt jaws to see if they will fit properly.

XXXXXXX XXXXXX
Enco Tech.
400 NV Pacific Hwy
Fernley, NV 89408
Ph. 800-873-3626 xXXXXXX
Fax 800-965-5857

Note that I have removed the person's name and extension.

This floored me. Enco Tech support doesn't have any information on their product? Why would there not be manuals or spec sheets sitting on the tech support person's desk describing what I think is a staple product for a machinist supply company?

Based on this I bought a Parlec off Ebay NIB even cheaper than what Enco had it for on sale.

But I felt I should communicate my dissatisfaction with the (non) Tech Support...

toEnco Parts
dateSat, Sep 26, 2009 at 12:51 PM
subjectRe: Angle Tight II Precision CNC Machine Vise PN SU327-5893 Questions

Based on not having any specs and not getting my questions answered I bought a Parlec vise from another company.

This vise may be a good deal as many of your Chinese tools are. But for a vise which sets the precision of all parts made in it machinists have to know what the specs are. And you should know the dimensions of your products and have at least the manual to refer to. Maybe you will sell these to hobbyists but machinists need specs.

Based on this I would rate Enco low on customer service although I have bought from you in the past.

A lot of people complain about Enco in the web for both quality and service. Price wont last as a good selling tool. Service is very important especially when you are known for selling inexpensive foreign made equipment.

Thanks and just my 2 cents.

Have a good day.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

DIY CNC Milling Machine Control Panel for EMC2

Image
This is meant to be an addition to a regular industrial style alphanumeric keyboard with trackball. It contains the most widely used functions as far as I now know. Since I am using a CNC4PC C11G I only have 5 inputs. All these functions are available on the keyboard within EMC2 and will not require a separate input. This panel will require a keyboard encoder either bought, ripped from an old keyboard, or made with a custom pcb. Keyboard encoders are available from Hagstrom, Ultimarc ($40) and Vetra. Beyond Logic has all the information for rolling the code for your own keyboard controller which has some advantages. If you code your own then you can include functions for rotary switches (that include one-shots) and analog inputs. This control panel is meant to be a cheap way of controlling the machine before or in conjunction with an MPG. This panel can be made for less than $200 which is a lot cheaper than an MPG. One of the things this is missing is indicators/blinken lights
Read more

Power Supply for CNC

One of the first things that one needs to retrofit a Bridgeport Boss CNC machine is a power supply for the steppers. That is assuming that one has drives which I do in the form of Geckodrive G201s. The original Bridgeport power supply for the steppers put out 56 volts dc so most people use this voltage although some use 60 or even higher voltages. As far as current goes most people use 6-7 amps, 7 amps being the maximum that G201s will source. While researching stepper power supplies I found a great reference on Gecko's website. http://www.geckodrive.com/upload/Step_motor_basics.pdf This document not only shows how to wire the drives but gives a good example of a power supply with sample component values. Basically a power supply (unregulated) only needs a transformer putting out a desired voltage that is rectified by a full diode bridge and filtered by a big capacitor. To get 56vac you need un-rectified 39vac. (56 v /1.414 = 39.6 v) For a capacitor value C = (80000 u
Read more

Maintenance of a 30 Year Old CNC Milling Machine

Image
One of the big questions that I have about the new milling machine is maintenance and cleaning. Cleaning the ways I was almost tempted to get out the Foamy Engine Clean and spray down the machine and let all the sludge drip onto the floor. However I avoided cleaning anything that may contain grease or lube with any degreaser. On the painted surfaces I used a version of "Orange Clean" (which I could not find locally). It is called "Greased Lightning Blast" with orange oil. It made short work of most of the grease on the machine grey paint. The machine after a bit of cleaning. Anyone have a source for cans of enamel spray paint that matches? Way Wipers A quick Google search shows that many people want to sell you exotic and probably expensive way wipers. But on Ebay a couple sellers offer felt way wipers specially for Series 1 Bridgeport. I still haven't decided what to do about the wipers. It is suggested that they are changed out yearly so I am g
Read more