[MetalShavings]

I use a 5" Tormach machinist vise with ground vise keys. I can move vise on and off table at will with vise keys using the pre aligned center keyway on the mill table. Very accurate system to align tools like 4th axis, vises and other fixtures with little effort. You can even put keyway stops in place to move vise or other fixture on and off and still locate it very close to same place each time.

oops reading your post a 6" kurt would overhang to much if you use the key slots it has. You would need a smaller vise or mod it like others do.

On my Tormach vice it had some threaded holes on the bottom so I turned a couple of bolts on my lathe to the exact outside diameter as the inside widths of the keyway slots. It too went on nearly perfectly for the longest time but now I think I've worn some flats on those bolt heads so i have to manually index it again. Those two bolts I turned have worn just enough to make me have to run my dial indicator across the face of the vice jaws to make sure I'm within tolerance for my tiny parts. I guess rather than whining about being off by a couple of thousands I could just turn a couple of more bolts to the correct diameter and start from scratch all over again but I'd still have to index my stock.

Better yet would be a fix for that I came across somewhere, it may have been on this forum. It was suggested that I could either mill or buy a piece of metal that fit perfectly into the keyway slots, sticking up above the face of the table; then turn my vice upside down and clamp it onto that perfectly fitting piece of metal in the keyway slot. With the underside of my vice facing upward I could mill a shallow slot of the same width on the underside of my vice that centered on those two threaded holes. The flat piece of metal stock could then be screwed in that milled slot onto the bottom of my vice. In theory, if done correctly it would mean that whenever I needed to remove or replace the vice on the table, it would simply fit into the keyway slots for a perfect alignment every time.

I might be able to get my vice on straight but the edges of the metal stock I use are rarely as smooth and straight as the inside of the jaws of my vice. I think a touch probe of some type would still be a useful little doodad to have.

MetalShavings