From: Robert Bastow <teenut@hotmail.com>
Newsgroups: rec.crafts.metalworking
Subject: Re: Enco Precision Milling Machine Vice?
Date: Tue, 29 Feb 2000 07:26:28 GMT

The Gerardi isn't just a vice..it is a complete work holding system.  All
components are made from hardened tool steel at around 60/62 Rc Ground
to tenth thou limits

The base is two inches thick, fixed jaw is bolted to it and can be
reversed, to grip inside the job if required,  The sliding jaw acts on
dog notches in the body..much like a screwless tool maker's grinding
vice.  The jaws, which are interchangeable, actually slide down an
incline as the vise is tightened..such that back AND front jaws are both
pulling down on the job.  Bedding, free of lift is absolutely
guaranteed.

As all the components are interchangeable and "NC Qualified": the basic
vice becomes an expandable unit.a sub- base, about six inches long will
extend the  gripping range the full length of the mill table, if
required.  Hydraulic/ hand or full automatic, hydraulic clamping cn be
added as required.

All in all a very versatile, accurate and robust system..The fact that
the body is solid steel, and of heavier section, makes it about five or
more times stiffer than a Kurt!

As I said..once you have driven one..You will never be happy with
"ordinary transportation" again!

Prices?..very reasonable considering the huge performance gain..start at
a hundred or so higher than a similar sized Kurt.

teenut

Jeff Pack wrote:

> I've never seen one, ergo they dont exist until then... :)
>
> Actually, until you mentioned it in the other thread, I'd
>  never heard of one before either...
>
> so what makes these so ,much better than a Kurt?
>
> Robert Bastow <"teenut"@ hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:phpu4.2493$ps1.142515@news1.rdc1.ga.home.com...
> > If this is a "Lifetime" purchase..buy a Gerardi!!
> >
> > teenut
> >
> > Jeff Pack wrote:
> > >
> > > yes, but neither done very well...
> > >
> > > my advise...
> > >
> > > if its for a machine you will keep, buy the Kurt.
> > > If not, buy a copy...
> > >
> > > Clark Magnuson <cmagnuson@home.com> wrote in message
> > > news:38BA03D5.63694106@home.com...
> > > > Is the Kurt clone hardened and ground?
> > > > TIA Clark

Newsgroups: rec.crafts.metalworking
Subject: Re: gerardi vise for clausing 8520
From: Robert Bastow <teenut@Nospamhotmail.com>
Date: Sun, 23 Jul 2000 02:13:47 GMT

John Blinka wrote:
> 
> A while back, there was some discussion about
> appropriately sized vises for the Clausing 8520 and
> complaints about the expense of the 4" Kurt. At
> the same time, teenut was expounding on the virtues
> of Gerardi.  I found out that the 100 mm Gerardi is
> less expensive ($495) than the 4" Kurt ($593), so
> I ordered one.

> Thanks to teenut for making the Gerardi known to me and
> for answering questions before I ordered it.
> 

I have just ordered four more Gerardi's for my shop.  None of my guys had ever
heard of them and were weaned on Kurts.  After using the two Gerardi's I
initially purchased, they won't use the Kurts anymore!!

One word of advice John.  The Gerardi's come with minimal instructions.  Be sure
to back off the jaw holding screws a teensy amount so they can slide down the
angled face as you clamp the work piece (you will see what I mean when you do
it..both mine came with the jaws clamped solidly)  Also, because of this feature
be sure to clamp an accurate parallel in the jaws when you mount it on the mill,
and tramm along this bar to set the vice accurately in place.  Because of the
sliding function of the jaws, they may not be, nor do thay need to be, exactly
square to the vice when "unloaded"

The Gerardi's are made of solid steel, heat treated to 60+ Rc, and ground to
less than .0002" limits..in other words, "dead nuts" and interchangeable with
any other similar sized Gerardi.  No need to buy "CNC Qualified" pairs of vices,
at extra cost, as with other makes.  The fact that they are also lower priced is
just an added bonus.

teenut

From: Robert Bastow <teenut@home.com>
Subject: Re: Vice "tuneup"
Date: Tue, 02 Nov 1999 20:47:10 PST
Newsgroups: rec.crafts.metalworking

Robert Mitchell wrote:
 
> Alan does not say how bad the work rises up.

True!
 
> Keep in mind that it is standard practice to tap the work down
> with a lead hammer even with a good vice!

It is!  8^o


> The Kurt just makes the work rise less; it does not eliminate it.

In that case, y'all need to sell your Kurts an buy a decent pulldown vice!  

Like a Gerardi!  (Told ya Pete!!)  ;^)

Or one of the clones..like the one I just got.  I haven't cleaned off all the
grease yet..but, never having used a Kurt OR a Klone I did want to see how well
the sucker did its stuff.

I have a steel box square,4" x 5" x 6", hardened and ground, to as near "dead
on" as the considerable assets and endevours of my old Alma Mater Company could
(unknowingly) muster..I called in every marker I had to get that made!!

On a large surface plate, I first checked the vise for level, using a 20
millionths dial indicator..The Klone factory musta had a bad day because a
couldn't detect any movement "cross and corner"..other than the steady bobble it
was picking up from my heart beats!!

Then I popped my Carefully cleaned block in the Carefully cleaned jaws and
checked "cross and corner" again..same result..No surprise!

Finger tight..No sign of lifting!..No real surprise.  "Drilling tight" Nope! 
"Milling tight"..Nope !  "Reefed for a Sou'wester and a honkin' great slab
mill"  Definite Movement of several tenths...not from Lift though..but from the
bowing of the vise body.  Had it been properly bolted down on a good mill
table...it would have been straight enough for any job one could ask a mill to
do.

I must say, I was Impressed..Not just by the Kurt design..but by the $165.00
Klone performance!

Didn't need to hit it once!

Damn..I must be doing something wrong! 

;^)

teenut
 
>  - Robert Mitchell
> 
> Robert Bastow <teenut@home.com> wrote in message
> news:381F634E.21AB3857@home.com...
> > Take the bugger back and exchange it..Even the Kurt clones work well
> > if properly put together...its more a geometry thing than tolerances.
> > 
> > A "Real" Kurt Might have slightly tighter tolerances..it is a bit more
> > luck of the draw with the clones..but in reality the majority of the
> > price difference is for the name!
> >
> > teenut
> >
> > Alan Rothenbush wrote:
> > >
> > > So I bought a fine looking vice from Grizzley - one of their Kurt
> > > clones, the vice doesn't clamp down, but instead lifts up, ever so
> > > slightly.  Taking a hammer to tap the work down just isn't something
> > > I'm comfortable with.
> > > 
> > > Is this something I just get to live with, or is there some magic
> > > tip/fix ?
> > > 
> > > Thanks in advance.