Toolmakers Vice
British Manufactured | Inspection Use | Precision Machining
Eley’s toolmakers vices are precision-engineered holding devices designed for exceptionally accurate squareness, parallelism and repeatability. Manufactured from precision ground, hardened steel with parallelism and squareness to within 0.005mm/100mm
Precision engineering applications where small components need to be held securely and accurately for machining, measuring or finishing operations.
Toolroom use where the screw clamping system and slight vee on the clamping jaw face help with easy positioning and reliable workpiece holding.
Inspection and quality control work where repeatable clamping and high positional accuracy are essential for dependable checks and measurements.
EDM and grinding applications where stable, precise holding is required to maintain accuracy during fine finishing processes.
Machining and prototype work where flexible, secure setup is useful for small-batch production, one-off parts and detailed component preparation.
Industries Used In - Toolmakers Vice -
FAQs
What size toolmakers' vice will I need?
Size selection is driven by the jaw width and opening capacity required for the components you work with.
Toolmakers’ vices are available with jaw widths typically from 35 mm up to 100 mm, with jaw openings from around 35 mm up to 130 mm to accommodate different workpiece envelopes. As a guide, choose the smallest vice that comfortably accommodates your largest workpiece; a correctly sized toolmakers’ vice provides better stability, lower centre of gravity on the machine table, and easier access for grinding wheels and probes than an oversized alternative.
Where a range of different component sizes will be run, a mid-range jaw width with an appropriate opening is the most versatile choice.
What accuracy can I expect from a toolmakers' vice?
Quality toolmakers’ vices are manufactured to tight geometric tolerances across all faces. Typical specification includes flatness of the bearing surface within 8 µm, parallelism of jaw faces within 8 µm, squareness of fixed jaw to base and sides within 12 µm, and parallelism of sides and slide faces within 8 µm.
These tolerances are maintained over the full jaw width, making the vice a reliable precision reference for both machining and inspection work. Hardness of 55–62 HRc ensures that working surfaces resist wear and maintain their geometry over extended service life.
How do I maintain my toolmakers' vice?
Good maintenance practice includes:
- Cleaning: After every use, wipe all ground faces, jaw surfaces and the sliding mechanism with a soft, lint-free cloth. Remove swarf, grinding dust and coolant promptly. Contamination on bearing faces directly compromises squareness and clamping repeatability.
- Corrosion prevention: Apply a light film of rust-preventative oil to all exposed steel faces when not in use. In humid or coolant-rich environments, inspect regularly for early-stage oxidation on ground surfaces.
- Mechanism care: Periodically clean and lightly oil the sliding jaw and Allen key screw mechanism. Keep the slideway free from abrasive particles that would cause accelerated wear.
- Jaw inspection: Regularly check jaw faces for nicks or burrs. Minor burrs can be carefully removed with a fine stone; do not allow damaged jaw faces to go unaddressed as they will corrupt parallelism and introduce clamping error.
- Storage: Store in a clean, dry cabinet or toolbox, ideally in a protective case. Avoid storing loose tooling on top of or alongside the vice where impact could damage ground faces.
Can a toolmakers' vice be used on a surface grinder?
Yes — this is one of the primary applications for a toolmakers’ vice. Its low profile, flat ground base and hardened steel construction make it well-suited to magnetic chuck use on surface grinders. The magnetic field passes through the steel body to clamp both the vice and the workpiece to the chuck, eliminating the need for additional clamping hardware that would obstruct the grinding wheel path.
The ability to rotate the vice through 90° on its ground side faces allows multiple faces of a component to be ground in one setup, maintaining squareness between faces without re-indicating the workpiece.
What is the difference between a toolmakers' vice and a standard machine vice?
A standard machine vice is designed primarily for milling, with large jaw capacity and high clamping force as the priority. A toolmakers’ vice is optimised for small, delicate components where clamping force must be carefully controlled to avoid distortion, and where the geometric accuracy of the vice itself — not just the clamping action — is critical. Key differences include:
- All-face grinding: Toolmakers’ vices are precision ground on all four sides and both ends, making them accurate reference surfaces in their own right; standard vices are typically ground on the base and jaw faces only.
- Clamping action: Most toolmakers’ vices use an Allen key rather than a handle, giving fine control over clamping force — essential for fragile or thin-walled components.
- Form factor: The low-profile, compact body sits directly on a magnetic chuck for surface grinding; a standard milling vice is too tall and heavy for most grinder applications.
How often does a toolmakers' vice need to be calibrated?
In QMS-managed inspection and toolroom environments, toolmakers’ vices used as workholding references are typically verified on an annual basis, with more frequent checks in high-use or regulated sectors. Verification typically covers flatness, parallelism and squareness of key faces against a surface plate and precision square or CMM, with results documented on a calibration record.
Any vice that shows visible wear on jaw faces or bearing surfaces, or that produces inconsistent results when compared against a known reference, should be removed from service and checked immediately.