CNC Kurt-Style Milling Vise Shipping Horror Story · Oct 10, 08:29
After much research and deliberation, we finally decided to place an order for three import (i.e. China) “precision” milling vises for the Fadal VMC40.
Our rational was simple – purchase “throw away” (although we would never do that!) milling vises with questionable precision and get something like a Gerardi (or heck, even try out the Glacern Machine Tools import vises from Taiwan) at a later date. We know Kurt vises pretty well by now and think their quality is the benchmark for vises, but want to try other brands. Chick vises are also pretty tempting to buy as accessory availability is important (something that is somewhat lacking in Gerardi).
Moving on, we flipped through the ENCO Hot Deals catalog and glanced over the Kurts, Parlecs, and other models on sale and wentr straight for the Model #327-5893 with a retail price of $264.95 ea and a sales price of $159.95 ea. With the ENCO free shipping coupon code of WEBCTP, we’d make out like bandits!
At the shopping cart, it indicated that it was backorder. A call into ENCO confirmed this and that delivery was December 2, 2009 with a follow-up shipment of February 2, 2010! Apparently, these are 3-month cargo increments.
Next up, a call to MSC Direct. They happened to have a 30% off coupon code of WEB30A and a MSC Direct/J&L Industrial free shipping code WEBFF. They showed availability and it’s a good thing because at the time of writing this article, they are also backordered. Their sales price on MSC #: 63328801 was $185.00. The 30% coupon code couldn’t get applied so we called in just to make sure that they had the items in stock and ready to ship. This was a pleasant suprise call, because after a brief conversation, the sales rep was able to lower the price to “match” ENCO’s listed price. Sometimes they won’t do this BTW. On top of that the lady mentioned that there would be the MSC free shipping coupon code applied as well. Awesome!
We had also considered ordering from Shars, but even with their low price of $129.95 and no tax, shipping would probably even things out.
We were even more surprised when we found out that they had shipped our vises overnight AIR from PA!
So, the day after placing the order, three heavy boxes appeared at the shop. Two were small and clearly the original boxes used to package the vise since they were labeled as such and had styrofoam. The third box was hopefully an anomaly in MSC’s shipping practices. This was what we found when we opened the box:
Are you kidding? A heavy cast iron piece of “precision” tooling surrounded by these large air bubble packs?
When the long string of air bubble packaging material was removed, we found the vise upside-down and more than likely banged up all around during transit. Imagine if you received a Kurt vise shipped like this. You would probably be very upset!
OK. We didn’t expect much to begin with, but certainly this is no way to treat tooling.
Once we pulled the vise out of the box, it was clear that this was a return-item (we’ll get to all that in another article).
Hey, this looks nothing like the vise pictured in the ENCO Hot Deals catalog or even the one labeled “Interstate” in the MSC/J&L Metalworking catalog. It doesn’t have scraped ways (what were we thinking to believe that in the first place!).
Well, as you would imagine, we’re still a bit upset about this, and MSC will get a call from us. This is no way to treat tooling! This is just as bad as those machinery dealers who throw tooling in a crate and then ship it to you all dinged up from freight transit. Geez.
In a future article, we’ll give you close up views of the vise along with general impressions, side-by-side shots with a Kurt D60, D675, and possibly a Gerardi.
For the time-being, the most accurate close-up pictures of these cheap-quality import CNC milling machine vises, go to the Shars website. We’ll certainly show you the pros/cons of these vises in the article.
Good luck!
ENCO specs:
Manual Machine Vises Type: Milling Machine Vise Jaw Width: 6-1/4 Jaw Height: 1-3/4 Jaw Opening: 6 Width: 6-3/16 Overall Length: 17-1/2 Height: 5 Base Length: 15.35 In.
Type: Milling Machine Vise
Jaw Width (Inch): 6-1/4
Jaw Height (Inch): 1-3/4
Jaw Opening (Inch): 6
Width (Inch): 6-3/16
Overall Length (Inch): 17-1/2
Height (Inch): 5
Base Length (Decimal Inch): 15.3500”
Base Width (Decimal Inch): 6.3000”
Clamp Capacity pounds: 6,600
MSCDirect J&L Industrial specs:
Mfr: Interstate
Description: Manual Machine Vises Type: Milling Machine Vise Jaw Width: 6-1/4 Jaw Height: 1-3/4 Jaw Opening: 6 Width: 6-3/16 Overall Length: 17-1/2 Height: 5 Base Length: 15.35 In.
Type: Milling Machine Vise
Jaw Width (Inch): 6-1/4
Jaw Height (Inch): 1-3/4
Jaw Opening (Inch): 6
Width (Inch): 6-3/16
Overall Length (Inch): 17-1/2
Height (Inch): 5
Base Length (Decimal Inch): 15.3500”
Base Width (Decimal Inch): 6.3000”
Clamp Capacity pounds: 6,600
Big Book Page #: 1515
Metalworking Catalog: 1263
Shars specs:
http://www.shars.com/products/view/69/6quot_Lock_CNC_Vise
Product Code
202-1030
Product description
Product application
Holds piece part in most immobile state possible
Product features
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