# Kurt D675



## StrikerDown (Apr 30, 2009)

Is $205.00 a good deal for a Kurt D675 new in box?

Plus $90.00 for shipping


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## wquiles (Apr 30, 2009)

HECK YES !!!

I paid the least price I have seen so far, $409 with free shipping. Yours for about $100 less is DEFINITELY a great deal :devil:

Will


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## StrikerDown (Apr 30, 2009)

Hehehe, I logged on to my email and saw an item I was watching was ending soon opened up my ebay and saw it was the Kurt, last time I looked at it it was 99¢ plus shipping! Oh what the heck they usually go well over $200 so I'll just take a look... It was at $202.50 with 22 seconds left. Thinking I was too late I bid 205 (the min) and hit send confirmed and it said I was high bid, hit refresh and it said I won it! 

Talk about an impulse buy! My cheap chinese works just fine... except the jaws don't open as far as the kurt!


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## wquiles (Apr 30, 2009)

I have a couple of cheap vices, and now have the Kurt - simply worlds apart. Like Barry says, it is the last vise you will ever buy. You will not regret it :twothumbs

Will


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## StrikerDown (Apr 30, 2009)

wquiles said:


> I have a couple of cheap vices, and now have the Kurt - simply worlds apart. Like Barry says, it is the last vise you will ever buy. You will not regret it :twothumbs
> 
> Will



Barry is soooo right about the quality aspect of tooling! I have been getting frustrated at some of the "saved a few bucks" tools I bought recently!

Next thing I replace will be the cheap tap and die set and the "came With" drill chuck on my mill. I spent 20 minutes trying to tap a single 3/8' 16 hole in 1 " aluminum. The cheap chuck wouldn't clamp down tight enough on the cheap tap and kept spinning on the tap, so I tapped it by hand. The mill did get the tap started straight though! Only 15 more holes to go!

I just couldn't resist the Kurt vice... been lusting after yours in the recent pics!


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## StrikerDown (May 9, 2009)

*New toy arrived today!*

OMG... This is a beast... A Beautiful Beast!

New In Box was right on:






Left:





Right:





ChiHandle from 5", a little shorter and about half the weight. The vice has 25-26 pounds on the import! Big and heavy!




Even the bottom is gorgeous... USA!!!:





It even seems to tram easier than the ChiVise. The jaw surface is so smooth the needle barely moves as the table slides to the other side, unlike the ChiVice where the needle would bounce like it was playing a record!




From side to side, how much is this off, .00002 or so! Straight across the jaw surface, no low or high spots like the... well, you know.





I am real happy with this vice, there is no comparison to the import, this is a jewel. Not bad at $277.xx delivered, all the way from Georga!

The seller offers these by the pallet full or by the each and occasionally they auction them, an erlier one that I missed by a couple minutes went for something like $187.xx 

If I get any heavier accessories I will need a gantry! 

YaHoo, there be chips flying tomorrow! :devil:

Now to find a new home for the 5"er. I can't think of a real good reason to keep it, except maybe cause it is smaller and lighter to move around and really does a decent job.

Edit:

Looking at the bottom Pic, It just occured to me that it didn't come with the T slot keys like the import vice came with, I wonder if it should have come with the KURT?


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## precisionworks (May 9, 2009)

> it didn't come with the T slot keys


The bolt slots are well machined, so if you slide the vise forward (or backward) & snug the bolts down slightly, it should indicate within .010" of perfect alignment. It usually takes only a couple of passes across the jaw to get that to .001" TIR.



> Even the bottom is gorgeous...


Some machinists don't realize that the bottom of a vise is a critical reference surface. I had a boss who insisted that, before mounting a vise, the table be wiped squeaky clean & the bottom of the vise be wiped just as clean. Then lift the vise over the table & set it down gently. If you do that every time, the vise bed (where a part rests, or where parallels rest) will always remain true. 

Your mounting location (second photo) is identical to my "normal" location. Sometimes you'll need to scoot the vise back to the first T-slot to gain additional clearance at the front. You can do that safely, as long as you set up a pair of step clamps to grip the front corners of the vise (near the fixed jaw).



> Not bad at $277.xx delivered


That's close to what I paid, and a bargain at that price. This is one item that sees a lot of use in my shop, and really spoils you. It replaced a 4" English vise (now on the drill press) & a 5" China vise (sold cheap to the guy who bought my Atlas 7B shaper).


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## wquiles (May 9, 2009)

StrikerDown said:


> OMG... This is a beast... A Beautiful Beast!


Congrats!




precisionworks said:


> Some machinists don't realize that the bottom of a vise is a critical reference surface. I had a boss who insisted that, before mounting a vise, the table be wiped squeaky clean & the bottom of the vise be wiped just as clean. Then lift the vise over the table & set it down gently. If you do that every time, the vise bed (where a part rests, or where parallels rest) will always remain true.



That is how I move mine - with extreme care, making sure both surfaces are nice and clean 

Will


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## StrikerDown (May 10, 2009)

I just lost a lengthy reply to another system crash :devil:

Thanks guys, I am real carefull with this thing, It's too heavy not to be! 

Worked with the mill and vice all day... I am officially spoiled now! :wave:

I guess that the Chinese don't think the bottom is a critical surface!

It's eBay time!


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## Mirage_Man (May 10, 2009)

Nice score Ray :thumbsup:. I really wanted one of those but as you know I bought one of the imports vices instead. It's certainly not in the same league as a Kurt. I too will eventually get a Kurt when funds allow. It's amazing the price you got yours for considering I just paid around that for my internal threading bar .


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## cmacclel (May 10, 2009)

Sweet vise!

I wound up with a Parlec vise and it's very nice. The Parlec opens to 9" which is why I picked it up over the Kurt. I got it on sale for $295 delivered.

The Funny thing is in 9 days I will have had the vise for 1 year and it has not ONCE been mounted to my mill  It sits on my bench and is used as a press and the cheap 6" Import gets mounted to the mill!


Mac


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## StrikerDown (May 10, 2009)

cmacclel said:


> Sweet vise!
> 
> I wound up with a Parlec vise and it's very nice. The Parlec opens to 9" which is why I picked it up over the Kurt. I got it on sale for $295 delivered.
> 
> ...


 
I bet if you ever use the nice vice you won't want to go back! Except for horsing it around it is great. My ChiVise works fine once you get used to it. 

Tramming was frustrating until I figured out to just ignor the indicator til it was at the extremes on the jaw face. Wavey jaw syndrome! It's not bad (I'm kind of a perfectionist) and probably wouldnt bother me if I kept using the ChiIndicator! But the Interapid needle moved around a bit as the jaw moved under it. Once the ends of the jaw was indicated a straight piece clampd in also indicated straight so no big deal. What bugged me the most was the short stroke of the jaw there will be less need for creative clamping with the extra inch, size matters!


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## cmacclel (May 10, 2009)

StrikerDown said:


> I bet if you ever use the nice vice you won't want to go back! Except for horsing it around it is great. My ChiVise works fine once you get used to it.
> 
> Tramming was frustrating until I figured out to just ignor the indicator til it was at the extremes on the jaw face. Wavey jaw syndrome! It's not bad (I'm kind of a perfectionist) and probably wouldnt bother me if I kept using the ChiIndicator! But the Interapid needle moved around a bit as the jaw moved under it. Once the ends of the jaw was indicated a straight piece clampd in also indicated straight so no big deal. What bugged me the most was the short stroke of the jaw there will be less need for creative clamping with the extra inch, size matters!


 

I have Kurt jaws on my Import vise.

Mac


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## StrikerDown (May 10, 2009)

That's a good idea!

I am sure Barry could fix this thig up real nice with a couple hundred dollars worth of time on the surface grinder!


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## precisionworks (May 10, 2009)

> a couple hundred dollars worth of time on the surface grinder!



I clamped a tiny part at the very top of the jaws (the Armstrong pin spanner that was reverse bored/turned), and that spanner is harder than the Kurt jaws - which raised a bump on both the front & back jaws. About 10 minutes on the surface grinder & all the defect was gone:thumbsup:

Every eBay vise gets a trip through that machine, starting first with the bottom surface. The bottom has to be perfect, as every other surface references from that. Then the upper surfaces are cleaned up & trued. That's been done to at least half a dozen vises so far, and there are still a few needed to complete the "collection".


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## Anglepoise (May 10, 2009)

Its so nice to buy quality and get it at a good price.
My local bricks and mortar machine tool retailer has the Kurt D675
on special this month at $560.

No.....that is not a misprint or typo.


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## jhanko (May 10, 2009)

That's a beautiful vice! I would love to have one, but it's much to big for my rig. If Kurt made a 3" model, I'd be all over it...


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## KC2IXE (May 10, 2009)

JHanko said:


> That's a beautiful vice! I would love to have one, but it's much to big for my rig. If Kurt made a 3" model, I'd be all over it...



They do make a 4", which is quite nice


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## precisionworks (May 10, 2009)

> They do make a 4", which is quite nice


And costs more than either the D675 (7.5" opening) or the D688 (8.8" opening)


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## cmacclel (May 10, 2009)

Grizzly makes a 4" that looks pretty good.

http://www.grizzly.com/products/4-High-Precision-Milling-Vise/T10063

Mac


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## KC2IXE (May 10, 2009)

precisionworks said:


> And costs more than either the D675 (7.5" opening) or the D688 (8.8" opening)



Yeah - I know. I scored a used one when I bought my mill - had some machining marks and dings in the top surface, and was crusty - I cleaned up most of the crusty, left most of the dings, and bought new jaws. The biggest problem is there are a lot of accessory jaws and the like that ONLY fit the 6 inch (gad, I can't type this afternoon - I've caught at least 6-7 typos)


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## PEU (May 27, 2009)

just saw this at cnczone, couple of kurts and tooling:

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=81856


Pablo


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## wquiles (May 27, 2009)

Assuming it is in good shape, a 6" Kurt vise for $250 and reasonable shipping is a good buy 

Will


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## Mirage_Man (May 27, 2009)

wquiles said:


> Assuming it is in good shape, a 6" Kurt vise for $250 and reasonable shipping is a good buy
> 
> Will



Yes it would. I wonder why the seller neglected to post pictures?


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## kromeke (May 29, 2009)

Good score.

On the subject of vises, I've got 2 Accupro Kurt clones in my shop. I've used a Kurt before, the Accupros are very nice, as good as the old Kurt I've used (newer Kurts might be nicer, I don't know). Granted, the Accupro vise isn't much cheaper than a Kurt, but I've been happy with the ones I have. 

The jaws are also the same thickness as the Kurt, which is nice because I have a workstop that fits the jaws. 

The Accupros I have are also 6" wide with a 7.5" opening. The price that you paid for your Kurt is very good, regardless.


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## KC2IXE (May 29, 2009)

Funny, I was in Travers Tool yesterday, and they had a mill out in the showroom that had an import 4" Kurt Clone on it. Now I use a REAL 4" Kurt. I had to laugh, the jaw width and opening on the 2 vises was the same, but that's about it. The clone was 10-20 percent larger, just clunky

BTW one of the smaller mills had what had to be either a 2 or 3 inch Kurt Clone on it - that was "cute", and I could see it being real useful for a X2-X3 sized mill (which is what it was on)


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## cmacclel (Jun 3, 2009)

My new machine came with a D688 in pretty good shape other than slight pitting from coolant.

Mac


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## StrikerDown (Jun 3, 2009)

It's always nice when there are extras to sweeten the deal. :thumbsup:


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## precisionworks (Jun 3, 2009)

> machine came with a D688


That's a nice vise, as it has the same footprint as the D675 (7.5" opening), but has the larger, 8.8" opening. For some jobs, the extra 1.3" is priceless.


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