Turn Table or Positioning Vise?

[Tira]

Which do you prefer? I've gotten a couple of questions about this lately and would like to know what the community does for this one. Thanks!

[sam]

Turntable all the way! The positioning vise is fine, but lacks the travel that the turntable has and is slower to position.

[fegarex]

The advantage I like with the turntable is that you can move the vise "on the fly" and don't have to stop engraving to adjust the vise with both hands. Perhaps with smaller items it isn't an issue but working with firearms it is a must.

[Mike Cirelli]

I'm with Sam on the turntable. But you have to get the one GRS sells it's so much smoother than the home made ones. I made one from the directions from the air graver site. It worked but the magnablock is to heavy for it to spin smoothly. Just my experience, if you got a heavy block don't waste your time.
I personally didn't find much use for the GRS turntable attachment kit for the shelf. I use a magnablock it seems to big for that setup, but it probably would work better for the low profile or standard block.
Maybe Sam can elaborate on that.

[Marcus Hunt]

I'm in the other camp, for firearms I prefer the positioning vise. Don't get me wrong, for small flat stuff the turntable is great but I can't get along with it for the big stuff such as shotgun actions. Also, when it comes to engraving awkward angles such as the detonating having that extra bit of slide can mean the difference of having to refocus the scope for just one or two cuts or continuing ones normal cutting. The weight of the positioning vise is also a bonus for firearms. Like a lot of things to do with tools though, a lot is down to individual preference.

[Idaho Flint]

I'm with Marcus. I have used a positioning vise since the beginning. I finally got a chance to try a GRS turntable with a fixed vise. I have not done much, but I did not like it as well. It just was not as smooth.

Just my 2 cents
Mike

[ARM]

I'm with Sam on the turntable. But you have to get the one GRS sells it's so much smoother than the home made ones. I made one from the directions from the air graver site. It worked but the magnablock is to heavy for it to spin smoothly. Just my experience, if you got a heavy block don't waste your time.
I personally didn't find much use for the GRS turntable attachment kit for the shelf. I use a magnablock it seems to big for that setup, but it probably would work better for the low profile or standard block.
Maybe Sam can elaborate on that.

MIKE
What if the Block rested on a CIRCULAR Drill Press table and U could loosen the clamp of the table, Rotate the table to where U wanted it to be to re-position Your work in line with the objective lens of Your Scope ???
Would that not work also ???
The DRILL PRESS TABLE itself would now act as Your TURNTABLE.
Is this not practical or possible ???
We need to understand this bit, Please Folks.
ARM

[Andrew Biggs]

Yip, I'm with the turntable and vise. It makes working under the microscope so much easier. Just centre the scope to the turnrable and push the vise around so the area you are working on always remains centered.

ARM............If I'm reading you correctley that won't work. The scope and the turntable remain fixed and centred to one another. The thing you move is the vise. The area you are working on (no matter what it's position in the vise) is centered to the centre of the scope and turntable..............that way when you rotate the turntable (not the vise) the area you work on will remain within view of the scope...............By constantley changing the turntable as you're suggesting your work will spin out of centre from the scope.

I have to agree with Mike that a home made turntable is OK at a pinch and will do the job but the custom made one from GRS works so much better and is designed to take the heavier weights.

Cheers
Andrew

[fegarex]

To answer more to ARM..
Yes and no..
As Andrew stated, as you explained it, it would not work.
HOWEVER... I do use a round drillpress as a turntable. I have installed a thrust bearing under the table to make it rotate easily. The advantage of the drill press is it allows easy up and down movement. It doesn's need to be a round table but it makes life easier. Not all drill press tables will rotate freely. The best solution is to put a GRS turntable on the drillpress table if needed.

[joe seeley]

I like the turntable style, sometimes I am engraving 4 to 6 inches away from the vice. My turntable is 2" thick and mounted to 14" shaft with double bearings for smooth rotation and zero vibration

joe