pallet banding is the best solution, different width and length can solve most setups for me, theres also grinders if you need them thinner lol. most reliable method for me hands down. especially for cnc work with all the coolant, rubber bands cant handle that reliably. the banding and bending to the size you need is the best way.
One of the great things about this forum is sharing tips like this. I have seen Robin Renzetti use the bands and Tom Lipton curl the banding to keep the parallels in place, but bending the straps into a Z is pure genius. I have to admit that I face-palmed myself for not having thought of that myself.
I have used the pallet banding just as you demonstrated. I agree with you, it is the best solution available and the least expensive. I even tried using oil to hold the parallel to the jaw. It works, but it is messy. Good shop tip! KOKO!
Brilliant solution JT. A lot of times when you go to a suppliers warehouse they have barrels of used straps destined for scrap and they will gladly give you a lifetime supply.
I prefer die springs. Although they are harder to compress they ensure the parallels don't lift & also take any backlash out of the vice leadscrew. This allows instant opening of the vice with minimal handle movement & they don't move when cleaned with compressed air. To prevent chips sitting in the corner between the parallel & the vice jaw. Place a short parallel between the jaw and the parallel to make a recess, this makes the tops of the parallels much easier to clean. For a quick fix I use a level on top of the workpiece and no parallels.
Thanks Josh thats a great idea I'll be sure to give it a try. I have a box compression springs various diameter and lengths. I simply put one between the parallels works well. I never walk past springs laying around and now pallet strapping.
Over the years I’ve collected a lot of compression springs of different diameters and lengths. I keep them near the mill and can usually find one that works to hold the parallels apart.
Steel strapping, my favorite. When I worked in a small steel fabrication shop I always had some in my toolbox. The steel comes with a coat of oil and when they are stacked they stick together. So I would take a piece of strap and sharpen the end and use it to lift one piece of steel so I could get my hand in and slide the steel on to the laser cut table. If I loose it, I just make a new one. I just called it a butter knife. Thanks for the short yet informative video. Always good to see you. 😃😃😃😃😃😃
The spring paralell keeper is the best option, you can go to town with an air line to clean the vice and they stay absolutely rock solid and no swarf gets under or behind the parallels. Perfect for CNC machine work where you have to keep loading and loading and unloading the machine quickly and be able to quickly blow off the swark without any faffing around. Yes, expensive but rock solid. Plus they're not that hard to reverse engineer and make your own if you wanted to. Rubber bands perish over time and don't have the same holding power as the keepers and pallet banding can be a faff because it also doesn't have the power of the keepers and can get blown out by an air line and/or ping out themselves when you do up/undo the vice if they're not perfectly seated and neither stop the swarf from getting under the paralells as well as the proper keepers. In the abscence of sprung parallel keepers I'd opt for 'L' shaped brackets with magnets on, they work great if you make your own rather than buy the cheapo plastic ones that are floating about.
That banding works great. We also use pieces of old band saw blades when a heavier spring in desired. Break it down into whatever length, remove the teeth on the belt sander and bend it into water shape you need. I usually polish them up on the buffing wheel so they won’t scratch up the parallels.
i like the look of that rubber band method, i do use rubber bands for other things, so have them on hand all the time. the strap looks a good idea, but most banding i see these days is fibreglass.
the coolant that we use seems to hold the plates in place quite well I've honestly never really ran into a problem other than them occasionally falling over when I try to put a piece of round stock in
The banding works fine and it handy to have for other uses such as fingers of grinder indicators, flexure pivots, flat springs ect. My go to for the parralles is simply way oil. Wet the back side and stick to the jaws.
I machined 4 l shaped iron pieces with 10mm neodymium magnets glued inside Works absolut perfect An the chips does not stick at it . The magnets are encapsuled completely in iron
Thanks. I've had a lot of good work, but it's all been prototype and top secret stuff I can't film. Customer privacy is extremely important to me, and I only show what I can. The jobs I film have permission from the customer, and proprietary stuff never gets filmed.
@@TopperMachineLLC I fully understand that. Do you think at some stage you can do a beginners tutorial on basic turning and milling if you have time? sequence of opperation and things like that? I am out of the trade a long time now and need to brush up on it because I don't have my shed built yet and I need to buy a small lathe so I can have a hobby. Only if you have time though. Thanks pal.
Damnit Josh... if I have told you once... I have told you a hundred times... PUT THE METAL SHEARS back in the tool box so you don't lose them the next time you need them....... I know... Cause I do it all the dang time!!!!! Good tips!!
One other quick trick for a single setup with parallels is to squirt a drop of heavy way oil on one side and that will cause the parallel to stick to the vice jaw. Also works great if you have a setup where you need to pull the parallel before an machining op.
Wow dang old pallet bands is better than our government. They are free, they do there job , they keep things in order, they are very available, they won't let you down, and they spring back with out complaining . WOW
Old timey tip but worth it to those that are NEW.....starting to get slammed w bunch of snow lately, and more on the way.....figure you're n the same boat.....hate it cuz plow chores take away fm shop time......
I am so over winter! Its been killing me, mentally, physically, and emotionally. No motivation to do anything, and the stuff I want to do is all outside, so I can't even do that. Hell, I can''t even find my outside projects under the snow. I sure can't wait for summer.
@@TopperMachineLLC When I was a kid, a short section of that banding folded in half made an excellent and loud whistle! It took some practice to make it work. :)
You'd better keep a good stock of metal pallet bands before they all turn to plastic. It seems that here in Australia, they are all plastic now. I haven't seen a metal pallet band for decades, not that I see many plastic ones either.
Metal is real common here. Most of my industries are heavy pallets and the plastic will never hold. I have the banding cart with 5/8" banding and have used up to 1-1/2". One wrap on the 1-1/2" on a bundle of 16 railroad ties. Holds over 5000 lbs, can't get plastic to do that.
I have two drawers full of bent-up banding of different sizes. Also different thicknesses of banding. Mostly 3/4" x .025" thick, but some 1 1/4" as well. I have an entire shelf of different size 6" long blocks for putting between the parallels to take up space and to make sure that the pressure is sufficient from the banding. I also have the length at which I cut the banding engraved on many of them. I have that entered into the setup sheet documents. I run a small production shop and the faster and more efficient the setups are, the more the spindles are spinning and chips are flying. Especially since management refuses to accept how much time is wasted setting up the same job every week or even twice a week when we have blanket orders for the entire year.
That's how we do it in the shop I work in. Great advice.
That’s the method I use. It works great👍🏼
pallet banding is the best solution, different width and length can solve most setups for me, theres also grinders if you need them thinner lol. most reliable method for me hands down. especially for cnc work with all the coolant, rubber bands cant handle that reliably. the banding and bending to the size you need is the best way.
One of the great things about this forum is sharing tips like this. I have seen Robin Renzetti use the bands and Tom Lipton curl the banding to keep the parallels in place, but bending the straps into a Z is pure genius. I have to admit that I face-palmed myself for not having thought of that myself.
Smart and economical, simple and does the job. Well done
I have used the pallet banding just as you demonstrated. I agree with you, it is the best solution available and the least expensive. I even tried using oil to hold the parallel to the jaw. It works, but it is messy. Good shop tip! KOKO!
Love this method. This has been my go to method for many many years. Picked this up in the first shop I worked in over forty years ago.
Brilliant solution JT. A lot of times when you go to a suppliers warehouse they have barrels of used straps destined for scrap and they will gladly give you a lifetime supply.
I prefer die springs. Although they are harder to compress they ensure the parallels don't lift & also take any backlash out of the vice leadscrew. This allows instant opening of the vice with minimal handle movement & they don't move when cleaned with compressed air.
To prevent chips sitting in the corner between the parallel & the vice jaw. Place a short parallel between the jaw and the parallel to make a recess, this makes the tops of the parallels much easier to clean.
For a quick fix I use a level on top of the workpiece and no parallels.
I like the rubber band solution and hadn't thought of that, thanks! So easy to store with the parallels or on the mill.
the rubber bands go bad after time, i dont trust rubbers repeatability either when it comes to real production runs personaly.
@@donaldscott6231 Rubbers are designed to prevent personal production, or reproduction as some would say.
Thanks Josh thats a great idea I'll be sure to give it a try. I have a box compression springs various diameter and lengths. I simply put one between the parallels works well. I never walk past springs laying around and now pallet strapping.
It’s called spring steel. I totally agree! I’ll be waiting for your next video. ❤
I like the rubber band solution. As a German, our houses are obviously all stuffed with Einmachgummis, so rubber bands are free for us basically.
@@graealex can u please show the video!!!
Over the years I’ve collected a lot of compression springs of different diameters and lengths. I keep them near the mill and can usually find one that works to hold the parallels apart.
I just keep some small magnets stuck on the side of the machine or vise. They do a great job of holding the parallels and are always handy.
Steel strapping, my favorite. When I worked in a small steel fabrication shop I always had some in my toolbox. The steel comes with a coat of oil and when they are stacked they stick together. So I would take a piece of strap and sharpen the end and use it to lift one piece of steel so I could get my hand in and slide the steel on to the laser cut table. If I loose it, I just make a new one. I just called it a butter knife. Thanks for the short yet informative video. Always good to see you. 😃😃😃😃😃😃
And you get one drop of oil on you hands before digging in the rubber band bag and they melt themselves.
Love the videos!
You genius! the most simple solution is often the best, and you just went and found it, kudos my friend.
i learned the rubber band trick the other day at work, was super stoked about it
That's a very handy trick. Easy, cheap and effective.
Great idea Josh.
I would have never though of that.
Pallet Banding!!
Thanks for sharing.
Take care, Ed.
The spring paralell keeper is the best option, you can go to town with an air line to clean the vice and they stay absolutely rock solid and no swarf gets under or behind the parallels. Perfect for CNC machine work where you have to keep loading and loading and unloading the machine quickly and be able to quickly blow off the swark without any faffing around. Yes, expensive but rock solid. Plus they're not that hard to reverse engineer and make your own if you wanted to. Rubber bands perish over time and don't have the same holding power as the keepers and pallet banding can be a faff because it also doesn't have the power of the keepers and can get blown out by an air line and/or ping out themselves when you do up/undo the vice if they're not perfectly seated and neither stop the swarf from getting under the paralells as well as the proper keepers. In the abscence of sprung parallel keepers I'd opt for 'L' shaped brackets with magnets on, they work great if you make your own rather than buy the cheapo plastic ones that are floating about.
Great idea, i seen people use springs as well from big box stores.
That banding works great.
We also use pieces of old band saw blades when a heavier spring in desired. Break it down into whatever length, remove the teeth on the belt sander and bend it into water shape you need. I usually polish them up on the buffing wheel so they won’t scratch up the parallels.
Another possible way, coil springs. Works good for smaller parts where the vise jaws + parallels are not too car apart.
Bits of old sponge works well
I found that the strapping worked the best as well
i like the look of that rubber band method, i do use rubber bands for other things, so have them on hand all the time. the strap looks a good idea, but most banding i see these days is fibreglass.
That's my favorite to Josh, great info..
That is a great solution, we will have to give it a try. At the moment we have some springs we use which can be easily stretched if needed
Thought I would see something new. But thanks for the video.
I was taught to use a dob of grease between parrallel and vise jaw
the coolant that we use seems to hold the plates in place quite well I've honestly never really ran into a problem other than them occasionally falling over when I try to put a piece of round stock in
The banding works fine and it handy to have for other uses such as fingers of grinder indicators, flexure pivots, flat springs ect. My go to for the parralles is simply way oil. Wet the back side and stick to the jaws.
Good Idea. Im going to try it.
I machined 4 l shaped iron pieces with 10mm neodymium magnets glued inside
Works absolut perfect
An the chips does not stick at it .
The magnets are encapsuled completely in iron
Nice trick I will remenber that for sure Thanks
3" is a serious bolt!
Good idea! I always found that different sized springs work good also. Hope you get some good work in the shop soon.
Thanks. I've had a lot of good work, but it's all been prototype and top secret stuff I can't film. Customer privacy is extremely important to me, and I only show what I can. The jobs I film have permission from the customer, and proprietary stuff never gets filmed.
@@TopperMachineLLC I fully understand that. Do you think at some stage you can do a beginners tutorial on basic turning and milling if you have time? sequence of opperation and things like that? I am out of the trade a long time now and need to brush up on it because I don't have my shed built yet and I need to buy a small lathe so I can have a hobby. Only if you have time though. Thanks pal.
Great tip
Good tip. Thx TOPPER M.
Damnit Josh... if I have told you once... I have told you a hundred times... PUT THE METAL SHEARS back in the tool box so you don't lose them the next time you need them....... I know... Cause I do it all the dang time!!!!!
Good tips!!
Brilliant!
thank you
One other quick trick for a single setup with parallels is to squirt a drop of heavy way oil on one side and that will cause the parallel to stick to the vice jaw. Also works great if you have a setup where you need to pull the parallel before an machining op.
Or two compression springs that are not too "hard" can by used to such as what I do but this is a good idea too.
I just use a spot of grease to hold the parallels in place 😊
I've always used the rubber bands.
Wow dang old pallet bands is better than our government. They are free, they do there job , they keep things in order, they are very available, they won't let you down, and they spring back with out complaining . WOW
I like it!
Old timey tip but worth it to those that are NEW.....starting to get slammed w bunch of snow lately, and more on the way.....figure you're n the same boat.....hate it cuz plow chores take away fm shop time......
I am so over winter! Its been killing me, mentally, physically, and emotionally. No motivation to do anything, and the stuff I want to do is all outside, so I can't even do that. Hell, I can''t even find my outside projects under the snow. I sure can't wait for summer.
Great idea!!
If banding is not available, a little bit of thick wheel bearing grease near each end of the parallel will also work. Stay safe.
Old worn out band saw blades and springs will work too. 👍👍
I find bandsaws blades too brittle.
No.
I sand the teeth off first, but yes it works just fine
1/2" thick parallels
Yep, they work great, and the hot chips won't burn them in two like rubber bands!
That was the other problem with rubber bands, but I forgot about it during filming.
@@TopperMachineLLC When I was a kid, a short section of that banding folded in half made an excellent and loud whistle! It took some practice to make it work. :)
Neat trick!
We used to sharpen pallet banding when we didn't have a box cutter... one of the worst cuts I've ever gotten in my life.
I was thinking a sponge might work well.
I've used springs.
magnetize the parallels
Or a bit of grease ??👍👍
You'd better keep a good stock of metal pallet bands before they all turn to plastic. It seems that here in Australia, they are all plastic now. I haven't seen a metal pallet band for decades, not that I see many plastic ones either.
Metal is real common here. Most of my industries are heavy pallets and the plastic will never hold. I have the banding cart with 5/8" banding and have used up to 1-1/2". One wrap on the 1-1/2" on a bundle of 16 railroad ties. Holds over 5000 lbs, can't get plastic to do that.
simply put a gob of grease on the pieces to stick them on.
I use springs
I like the idea, but do they ever come flying out?
Never had one fly out.
Only when hungry.
To keep parralels, parralel you need a level head
Magnets?
magnets?
my friend uses a piece of broken band saw blade, he grinds the teeth of and bends it into a v shape
I just use grease.
Isn't it weird how we cuss as a reflex reaction?
But it looks like you might have misplaced your shears Top
I can just watch the video and find it. Lol
@@TopperMachineLLC You rule Josh.
@@TopperMachineLLC I stand in awe
Temper temper
WHAT ABOUT MAGNETIC PARALLELS !!!!!!!
I have two drawers full of bent-up banding of different sizes. Also different thicknesses of banding. Mostly 3/4" x .025" thick, but some 1 1/4" as well. I have an entire shelf of different size 6" long blocks for putting between the parallels to take up space and to make sure that the pressure is sufficient from the banding. I also have the length at which I cut the banding engraved on many of them. I have that entered into the setup sheet documents. I run a small production shop and the faster and more efficient the setups are, the more the spindles are spinning and chips are flying. Especially since management refuses to accept how much time is wasted setting up the same job every week or even twice a week when we have blanket orders for the entire year.
The kurt keepers break very easy. The little tab for the spring...