HD and HDL Vises and Towers

When machinists asked for new workholding features to meet the needs of the latest machining centers, Kurt answered with its HD and HDL Vises and Towers. These workholding products replace the Kurt DL430 DoubleLock and CT430 ClusterTowers.

The HD and HDL series vises and towers are new, patented designs providing more options for faster setups, larger workholding capacity, and greater flexibility and precision to handle the broadest range of part configurations.

Kurt HD and HDL vises and ClusterTowers have new quick-change jaw feature and fewer components for faster job changeovers. With a half-turn of a hex key, the stationary jaw on these vises and towers lifts off the vise or tower body. The jaw resets and self-aligns quickly without special tools. Spring preload design insures fast and easy loading of parts.

Providing 0.0002 inch repeatable clamping accuracy (from part to part), the HD towers feature a self-adjusting holding block for clamping the same or dissimilar sized parts. To further enhance fast operation, an adjustable pre-load feature reduces handle turns for opening and closing clamping stations on the manual models. Both vises and ClusterTowers are available in manual and hydraulic models. The towers are available with four, eight or twelve stations and with a complete selection of jaw options.

These new HDL two-station vises are extremely rigid delivering up to 6,316 lbs. of clamping force at 70 lbs of torque. They are designed on a 80,000 PSI ductile iron body with precision machined steel components and have a full 4 inch opening in each station using Kurt's standard hard jaw system. The manual model easily converts to hydraulic operation using a simple conversion kit.

First pull-type vise with a full, 9 inch jaw opening, the Kurt HD690 clamps larger parts with minimal stationary jaw deflection. Designed with a rigid stationary jaw, the vise features topdown bolting to reduce deflection and a tall body to reduce stress. High precision roller bearings and a specially hardened vise screw mechanism are among many features that enhance precision clamping and smooth operation.

"Addition of the HD and HDL series of vises and towers is by far the most significant advancement in a decade of workholding design improvements," reports Steve Kane, global sales and marketing manager for Kurt Industrial Products. "They enable a new, higher level of productivity, precision and quality, continuing the Kurt tradition as the workholding leader."