The PC80Z self-centring vice from Hitchin-based Roemheld UK Ltd (www.roemheld.co.uk) is available in a new two-in-one version that accepts the manufacturer’s optional round inserts.

As a result, cylindrical components or billets from 44 to 95mm in diameter can be clamped securely; there is now no need for a machinist to buy a bespoke work-holding solution or machine sets of soft jaws to hold parts of different diameters.

The vice can be converted back to its conventional role of holding prismatic components in a couple of minutes; doing so simply requires the Allen bolts holding four round inserts to be unscrewed and the pair of straight 80mm-wide jaws to be reinstated.

Parts from 17 to 139mm long can then be secured for metal cutting, using the 62mm clamping stroke.

With an overall height of 60mm, the low-profile unit ensures that hardly any Z-axis travel is lost on a vertical machining centre; and despite the unit’s all-steel construction, it weighs only 6kg and therefore takes little from a machine’s maximum pallet load, allowing heavier parts to be produced.

The vice is fitted as standard with a Lang interface for added versatility, and the clamping force is 20kN at 60Nm closing torque.