On aluminium as vise / clamp material

[abdulbadii]

TL;DR Summary

which type aluminium for make up a vise clamp

This's slight confusion as productions/markets have aluminium material for making up a vise clamp

Is it really going to workable/viable and which type aluminium could reliably be as vise clamp ?

 

[berkeman]

I have an aluminum vise/clamp that I use, but it is for PCB rework. What is your application? What clamping force and clamp area (hence clamp pressure) do you need?

 

[abdulbadii]

I have an aluminum vise/clamp that I use, but it is for PCB rework. What is your application? What clamping force and clamp area (hence clamp pressure) do you need?

improvisation or fixing of our steel iron stuffs i.e. clamp 3-5 mm thick steel to be cut/ground/drilled or reformed its shape etc
is Al such adequately strong ?

 

[sophiecentaur]

TL;DR Summary: which type aluminium for make up a vise clamp

Is it really going to workable/viable and which type aluminium could reliably be as vise clamp ?

It's so dependent on what you want to hold (material and shape). One of the best compromises is to use a steel vise with pads of different materials. I have used copper, tufnol and aluminium pads in an assortment of steel vises. Copper is particularly good as you can easily anneal it (red hot then quenched) and it can form itself around odd shapes (say aluminium threads) and harden itself after flowing . (Copper is great for softening the jaws in a lathe chuck)
I guess the rule would be to use softer jaws than the work piece - mostly.