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The AutoVise™ is an air vise built for automated CNC workholding. Also called an automatic vise, air vice, or automatic vice, it uses shop air instead of a manual handle to clamp parts in under a second. Adjust the clamping force with your regulator. Machine hands-free the moment the vise is bolted down.
Available in three steel sizes: 75mm, 100mm, and 150mm. Plus the aluminum AutoVise Lite™ for lighter production. For 4th and 5th axis work, see our Rotary AutoVises with bottom air pass-through.
Every AutoVise is a self-centering pneumatic vise: precision-ground steel construction, 0.0008" repeatability, hardened serrated jaws standard, and spring retention that keeps nearly 1,000 lbs of force on the part if shop air pressure is lost.
The AutoVise Pro™ line, Gimbel's flagship airvise family, covers three sizes: 75mm for small brackets and housings, 100mm for mid-size aluminum and steel parts, and 150mm for larger blanks and heavy production. The AutoVise Lite™ is a 150mm aluminum air vise for shops that want automated workholding at a lower price point. All variants share the same self-centering pneumatic mechanism. Each ships with hardened serrated hard jaws that let you machine directly for Op1 without cutting soft jaws first.
Most air vise clamps on the market use aluminum bodies and stamped jaws that wear fast under production loads. Every AutoVise Pro™ is machined from precision-ground steel and stainless components, rated for over 2,000,000 clamp cycles before rebuild. Adjust clamping force with your air regulator up to 3,400 lbs. If shop air pressure drops, spring retention keeps nearly 1,000 lbs of force on the part so it doesn't eject during an unexpected shutdown. That difference in build quality separates a production-grade power vise from a general-purpose air clamp.
Shops use AutoVise air vises across a range of automation setups. Spindle gripper machine tending is the most common: the gripper pulls a finished part, drops in a fresh blank, and the vise clamps on air. Cobot cells use the same pattern with a robot arm doing the loading. Larger shops run multi-vise pallet automation where every station clamps simultaneously off one M-code. Even manual-load shops benefit from the one-second cycle time. Fewer wrist strain injuries. More throughput without adding operators.
Pneumatic Vises, also known as CNC Pneumatic Vises, Air Vises, or Precision Pneumatic Self Centering Vises, are an automated form of workholding used to hold workpieces during the machining process. The machining process requires precise, repeatable, and incredibly rigid holding capacity to hold a wide variety of parts.
The biggest benefit of Pneumatic CNC Vises is how easy they are to automate. Automated Machine Tending solutions typically already have a wide array of solenoids and air control, so Pneumatic Vises are the go-to choice in CNC Machine Tending Automation systems. In addition to customers using our Pneumatic Self-Centering Air Vises for Spindle Gripper Machine Tending Automation Systems, we also have countless customers using these vises with cobot systems, robot systems, machine cells, and even to streamline manual loading.
These air vises have fully-adjustable clamping force, and are easily adjusted by simply regulating the inlet air supply on the “Clamp” air inlet on the vise. Refer to the Spec-Sheet in the Downloads section of this page for a graph showing how air pressure is linearly correlated with clamping force.
The biggest single advantage of Pneumatic Vises over traditional workholding is how quickly they can be clamped and unclamped. With the flip of a switch, parts can be instantly clamped and unclamped with near-perfect repeatability. Another huge advantage is that, unlike human operators tightening regular vises, Pneumatic Vises clamp with the same clamping force every single cycle.
Gimbel Automation Self-Centering Air Vises have two key differences from other solutions on the market: (1) our Self-Centering Air Vises have an all-steel construction, and (2) the moving top of our air vises is fully serrated, enabling the hard jaws with matching serrations to be adjusted to any size in a few seconds. This means that there is no need for you to buy and machine unique soft jaws for each part you manufacture for your first operation. Instead, use the adjustable hard jaws for your first operation and machine second jaws only for second-op workholding as you need them.
At minimum, you need shop air (40-175 PSI), an air regulator to set clamping force, and either a manual valve or a solenoid to actuate the vise. For machine-controlled clamping through an M-code, our MCodeAir™ Solenoid Kit is the fastest path. It ships with everything needed to wire into a Haas, Fanuc, Brother, Doosan, Hurco, or DMG Mori control. On top of the basics, most shops eventually add soft jaws machined to specific part profiles.
Yes. Every AutoVise Pro™ and Rotary AutoVise is compatible with Haas Air Vise Ready Provision plumbing. If your Haas mill or rotary was specced with the factory air vise option, the AutoVise drops in without an adapter. Not on a Haas machine? Any mill or rotary with shop air routed to the clamp inlet works the same way.
