Cutting machine

A cutting machine, comprising:

• a base;
• front and rear brackets carried by said base;
• a cutting head having means for holding a cutting tool, said cutting head being disposed on the base and having means connected thereto for moving said head up and down in a cutting zone;
• front vise means having a fixed jaw and a movable jaw for holding a workpiece at the cutting zone;
• a front vise bed supporting said front vise means, said front vise fixed jaw being fixed to said front vise bed and said front vise moveable jaw being mounted on said front vise bed for horizontal movement in a direction perpendicular to the direction of feed of the workpiece;
• first means for moving said front vise moveable jaw toward said front vise fixed jaw to clamp a workpiece therebetween mounted on said front vise bed;
• rear vise means having a fixed jaw and a movable jaw for feeding the workpiece into the cutting zone;
• a rear vise bed supporting said rear vise means, said rear vise fixed jaw being fixed to said rear vise bed and said rear vise moveable jaw being mounted on said rear vise bed for horizontal movement in a direction perpendicular to the direction of feed of the workpiece;
• second means for moving said rear vise moveable jaw toward said rear vise fixed jaw to clamp a workpiece therebetween mounted on said rear vise bed;
• a pair of parallel guide rails removably mounted on said brackets adjacent the cutting zone for aligning said front and rear vise means with each other so as to align said jaws in such a manner as to be at right angles to the cutting plane of said cutting tool, said vise beds being commonly mounted on and longitudinally slideable on said guide rails;
• wherein said vise beds are formed with through bores for the passage therethrough of said guide rails, and said vise beds are mounted on said guide rails by the passage of said guide rails through said through bores;
• third means for moving said rear vise bed along said guide rails toward and away from said front vise bed for feeding the workpiece into the cutting zone;
• means disposed in said cutting machine directly beneath the cutting zone for collecting and removing cutting oil and chips;
• and
• fourth means for moving said front vise bed along said guide rails away from the cutting zone a sufficient distance so as to facilitate removal of cutting chips from the cutting zone and into said collecting and removing means;