Kurt Manufacturing Donates Vises to Workshops For Warriors

The workholding manufacturer donates eight vises that are used in training veterans how to become skilled machinists.

Kurt Manufacturing (Minneapolis, MN) donated eight new vises to Workshops for Warriors (San Deigo, CA), an organization that helps veterans transition into civilian life through training, certification, and placement.

The vises will be used to convert machining center spindles into functioning workstations to train veterans in precision machining operations. “We are ecstatic that Kurt stepped in and saved the day by donating these industry leading D688 vises,” stated Hernán Luis y Prado, the president of Workshops for Warriors.

Workshop for Warriors is a San Diego-based non-profit organization that provides free job training, certification, and placement services to veterans. By using a mixture of accelerated vocational training, National Institute of Machinery Skills (NIMS; Fairfax, VA) and American Welding Society (AWS; Miami, FL) certifications coupled with real-world job experience, the organization boasts an impressive 100 percent placement rate.

Veterans that have gone through the program find that the demonstrated competency that they achieve not only increases their confidence and self-respect, but gets them life-long careers in manufacturing. Workshops for Warriors provides long-term independence and integration into the workforce through classroom experience, practical training, certification, mentorship programs, and placement with Industry leaders.

The eight vises that were provided are D688 Manual models that include eight KPS-6000 Parallel Keepers, eight 360PWS workstops and are matched in heights for use in multiple vise setups. The D688 Vise is the industry standard for precision clamping by producing 7,968 lb clamping force with just 80 lb input torque and distributes this clamping force evenly across the full jaw surface.

“We really love highlighting companies that support our veterans,” reports Prado. “Particularly American companies that make products in the U.S. The veterans were thrilled to see Kurt step up to help them achieve their training goals. These workholding products are the industry standard and we are delighted that they provided our students the highest quality solution available in the market place and chose to engage in our dream of educating America’s Veterans. Our staff and students were floored by their generosity and continued support. With additional funding and more support like this, we could increase our throughput of certified machinists, welders, fabricators, and machinery repairmen by 800 percent.”

“We are pleased to share our American-made precision workholding technology and products with Workshops for Warriors,” stated Steve Kane, the global sales and marketing manager for Kurt. “There is an ongoing shortage of skilled machinists in the United States. Our returning veterans are certainly deserving of these good job opportunities. By teaming up with Workshops for Warriors, we enhance the futures of returning veterans while assisting in an important industry need for more trained workers.”

Kurt is an employee owned company that introduced ten new workholding products in 2012 to expand workholding capabilities. These include multi-axis MaxLock vises and hydraulic VersatileLock vises, including the SideWinder vise for secondary operations. www.kurtworkholding.com, www.workshopsforwarriors.org