Mill arrived, some more help needed

NO no Nick, I did not sand them. Just used the block and paper without pressure, just the block's weight to smooth things out a little. This is a import after all. Thanks for the warning.

The stand is sturdier than it looks. It's about 100 pounds by itself. I hope it will do the trick.

You are right but I am pretty sure that there will be more of the frustration part. ;)

Thanks.

Patrice
 
Thanks Mike but the adjustment screws are not in yet so it has to do with reassembling. I'll see tomorrow if I can pinpoint the problem.

Patrice
 
Patrick leave the screws and the feed mechanisms out so you can push the table sections of table around. Press down on it with your weight or place some heavy stuff on it and slide it back and forth. This will help smooth it out and show you where your rough spot is. Enjoy jim
 
The ways are now nice and smooth, thanks Jim.

Mike you were right. I actually thought that this large screw was just holding the gib in place and that the adjustment screws were like the ones on my lathe but I guess those are for locking the slide on this particular mill. It now works like a charm. Thanks

Now I need to improve lighting around the mill and build some kind of chip shield at the back and maybe sides a little. I am kind of a cleaning freak and if I don't do that I fear I will be spending ALL my time on the shopvac. ;)

And I wanted to wait and try the vise that they provide with the mill but it doesn't even fit on the y axis you have to mount it on the x axis or parralel to the bed if you want. :rolleyes:

Thanks again for all your help guys.

Patrice
 
What doesn't fit? My vise hangs out over the front of the table and its a 5" Kurt style, couldn't afford the real thing. I helped a guy set up his new machine and the t-nuts wouldn't fit because of poor machining in the T-slots, but we made it work.
 
Thanks Mike but the slots in the vise are too far apart, wider than the bed.

I will try it the other way just to test the mill and order a 5" kurt style import like yours in a few weeks.

A quick question. To align the head do I use the t-slots in the mill or am I better off with the side of the bed?

Patrice
 
The jaw of the vise is normally set so that it is parallel to the x axis. As long as the spindel can cover the opening in the vise it doesn't matter if it is centered. Align the vise's stationary jaw with the spindle. Put a dial indicator on the head and move the table left to right so the indicator rides on the face of the back jaw and keeps the same reading as the table moves. That way when something is clamped in the vise you cut parallel to the edge of the piece. Most of the time you cut as you travel on the on the x axis.

Lets say you want to slot a guard. You start out with a piece of metal an 1" wide and 2" long. Place your parallels in the vise so they hols the piece a bit above the top of the vise jaws with the 2 inch length running the x axis. You can center the cutter by eye or for precision use an edge finder to locate the edge of the material then subtract the radius of the edge finder and move the table on the y axis 1/2 the width of the piece (1/2") plus the radius of the center finder. Measure your y travel with a dial indicator on the front of the table. This will put the cutter in the center of the piece and if the back jaw of the vise is sq with the spindel you will cut straight down the center. You can do the same thing on the x axis if you wish. Then, when you cut you can read how long you are making the slot. Then if you are using a 1/8 cutter to make say a 3/16 slot 3/4 long you can measure the 3/4 on the initial cuts once it is complete and all the way thru you can move the table on the y axis .03 forward and cut it wider. then move the final .00125 and do a finish cut. the move the y axis back .0925 and cut the bask side of the slot wider, then finish with another final of .00125. At least that is how you would do it something like on a precision piece. You can also do the math and make your first cut closer to the front or the back of the slot and then work your way the other direction to get the width you need and keep centered. When you make the first cut to get the rough slot a 1/8 mill will cut over 1/8 wide. The lighter cuts will be more accurate as the cutter deflects less. You can do it all by eye and calibers, but, indicators are easy to keep an eye on and "see" where you actually are
 
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When you talk about aligning the head I'm assuming since it swivels you think it will be off. This is one of the drawbacks of the mill drill. As long as you don't move the head up or down and only move the quill it will cut straight in the x and y axis. Your problems lies in moving the head in the z axis. When the head is cranked up or down you lose you "0". When I have projects that require more depth than my quill has I visit my friend with a Bridgeport style mill. The knee (table) is what goes up and down instead of the quill in .001 increments. That's next on my list.

As far as the vise it sounds like your putting it on sideways. The jaws should be parallel with the X axis.
Patrice Lemée;7565441 said:
Thanks Mike but the slots in the vise are too far apart, wider than the bed.

I will try it the other way just to test the mill and order a 5" kurt style import like yours in a few weeks.

A quick question. To align the head do I use the t-slots in the mill or am I better off with the side of the bed?

Patrice
Click to expand...
 
That's the problem, I can't put the vise the right way, with the jaws parallel to the x axis, it only fit sideways as you say.

Thanks for your explanations Jim and Mike. I think that I am finally starting to get it. I am so dense. :(

And thanks for the great link naifu. I downloaded it all and will take a better look at it tomorrow night.

Patrice
 
Pat, I had the same problem as you. I have a Wilton vise on mine and it did not fit the slots. I made a base that is 2" wider than the vise out of 1/2' steel to fit the slots in the machine and drilled and tapped it to accept the vise. The bolts that mount the vise were ground flush on the bottom of the base. I also have an angle vise that fits the slots and the "re-engineered" one works as well as it does.
 
That is a great idea, thanks.

On a side note the collets, tool holder, end mills, parallels... arrived this morning so I'll be able to try it out tomorrow.
Wish me luck. :D

Patrice
 
OK. Good luck.

I think you will enjoy your new toy. I enjoy dreaming up projects and figuering out the processes and steps to build them as much as I do actually making something. I have even used my machine to profile and inlet a couple of gunstocks using endmills, forstner bits, and router bits leaving very little hand work to do. I am dreaming on a jig to mill a blade instead of grind the bevels now. Maybe I will get around to actually building it in the coming year.
 
Hey Patrice, I'm probably just retarded, but I missed something. Why is it that the vise cant be mounted to the table? Most vises just mount with a single bolt on each side of the base... so as long as you have the right sized bolts for the T-slots.... it makes no nevermind how far apart the slots are from one another.

Like in that link, look at how his vise is mounted.

RF_milling_vise.jpg


Is the vise they sent you a lot different than this? Are the mounting holes on the ENDS of the vise rather than the sides???

Just trying to help (I think that last part might have answered it though, lol).

:D
 
So now I'm guessing they sent you a vise similar to this? At least as far as the mounting holes go...

variable_angle_vise_1.5_in.jpg
 
Yes Nick the second one is what it looks like. I'll try it sideways to at least see if the mill is working and after make something like arrowhead suggested.

Patrice
 
AH HA, I get it now. So how do you mill with one of those? Patrice, I was starting to get worried about you. I was thinking maaaaybe this tool is a little to advanced for you and you were a little slow. Turns out the company that set up the mill package is the slow one. That vise pictured above in Nick's post is what I have, but think it's mounted one slot back.
Patrice Lemée;7569342 said:
Yes Nick the second one is what it looks like. I'll try it sideways to at least see if the mill is working and after make something like arrowhead suggested.

Patrice
Click to expand...
 
NickWheeler said:
So now I'm guessing they sent you a vise similar to this? At least as far as the mounting holes go...

variable_angle_vise_1.5_in.jpg
Click to expand...

I wouldn't try to do much milling in that type of vice. Not rigid or accurate.
 
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