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Milling machine tram tool
Darren:
Thanks for the suggestions John, really appreciate them.
I've had these two gauges for over twenty years, now I'm finally using them..... :ddb:
I have run the diamond over the jaws, very carefully mind you. I've yet to buy some parallels, they are deff on the list as I find I'm struggling a bit without them.
I've just made a £100 order with ARC EURO For those that have not heard of them. http://www.arceurotrade.co.uk/default.aspx Great company, fast delivery and prices that others fail to match.
The parallels will have to wait till next mth.
I notice on the quill of the mill that the scales bear no resemblance to what is actually going on. Makes it very difficult to take really fine cuts. Every time you lower the quill the scales make no sense at all in relation to the last setting. So I have ordered a 4" vertical DRO. That should solve this problem.
I chose an engine build to show me the way to accuracy :thumbup:
bogstandard:
Darren,
I use Arc Euro and RDG all the time for my run of the mill bits.
Try this on your mill, I can almost guarantee this is what is causing the misreading.
With the mill turned off of course, wind down the quill about half way without putting the lock on, and try pushing the quill up and down. Usually you can get about 100 thou up and down movement. If what I said is correct, your problem is quill float, there is not enough spring pressure to support the quill, and it is bouncing up and down when you put your cut on.
There is a fairly easy fix, and one of your sash weights comes into the equation.
For your first set of parallels, go for 1/8" thick ones, They are the most versatile to begin with.
John
sbwhart:
--- Quote from: bogstandard on April 11, 2009, 09:46:57 PM ---
With the mill turned off of course, wind down the quill about half way without putting the lock on, and try pushing the quill up and down. Usually you can get about 100 thou up and down movement. If what I said is correct, your problem is quill float, there is not enough spring pressure to support the quill, and it is bouncing up and down when you put your cut on.
There is a fairly easy fix, and one of your sash weights comes into the equation.
--- End quote ---
I had that problem with my 3 in 1 mill head, never did get it fixed, the DRO helped that and locking the quill.
Stew
Darren:
John you are quite right, unlocked the vertical play is about a mm, (I guess it's the backlash in the gearing housing) sometimes when adjusting it sticks up. Then when next released for adjustment it drops with a clunk, but sometimes you don't notice this and that's where the problem begins. :bang:
At the moment I'm adjusting while the motor is running, certainly not ideal but the vibrations make it drop every time.
Now that I have worked out what is going on it's now workable if not ideal.
If you have a fix I sure would like to hear about it :thumbup:
bogstandard:
Hi Darren,
If you look at the C-o-C it shows two methods, but a third one could be a tension spring between the quill casting and the position of the the first pulley.
What you are trying to achieve is an upwards pull on the casting around the quill where the bottom of the quill depth stop fixes.
There is no internal fix for this problem, I looked at every and which way.
I succeeded by method 1.
I put as long a piece of threaded rod I could in place of the quill downstop. Then by putting a fairly strong compression spring onto the rod and made a knurled wheel so that I could adjust the tension on the spring to give enough upwards force to support the quill. It was a bit of a PITA sometimes as it restricted your downwards movement of the quill by all the coils compressing up and effectively making a solid tube which stopped any further downwards movement. I lived with this fix for many years.
The pulley system would be a much better fix as you would get unrestricted movement over the whole length of the quill, but still maintain that continual upwards pressure. In fact, now looking at it, if you could put a long tension spring with the one end mounted at pulley position 2 (at the back of the machine) and a string over the first pulley down to the quill.
Once you understand what is required, I am sure you will come up with some solution Darren. My ramblings are just a couple of possible solutions.
Hope it helps
John
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