Miniature milling table

[mklotz]

A (internally) threaded ring in a recess in the back of the indexer pulls the collet in to tighten it. This ring has slots into which lugs on a custom made cylindrical wrench fit. This arrangement allows the collet to be tightened with a long piece of stock in it that projects out of the collet rear.

The threaded ring is in a recess so that, when tightened, the indexer can sit flat on its bottom in the vise. There are probably other and better ways to do it but that arrangement worked for me.

[miker]

Collet Indexing Thingy?

Thanks for posting the table and indexing device.
What closes the collet onto whatever is being held in the collet? Sorry if this should be obvious.
Please keep the ideas flowing.

Rgds

[Evan]

Plus I don't have to deal with a bunch of clueless technical editors rewriting my carefully thought-out text.

I make a deal with editors when I have something published. Publish it as written or don't publish it. No exceptions unless cleared with me. This includes magazine articles and even letters to the editor. I figure that it's MY writing and any mistakes that might be made should only be MY fault. I don't want to take the fall in the reader's mind for somebody else's mistakes.

BTW, dampening of vibration is a correct usage.

dampen


• verb 1 make damp. 2 make less strong or intense.
— DERIVATIVES dampener noun.

Perform another search of the Compact Oxford English Dictionary

[mklotz]

Evan,

My pet peeve is people who want to "dampen" vibrations instead of damping them.
Reminds me of my mother dampening wash before ironing it. Also technical people who think "verticle" is actually a word. Don't get me started on people who "loose" things.

PHiers,

Writing for (technical) magazines is literally not worth the time it takes to do it. Using this forum to publish ideas is, IMO, far better because it permits immediate interaction with the people who might make use of the idea. Plus I don't have to deal with a bunch of clueless technical editors rewriting my carefully thought-out text. I had enough of that when I was working.

Here's another handy item.



It's a cylinder that holds a C5 collet either vertically or horizontally in the milling vise and provides for 15 degree dividing. The base locks either under vise pressure or via an included (not visible) locking screw. A small stop permits accurate repositioning.

This same base accepts the small rotary table (also capable of 15 degree dividing) mentioned in an earlier post.

Since 90% of the parts I make that require dividing fit into a collet, I find this arrangement very useful for most of my work.

Tatoomike,

As John has pointed out, I haven't yet changed my name.

[John Stevenson]

mark, you have shown ideas and given software to people all over the world. Thank you.

Marv does the same thing as well

.

Thats just what I want to make even if its a small sub plate, that will do a fine job for what I want to do., like you say small engines and stuff. Being that I own a smithy that would replace most vice jobs and let me set a height with some good shims.



mark, you have shown ideas and given software to people all over the world. Thank you.

[PHiers]

Very Nice

Marv,

As usual very nice work. Have you ever considered writing up some of your fixtures for HSM or MW magazines? That way people that don't use the online forum could see your work and copy it!

[Evan]

Very nice Marv. That's the sort of thing I like to make in the winter. I'll probably steal some elements of that.

BTW, synergistically is one of those words that really bugs me. I think it should be synergetically, as energy becomes energetically. Energistically just doesn't fly. Another peeve is using orientated instead of oriented.

Interestingly, the Firefox spell checker doesn't recognize synergistically or synergetically.
Back to our regularly scheduled program.

[mklotz]

Sharp as a tack!!! Great idea!! I have a couple extra milling tables from my unimat which I never even considered using on my bigger equipment but now....modification time. Thanks for the idea. Best regards, Fred

That's what prompted this idea. Originally, I mounted a machined block to the bottom of my Unimat milling table and used that but it was too small and lacked fences so I built the one pictured.

[laddy]

Sharp as a tack!!! Great idea!! I have a couple extra milling tables from my unimat which I never even considered using on my bigger equipment but now....modification time. Thanks for the idea. Best regards, Fred

[mklotz]

Pretty slick setup Marv. Will the clamping block fit in the 4 jaw lathe chuck? That would be pretty neat as well.

It will fit either of the 4-jaws but I've never used it that way. I do have a purpose built 3" diameter faceplate with T-slots and indexing holes that is used for miniature work. It attaches via a centering pin to a general purpose spigot that fits in the 1" C5 collet. Other sacrifical plates also attach to this spigot.

As much as possible I try to make tooling in separable components that can be synergistically fitted together with other pieces to form new configurations.

I agree...pretty slick setup.

I can see myself making a similar fixture for my smaller Emco Maximat machines.

TMT

[Your Old Dog]

Pretty slick setup Marv. Will the clamping block fit in the 4 jaw lathe chuck? That would be pretty neat as well.

[mklotz]

Most of the parts I make are small to tiny and fit nicely into my small Eron milling vise. Nevertheless, the odd part will come along that won't and I really hate to remove the vise in order to table mount the part, then have to spend time reinstalling and tramming the vise again.

So I built a small, auxiliary milling table that looks like this.



The table is 1/2" thick aluminum and the bottom is fitted with a machined block that can be grasped in the milling vise.



Most work can be clamped directly to the table using the T-slots. The removable fences allow the work to be aligned to the edges of the table which, in turn, are aligned to the x and y axes of the mill when the block is clamped in the vise. Making the fences removable (after the workpiece is clamped in place) ensures that they won't be damaged during the machining operations.

I had thought of drilling an array of tapped holes in lieu of the T-slots but came up with something a bit more flexible. I had acquired some tooling plates that were perforated with holes exactly the right size for tapping 1/4-20 or 6 x 1 mm (for Unimat accessories). I took a piece of this plate and squared it so it can be located accurately using the fences. Then the edges of the perforated plate act as additional part alignment features and the tapped holes can be used for clamping in almost any location.



Obviously not something the guys repairing tractors need but a very handy tool if one is making small models or miniature engines.