Coaxial Centering Indicator-are they to be had?

george wilson said:
I think that Asian inspection sheets are just tossed into the package!! Really,I do.
Click to expand...

I do believe what George says.
As I mentioned before, I have both. My Blake, is a great tool, and the asian coaxe as I also mentioned in a earyer post is as good as the Blake. I dont know if its a hit and miss thing, but the Blake in my eyes is no better than the import.

The quality of the blake is certainly better, but back to back tests showed me that I can use either one, and the two equal in accuracy. I bought the import as a back up for the Blake. I figured if the blake was to get damaged, the import would get me by. For the price I paid for the import, it was a good value.

I know all about the threads over on PM about these import co axe indicators.
Most over there have this deal about, if its not made in the USA, it just isnt any good at all. And I do have to question these people, first off, do you, or did you ever own a import co axe? My guess, that they never owned one, or even used one. These same people will bash the import product to the ground, with out using both, and giving it a fair evaluation.

These import co axe indicaters have been around a long time now. Like most things they make, if they do alot of them, its only a matter of time untill they get good at it. When I bought the import, I told them, I have a Blake! And I would compare there import against the Blake. I had asked them, if I was not happy with the import, would they have any problem with me returning it? They told me, please do compare, and if there is a problem, they would like to know about it.

The generalization that everything built offshore is no good, as far as Im concerned is false. And Im sure the main reason most dont use the co axe is the cranking of the knee, and the time and effort it takes to do so. I wouldnt know about that, my mill has power feeds on all axis, and I dont even have a crank on my Z axis. Its got a hand wheel just for fine tuning. But then, I guess if it takes that much energy to crank the knee up and down, a co axe with not be a tool for them either.

Just the way, I see it!
 
If someone who is using a round-column mill-drill is thinking of getting a coax, keep in mind that they need quite a bit of vertical space between the spindle and the work. This means that you will need to bridge that distance when machining the part you have so carefully centred. Holding your end mills in an ER style collet holder will help, as will using a drill chuck in the spindle for those types of operations, providing you used an R8 collet to hold the coax.

Otherwise, you could lose some rigidity if you extend the quill to it's limit to reach the work. If it won't reach, you'll end up lowering the mill head, which will ruin your centering job.

Other than that pain, I kinda like mine. Only about $64 at LMS. Not a Blake, but I'm no George Wilson. :tiphat:
 
ike that is a good point . The mill drill machines would be very limeted on travel, and the round coloum machines wouldnt be much good for the co axe indicater. It depends alot on diameter of the work piece as to what lengh probe is used, and how much knee travel required to use such a tool.

For me, I like them, and seem to reach for it alot.
 
The real problem is that mine has no knee. All of the vertical movement has to come from the quill or the head adjustment on the round column. The last time I used the coax, I realized that I want a knee mill. And so the addiction continues. ;)
 
I used my coax when I still had a round column mill drill. It was the larger size model and not a mini mill,to be sure,but there was room to use the coax.

The problem with round column mill drills,I THINK,is that the higher the head is raised,the more the column might bend,causing some degree of misalignment after you've centered the hole,or punch mark with the co-ax,and crank the head back down to use a milling cutter. If you are just going to drill and bore out the hole though,you'd leave the head cranked up anyway.

I've said I THINK,because if the heavy head was pretty well balanced on the round column,it might not deflect to any problematic degree. Anyway,I did some good work with my round column mill. The next step up was my Bridgeport type.
 
George, I imagine yours was not much different than mine. Whenever possible, I like to crank the head down so I'm not extending the quill any more than an inch for milling, with preference for R8 collets to keep the cutter as close to the head as possible for rigidity. When I use the coax, I'll change to the ER holder because it is a bit closer to the height of the coax.

Since I've been using the VFD paired with the built-in tach to set milling speed, I haven't had as many cutting issues, so quality isn't bad. Not quite ready to extend the quill the full length yet.

Still feeling the craving for a knee mill, though. :drool:
 
I am a mill newbie but not to metalworking. When it comes to costly purchases I like to research until my head's about to explode, then make a purchase that I won't (hopefully) regret. Buy as good a product as you can, and sometimes you must stretch your budget a little. With my first DTI I went for quality because the less expensive ones aren't that much more than what is considered reliable. I got a Bestest 599-7031-3 from Penn Tool. I've careful not to bang it around, drop it, or engage the spindle while it's still in the collet. If you're the very forgetful type than get something like a Mitutoyo. It's not garbage but it's better than an SPI and most other Asian imports. FWIW, check Long Island Indicator for more info on brand reliability.
 
Not need, although nice to have center finder does and has done the job for years. Another good thing
is I turned a .500 to a 60* very very sharp point so I can verify. Just another acc. sam
 
I've actually procured the raw materials and plan to make a co-ax indicator based on the one in "The Machinist's Bedside Reader". I've got a little too much on my plate at the moment but once I get freed up this one is pretty high on my list.

-Ron
 
if you change out set ups alot, a co ax is nice, i think they are way quicker than a TI. that said i would use a co ax , then grab the TI to get it spot on. I had a cheapie import... they just don't have the stuff for frequent use. I found it nice to use, and not getting the mirror out was almost worth the cost of a blake, almost.

I agree with others that an interapid is almost a must have. bought a metric one a long time ago and it is a work horse, and i am not easy on tools. i bought the metirc because i rarely use it to actually measure but i do use it to get relative position, and center stuff all the time, and it was $40 on ebay 4 years ago). I had a bestest, and i have a puppitast, and have burned through import cheapies. the interapid is my fav no contest.
 
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