Easy Tramming Tool

iron man

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Feb 7, 2013
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I saw a tramming tool you could buy I had a couple of old dial indicators I dont use anymore so I made this one out of a 3/4 square aluminum and a 1/2 stress proof shaft. I bored and pressed the shaft into the aluminum I then turned everything on the lathe so it was all squre with the world drilled and tapped some holes and it was done. I was surprised how easy and well it worked. Ray

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Nice work Ray. I trammed my "new to me" mill a few months ago.
 
Looks really good. I've seen the store-bought versions and boy are they proud of 'em. I've planned to do this for a while, but I got to dig up a couple of matching indicators. ( I know,HF has el-cheapos on sale from time to time, just have to get by there.)

Thanks for the kick in the pants to get mine done.
 
Looks great! I've been thinking the same thing - way too much money for one of the ready made versions. Glad to see I'm not alone! That looks like a fairly nice simple project for newbie like me to play with - maybe this winter, if my shop isn't too cold. Thanks for sharing that. I see Shars has dial indicators on ebay for about $10 each every once in a while.
 
These both where old cheap indicators there not even the same brand but once you zero them out on the same spot it really does not matter thanks for lookin.. Ray
 
made one quite some time ago out of pieces I had laying around. I used the HF brand indicators they sell for $9 I just went & bought 2 more yesterday for some future projects

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Nice work Ray and Charley! I've got one of those on my list of things to do, just got the two matching dial indicators last week.
 
Hi,
Does it matter if the plungers protrude different distances from the underside of the tool?
Thanks ,
Mark
 
Hi,
Does it matter if the plungers protrude different distances from the underside of the tool?
Thanks ,
Mark
Not really. You should zero the indicators out every time you use it anyway by turning it 180 degrees to the same point. As long as the travel area is in the same neighborhood for both indicators, it'll work. I've found mine to be really helpful for tramming the front to back nod of my mill because the center line of the pivot point is so far back. It's a real time saver there. On the side to side tram, it's almost as easy to do with a single indicator. Even there though it saves time.
 
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