How do I true up a dovetail?

yukon_rose

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The photo is a picture of an Atlas taper attachment that is "sloppy". The dovetail is .005" wider on one end than the other. That makes it impossible to cut accurate tapers.

I want to true up the dovetail. It seems simple except the piece is too long for my small mill.

The only machine I have that can handle the length is a 6x18 surface grinder. So I went on a quest for a grinding wheel that has a 60 degree angle cut on it to match the dovetail angle.

I failed to find one.

Please suggest another way to make the sides of the dovetail parallel.

Gary
 

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The grinding wheel would have to be dressed to the angle, look for "angle wheel dresser", otherwise, scraping is an option, but that requires a reference standard, such as a surface plate, and also various tools and training, I'd guess that the angle wheel dresser would be the best way to go.
 
Hand scrap it...... .005" is a little much to scrap but you can do it....
 
It appears that you have little option but to spend some money to accomplish this task, so some other possible approaches (in no order of $ spent):
1. Take it to a machine shop and pay them to do it.
2. Buy a larger milling machine and do it yourself.
3. Bribe a friend or acquaintance who has a large enough machine with beer/liquor/praise & adulation, etc.
4. Enter a request for help on this forum and pay shipping to/from that generous person's shop. If they don't have one, include a dovetail cutter. Full disclosure: I don't have a mill large enough for the job, either.
5. Haunt ebay and the like for replacement parts.
 
Sounds a little like prostitution..............


My great uncle told me “There is nothing wrong with a whore,, its a cheap whore, that everyone detest”
 
The clearance should not be a big issue. You always want to cut tapers where the sliding block is forcing the tool bit into the work piece. In the case of an external taper you cut from the big end to the small end and as the sliding block moves along the tool is forced towards the material. As long as the dovetail is straight it should work with the only error that it would vary from the degree marking by .005" along the full length.
 
Have you absolutely ruled out doing it in two setups on your mill? Not as accurate as doing it in one of course, but maybe good enough...
 
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