Mill head stabilizer project question

[jdsantiagojr]

Hello.

I’m getting ready to start working on a stabilizer for my round column mill. I picked up a 1x3x24” piece of aluminum and now thinking about cutting it down to 1x2x24”. Curious to see what other think about this.

My design will be based on the true-line which uses a smaller bar. I don’t think using a bigger bar will be any better and thought it would be okay to cut the extra material and save for another project .

Any feed back would be great. Posted photo of my mill and bar. Will be getting started after I found some round stock for the collar.

 

[DavieJ75]

Do you have an idea on the slide to keep it square.

 

[benmychree]

If you cut one side only, it would likely warp.

 

[jdsantiagojr]

If you cut one side only, it would likely warp.

I didn’t know this. Do you recommend cutting 1/2” from each side or avoid cutting completely .?

 

[jdsantiagojr]

Do you have an idea on the slide to keep it square.

I’m not sure. I plan in using aluminum for collar and then tig welding block for arm that will hold plastic block. I was looking at the design posted by Matty’s Workshop at

.

The only difference will be the use of aluminum for collar and orientation of the flat stock.

 

[matthewsx]

I have one of these mills and am unsure of the need for this type of modification. From what I’ve read this will help keep things aligned on a particular workpiece when raising or lowering the head. This is desired because with the round column because you don’t have a knee with vee ways like a Bridgeport.

From what I understand, this modification only comes into play when you need to change tooling in such a way that you have to raise or lower the head and you don’t wish to indicate your workpiece to the cutter. If you either plan your work so you don’t have to raise or lower the head, or re-indicate afterwards it’s not necessary from what I’ve read.

I‘d love to hear from folks who’ve done similar if it really improved their day to day use.

john

 

[DavieJ75]

I had not seen that video, pretty simple. I have seen several including the use of hinges and tie rod ends. Or using large cnc slides and such. I think I’m gonna see if I have a piece of metal I can use for this. Other idea is to 3d print the plastic part of the slide.

 

[benmychree]

I didn’t know this. Do you recommend cutting 1/2” from each side or avoid cutting completely .?

It might be a good idea to do so, and plan to mill both sides in the same setup, I have no idea how straight the bar is begin with or what expectations you might have as to what the desired accuracy you might attain when making the vertical moves of the head., if you decide to narrow the bar down, I'd saw cut it first on both sides (oversize) and then do the milling, If while sawing off one side, note how much the offcut bends away from the parent metal, that will give you some idea of the pent up strains involved.