Milling Vise Alignment In 13 Seconds

Exactly how my vise is located on the table! Two dowel pins. Squared it up to the table with the indicator in the spindle and drilled and pinned it to the table. :) It comes off and goes back on in the exact same location.
Mark
 
An old thread, but dowel pinning the vice to a fixed point on the bed is not attractive to me. I have mounted alignment bars on the bottom of the vice, too. It’s ok. What I like best is similar to what BGHansen describes. I keep an indicator with a quill clamp by the mill. It’s not necessary to spend a lot of time tapping and checking...just stick a 123 block or such in the vice and run the indicator along and see what way it moves...you can tell in a fraction of an inch movement in x axis. Tap the vice (the right direction of course) and keep tapping until the needle stops moving. You’re done.

When I use the bars, seems like I always want to indicate it anyway. :)
 
My mentor has precisely ground keyways and never needs to check his vice because it is a tight slip fit.

FWIW I don't follow his example because I don't want to risk dragging the key across the table (My back isn't young any more and my vise is 40+ lbs) so I indicate it in. With practice, it takes under a minute. I like the laser idea to get it within a thou or 2... That would get it close enough to save a lot of time, then I can get it to a half thou over 5"... hum... I see another project brewing!
 
Sorry, the laser idea doesn’t appeal to me...first the reference dot is maybe 20’ away. Maybe you young guys can see a dot that far away to within a 1/16” or so...but I would have to run back and forth, bump it, go check, tighten, go check, etc. Also, i’m picturing a simple laser pointer...how it goes in the vice each time could introduce error. Perhaps with a mirror reflecting back to the mill to a local target it could work...not sure you could rely on the mirror to be perfectly stable over temperature, humidity, earthquakes (CA), etc. But if you like this, great.
 
I have used the laser trick to realign a drill press table after needing to move it while work was still in the vise. Just mark a vertical line on the wall with a level instead of a dot. Good for round column mills as well.
 
There is nothing more accurate than running an indicator along the fixed jaw of the vise. And for me it takes no time at all. And I don’t move my vise around that much, so it does not bother me to pull out the indicator and align the vise when needed…Dave
 
I use a machinist square for quick vise tramming. The "fat" end goes against the front of the table, the thin end goes against the side of the vise (the vise clamp is removed on that side). Tap the vise so there is no visible gap between the square and vise. This gets me to .001"/3" (the width of my vise jaws) or better. Make sure there's no swarf between the square and table/vise, eh?

Even if I don't need a well-trammed vise (for something like surfacing a part) I do this because there's a good chance my next use WILL, and at least I won't be off TOO much if I forget I didn't dial-in the vise.....
 
I use a machinist square for quick vise tramming. The "fat" end goes against the front of the table, the thin end goes against the side of the vise (the vise clamp is removed on that side). Tap the vise so there is no visible gap between the square and vise. This gets me to .001"/3" (the width of my vise jaws) or better. Make sure there's no swarf between the square and table/vise, eh?
When squaring things in, it is best to indicate the actual thing doing the work, not a surrogate. The back of the table and the side of the vise have nothing to do what we want to achieve, and may not be machined correctly themselves. By indicating the fixed jaw of the vise, we are directly making it parallel with the table motion, which is what we really care about for many mill jobs. It is almost certain that NO part of the table is actually dead on square or parallel with the table travel. Maybe very close, but why use intermediates that have inaccuracies and/or can move and wiggle? Using your square clamped in the vise might be useful for tramming the in and out travel (Y on a vertical mill) by indicating it, but that would also be subject to the squareness and the parallelism of the square and it's mounting. Any assumption that the parts and axes of any machine or tool are actually square and parallel with each other is just faith and hope. Test it and see...
 
For me I do as Hansen explained. It is so easy like said 3-4 times across with a indicator your done. My question is what do you use your indicator for if pulling out lasers and squares all to accomplish a indicators job. Then like bob said you should really be indicating the part if you want to cover all the bases. Indicator is the way to go.
 
Hi Guys,

I have fitted pegs to my vise base so it just drops into the slots and should be accurately square when refitted, but I still run an indicator down the inside of the fixed jaw. It always causes wonder when its a fraction out. A tap with a brass hammer is all it takes and then a check on the securing bolts.
 
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