Milling Vise Alignment In 13 Seconds

Hi Bob,

Yes I agree ! But in my case I don't have a knee mill, even so there is a fraction of play in both the table and the head. But the table will still move a fraction.
 
When I bought a bunch of tooling from guy who had tried to use a round column mill/drill to make a CNC. A couple of things were a $10 indicator holder for the spindle and a import .0005 test indicator, he said they didn't work and asked it want them as well. Of course I said sure. He had bought one of those two dial indicator things for tramming the head, which he tried to sell me, as well. First time I used the indicator holder on my mill/drill, I found it might have been over priced at $10 new. It flopped around some, but slip-joint pliers came to the rescue with the thumb screws. Using a dead blow, this time I was lucky, one sweep right and one sweep left and the vise was on. The alignment gods were with me. I've also used a #96 button back dial indicator mounted in the chuck. Harder to see.
 
What an awsome idea. If the laser dot can be positioned within 1/16 of an inch from the dot on the wall 20 ft. away then you could expect that traming the 6" jaws with an indicator would give:

0.0625/240 = y/6

y = 0.0016"
 
How would you align a vise with a laser? I have used lasers for grading and other construction stuff which the kurf of the laser is ruffly a 1/16 to a 1/8. I can eyeball my vise closer by visually aligning the back jaw with the edge of the table making them parallel. Idk settting up a laser and getting close is just as long as using a indicator and being dead on.
 
I didn't dowel my vise to the table but I do have dowel holes drilled into the bottom of the vise at different locations where I most commonly locate the vise on the table. The pins are removable and when inserted locate against the edge of the T-slot in the table. As long as everything is clean when setting up there is no need to indicate.
 
What an awsome idea. If the laser dot can be positioned within 1/16 of an inch from the dot on the wall 20 ft. away then you could expect that traming the 6" jaws with an indicator would give:

0.0625/240 = y/6

y = 0.0016"
Yes ,very creative, but as Bob Korves inadvertently explained, the table would have to be in the exact same position every time, including tension on the gibbs.
 
Doweling ANYthing to 'sacred' surfaces of a machine tool is very, no extremely, uncommon. Cylindrical dowels need clearance to install and remove, introducing undesired error. Tapered pull dowels would be better, but still über-unconventional. The other problem with doweling relegates all the gib wear to one zone, far better usage alternates vise placement on what ever schedule you deem fit.

If one cannot dial a vise in 3-4 passes with an indicator, they need more practice, and perhaps a change in technique. Clamp a long straight bar in the vise and view it lengthwise in accordance with the table slots. I do this when the material is not smooth enough for indicating. The laser level method isn't a bad starting point, but a laser pointer won't work. They are not intentionally centered in their body.

But the following is my everyday go-to, several decades worth.
Start with the indicator midway on fixed jaw, move Y to achieve some indicator + & - travel. Any line should be a convenient zero, just because it's marked '0' is not fully relevant. Any displacement of the needle moving X will be readily apparent of which direction is angled from table travel. One stud can be lightly snugged, tap in the vise body to lessen the needle travel as you move towards end of jaw. By the time you arrive, the jaw reading and starting zero should be very close. I continually get a vise .0001 in 1 1/2 passes.
 
Bob I have to disagree with you. Vises are ground parallel on all sides, a square in the shop should be up to snuff parallell and at 90 degrees. If not give it to a carpenter.
Tables and slots are parallel to the axis on machines. Why do you think they put key slots in Vises?
If so the machine tool is junk! I have never ever come across a table in a shop out of wack as you state not parallel on there axis!
 
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