Milling vise and hammering the work

T

ttabbal

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So, I've seen a lot of people give the work a good hit with a dead blow hammer to seat it on the parallels. Makes some sense with the movable jaw lifting when tightening.

I got a Kurt DX6 and it pulls down when tightened. Now, I can still slide the parallels under the work. Should I be hitting the work on the new vise as well? Are there other operations that differ? Just making sure that I treat the new tool properly.
 
Smacking the work with a dead blow hammer is a common operation, even with Kurt vises. You are not going to hurt the vise or the machine. I keep a dead blow within easy reach when setting up.
 
Making sure a part is seated is always a good idea.
 
I typically will tighten half way, then smack with a deadblow until I cannot remove the parallels. Then I finish tightening. Depending on how much the parallel next to the moving jaw frees up, you can get a rough idea of how much jaw lift you have.
 
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If I am doing precision work, I will indicate the part in the vise and tap with a mallet to seat the part perfectly flat.
 
I use a lead Hammer all the time for the purpose, it is normal good practice.
 
Thanks for the help guys. I figured it was probably fine to do and unlikely to hurt anything. I don't mind doing it and keep a dead blow with the milling tools. I just wanted to make sure that there wasn't some reason to avoid it with a Kurt.

On the up side, the Kurt works great. I want to make sure it stays that way.
 
I learned all about that .005" of variance working in CNC production back in the day. Parts need to be seated in the fixture. I use a dead blow every single time I position a part in the vise. It's just a kiss with a tiny hammer, not a whack.
 
I typically have to machine small aluminum plates under 2" in length to within .0007 of // . What tends to happen when making multiple facing paths is the part tends to lift up slightly out of the jaws. Many times I am forced to hold a part with only .050" of grip. My first operation is called a "5 side" which faces and mills the perimeter, and possibly some hole / slot features. Many times upon flipping the part over and facing the 2nd side if i'm struggling to maintain parallel I will perform all my rough face ops of say .020" DOC, then insert an M00 stop code with .003" left of material to get to my final finished depth. Lastly I will lightly tap the part a few times with a dead blow hammer to "reset" the part flat, hit cycle start and execute my final pass. Most of the time this maintains my // . Maintaining flatness on plastics such as Delrin can get tricky as many times you can't grip the part firmly within the jaws without bowing of the part. Again, the rough passes, then a pause / reset of the part usually helps with consistency.
 
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