Newbie help needed with milling machine

[mikey]

... how does one do this?

Simplest way: Find center of the table in X and mark a temporary line with a Sharpie or pencil. Put a wiggler or center drill in your drill chuck and move the head until the tip of the tool lines up with your mark. Tighten the two bolts on the right side of the head casting. Centered, or near enough.

 

[Redmech]

In the above picture that would actually adjust the nod, that’s for squaring the head up front to back. You use the same tool in that picture or a single indicator, and just turn the assembly 90 degrees. Then you would be adjusting the tram.

 

[n9jcv]

Thank you all!!!

 

[FOMOGO]

Putting the head square to the table will also give you the greatest amount of Y travel. Mike

 

[dlane]

if the head was movex slightly to the right

The head rotates and nods , the table moves on my mill

 

[gasengin]

The turret needs to be tight, but you should also tram the mill unless you are doing something that doesn't matter. Never assume a mill is trammed in unless you either did it yourself or really trust the previous user. (Never trust the previous user.)

 

[n9jcv]

Thanks again. I will try to center head and then tramm.

 

[FanMan]

As Tom said, tramming (getting the spindle perfectly perpendicular to the table) is completely unrelated to the motion of the head around the round column. You generally want the head more or less centered on the machine, but not always. This is where a round column mill can actually have an advantage: Often the round column is a PITA because you lose the location whenever you loosen it on the column to raise it up or down, but sometimes the ability to swing it can be an advantage, as when you have two setups on the table; they can be farther apart than the table's x travel because you can swing the head to put it over either end.

If you tram it when more or less centered on the table, it should still be in tram at other locations. But you will have to rezero it to your workpiece whenever you loosen the column lock bolts.

 

[Bob Korves]

I do not believe it is tramming. In the pic above if the head was movex slightly to the right he could still have the same tramming results. Perhaps as Mark S says it is not imperative. But when would it be? And if so how does one do this?

It is possible to use the mill with the head swung around 90 degrees to the left or right, working on something standing on the floor. That is not done often in many shops, but it is quite possible. If the head is left or right of the center of the table it does not hurt anything for most jobs. For maximum left and right travel to reach long work, the head should be in the middle of the table when the table is centered. Other than that, it is just for looks or OCD.