Parallels

ddickey

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I have a really nice set of Anton Machine Works .250" thick parallels. I'd like to get a set of .125". What is a good tolerance for 6" long parallels?
 
I have a couple of Import sets. And can’t complain about the price and or quality. I also have just simple flat stock for certain jobs/applications. And that works too. The question of a parallels tolerance in my shop far exceeds the scope of my hobby shop parameters. Meaning, everything else is trying hold a thou when the parallel is in the tenths. The parallels usefulness is big in my shop, but its manufactured tolerance is not really in the big picture of things. I did check them out when procured, but have not rechecked since. I do check for raised nicks and clean before using. Hope this helps…Dave
 
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I agree. The MSC import sets work just fine. If they are within. 0005" across the 6"range you'd be hard pressed to know of it's your vise or parralels. Most those import sets hold better tolerances than .0005" any who.

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It's not just the tolerance, it's how well you use them so they keep holding tolerance after seeing some use. This is especially true of thinner parallels. The .250 and larger hold up. The thin ones can get easily distorted if clamped in a vise against a soft piece of stock. The soft stock gives way and hard thick jaws can easily bend the thinner parallels. Moral of the story, is that thin parallels can be damaged easily with seemingly normal use.

Ray
 
The only "good" tolerance is the one required for the job at hand, spending money on more accurate tooling then is needed costs either the customer or yourself more money.
 
The only "good" tolerance is the one required for the job at hand, spending money on more accurate tooling then is needed costs either the customer or yourself more money.

That's good advice...

FWIW, I have "working" parallels and "measuring" parallels. What I mean by that, is the ones used to clamp things for milling purposes or to line-up pieces in the lathe chuck are kept separate from the 4-5 specific ones over by the granite table. The ones used for measuring purposes were cherry-picked.

Ray
 
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