2020 POTD Thread Archive

Winegrower said:
I liked the tilt table with a cylinder that is held in the vise and the cylinder can be rotated to the desired angle. I had the stuff on hand, so made it up. As you can see in the first picture, I used a spin indexer to rotate the cylinder so that I could put some small flats at zero, 30 and 45 degrees. These flats let you position the table at exactly the right angle by using a small wedge, like a piece of tool steel or such and keep the cylinder oriented correctly. I was pleased at how accurate this works out to be, as the second picture shows using a reference 45 triangle to check. 0.001 movement over about 3" is routinely achievable just with the wedge/shim approach. If there were a particular unique angle you needed, it's simple to add another flat.
Incidentally, another shortcut, I sorted out two small Samarium Cobalt magnets which were equal thickness within 50 millionths, freeing up a hand or two during verification alignment.
I also had a small not very useful vise laying around in the way, so I fly cut the base, trimmed the sides square, and otherwise plumbed it via machining on the mill, and mounted it to the tilt plate with 4 bolts that hold the vise in X or Y oriented alignment as needed. Of course you could add mounting holes on the tilt plate in advance, or to fit a particular project. I will probably stop at this level until some need comes up.
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Very well done.
I have a question about the angled steel baron the side of the vice at the fixed jaw area. Is that to stop movement of the fixed jaw when tightening the work in the vice and if it is how well does it work.

Ron
 
Ozzi346, I think you mean the tool steel lathe tool I stuck in between the moveable jaw and the cylinder? Yes, that sets the proper angle as you tighten the vise, aligning the flat on the cylinder with the vertical wall of the jaw. There are several flats for different preset angles. If you want different angles, because the flats are recessed, you can still set the table to 45.01 degrees or whatever...the stops don't interfere with other angles.

I don't have a great answer to your question as I have only used this for light milling on aluminum so far. The whole setup seems surprisingly rigid, because it's a big cylinder (the vise grips extremely well) and a heavy 5/8" table, well attached, but I think for heavy cuts on steel, I would clamp the cylinder in the vise without the lathe tool reference and support the end of the table with a machinist's jack, just to be sure. I'm going to mount a 1/2" rod under the table so the V-groove in my jacks can support that at any angle.
 
Ozzie46, I think I misunderstood your question. There is a rod that I pressed into the cylinder on-axis that I used to accurately position the cylinder in rotation. Here's a shot that might explain better.Spin Indexer tilt table.JPG
 
Winegrower said:
Ozzie46, I think I misunderstood your question. There is a rod that I pressed into the cylinder on-axis that I used to accurately position the cylinder in rotation. Here's a shot that might explain better.View attachment 314630
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No. I'm talking about the steel flat piece that is bolted to the side of the fixed jaw on the vice it self. Looks to be about 1/4 by 3/8 or 1/2 in. flat bar. It appears you have added something to the back of the fixed jaw also.

Ron
 
Oh, I see. That is my homemade mill stop. I keep a hex key and magnet stuck on it, and I can quickly swing it up pre-aligned with the edge of the vise jaw. There's one like it on the other side, both held in place by a block bolted on the back of the fixed jaw. I also use that for setting zero on the X axis.

Good eyes!
 
Winegrower said:
Oh, I see. That is my homemade mill stop. I keep a hex key and magnet stuck on it, and I can quickly swing it up pre-aligned with the edge of the vise jaw. There's one like it on the other side, both held in place by a block bolted on the back of the fixed jaw. I also use that for setting zero on the X axis.

Good eyes!
Click to expand...


Thanks
 
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