Securing work in mini-lathe milling attachment?

[twigg]

Sorry if this is the wrong place for this or if this is a duplicate thread. I'm not sure what words to use to search this topic.

When I had my shop 101 class, they taught us that before milling a piece you have to tap it with a mallet to make sure it's not cocked in the vise, or it could pop out under the force of the cutting tool. How does this carry over to lathe milling attachments, especially mini-lathes? I worry that tapping the part with a mallet would do bad things to the crossfeed leadscrew. Am I overthinking this?

 

[ttabbal]

That is done to compensate for the movable jaw lifting. If you are using a vise on the attachment, it might have a similar issue. Put an indicator on the jaw while tightening and see if it is enough to be a problem.

Parts clamped to the table will not be lifting, so you don't need to worry about it. Some vise types don't lift much either.