Squaring a large block without a vise

This is what I’m attempting to build. It’s the die carriage that moves up and down for angle/tuibing/pipe rolls. I drew this when I was going with different dimensions but same concept. I bought the lathe/mill to build this. Well that’s not the only reason but it’s what made me pull the trigger,that and to have a block of steel squared off and have 3/4” shoulders machined at each corner was going to cost 600 if they had material in stock,if not it was going to be around a 1000 so......... no brained.

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And I completely agree with you but while I would love and I mean absolutely love to have a Bridgeport, which I could’ve had for free bc the company I work for scrapped one bc they didn’t know what they had, I have no room for one. Hints why I bout a combo. But I respectfully disagree. Very respectfully I’ll say again. The reason I say this is yes, it is way undersized and underpowered for that matter to be making a piece this big if I was running production but being a one off, i don’t think it is. I’ve got two sides that are 4-3/4 x almost 8” faced and perfectly smooth and perfectly parallel with one another, so if I can do that there shouldn’t be any reason I can’t finish it as long as I can set it up square. But Like I said I know I could not make 20 of them, or maybe i could but I would be in my walker by the time I was finished.
I get it though ,bc it is slow, but when it’s all you have got to work with you make due with what you have ,like what I did last night and that was.....
There is no place close enough that sells the amounts of epoxy resin that I need ,but I had some 4:1 laminating epoxy I bought for a sealing green hid bulbs in borosilicate bottle to use for fishing lights and to Incase led chips for fishing,but not enough to completely wet out my granite epoxy.
So I went to Lowe’s and hobby lobby and bought small 4 and 8 ounce kits,1:1 mix ratios. Even though so many people told me it wouldn’t cure, I knew it would , bc to me when I thought about it,it was common sense ,that if it’s 100 percent mixed it would cure and cure just fine. I combined the 4:1 and 1:1 epoxies then added the hardener poured it and low and behold it started heating up , and was hard as a rock this morning. I’m very good at working around things and figuring out of to build things with only what I have but I don’t know it all and is why I ask question and I appreciate everyone’s comments.
 
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I'm with you, I'm a closet minimalist and try to outsmart stuff. However, just as another option; ask a hobbyist (like most of us here) nearby with a bigger mill (doesn't have to be a Bridgeport, I think my RF30 can easily do this) and slip them two $20s. I'd be happy to use my mill for a 'paid job' :)
 
I see you have a loverly T-slotted cross slide on your lathe so you could also whip the topslide off, bolt down on the cross slide and use a flycutter in the spindle. Get it square and then mill the shoulders. Always more than one way to do a job.
I just looked at the drawings and at the specs on your lathe should be very easy, can do the drilling as well.
 
Stoic I agree with you a 100 percent and I would do that,but I don’t know a single person who owns a mill or a lathe and I don’t even know a single person that works on either at their job. I jumped into the deep end of the pool without putting on my floatys for damn sure when I decided to get into machining. I’ve never had been around it and never had seen anyone work on either a mill or a lathe. We did have, I think ,a Bridgeport or it might have been a good bit bigger mill and like a 20’ long,old American iron lathe at work,that the owner bought when he thought machining was simple. He quickly found out it’s more than slapping a piece of material down in a harbor freight drill press vise and chopping it up with a tool that resembles a drill bit. lol. Needless to say he sold it for pennies on dollar of what he paid. So,It’s an understatement to say I knew nothing about machining. But,I do know metal and I am very good at fabrication/welding and figuring crap out.
If I could have got it done for 40 dollars I just might saved a lot of money. But I’m happy it went this direction bc I’ve been welding full time since I was 16 , and I’ve done many different jobs, and was getting bored. This is the reason I started the angle/pipe roller machine build,plus I always wanted one.
Then I got the lathe mill combo and my interest peaked more than when I first started sticking two pieces of metal together with what looked like a long dog turd. Hahah. I’m my own worst critic.
 
NortonDommi. The bad thing about the t slot table is it flexes so dang easy. I bolted a 2 piece jerry rigged vise to the table and when tightening down barely on the work piece the dovetails would start to bind.
I ended of taking some 1/2” coded plate we use to build pressure vessels,and bolts it down and with some countersunk black machine bolts,with t slot nuts.
I then took a 2” face mill and faced as much as the cross slide would allow before hitting the commune. I don’t understand why grizzly made the cross slide travel about 1.25” more than the mill column will allow. That thing has had me screaming some choice words when I had forgot and started milling and then slamo into the column “my fault but damn grizzly get your stuff together”. I think so too,that it is very very very very possible/plausible to do all the work on this machine. The only thing I am going to have to buy is precision ground wear strips/plates. I want a grinder now so bad. Man
 
I don't know your lathe and what I saw on the Grizzly site did show the column of the mill in one picture. Surely you can pull the mill attachment off if it gets in the way? Your binding problem with the two-piece vice was no doubt due to the stress set up in the set up. A 1/4" bolt can develop over a Ton of force very easily. If you have a flat finished surface all you need to do is hold it down on the cross-slide and that shouldn't be hard and won't cause distortion. Make a fly cutter if you have to and mount it direct in the spindle to increase rigidity.
I gave an old Atlas 10" to a Carpenter friend of mine and he blows my mind with what he does just because he don't think metal!
If i got it right you have a 12" x 36" lathe with a milling attachment? Some pretty awesome capability there.
 
Thank you Norton and I’m with you 100. I thought I had posted a picture of my fixture plate I made. It came out slick. It’s got tooling marks but they can’t be felt. After I’ve skinned the base with 1/2 steel,that I welded a 6x4 i-beam that’s secured to the concrete with 4 bolts and filled the base and column with some epoxy and different types of blasting media, it is now ridgid as possible me unless I added gussets but doesn’t need it. Before I could barely take a 5-8 thou cut on aluminum with a 5/8 end mill without it causing all kinds of hell if I was feeding fast. I tested it just now and went through 3/8 thick aluminum about 1/2 thick and ran straight down it without any fuss. Also side cutting I could do at all and now I did a test about 3/16 deep while using 3/4 of the end mill side and went right on through. That’s probably the limit I would push it using the side of the cutter. I just finished it tonight and was worried until I cut a little and I’m surprised and happy with it,especially for what it is.

You don’t always have to have the so-called “right tool” for the job or the top of the line tool is you just think about what your doing and plan every step. Or at least plan knowing you might to have to change things down the road,but isn’t that life in general?80D200FD-5588-41D7-A418-5C7C1C5291D6.jpeg80D200FD-5588-41D7-A418-5C7C1C5291D6.jpeg3DDEA1AC-86F1-49FA-8BD5-776D1E6EAF4E.jpegE651BAA2-6E27-4DE4-A764-F03E95EF5F4C.jpeg29BB84FF-E633-43EA-954B-0D6EAB103165.jpeg
 
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