Using a collet block with a mini-mill

[ARC-170]

This is how I would do it. I would scribe lines on the end of the work that are perpendicular to each other. To do this I would mount the work in the vice and then find the center of the work. I would put a scribe in the mill and use it to make the lines. I would then mill the slot. Reposition the work to being horizontal in the vice so that the line that is perpendicular to the slot is now vertical. Then dill and tap your holes.

So I would be "drawing" a cross on the end of the cylinder, correct?
Then, mill the slot. Then, rotate the part 90 degrees (from upright/vertical) to horizontal and then drill the holes, right?
But, how would I not move the part out of alignment/perpendicular when going from vertical to horizontal unless it was in a collet holder? How would I re-align it without using a collet block? I could "eyeball" the lines with a right angle square, but that cannot be accurate enough.

 

[ARC-170]

I won’t speculate on why you need to mount the cylinder vertically to mill the slot, but will offer an alternative to a right angle fixture. If you mount the cylinder in a collet block or V-block, can you mount it vertically in your vise and mill the slot on the Y-axis? That will give much more support to a vertical work piece than slotting on the X-axis will. Then just lay it over horizontally in the vise and drill the hole.

Tom

This seems to be the best option using what I have. I'm not sure the v-blocks will hold the part securely enough based on using them once and having the part move just a bit. Maybe it wasn't locked down enough. I'm willing to try again, though. Milling along the y-axis will give me a little more support, so thanks for the suggestion!

 

[JimDawson]

Let's break down the problem a bit. This is what separates machinists from the rest of the world, problem solving and the ability to make anything starting with nothing.

The goal: Slot and Drill & Tap a piece of round stock per print.
In all projects there is an order of operation. In this case, there are two ways to do this:

Drill & tap, then slot
or
Slot, then drill & tap

Either can be accomplished mostly with the tools I see in the picture, but you may have to make a fixture. Making soft jaws for the vise is not out of the question here if you have some aluminum or steel stock on hand.

In any case, once you have drilled the hole or milled the slot you have a surface to indicate on. A drill bit stuck in the hole would give you something to indicate on to align the slot, or the slot would give you a surface to indicate on. Either way, works.

That non-machined surface in the back corner of your angle plate might be useful for holding the piece vertical, might require a little shimming to get the work squared up.

 

[brino]

I guess you can see that there's many ways to do it.

I would recommend the collet block as they are quite useful.

You could mill the majority of the slot while the part is horizontal (taking depth of cut to suit the machine and material), and then turn it to vertical to square the slot bottom corners. This would depend on the how much vertical adjustment you have on your mill.

If there is still any concern with vise grip either mill in the y-axis, or rotate the vise 90 degrees and mill in the x-axis.

5/16 = 0.3125, so I guess your using a 1/4" end-mill.

-brino