Work holding on a micro lathe

[cwr89]

Casey, if your milling vise is accurate and the milling attachment is 90 degrees and square to the bed of the lathe then you should be able to get most of the work square without parallels. I assume/hope you have checked the vise and milling attachment for accuracy, right?

If you want to mill stuff, you need parallels. The cheap short 3" ones linked to at LMS will not break the bank and are worth buying. I use HSS tool bits as parallels on occasion but for thin work, like your dovetail part, you need something that positions the part at the right height; I suggest you buy the parallel set and get on with it. (I use that set on my Sherline mill and they are fine for a Taig/Sherline-sized vise.)

Has it dawned on you that you need a milling machine yet?

I have check the accuracy, and its pretty well dead on, as far as I can measure. Its the part that I'm not getting mounted in the vice in both x and y. I went ahead and have ordered the LMS set. And yeah, I've been needing (wanting) a milling machine for a while now, but, for me, the first step is getting a house that I own so I can have a workshop to myself.

 

[cwr89]

My understanding is that the taig vise is less then great. Meaning it can do great work if you take care and precautions, or you can be a little lazier and faster with a vise upgrade.

I have no firsthand experience with the taig, hopefully one of those guys can chime in. Good luck

I had read that when I was looking into different machines. I kind of like that though. For me, I learn best by constant trial and error. The Taig has allowed me a solid platform for fiddling until I get it right and I think I have a good understanding as to why. I have also had good luck calling them and asking questions -- something I'm sure wasn't possible with the import lathes.

 

[T Bredehoft]

Should you find that the vice consistently angles your part, adjust the vice out of square until your part is square. It's called a "work around." We professionals do it all the time, but don't tell the boss.

 

[rrjohnso2000]

Please let us know what you think of the lms parallels when you get them.

It seems like you have everything under control. Kudos on your order of operation for life. I'm curious as to what you are building/making with your lathe.

I ask because if I was working on small projects I might just add milling capabilities to that lathe, something like the sherline or unimat3

 

[mikey]

I have check the accuracy, and its pretty well dead on, as far as I can measure. Its the part that I'm not getting mounted in the vice in both x and y. I went ahead and have ordered the LMS set. And yeah, I've been needing (wanting) a milling machine for a while now, but, for me, the first step is getting a house that I own so I can have a workshop to myself.

Milling attachments are not known for accuracy; at best, they are a work around device. Even with parallels, you are basically trying to mill with what amounts to a drill press vise design laying on its side. In a normal milling vise, we put the part on parallels and tap the work down flat to ensure the part contacts the parallels evenly and fully. Do that with a milling attachment and the attachment itself can go out of square so you have to be really careful and then verify that nothing moved before you make a cut.

Quite often, small parts can be through bolted or held with clamps directly on the vertical angle fixture so you avoid using the vise. I find this to be more accurate when this is possible.

The onus is to verify squareness before every cut because you have so many interfaces that can move.

 

[cwr89]

Please let us know what you think of the lms parallels when you get them.

It seems like you have everything under control. Kudos on your order of operation for life. I'm curious as to what you are building/making with your lathe.

I ask because if I was working on small projects I might just add milling capabilities to that lathe, something like the sherline or unimat3

Will do! Right now, with the lathe I'm making a whole bunch of stock into piles of chips . Honestly for the most part its really just trying to learn the machines, how they cut, how they work. I want to believe that it will translate to larger scale lathes. (some day down the road). I'm a tinkerer really. I bought this lathe to turn acrylic for making smoking pipe stems, then as things have come up it was like oh, I need some small parts, or a tool modified. I've mostly turned brass because its so forgiving.
This project is a QCTP. again, its out of a desire to have home height adjustment on the lathe.

Milling attachments are not known for accuracy; at best, they are a work around device. Even with parallels, you are basically trying to mill with what amounts to a drill press vise design laying on its side. In a normal milling vise, we put the part on parallels and tap the work down flat to ensure the part contacts the parallels evenly and fully. Do that with a milling attachment and the attachment itself can go out of square so you have to be really careful and then verify that nothing moved before you make a cut.

Quite often, small parts can be through bolted or held with clamps directly on the vertical angle fixture so you avoid using the vise. I find this to be more accurate when this is

well, good to know that I should stop tapping parts milling attachment . I was actually thinking about for the top surface waiting until the part was made, and then bolting it to the t-nut slots for a final sizing and cleanup. It's designed to attached to the t-nut but I didn't know if it was a recommended thing or not. Not really sure what kind of forces are applied and how the material would react. (again, I can literally count my milling experience in hours still...)

Thanks!
~Casey

 

[mikey]

Casey, a Taig is a real lathe and everything it teaches you will directly translate to larger lathes, albeit on a larger scale. Every single lathe operation you are doing now is done exactly the same way on a larger lathe. The key differences will be rigidity, speed and power and that will enable you to do bigger stuff. Enjoy the process and when you're ready to move up to a bigger machine, the knowledge will be there.

 

[rrjohnso2000]

You could get a small machinist vise to setup the part and then place it in vise on the machine. If you were to pin it you could keep located in machine vise

 

[cwr89]

So I took you're guys's advice and changed my order to the mini-machine vise & short parallels set from LMS.
but, as it was the weekend, and I'm impatient for things to ship. I went slowly and did lots of measuring.

Here's what I've come up with.


Really happy with the way its worked out. I ended up using lathe bits to try and get things a level and square as I could.



The 45s were a bit tricky with the compound. I'm also sure I'm using the wrong speeds and feeds, and probably the wrong endmills, and the wrong cutting direction.... but it seemed to work well enough.


I really can't complain about this fit at all. There's very little movement other than straight up and down.

I probably spent too much time hitting with some surface sanding and polishing, but I really wanted to hide the horror show of tool-marking. And, if anything, this really solidifies my desire for an actual mill!

Again, thanks for the help!
~Casey

 

[willthedancer]

Nice looking tools make the user take better care of them. Looking good!