Author Topic: Facing on a mill  (Read 3860 times)

Offline Soren Hansen

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Facing on a mill
« on: January 31, 2016, 03:21:31 PM »
I have been looking at a few video's about milling on youtube (where I have gotten most of my knowledge by watching Tubalcain), and got to wonder:

Many times I see this or that guy cutting a peace of square stock, plonking it in the mill, facing it, turning it over and facing the other side. This I can understand.

Then he turns it 90 degrees, faces it of, top and bottom, and with a 1000watt smile exclames that now are those 4 faced off sides exactly at 90 degrees angles.

Are square stock really that precise in the UK and the USA ?? Here in Denmark, I have seen square stock being up to 10 degrees off.

Can one rely on when clamped in the mill vice the 2 first faced off sides will be at exact 90 degrees to the bed ?
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Offline John Rudd

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Re: Facing on a mill
« Reply #1 on: January 31, 2016, 03:30:04 PM »
Theoretically, yes, in a perfect world if:
The machine is perfectly aligned to the table, and the vice is also in perfect alignment......

Thats what I think.... :scratch:
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Offline PekkaNF

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Re: Facing on a mill
« Reply #2 on: January 31, 2016, 03:57:03 PM »
Well if you buy the sock milled and ground...

othervice a bit more work:


Pekka

Offline Soren Hansen

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Re: Facing on a mill
« Reply #3 on: January 31, 2016, 04:10:04 PM »
Hi PekkaNF

Thank you for the link.

Then I just have to be sure that the vice bed and back jaw are at exactly 90 degrees.

But that could be achieved by mounting the vice in the mill and facing of the back jaw. One have to asume that the vice bed will be parallel to the mill board, or what ?

Will I have to disasamble the vice, turn it upside down (so the vice bed lies flat in the mill table) and skim the bottom of the vice to get the top and bottom side to be parallell ?
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Offline chipenter

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Re: Facing on a mill
« Reply #4 on: January 31, 2016, 05:37:27 PM »
Check for square with a dial guage first , nip one bolt and run the table back and forth and adjust untill the dial dosn't move . nip up the outher bolt and check again tighten both and recheck , for the virtical run the dial guage up and down the fixed jaw .
Jeff

Offline hanermo

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Re: Facing on a mill
« Reply #5 on: February 11, 2016, 06:44:57 AM »
Depends on stock, and on needed accuracy.
And machine/vice.

Its different for  90 degrees,
90.0 degrees,
and 90.000 degrees.

Anyone can do any of the three, with modest equipment.
Imo, the third might take 3-4 weeks, first time.

(Lap (CI or brass/tin, etc) and check via 2-3 identical pieces or lab squares or optical flats, etc.)

And it should have qualifiers for the last, imho.
Surface wont be flat to 90.000 degrees level, RMS values likely high, edges will be rounded, etc.

Imo, ime, engineering is about finding compromises suitable for the task at hand.
Cost or time tends to go up 5-10x for every digit.

If you have time, a few hundred 100€ can get you lab quality results and tools, very slowly.
(Example: Amateur telescopes).
Or, a 100k tool can do the same in 5 minutes to 1/2 hour.
(Example: Tool scanner with optical measurement, 0.5 micron accuracy, non contact.
I have seen it done it, at ISCAR over here. 2 minutes).

Imo, typical cheap milling or grinding might do 2 decimals, or 90.00 degrees, some uncertainity on last digit (ie +/- 1 unit).
Cheap(ish) one or 2-sided lapping machines will be much better, to 1 micron accuracy in flatness and angle, in ten-twenty minutes or so.

Dont have the lapping machine, but looked at them and talked to the manufacturers, over at EMO trade fair in germany.
Saw it done, very simple process.
Vids on YT.