Making of an angle plate

[stefang]

Ahoi!

Again a little filler-project, until I start with the next big one...

A friend of mine handed me a piece of angle section, made from cast iron and pre machined to size, a few years ago. Since then it sat under the bench of my lathe, but today it droped on my toes...that was a sign to start machining it, and make a precise angle plate out of it..

Thats the piece in its raw, toe-crushing shape:


Its not realy square:


I decided to start with the mounting holes and slots, and machine it square on the shaper after that is done.
Pre drilling all the holes and the ends of the slots, to make plunging with the roughing endmill easier:


Mounting holes (They will be tapped with metric M8 threads) and the slots finished:


Added a little chamfer to the holes and slots:


Drilling the mounting holes in the other side of the angle, the hole pattern matches the t-slots of my mill and the lathes cross slide:


Machining done so far:


Next step is to mount it on the shaper, and make it square

greetings
Stefan

[Lew_Merrick_PE]

Stefan,

You have a good start there.  Things to consider:  Add a slot through or reduced area pocket (both sides) to the web of your angle plate to make it easier to pick up (do you have any idea how much pain this tip has allowed me to avoid?);  Ream or bore slip fit dowel pin holes on an appropriate pattern to the working (tapped) faces of your angle plate to allow you to make different index set-ups for repeatable work; Be sure to make a nice wooden box for it to sleep in when not in use -- face the nest area that your index surface rest against with good quality felt -- and place a couple of drops of camphor oil in a non-contact area of the felt a couple of times a year (this reduces the accumulation of rust).

Camphor oil is the main ingredient in many cold sore medications and a local pharmacist/chemist should be able to get it for you easily.

[russ57]

i noticed the way you have clamped the item for milling. I'm wondering why the jacks are so far out from the edge? with the load seemingly outside the area of the base, are they liable to tip?

The angle of the photo might be deceiving - do they need to be so far out to get clearance underneath for drilling/slotting?

thanks

-russ

[fatal-exception]

I'm wondering why the jacks are so far out from the edge?

Looks like it's because he had to have them out of the way while he slotted through...