Adjustable mill table stops.

[wheeltapper]

Hi
I just fitted some adjustable stops to my Chester Conquest mill and thought you might like to see.

I've seen this done somewhere on the web but I can't for the life of me remember where, so I can't take credit for the idea.

This is the Y travel fitted on the l/h side


and the X travel fitted on the rear


I killed two birds with one stone here as the table movement has always been stiff and jerky, if I set the gibs in the centre of travel they locked up at the ends and adjusting at the end meant they flopped about in the centre.

So I stripped the tables right down and polished the gibs and dovetails and got it a bit better but they still got tight at the ends.

then I realised that not only do they slide against the dovetails but also against the bottom surface
marked in this pic


and although the sliding surface on the underside of the tables was smooth and polished the surfaces in the pic looked like they had been hacked flat with a chisel.

also the ends were slightly higher than the middle.
so, a quick touch with a fine file followed with a diamond hone and I had smooth travel all the way.

Cheers
Roy

[Lew_Merrick_PE]

Roy -- Minor critique -- a flat milled & filed where your screws fit the positioning shaft will save you time when somebody overtightens them and raises a ding in the surface.  Alternatively, a soft metal (brass, aluminum, etc.) pusher will accomplish the same thing and saves the disassembly/reassembly issue.  Otherwise, you will find these to be great time savers!

[wheeltapper]

Hi
I forgot to mention that didn't I.
there are 4 mm long brass slugs between the lockscrews and the shafts, I got caught out once.

I have also changed the cap head bols for tee handles on the Y axis. the X axis has grub screws so they are out of the way.

thanks for the response.

Roy

[DaveH]

Roy,
Nicely done  Very useful to have 
 
DaveH

[Stilldrillin]

Very nicely done Roy! 

Something I intend to do. One day! 

David D

[Lew_Merrick_PE]

Roy -- Back in my youth, BB's were actually made of copper.  I had (circa 1972) bought a 5 lb container of BB's that were used as shaft savers in projects.  A dab of grease made a BB fit really nicely into the cup of a 1/4 inch cup-point set screw.  I finally ran that container out in the late-1990's and was seriously surprised to discover that modern BB's are only copper-washed steel!

[rleete]

Modern air-soft BBs are plastic.  Might not hold quite as well, but certainly no chance of damaging a shaft.

[Fredbare]

Just what I was looking for Roy, thanks for sharing.

John