Jswain
Joe
I have not tried a column tram yet, that's probably a good idea.
How are you doing yours?
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How are you doing yours?
Jswain
Joe
I think it would be if you wanted to shim the base of the column to remain square when adjusting z up and down.
I believe you need a long precision piece standing straight up on table and shim column to keep indicator on 0
Nod would be adjusted by shimming the swivelling portion of the head I believe. Which I did not do either as my indicator was reading the same front to back
But unsure as I've never done it
I am in unfamiliar territory.....
But it seems to me the only way it could change as the head is raised or lowered is if the column was bent. That's a MUCH bigger problem than Tramming.
Now, if we are talking slight x&y translations as the head is lowered and raised, that's a different matter. I don't think I've ever seen that discussed anywhere before. It might be one of those things you almost have to live with. Boy, talk about a dogs breakfast......
mmcmdl
Machinist/Toolmaker ( retired )
Damn , you guys are just TOO far away .
Jswain
Joe
Ive seen on the interwebs people shim or epoxy the base to make the column straight. I think it would highly depend on the mill/quality of casting/what day it came from the factory.
Beyond what I'm willing to get after at the moment lol
Ya, lots of guys do that. Some use shims. But that's usually done to fix nod not z-related changes.
Not saying it couldn't do Z related changes, but I've never seen or heard of anyone doing that. It would be a dogs breakfast.
It would be almost as bad as changing the Z-tram on a knee mill. It can be done, but holy crap. I wouldn't bother.
Proxule
Ultra Member
The column tramming in X and Y plane. Is so when you move your head up and down on the z axis. As I understand it.
I am using a precision granite square and hoping back and forth between X and Y wile shimming the column base.
Once you are happy. You move onto the head. You can adjust the tram on the X easy as our RF45 can rotate. But for the Y nod, we would have to shim the head between the Z axis sliding attachment, the saddle ( the portion that holds the gib strip ). If that makes sense to you Joe.
I am using a precision granite square and hoping back and forth between X and Y wile shimming the column base.
Once you are happy. You move onto the head. You can adjust the tram on the X easy as our RF45 can rotate. But for the Y nod, we would have to shim the head between the Z axis sliding attachment, the saddle ( the portion that holds the gib strip ). If that makes sense to you Joe.
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OK, but how do you do that without already having nod and rotate done, anything you put on the bed would indicate a false reading.
The way I understand this, this would have to be done first, not last or you end up chasing your tail.
If it's done first, you still end up have to change the Z tram which throws out the x/y.
A never ending circle.
I'd be inclined to live with any Z error that exists. It's not any different than a Bridgeport. If I had that error I'd just accept it and move on. At worst, I'd measure it and take it onto account.
Jswain
Joe
That's a good video, thanks I saved it for the future. I may test with a 123 block that's about as long as a precision straight edge I have for now.
Probably will be best for me for now
In the very near future I plan on pulling x/y apart to clean & get rough measurements for making a new x axis nut.
When I get it back together perhaps I can check column tram
Jswain
Joe
Well the mill was a little jealous that the lathe got a new chuck key. So I attempted to make one for it, but not everything works out.
I used the bolt hole feature on the fswizard app and navigated with my dro(it doesn't have the bolt hole feature).
That portion went well but when I connected the dots you can see it wasn't even. I believe this is probably due to the hex er32 collet block not being concentric to the bore.
So now I will see If I can do the same as the square er32 block to improve that, then retry the internal hex cut to see how much of a difference it makes.
I used the bolt hole feature on the fswizard app and navigated with my dro(it doesn't have the bolt hole feature).
That portion went well but when I connected the dots you can see it wasn't even. I believe this is probably due to the hex er32 collet block not being concentric to the bore.
So now I will see If I can do the same as the square er32 block to improve that, then retry the internal hex cut to see how much of a difference it makes.
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Jswain
Joe
Getting much better, think I will try dusting up the 1 highest side and hopefully leaver b. I took the first measurements then rotated the collet 180 degrees for the second measurements, so I believe most of the runout is still in the block.
This one is much harder then the square was. Pulled out the mister and just used it with air which I quite liked so I may come up with a good mount for the mill & have it somewhat always rigged in.
You can see the homemade mag base I cobbled together with 3d printed parts. I got the mister with the South bend and figured it would come in handy someday.
This one is much harder then the square was. Pulled out the mister and just used it with air which I quite liked so I may come up with a good mount for the mill & have it somewhat always rigged in.
You can see the homemade mag base I cobbled together with 3d printed parts. I got the mister with the South bend and figured it would come in handy someday.
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Jswain
Joe
It's an amflo 270 coolant mister. Hook it up to air and shove the hose in your coolant(or just use air) and you can adjust both the airflow & coolant flow to mist the tool without the mess of flood cooling.
You can get a generic one on Amazon for very cheap, like $20 or something
And you can see my homemade "mag base" better here
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Jswain
Joe
Definitely much better. Not wanting to waste anymore scrap to find out it wasn't going to work i went up to the next size I figured may be handy.
I will need to make a vise stop for repeat positioning of the block when I rotate it but other then that I'm thinking it will be good.
I will need to make a vise stop for repeat positioning of the block when I rotate it but other then that I'm thinking it will be good.
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Jswain
Joe
Not bad for a mishap. Halfa$$ matches the chuck key. I'm a sucker for having the tools needed for the machine at the machine so I think it will live next to the tool centre height standard.
Just gotta make one for the mill vise now.
Just gotta make one for the mill vise now.
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That is NOT being a sucker. I think that's wise, efficient, and even necessary. Imagine mounting a chuck, holding it on with one hand, and then the chuck key is out of reach..... Not good.