What to do

[DPittman]

I know you are not supposed to crank on your vise with something on just one side of it but what is the best method to even out the clamping force in the vice when you have an oddball size of stock in the one side?

 

[YYCHM]

Put it in the center and mill down on the face your machining?

 

[Tom Kitta]

yeah your case is easy - put it in the center.

 

[DPittman]

But I want to mill the edge with the side of an end mill.

 

[DPittman]

I guess i could mill off with a few strokes with the bottom of the end mill. I am wanting to square up the piece and was thinking my way worked best for that. Sometimes I don't think so clear.

 

[Janger]

I would do what you’re doing Don. I’m not sure that’s “correct “ but I do that frequently.

 

[YYCHM]

My mini-mill protested profusely when I attempted to side mill like you're doing. Will be interesting to see what my big mill thinks of that operation. Which reminds me, I should tram the Y-axis and check to see what that is doing.

Craig

 

[Janger]

Were you climb milling? Need to avoid that. Even my 1500 pound mill could not climb mill.

 

[YYCHM]

Were you climb milling? Need to avoid that. Even my 1500 pound mill could not climb mill.

Tried both.

 

[Johnwa]

If possible I put an equal sized piece on the other side.

 

[YYCHM]

I just tried side milling a 1/4" plate in either direction. No drama. Sweet!

 

[PeterT]

Its considered best practice to locate small parts in the middle of the jaws. Its kinder to your vise jaws & and actually holds more securely because of the location of lead screw. When there is no other option people block up the other end. Obviously it has to be very closely sized so either sacrificial stock or mini machinist jack. Making jacks is on my to-do list as well. I have used makeshift ones from a cap screw & double nut (longer coupler nut on end & regular nut to lock it). But a bolt head & shank probably don't provide good contact like the jack pad. Anyways you very lightly tighten the part side, then jack the bolt assembly nut so its firm in the jaws, then tighten the assembly. Always check the part is secure before milling because its possible for things to distort & move.

BTW for squaring & surfacing I use my insert mill head a lot. It provides an accurate surface & as good or better finish as any fly cutter I've messed with. But it can also take material down pretty good too. I square off the ends of longer stock with an endmill exactly like you are showing because there is no other good way, but whenever possible I prefer to mill across it with the bigger tool for best surface & dimensional control.

 

[thriller007]

Its considered best practice to locate small parts in the middle of the jaws. Its kinder to your vise jaws & and actually holds more securely because of the location of lead screw. When there is no other option people block up the other end. Obviously it has to be very closely sized so either sacrificial stock or mini machinist jack. Making jacks is on my to-do list as well. I have used makeshift ones from a cap screw & double nut (longer coupler nut on end & regular nut to lock it). But a bolt head & shank probably don't provide good contact like the jack pad. Anyways you very lightly tighten the part side, then jack the bolt assembly nut so its firm in the jaws, then tighten the assembly. Always check the part is secure before milling because its possible for things to distort & move.

BTW for squaring & surfacing I use my insert mill head a lot. It provides an accurate surface & as good or better finish as any fly cutter I've messed with. But it can also take material down pretty good too. I square off the ends of longer stock with an endmill exactly like you are showing because there is no other good way, but whenever possible I prefer to mill across it with the bigger tool for best surface & dimensional control.

What size is your milling head Peter? And why is everybody’s machines so shiny?

 

[PeterT]

What size is your milling head Peter? And why is everybody’s machines so shiny?

Its 2" diameter, 4 inserts (APKT-1604) on R8 toolholder shank. Its the smallest one they make in this particular line but personally I think its good size for smaller mills, although my experience has been confined to RF-45 & mini Bridgeport.

HaHa - I have messy pictures too!

 

[Tom Kitta]

With light cut I can easily side mill 2" high piece and did it many, many times. Climb milling is possible but only light cuts as it cuts in the same direction table is moving which adds "power feed" & can be bad for control if heavier cut is taken. I guess I should add power feed to Y axis to maybe solve that - but no urgent need - X / Z power feeds are far more useful.

 

[Dabbler]

An old school way of balancing the force on the jaws is to use a machinist's jack on the other side. An improvised one can be made from a 1/2" NF bolt and nut, cut to fit. Use various bolts to get bigger steps. works very well!

 

[Janger]

Nice explanation of the problem here:

https://academy.titansofcnc.com/series/titanfundamentals/proper-material-placement

 

[Bofobo]

Smaller gaps, use a nut and bolt of comparable size to the gap and you can use half the width of the nut as expansion/ jam, larger ones use your clamping kit pieces in the same way