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Sawing Short Rounds
One in while you are faced with cutting a section off a piece of round
stock that is too short to hold in the vice of your horizontal band saw.
On the verticle saw, It's just too dangerous to try and hold the piece
with your hands. A "C" clamp won't work either because as you pass
through the part, it will clamp the sawblade. Here's a solution I came up
with when I just needed 2'' off this short round. I bolted the bar to the
piece, but it could be tacked welded, or epoxied. If it was steel, I would
just tack weld it. If it was a tube, a piece tacked on both sides might be
adviseable. Worked for me.
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Dialing in a Rotab (Rotary Table)
Using some sort of tapered tool, you can get within .003 or .004
in less than 20 seconds. For most general fabricating projects,
( something that doesn't fly or spin ) this may be close enough. I
just move the X & Y axis till the taper fits in with no gap. Set
your dials or readout to zero, and you're ready to start cutting.
You'll be surprised how close you can get. If you need precision,
use the Blake style indicator. There are some import copies that
are priced pretty reasonable.
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Don't Lift, Slide It On
If your mill accessories are on the large side, I would suggest
never try to lift them onto your table. This even goes for your
vise. A 6" Kurt style vise weighs close to a 100 lbs. A 12" rotab
comes close to 200 lbs. I used a section of bowling alley but a
gluelam beam would work also. I would not recommend a solid piece
of wood without reinforcing it somehow. Attach a set of legs, stick
it on top of a cart and you're in business. I store my heavy
accessories of a shelf. The table is the same height as the shelf.
This makes it easy to slide the items on and off. Roll it over to
the mill and lift the table to the same height and slide it on. As
always in these procedures, DON'T BE IN A HURRY AN KEEP YOUR FEET
OUT OF THE WAY. If your vise is going to get in the way, slide it
back onto the table. Make sure your cart is strong enough to
handle the weight. Once you get this setup, you won't think twice
about change outs.
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Alternate Method
Another way to skin this rabbit is to build a table attached to
the mill. The ends of the rollers are inserted into the square
tubing and turn as the item is moved across the table. This works
real good, but you need two of them. One for the tool you are going
to use, and one for the tool you are going to store. This is a lot
more work, but if you are limited to shop space you might consider
this option. If I were to build this again, I would prepolish the
tube before welding. On the subject of welding, don't try to weld
this up on the bench without tacking it in place on the mill. The
mill base is tapered so you will have to do some angle cutting to
get the table flat to the mill. Somebody makes an assembly like
this, but is was expensive.
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A Follow-up Tip from Jeremy Gilbert ("the chopperguy")
Hello every one! Just an additional tip to Dick's tip on changing
setups which, by the way, is a great one. Maybe you all may realize
this but in the stamping industry there are adjustable height carts
that you use to change dies. They are a little expensive but if you
have several height shelves it would be a great cart to have around
to change your setups on mills or what ever. The cart will lift up
to 500lbs and to a height of 54". They are heavy duty and work great!
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Another Follow-up Tip from Jeremy Gilbert
I think you could make one of these lift table fairly easily using a
boat winch and some tubing. Take a look at the picture and you can get a good idea.
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And Another from Peter Miles
As I'm getting ready to put a heavy 8" vise on my vertical mill,
I find myself paying more attention to such tips. I don't move
objects that heavy by hand any more. I think I'll move enough stuff
around so that I can use my forklift with a metal pallet on it as
the equivalent of a lift table. Some fixtures, vises, and rotary
tables can be moved fairly easily with a cherry picker-style engine
hoist. If a vise doesn't allow clamping onto a piece of angle or
T-stock (flange down and horizontal below a jaw to carry the weight
- NOT just friction of clamping it), you can remove a jaw face and
bolt on a piece of plate with a lift point on it. I have seen lift
tables for sale occasionally at Boeing Surplus.
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Quick Quill Stop
If you don't have one, get one. Once you get use to using it,
you won't know how you managed without it. The one thing you will
realize is no new holes or slots in the table. Set it so your
cutter or drill will not touch the table. When drilling on the
mill, always set the drill in the middle of the table slot. If
possible, use a piece of wood between the part and table. Tighten
your collets good and tight. A cutter that is not tight in the
collet can work its way into the table. Trust me, I've seen it.
The quill stop won't do you any good in that case. By the way, it
also works as a quick stop for controlling the depth of a hole or
cut.
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Shut it down
It's always a good practice to shut off your compressor at the tank
before leaving for the day. By keeping the lines pressurized you
take the risk of one blowing out and burning out your compressor.
Think about it. If that compressor runs for the night or maybe days,
there won't be much left of it. I like a ball valve because I can
see at a distance if it is open or closed. I also have had good luck
with a Grainger auto drain valve (P/N 4KT04). Same valve 14 years.
It cycles every time the compressor does. No water in my lines, but
I live in a dry climate and have a lot of traps. I have never got
any water out of my traps. I'm sure that in the humid areas you
will. Proper trapping should solve these problems. I said "should."
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Dick Raczuk |
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