How many Methods for Squaring workpieces on Mill ?

Am aware of two methods, quite different to eachother for squaring workpieces on a mill.

Angle plate and cylindrical square method - Documented in Harold Hall's Workshop Practice Milling book and probably somewhere on his website - see this photo http://www.homews.co.uk/LrgSharpEndMill02.jpg - uses an angle plate and a cylindrical square to position the workpiece in the right orientation to the cutter for the squaring cuts..

Mill Vice Method see Rick Sparber website - link below

http://rick.sparber.org/Articles/cb/cblock.htm

Any other methods recommended by anybody ?

Bill

Hi
If you have an angle plate with square sides fit a fence . slide job to fence & clamp
I know it does not apply here but on Mag chuck on grinder again put angle plate on its side offer job up to it switch chuck on clamp . switch off and the jobs ready to go
Nobby

If your fixed vice jaw is set up parallel to the X axis then you can mount the workpiece in the vice with a machined face against the fixed jaw and the face you want to be square to it overhanging the jaws to the left or right. You can then machine that overhanging face by moving the Y axis.

If you want to machine a part without a vice you can clamp it to the machine with some scrap underneath it. As you machine each edge you add and remove clamps to keep the part from moving while each successive edge is cleared for machining.

If you are using a vice and want to hold a non parallel workpiece use of round bars or ball bearings between the moving jaw and the workpiece can be useful.

Martin

I machine one face of the part in the vise, using packing under the part as necessary. Next I place the machined side against the fixed vise jaw, using a ball against the movable jaw. Then I mount the part with a finished face against the bed of the vise and clamp using hold-downs (Starrett 50274). That makes the face parallel one previously finished. Repeat for the fourth side. I squawe the ends by letting them overhang the vise and finish with an end mill.

When I use a ball against the part it is a ball bearing nested in a nut. The nut goes against the vise jaw. A spherical faced nut/washer set works as well. I use a drop of CA adhesive to hold the ball in the nut so ir does not require 3 hands to get the work clamped up.

It is necessary to make sure the vise jaw is square with the bed of the vise. I just acquired a new import vise. I need to test the jaw for squareness. If needed I will grind it true.

Hey Nobby thanks for the reply.

I've read your post but am too thick to understand it. Any chance of a sketch or a link to a photo or a name for the method so I can google it ?

John - I googled the starret hold downs - got a photo of two bits of metal - If, like me - anybody is initially bamboozled by what a starrett hold down is and how it works see link below for a good sketch half way down page.

http://bbs.homeshopmachinist.net/threads/41354-clamping-things-flat-in-a-vise/page5

Martin - followed your advice - thanks - and am using a thick copper wire between moving jaw and workpiece. Had a bit of a scare with only a round ball and figured the longer grip might be better.

Bill

If it is a short piece, you could clamp it in the vice, vertically, (assumes a vertical Mill) and then run round each face, to get a square of the size that you want.

If small diameter round, grip in one of John Stevenson's square ER Collet blocks, (I made my own, rough and ready one, just before the JS version came on the market) and rotate the complete block, once each face comes down to size.

Howard

Edited By Howard Lewis on 07/04/2016 16:29:44

This has worked for me several times but hasn't been needed at home so far. Not much room for swinging a mallet on mine so need to place stuff in the vice carefully. A mallet helps a lot and two stage vice tightening on a powerful machine with heavy cuts - the mallet for the 2nd one.

Clock the fixed jaw true. I'm assuming bright stock is being machined but it can work on black as well but may need repeating.

As nothing is dead accurate assume the fixed jaw is 1 degree out of square vertically sloping towards the back of the machine but the bed of the vice is parallel with the bed of the machine. There will be errors. Fit the metal, tighten fairly firmly and whack it down with the mallet to ensure at least one edge of the bottom is resting on the vice.

Fully tight and machine first face.

Rotate so that the machined face is against the fixed jaw and go through the same procedure again and so on.

What is happening is that the 1 degree error is being cut every time so the work finishes up square. As bright stock is pretty square and there usually is some slop in the moving vice all is ok. Otherwise this could be introduced with a number of things, piece of bar, a thinner style parallel which might pop out etc. What holding techniques need to do is ensure that a machined face is pressed firmly against the fixed jaw. Initially only an edge may be resting on the base / slides and may still be an edge due to vice errors and a mallet is the best way of achieving that.

Getting the ends right is trickier but how ever I did it I would check with a precision square against the light.That can be used to set the work in the first place which is the way I would do it.

John

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Thanks gents. Am learning and practicing on some scraps of alumium.doing some experiments in shed now.

Bill