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Aligning a round column mill between tooling changes

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John Coates07/12/2010 20:51:29
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558 forum posts
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Well the learning is progressing well and I am merrily milling and lathing (?)
 
One problem I am finding is when changing between the drill chuck, collet holder or boring head in the mill, because they are all different lengths, once the head is unlocked from the column, when winding the height adjust handle I lose alignment
 
My mill is a Chester Champion
 
Is there any way of retaining the relative position of the head during these changes or is my only way to mark the head and column with reference lines?
 
Thanks for any help
 
John
wheeltapper07/12/2010 21:08:13
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Hi
one way I've seen in a mag is to get a cheap laser pointer and fix it to the mill head pointing toward a wall, line the head up and mark a line on the wall where the pointer is . then when you change heights, reline the mark.
 
there are other ways but they involve modding the mill somehow.
 
just a thought.
 
Roy
Gray6207/12/2010 22:02:20
1058 forum posts
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I used to own the Warco equivalent of this mill, to maintain alignment, I made a bracket that attached to the head which was a close sliding fit with a stationary vertical 20mm bar, attached to the column by another bracket.
 
I recall there was an article in MEW along these lines but so far I cannot find it.

Gray6207/12/2010 22:13:28
1058 forum posts
16 photos
Aha, found it, issue 108 of MEW has the details of the principal I implemented, an article entitled 'Round with Dovetail Advantages'
 
Gray6207/12/2010 22:26:45
1058 forum posts
16 photos
Aha, found it, issue 108 of MEW has the details of the principal I implemented, an article entitled 'Round with Dovetail Advantages'
 
John Coates07/12/2010 22:55:28
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558 forum posts
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Coalburner - unfortunately I only started my subscription at 160 
 
But a bracket at either end to which I could attach a solid bar sounds workable
 
And thanks wheeltapper for the laser level suggestion 
dcosta07/12/2010 23:07:23
496 forum posts
207 photos
Hello John Coates.
 
 
It had ocurred to me that an  rotary encoder may, eventually, give You sufficiently accurate information for the purpose of the alignment of Your mulling column.
And it is a very clean solution.
 
Please look at the following URL


Best regards
Dias Costa


Gray6207/12/2010 23:15:34
1058 forum posts
16 photos
The subscription to the digital mag archives is well worth it, then you get access to any MEW from issue 1 to current, I don't regret taking up the subscription, saved me a fortune in buying magazines from ebay etc
chris stephens08/12/2010 11:58:00
1049 forum posts
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The pound shops often sell laser levels at, you guessed it, a pound. One of these mounted on your mill  will project a line to a far wall, and more than adequate alignment precision can be achieved.
chriStephens 
John Coates08/12/2010 12:32:12
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558 forum posts
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Thanks guys
 
I think I'll go for CoalBurner's solution as I plan to move the mill and the end position might not be too favourable for access to walls
 
I tend to keep the mill head in the same position when doing indexing (is that the right word for what I'm doing - moving the workpiece between positions to carry out sequential operations?)
 
So having a rigid bar to control the alignment will not cause me problems and another member has messaged me about how such a device can be constructed
 
John

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