DUH! I did it wrong Dad!!

So, I need to machine this block and remove the black shaded bits so it is as thin as the long side - So now I have machined the long side, how do I hold it so that I can machine both sides? The piece is 35mm x 25mm x 1mm (approx).

Any help would be gratefully received and I have plenty of this material so starting again would be no issue at all. This is sort of the machineing equivalent of painting myself into a corner I guess)

Sorry, that should read 12mm thick approx, not one

Errrrr. Flat on the table. Clamp the long thin face. Clamp the machine finish centre section and off you go, just mill the black areas down. You could mill one end at a time and clamp the other end for more rigidity. Other solutions are no doubt available.

Stick it in the vice with one black face against the movable jaw and mill away the top black face. Flip it over now holding by the central section and mill away the other face. Keeping the thin part against the thick jaw will make sure you keep both the same.

J

Could you clamp a bar across the middle, then mill each side of it?

These are all very good ideas and I thank you all for sharing them with me.

Jason, would the piece hold in the vice? bearing in mind that is is no more than 1.75mm thick?
Mike, flat on the table had occuured to me but you know, the table is unmarked. I get really tense when a cutter gets within half an inch Having said that, a sacrificial plate would work.

Clamping a bar across the middle is certainly something that would work and enable me to mill both sides with one setup.

Great ideas guys, thank you.

I wouldhave set it up in the vice on parallels and machined all three sections with one setup.

Here's a pic of the nearest I can get to a recent setup, reducing a piece of 12mm steel plate down to 10mm.

The way I suggest means you are holding it by the 12mm thickness.

Hold in vice like this and mill away one black bit. You may need to pack it up on a parallel

Then flip it and mill away the other

Or a better photo of Loftys method, if you have 1.5mm in the vice and don't go mad it won't get pulled out.

Edited By JasonB on 09/11/2013 20:28:50

Edited By JasonB on 09/11/2013 20:32:17

If you start with thicker material you could hold in the vice as in Jason's photo, leaving a thicker section in the vice for rigidity. Then turn it upside down and machine the base (now the top) to the correct thickness.

Another method is to glue to a base plate with hot melt glue and re-melt after machining.

Thank you everyone for all of the great ideas.

I really must adjust my thinking a little, I think far too literally most days and not enough laterally. I am going to spend a little time using up a bit of Aluminium tomorrow and try some of these techniques.

If anything, the most important thing I have learned out of this is to always cut against the fixed jaw of the vice. This has explained a gret deal to me and answered a good number of questions I had from previous errors I had made - but couldn't understand why.

Thanks again.

graham.

Just make sure you clock the fixed jaw true to the mill axis first