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- Feb 17, 2013
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- 4,406
Accurizing the tables ...
The tables on my Baldor grinder are cast iron. It appears the outer edges were cleaned up at the factory with a belt sander. Pretty good job overall, but I decided to mill the front and rear edges flat and parallel to the miter gauge slot. By making the front (wheel side) edge parallel, I could easily set miter slot parallel to the wheel's surface. By making the rear edge parallel, I could use it as a secondary surface to guide tools, etc.
The setup for my mini-mill is shown in the first two photos. The C clamp was used to secure a piece of precision ground stock in the miter slot. The stock was then aligned against the front edge of the mill's table.
I was careful not to take off more material than necessary to get past the low spots. This was about .015" on both edges. When done, I measured between the miter slot and the milled surfaces. They are now parallel within about .002" end-to-end.
The third photo shows how I use a pair of Popsicle sticks to set the spacing between the table and the wheel. The grinder's motor is reversible, so either "side" of the wheel's face can be used to grind tools. Having the miter slot parallel to the face of the wheel makes this somewhat simpler.
The last photo shows my version of Rick Sparber's tool holder. A piece of 1/2"x1/8" precision ground low carbon steel guides the holder in the table's slot. The round aluminum disk (from a drop about 5/16" thick and originally 3 1/2" diameter) has a central 1/2" hole. The disk is held down with an aluminum "mushroom" about .002" shorter than the height of the disk and drilled to clear a #8 screw. Serendipitously, tightening the wing nut does a very good job of locking the disk down and preventing it from rotating! I do plan to "gild the lily" by sandblasting the top of the steel bar, just to give it a bit more friction.
Aluminum angle is secured to the disk with (red) loctitied screws. The flat was milled after assembly, so the working surface is smooth and continuous. The photo shows a diamond dresser ready to use.
PS - re-posted due to crash.
The tables on my Baldor grinder are cast iron. It appears the outer edges were cleaned up at the factory with a belt sander. Pretty good job overall, but I decided to mill the front and rear edges flat and parallel to the miter gauge slot. By making the front (wheel side) edge parallel, I could easily set miter slot parallel to the wheel's surface. By making the rear edge parallel, I could use it as a secondary surface to guide tools, etc.
The setup for my mini-mill is shown in the first two photos. The C clamp was used to secure a piece of precision ground stock in the miter slot. The stock was then aligned against the front edge of the mill's table.
I was careful not to take off more material than necessary to get past the low spots. This was about .015" on both edges. When done, I measured between the miter slot and the milled surfaces. They are now parallel within about .002" end-to-end.
The third photo shows how I use a pair of Popsicle sticks to set the spacing between the table and the wheel. The grinder's motor is reversible, so either "side" of the wheel's face can be used to grind tools. Having the miter slot parallel to the face of the wheel makes this somewhat simpler.
The last photo shows my version of Rick Sparber's tool holder. A piece of 1/2"x1/8" precision ground low carbon steel guides the holder in the table's slot. The round aluminum disk (from a drop about 5/16" thick and originally 3 1/2" diameter) has a central 1/2" hole. The disk is held down with an aluminum "mushroom" about .002" shorter than the height of the disk and drilled to clear a #8 screw. Serendipitously, tightening the wing nut does a very good job of locking the disk down and preventing it from rotating! I do plan to "gild the lily" by sandblasting the top of the steel bar, just to give it a bit more friction.
Aluminum angle is secured to the disk with (red) loctitied screws. The flat was milled after assembly, so the working surface is smooth and continuous. The photo shows a diamond dresser ready to use.
PS - re-posted due to crash.
) I wouldn't mind having one of those 500s vs the 1021WD I stole a few yrs back. Actually one of each would be nice for different applications. Yours was a great score for sure but for $150 Im gonna slip it in and say I just might have edged you out on the "I suck bad" gloat category hehe...