Should I be concerned…
This past weekend I had some time to waste, so for kicks, I made a “speed handle” for the milling machine vise. The vise is Vevor brand and has a 14mm drive hex. I sacrificed an old 14mm deep impact socket to make the middle and end drive points. The boss for the handle was turned from ¾” round bar. The tube sections between the drive points and handle boss were cut from a long since retired floor jack’s handle.
The floor jack was of Chinese origin, so the OD of the jack handle was something metric, just under ¾”. The OD of the 14mm impact socket was about .870”. To fish cut the ends of the tube, I used 7/8” and ¾” end mills. Given the non-exact diameter of the jack handle tube, I was having trouble getting the cutter centered on the tube. The math was there, but the backlash on the Y axis lead screw and a slipping index wheel kept messing me up. After quite a bit of trial and error, I got it close enough to mill the tube ends. A little TIG welding, a shoulder bolt and a bit of PVC pipe, and the speed handle was done.
This morning on the drive to work, not sure why, but I started thinking about the frustration I had getting the cutter centered on the work . . . then I remembered . . . last month, I installed a 3-axis DRO on the mill . . . and it never occurred to me to turn it on.
This past weekend I had some time to waste, so for kicks, I made a “speed handle” for the milling machine vise. The vise is Vevor brand and has a 14mm drive hex. I sacrificed an old 14mm deep impact socket to make the middle and end drive points. The boss for the handle was turned from ¾” round bar. The tube sections between the drive points and handle boss were cut from a long since retired floor jack’s handle.
The floor jack was of Chinese origin, so the OD of the jack handle was something metric, just under ¾”. The OD of the 14mm impact socket was about .870”. To fish cut the ends of the tube, I used 7/8” and ¾” end mills. Given the non-exact diameter of the jack handle tube, I was having trouble getting the cutter centered on the tube. The math was there, but the backlash on the Y axis lead screw and a slipping index wheel kept messing me up. After quite a bit of trial and error, I got it close enough to mill the tube ends. A little TIG welding, a shoulder bolt and a bit of PVC pipe, and the speed handle was done.
This morning on the drive to work, not sure why, but I started thinking about the frustration I had getting the cutter centered on the work . . . then I remembered . . . last month, I installed a 3-axis DRO on the mill . . . and it never occurred to me to turn it on.
