# Angle Plate



## Charley Davidson (Apr 21, 2013)

I got 2 really heavy pieces of angle from work a while back to make a couple angle plates for my mill. I got the 2 outside faces milled and now wondering if I really need to do the inside faces or not. I think I will but may not clean out the corner. I'm gonna drill and tap holes in it for mounting a work piece.


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## Tony Wells (Apr 22, 2013)

No real need to do it, and the more you machine, the weaker it will be. Also, if you take out or reduce the corner radius, you will lose much of the rigidity of the angle. Plus it will no longer be square, because of stress relief from the loss of corner radius, so you'd have to skim the main faces again. But you probably knew that already.


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## SE18 (Apr 22, 2013)

Now that I've got my welder, I wanted to make a few angle plates so this post is timely. Some questions:

1. So you squared it up the best you could with a square, tack welded both sides some some sort of welding device and then welded across, but just on one side (the inside?)?

2. Then, to ensure accuracy down to the thousandths or so, you lightly milled the face with maybe a flycutter type device?

3. Why do some angle plates have ribs? Is this angle plate strong enough for anything without those extra supports?

Thanks

Dave


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## Tony Wells (Apr 22, 2013)

If I were to build some, I'd do all the welding and then soak it in the oven for a while to stress relieve it, then rough it with a fly cutter, then if I wanted truly accurate 90°, I'd have to consider how I would evaluate the squareness while I ground, milled, or lapped the surfaces. For most of the  work I do, I don't need an extremely accurate angle plate, so milling would likely be sufficiently accurate.

The ribs, or gussets, give the surfaces more stability against distortion when objects are clamped against it. Just watch that they won't interfere with any slots you intend to cut, or the fasteners you plan to use.


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