# Angle plate



## DavidR8 (Nov 25, 2019)

As I build up my tooling I was thinking about an angle plate.
So naturally I hit the 'Bay. Saw some nice stuff but also ran across this eye-popper:




__





						NOS Busch Precision 0002 USA 12 X12 X12 Double RIB ANGLE PLATE 2550 2300: Search Result | eBay
					

Find great deals on eBay for NOS Busch Precision 0002 USA 12 X12 X12 Double RIB ANGLE PLATE 2550 2300. Shop with confidence.



					www.ebay.ca
				




Surely the $1,400 price is a typo.

Edit: maybe not a typo as the seller indicates list is $2500. Gulp!


----------



## JimDawson (Nov 25, 2019)

For a precision tool that size the price seems in the ballpark.  



			https://www.mscdirect.com/product/details/70141320


----------



## DavidR8 (Nov 25, 2019)

Wow, I had absolutely no idea...


----------



## darkzero (Nov 25, 2019)

Well, the more digits there are to right of the decimal for precision meaurement means more digits to left of the decimal in price.


----------



## projectnut (Nov 25, 2019)

Busch has always been proud of their tooling and have always asked premium prices.  That level of precision may be required in some instances, but certainly not for most hobby applications.  On the other hand places like Shars offer the same size plates accurate to within .0005 per 6" for a little over $200.00.

I have about a dozen angle plates ranging in size from  2" x 2" to 12" x12".  Most were purchased used from a local equipment dealer, or from my previous employer.  I doubt I paid $100.00 for the largest ones.


----------



## DavidR8 (Nov 25, 2019)

Looks like shipping is going to be expensive!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## pontiac428 (Nov 25, 2019)

This is good for most of what I do.  .0005 per 6" is better than most of what I turn out anyway.

https://www.shars.com/open-end-slotted-angle-plate-8x6x5


----------



## C-Bag (Nov 25, 2019)

If you want a challenge buy one of the cheap ones and scrape and lap it in! It serves two purposes, gets your metrology skills and scraping skills a boost and also gives you an appreciation of why they want so much for one of those angles. 

BTW, how big is your mill? 12x12 is mighty big.....


----------



## DavidR8 (Nov 25, 2019)

C-Bag said:


> If you want a challenge buy one of the cheap ones and scrape and lap it in! It serves two purposes, gets your metrology skills and scraping skills a boost and also gives you an appreciation of why they want so much for one of those angles.
> 
> BTW, how big is your mill? 12x12 is mighty big.....


I don't actually have a mill (but I really want one!) I was just struck by the price tag of the item. I realize that 12"x12" is pretty massive.
Part of what I want an angle plate is to build up a way to mill on my lathe. 
Though maybe putting the dollars toward a mill is a better idea.


----------



## matthewsx (Nov 25, 2019)

Yes, go for a mill if you can rather than a milling attachment.

And get yourself a catalog from a real tooling supply, you’ll stop being amazed at prices pretty quick  

john


----------



## C-Bag (Nov 25, 2019)

Yeah only you can know which way to go. Without knowing your goals it's a tough call. But I would think just an angle plate isn't going to get you very far on a lathe in the milling dept. Most milling attachments have a Z axis so you can make more than one pass. Some of those milling attachments can be very pricy too. And it's a lot of work it would seem. But there's an old guy who's on one of the other sites I used to frequent that has no mill and does everything on the lathe with a milling attachment he made. It just depends on what your work envelope is. So far I've only wished for a bigger lathe than my 9x20 once and haven't needed to do anything larger than my mill/drill can handle. But that's just me.


----------



## matthewsx (Nov 25, 2019)

The milling attachment I built for my lathe is what convinced me to build a mill


----------



## DavidR8 (Nov 26, 2019)

matthewsx said:


> The milling attachment I built for my lathe is what convinced me to build a mill



What is this “build a mill” thing you speak of? 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## DavidR8 (Nov 26, 2019)

C-Bag said:


> But there's an old guy who's on one of the other sites I used to frequent that has no mill and does everything on the lathe with a milling attachment he made.



I think you’re referring to Steve Jordan. 
He does some nice work with his mini lathe and a Myford ML7. 
He’s actually younger than his voice sounds. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## C-Bag (Nov 26, 2019)

Nope, this was on a forum and just knew his handle olderdan. He just had a Southbend and was in the UK.


----------



## ThinWoodsman (Nov 26, 2019)

DavidR8 said:


> Part of what I want an angle plate is to build up a way to mill on my lathe.



I saw something recently where a guy took a pretty sturdy angle plate and drilltapped it to mate with his compound slide. Bolt the angle plate to the cross-slide and you have the compound serving as a one-axis (Yish) table perpendicular to the cross-slide. Put a vise on the compound in lieu of a toolpost and you have a milling attachment.

No, I have not tried this. I have a mill or three.


----------



## C-Bag (Nov 26, 2019)

ThinWoodsman said:


> I saw something recently where a guy took a pretty sturdy angle plate and drilltapped it to mate with his compound slide. Bolt the angle plate to the cross-slide and you have the compound serving as a one-axis (Yish) table perpendicular to the cross-slide. Put a vise on the compound in lieu of a toolpost and you have a milling attachment.
> 
> No, I have not tried this. I have a mill or three.


Funny how I can be so myopic. I'm not sure why I didn't even think about using the compound mounted vertically as Z. Of course there are all kinds of details and challenges but it totally makes sense. Periodically there are different slide mechanisms on the local CL. But you have to be one of those people who don't seem to mind swapping things out to do every different operation. That drives me crazy, I can see why John would rather build a mill after making a milling attachment.


----------



## epanzella (Nov 27, 2019)

Shipping is $185.oo so I guess the warehouse is on Mars.


----------



## DavidR8 (Nov 27, 2019)

epanzella said:


> Shipping is $185.oo so I guess the warehouse is on Mars.


it's 12" x 12" so a bit heavy but I only paid $100 to get my 100# lathe from CA to Vancouver Island.


----------

