Aligning a mini mill's column

Z

Zoltan

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I have a X2 mini mill and am working on getting everything squared up. I've already squared the head to the column, but I'm having problems squaring the column to the table. The issue is the column is tilted slightly forward, so my Y axis is off about .0075" across the table. When I put a .0015" shim between the column mount and base it tilts the column back, and then I'm off about .0075" across the table in the other direction.

So I'm at a bit of loss what to do now. I was thinking of maybe putting .0015" shim at the front of the column mount and a .002" shim at the back to average it out, but them I'm afraid the joint between the column and base isn't going to be very rigid (relatively).

Thoughts?
 
If the 0.0015 shim is twice as big as it needs to be... try two shims in front (0.0015) and one in back(0.0015).
 
Daver said:
If the 0.0015 shim is twice as big as it needs to be... try two shims in front (0.0015) and one in back(0.0015).
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It seems like that would just average out a single .0015" shim in the front.

There's also my concern of keeping the column mount rigid enough with a shim both in front and in the back.
 
Yeah, your right... I must have been tired.
Can you move the shim closer to the front of the mount decreasing the overall angle?
 
Try aluminum foil for your shim. Can't remember the exact thickness, but I think it comes thinner than 0.0015"

Walt
 
I'm planning on making up an adjustment plate for mine so that I can true it up by loosening some bolts and tightening others. If you Google 'Reducing mini-mill column flex', you should find something like it.
 
Maybe you can drill/tap some holes and put some set screws strategically located so you can make a fine adjustment. There will probably be an angled gap but you could make some custom shims. Once they're in place, then you can tighten all the bolts.

Or...

Any chance you can carefully mill or surface grind the high surfaces instead of shimming the low parts?
 
IIRC heavy duty foil is about 0.00075, regular stuff is thinner. It's nice when you just need a lil` bit more.
 
Walt said:
Try aluminum foil for your shim. Can't remember the exact thickness, but I think it comes thinner than 0.0015"

Walt
Click to expand...
I wish I would have seen this post sooner. Anyway, aluminum foil is exactly what I ended up using. Two strips of the normal stuff was almost exactly the right thickness, and yes, it's a lot thinner than 0.0015". Interestingly, the heavy duty foil isn't much thicker than the standard foil.

I thought about doing the stiffener plate as suggested, but I wasn't comfortable drilling the back of the base and then applying pressure on it like that. Looking at the base the back of the base is quite thin and isn't designed to really take much force at all, and I was worried about it eventually developing cracks.
 
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