Horizontal Test Indicator For Setting Mill's Vise?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Alan H.
  • Start date Start date
kwoodhands said:
I use a no indicator method that is very accurate. I had a piece of 4" x 12" x 5/16" steel plate that was very flat. I cut a notch in the bottom to fit over the vice bed and into the table slots. I pack the back of the plate with a 123 block and a couple of parallels so the plate will close to a slot The jaws are then tightened. The vice bolts are a bit loose so I can pull the vice towards me a bit until the plate is snug against a table slot. Then tighten the nuts. Usually takes less than 5 minutes to square the vice to the slots. The first few times I tried this I checked with an indicator. Don't recall anymore but I do know the vice was as good as I ever got or better with an indicator. I stopped using the indicator for squaring a vice 10 years ago.
If the plate is flat and the vice is pulled tight to the slot this will suffice for most work.
mike
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That sounds like it works well, kwoodhands. I just use keys in the bottom of the chuck that fit the chuck slots snugly and the table t-slots snugly as well. The vise is within .001" over six inches by just doing that, and by bumping it gently backwards into the t-slots it is within .0005" over six inches. Time spent is just tightening the bolts. Don't waste time chasing your chuck around the table with nothing to guide it toward being parallel. I also use no indicator unless checking it for really fussy work.
 
That's the DTI I use. I'm slowly turning into a Mitutoyo fan boy, but that's mostly influenced by better prices where I happen to live over some other good brands. Plus all the dovetail holder do-dads fit between one another which is sometimes not the case depending on other brands.

The posts so far summarized my squaring efforts. Everyone's mill vise & table is a bit different. In my case the T-slots are kind of not-so-great finish so I had inconsistent results trying to secure the vise when aligned to slots using a jig bar. Plus I always seem to have chips in there which takes me even more time. My vice is ground on the sides, no external casting bumps. So first I square aligned to that & the front edge of mill table. That puts me very close. Then I tram the DTI against a ground parallel held in jaws which extends a bit on either side of jaws & is very smooth.

I semi tighten one of the hold-downs but leave the others hand tight. Then tram the DTI under power (a nice convenience but not necessary) & then lightly tap the vise with small plastic mallet to 'stop' the DTI needle movement as it progresses. By clamping one corner only, it kind of promotes the vise to rotate as opposed to rotate + in/out displace with unwanted junk movement that makes DTI reading more confusing. There might be a Youtube but after a few practice runs you get the hang of it & becomes dead easy. 1-2 passes tops within 0.001" over 6" if you were close to begin with. Then, the trick is don't bugger up this alignment by gronking the remaining bolts to full torque because it can alter the position out of alignment. Just progress around criss-cross & snug them up like a cylinder head. I use to hate removing my vise, now its no big deal at all. Good luck!
 
Been tramming using an Interapid 312-B for 15 years or so, takes 30 seconds, tighten one bolt almost snug, the other a bit less snug, fire up the power feed and tram back jaw while tapping vise with soft face hammer, no keys, no 5 minutes, one pass maybe 2, maybe takes 90 seconds on a bad day. Keyed vises, hate em, my Kurt keys sat on the shelf laughing at me till I sold them.
 
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