How to square up stock on the milling machine

[Nelson]

Tom,

Awesome video- I posted it as an article in the Milling machine section of the Articles (Home) section.


Thanks,


Nelson

 

[arvidj]

Thanks very much for the clarification. It makes perfect sense to do it that way but assuming perfect sense has often gotten me into trouble.

 

[Tom Griffin]

Thanks very much for the clarification. It makes perfect sense to do it that way but assuming perfect sense has often gotten me into trouble.

Assumption is just another word for mistake. :thinking:

But making mistakes is not necessarily a bad thing. When you make a bad one and really screw something up, you'll never forget it and rarely repeat it.
Just chalk it up as experience gained and move on.

I used to work with an old German dude name Ernie Kraudelt, and he made a fair amount of mistakes. He actually preferred to call them "engineering changes". What made him such a good machinist was that he was a wizard at correcting them. He had more tricks up his sleeve than you could imagine and it was a rare occurrence for him to give up and declare a part scrap. He also never trusted a new print. When engineering would send one down, Ernie would stash it under his bench and wait until someone came looking for the part. He figured that by then, any "engineering changes" upstairs would have already happened and it was safe to make the part. I learned a lot from old Ernie.

Tom

 

[Hawkeye]

Tom, we all benefit from having good quality videos like this in the forum library. The comments and suggestions that follow just add to the information. I picked up a few tweaks myself. Thanks.

 

[ekrteam]

Thanks Tom - Your video was well worth the time to watch unlike many videos. Basics like this are great for guys like me who are still working on the fundamentals.

 

[bedwards]

Thanks for taking the time to make the video. Most of us learn more by watching and doing than by reading.

very good

Bryan

 

[Tom Griffin]

Thanks for all of the comments. It's good to hear the video is getting some play time.

Etard: Sorry to disappoint but it was my elbow, not my knee. I just position the vise handle at 12:00 and bump it with my elbow to grab the part.

Tom

 

[railbob]

Thanks for posting this. I have been wondering how to square up a cylinder casting.
By seeing this I think I can get er done now.

Bob

 

[Kevin45]

Great video!!!

I have to second on using a deadblow hammer though. A metal hammer will bounce your stock off of the parallel almost every time.

One other thing that I do when squaring up is that I will square the end and the top at the same time. Hang the piece out of the right hand side of the vise. Then you can use the side of the endmill to cut it, and the bottom of the endmill to cut the top. You now have a square surface to put one of those surfaces against the solid jaw. I also use a piece of folded paper against the movable jaw, unless the piece is really out of square, then I use the dowel method.

There are a variety of ways to square a part up. A lot of it is just personal preference. But there are also a lot of ways to do it wrong. Depending on size, you want to square up as many surfaces as you can without ever taking the stock out of the vise. If I have a thick enough piece, I will cut the top, ends, sides, all to size, then all you have to do is flip it over and face it off to the proper height. One other good practice is that whatever side you have flat, try to keep that side against the solid jaw as much as possible.

 

[Tom Griffin]

Thanks Kevin.

I've had a lot of comments about the hammer thing but I'll stick with the ball pein. If you strike the part with the edge or the ball end of the hammer, the part will not bounce. Try it.

I will also occasionally machine the top and end of a part at the same time, but only with larger and thinner parts. If a small part like this is clamped in the side of the vise it may move unless the other side is supported by a jack screw or a similar part to keep the moveable jaw from cocking.

Care needs to be taken when side milling with longer end mills. They can deflect a surprising amount, making the part out of square.

Like any machining operation there definitely are a lot of different ways to aquare up stock, but if you the first machined surfaces against the solid jaw and the square you will end up with a square part.

Tom