I have a couple questions

[Jake M]

Mounting off center is an interesting idea! It also moves the main wear point out of the middle. You may want to switch left/right once in a while!

I may have to use that trick!

I love the idea of the centering mark too, though I, um, haven't actually USED my rotary table since I built it...

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Mounting the vice off center is something that a lot of the YouTube "actual professional machinists" do, and switching sides every year is part of the drill. (What's a professional year equate to in hobby use?) A couple have actually mentioned it. Abom79 was one of them, before he became the shop tour and new tool day channel Might have been Kieth Fenner? said so also? Or maybe I just caught him doing it? Somewhere I heard a second description of it that matched Abom's. Once I became aware of that, I "caught" several more "pros" doing it. I wouldn't say "everybody" does it, but some do. Partly for the "free table" on the other side, but mostly to FORCE the wear to be as near as practibale to the ends (as near as you can get it and not have to move the thing all the time). The two worn ends overlap in the middle and leave you with a worn, but EVENLY worn table/saddle, so you can snug up the gib and still have a tight table with full movement even after the inevitable wear becomes excessive. Versus the "normally" worn tables which worn in the center where you've got to tighten 'em up to have a tight table in the center, and loosen 'em to get full travel.

 

[randyjaco]

don’t blow chips off the mill. They will end up where they will cause a problem. Some manufacturers will void a warranty if a blow gun is used to clean a machine. A brush works well or a shop vacuum. I made a sheet metal tee slot cleaner that just fits the tee slot to clean out the tee slots. When you mount a vise put a thin coat of oil under it to avoid any corrosion. Before mounting anything like a vice or rotory table lightly stone the table to remove any high spots or dings. Above all have fun making new things

I have been blowing chips off my machines for the past 50 years with no major issues. Of course, I have never owned any machines that came with a warranty. I use a brush too, but never a vacuum. They are way too slow and constantly get clogged. If you use compressed air, just use some common sense with it.

 

[Nutfarmer]

Common sense is the key to most things. I remember when the techs from Brudder came out to check one of their presses. They came unglued when they saw the air lines we used to blow out the die sets. If I remember correctly they were around a 50 ton press. They were so well balanced they were mounted on springs. The speed and stroke could be varied while the press was running. The best presses I have ever seen. They were being used to make the tabs on pop top soda can. I couldn’t believe they were running at 600 strokes a minute on a progressive die.

 

[RaisedByWolves]

I have been blowing chips off my machines for the past 50 years with no major issues. Of course, I have never owned any machines that came with a warranty. I use a brush too, but never a vacuum. They are way too slow and constantly get clogged. If you use compressed air, just use some common sense with it.

We’ve always blown off the machines at work, but these are not our machines snd they are at work.

At home I use a vacuum as I don’t want chips blown all over to be tracked upstairs.

 

[tominboise]

I did clamp a chunk of 2X4 to each free end and that damped it quite a bit. The handles on the C clamps are now rattling like sleigh bells, but the vibration is a lot less.