DIYbanter - View Single Post

On 25 Jan 2006 12:19:42 -0800, wrote:

Thanks for the reply. "Troll", not sure what you mean by that,
anyway thanks for pointing out how to use a vise. Gees - would have
never known. Allow me to be a little clearer. My question was, "What
is everybody doing to clamp and align these little vices?" Thus far
I have found no good answer. Strap clamps (toe clamp if you prefer)
would work yes but there sloppy and don't lend them themselves to
aligning, "squaring" the head very easily. I did find some
drawings to make your own clamps at,
"http://www.littlemachineshop.com/Projects/ViseClamps.php" but
they seem, just by looking at them, not rigged enough, and wouldn't
make alignment much easier then the strap clamps. I'm figuring now I
will have to make my own clamps for each end. I'm thinking with some
kind of eccentrics and set bolt for easy alignment, and perhaps a stop
block for one side. I'm still hoping that someone out there has some
really slick better idea on what they did and would be willing to share
it.
The way I do it, if I don't clamp the small vise in a bigger one, is
to clamp the vise to the table loosely. I'll list the procedures
below:
Since I think you are using this on a small machine clamp the vise
parallel with the X (long) axis.
Mount an indicator such that you can indicate the front side (the side
closest to you) of the vise.
Note which end has the highest reading. Loosen the clamp for this end.
Not all the way, it still needs to be a bit snug.
Tighten the clamp on the low end on the vise more than the high end.
Now use a soft hammer to tap against the high end of the vise. This
will make the vise move away from you and make the indicator reading
lower. The vise will tend to rotate around the low end because you
have made that clamp tighter. The reason to tap on the high side is
that it moves the vise away from the indicator and put way less shock
into it.
Check again the alignment with the indicator.
Keep tapping the high side until the vise is in line with the X axis
travel. If you have the indicator, and if the machine is that good,
you should shoot for less than .0001" in 6 inches. It takes practice
but not too much and you will be able to get the vise really close
really fast.
ERS