"Ned Simmons" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 13 Nov 2008 23:18:38 -0800, "Michael Koblic"
wrote:



I have no previous experience with milling machines. Your initial comment
suggests that a bigger better machine is less likely to suffer from these
issues. Is that correct? I am kind of disappointed as I have seen
home-made
mills which had better organized Z-depth stop and adjustment than this.

These pics may give you some ideas. I made this attachment for when I
want very fine control over Z depths and tweaks. It can be set up to
use the head, table, work or vise as a reference. On a knee mill it
allows one to make adjustments to both the quill and knee without
losing relative position.

A rod could replace the indicator if just a simple stop is needed. For
example, if you want to drill to a constant depth and the workpieces
vary in thickness, mount a rod parallel to your drill that bumps the
top of the work.
http://www.suscom-maine.net/~nsimmon...ndicator01.JPG
http://www.suscom-maine.net/~nsimmon...ndicator02.JPG

While I was looking for those photos I came across these that show a
magnetic mount I made that allows one to use any convenient rule (mm,
fractional, decimal inch) as a quill scale. The rule position can be
adjusted to move the zero point as desired.
http://www.suscom-maine.net/~nsimmon...lScale01sm.jpg
http://www.suscom-maine.net/~nsimmon...lScale02sm.jpg


That's great. I shall archive these for future reference. Thanks.