On Tue, 28 Aug 2012 16:43:04 -0700, "Bob La Londe"
wrote:

Lloyd, Gunner,

Why?

I can spend over a grand on a piece of metal to bolt to a piece of metal. To
use it I would have to do a lot of machining basically duplicating a lot of
the work already done to the table of the machine. Then it would increase
the overall weight on the table to nearly the recommended capacity of the
machine. A couple hundred pounds for the tooling plate and 160 pound of
vises and I would then only be able to have a couple pounds of work piece on
the machine before exceeding the 500lb weight limit on the table.

I know there is a strong aversion to cutting the table, but is there a
really strong reason?


Because you if you are never able to work the entire table and ways.
..... you will ultimately wear loose spots in the gibs and ways if you
are unable to move the work around, balancing the wear. Never put
your vise on a mill and keep it in the same spot year after year.
Particularly on a CNC machine. You wear out the screws, the ballscrews
the nuts and cages and so on and so forth in one small section, when
you work only one spot.

Ive tested literally hundreds of mills of all different sorts..and I
was able to match wear up with the clean spots on the tables with the
areas of most wear....IE..where the vises were locked down and never
moved.

On EVERY mill Ive ever owned..Ive put the table on , on the sides, the
left quarter, right quarter...alll over the place, to minimize wear in
one spot on the ways.

If you are a big company and are cranking out a gazillion parts and
the mill is simply a tool...go ahead and replace that mill every 3
yrs..or replace the ways..which cost damned near as much. Its part of
the cost of doing business. But when you are a small shop or hobby
guy...those *******s cost like the devil....

Gunner

--
The essential differences between liberals and conservtives
is that liberals could not exist without conservtives to defend
their freedom and support them economicaly.

Conservatives on the other hand, can exist and
live quite well without liberals."