"John Hofstad-Parkhill" wrote in message
...
Hey Andrew:

I think the crux of this hobby, for many, is the creative parts. I've been
working metal for just several years, not a lifetime. I've never had the
pleasure of working on a Bridgeport, or a heavier mill. I have amassed
clamps, vises and parallels, because I apparantly have not seen a set of
parallels at auction that I didn't want to buy - for example.

I think your question is a good one, as it does get the creative juices
flowing. But with my simple gear - and a rotary table (import) - the
solutions usually offer themselves up after some study.

I think too, that we all get pulled into the overthinking trap.

I've been trying to figure out a way to tell if my garage door is open. I
ran a remote switch to the house (can't get to the attached garage from
inside) with 4-conductor wire. So, I'm pondering a way to utilize the
other
pair for some light or something. My good friend comes by and I miserate
about the alternatives. He says, "why not put a mirror on the tree out
front?"

Why not indeed.

"Andrew Mawson" wrote in message
...

"Dave" wrote in message
om...
I've been pondering the issues of clamping and holding work on a mill
table and I'm really not encouraged. The difficulty in securely
holding the material and yet leaving an empty space around it where
you plan to be cutting it, while still maintaining precise alignment,
seems like a really big headache for any small, thin, or irregularly
shaped (or curved) items. I think I'd need to have a $300 stack of
chopped up parallels and a half-dozen customized sets of vise-jaws to
even begin. Either that or resign myself to adding several unnecessary
threaded holes in each part -- just to hold them down. Am I
exaggerating the difficulty level?

Thanks,

Dave


Dave,

for small irregularly shaped items I use a low melt alloy (Cerrobend) -
it
melts in boiling water and can be poured round the item locking it into
a
frame that can be clamped. Works a treat and the alloy is infinately
re-useable.

Andrew Mawson






.... er .... John I think you mixed up questions and answers here - mine was
an answer !!!!!!!

Andrew