Bill Schwab wrote:

Should I be concerned about leaving the vice in place for long periods?
I would hate to find rust where there was once a nicely machined table

Most people I know leave the vice in place until they need the complete
table area.

Speaking of the table, most of it is quite clean. There are a couple of
small dings that I assume will be best honed or lapped away. What
should I _not_ do?

I wouldn't do anything to them. They are highly unlikely to have any
effect on the operation of the mill.


One of the more interesting suggestions was to use a collet chuck. My
problem is that google returned so many hits as to be useless. Can some
kind soul who knows what is going on provide a link to the right gizmo
(or refute the idea)?

My (old Centec) mill came with a Clarkson chuck. I found it was a real
chore to have to remove it for drilling. I've now got an ER32 system
which can securely hold any diameter from 2-20mm. It can be used to hold
drills as well as milling cutters. Since you mention 'pounds'
somewhere else I assume you are in UK. If so, take a look at RDG Tools'
website for reasonably priced ER sets. http://www.rdgtools.co.uk/

An edge/center finder is on its way. For most things, layout lines will
probably be more than sufficient. Otherwise, I am thinking of drilling
a reference hole for "when" I get lost, and then working relative to it.

Although pricey, consider installing a DRO system. Trying to compensate
for backlash on a mill can quickly destroy any pleasure derived from
making chips. If you take that route, don't skimp and settle for a
2-axis system - you will soon wish you had 3. I listened to the advice
of several model engineer friends, and they were definitely right.


--

Regards, Gary Wooding
(To reply by email, change feet to foot in my address)