Don,

If the vise does not have slots for keys, mill slots and drill
and tap the holes for screws to keep the keys in place. (You may want
two sets of slots -- one for the vise at right angles to the T-slots,
and another set for the vise parallel to the T-slots. In that case, I
would suggest putting number stamps in the keys and the slots so the
same keys go back in the same place each time.

It has keys, but they are too small for the slots. Sounds like a good
project.


To get the slots running just right, take a chunk of square
steel stock, clamp it to the table adjusting for parallel, and then
clamp the jaws of the inverted vise to the stock. (This is presuming
that the vise does not have a swivel base, of course.)

It has a swivel base, but it is currently bolted so the pieces hold
their orientation, and I could leave it that way, I suppose, if I blow
for a rotary table. As people have observed, the tooling options are
endless (part of me does not mind that very muchg). I understand what
you are saying about a tight fit. In fact, it explains some things from
my past; Ron must have done that, and a damn good job of it too (no
surprise).




There are lots of ways -- depending on the indicator. Since I
don't know what your indicator looks like, I can't suggest much --
except that I would use collets instead if I had a choice.

I am very much leaning toward the ER32 solution, but want to read a
little more before buying them. Basically, I do not care (much) about
the height of the chuck, but I do care about the relative height between
the business end of a drill bit and an end mill, and about the vertical
space required to make the common changes.

One question about ER32, and put this to the seller I listed, is how
much room does one need to change a collet? It looks a lot more spindle
friendly than changing an R8 collet.




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?


What you *should* do is stone or file to remove the *raised*
part of the dings, without cutting into the rest of the surface. Again,
rub with waylube after you have filed, so you don't have bare metal
exposed to rust.

BTW -- if you've got a fuel fed heater in the shop -- beware
that aside from possibly introducing carbon monoxide and poisoning you,
it is also *very* likely to produce water vapor, which will condense on
the cold metal for quite a while until you get the tools warm enough.
Better to use electric heat, or put heat sources (e.g. light bulbs)
inside the machine to keep it warmer than the surrounding air. (And
lots of surface lube again.)

In Florida we tend to struggle with too much heat, so it's not likely to
be a concern. However, this will be my first winter in this house, and
an electric space heater might find its way into the garage/shop. The
house itself has gas heat, and I might also "forget" to close the door
leading to the garage when I'm working.



What is the spindle for your machine? The first hit which I
checked on "Rong Fu 31" in Google shows that the one being sold has an
R8 spindle, so you will use R8 collets. They are relatively
inexpensive, good for light work, and should be tightened by the same
drawbar which holds in you drill chuck (which is a *terrible* way to
hold end mills, though quite reasonable for drill bits.)

So -- the search for "R8" collets should narrow things down
greatly. You won't need a chuck at all for holding them -- your spindle
should do that properly.

It is fascinating to see the varied opinions on this. Most of my
experience was with collet chucks, and I recall enjoying using them. I
will try collet mounting some bits to see what works. Do you have a
recommendation for end mill holders that would compete with the ER32
collet chuck set? I am not so much worried about quick change as I am
in the clearance needed above the work.



Hmm ... something like that could be nice for re-zeroing a DRO
(Digital ReadOut -- a device for numerically displaying the coordinate
positions so you aren't having to spend as much time making sure that
the leadscrew backlash is not fooling you.

As I recall, I was taught to prevent backlash by trusting the dials only
in one direction after a "find". Instructional corrections/additions
are more than welcome. I did very little precision work, and usually
cared about one a couple of dimensions at most, so it wasn't too
difficult to cut/count/cut.

Bill