With a recent addition of a mill with a PERFECT table, I now am
considering what to put on it so it stays that way.

What do you prefer for a fixture/tooling plate and how do you like to
prepare them? Holes? T-slots? How thick? What material? Shop made or
commercial?

And remember, a mill table is terrible thing to waste.... ;)

Thanks for any suggestions you might have.

TMT

"Too_Many_Tools" wrote in message
oups.com...
With a recent addition of a mill with a PERFECT table, I now am
considering what to put on it so it stays that way.

What do you prefer for a fixture/tooling plate and how do you like to
prepare them? Holes? T-slots? How thick? What material? Shop made or
commercial?

And remember, a mill table is terrible thing to waste.... ;)

Thanks for any suggestions you might have.

TMT


In my opinion, milling machines are like trucks. I bought it to do a job. I
know it's going to get scratched up, and that's ok. Covers and plates just
get in the way, and add to inaccuracies. The only way I'd put a plate on a
mill as a permanent fixture is if the mill was only bought for one job, and
it would never run anything else.

On Thu, 23 Mar 2006 16:00:40 GMT, Dave Lyon wrote:

"Too_Many_Tools" wrote in message
oups.com...
With a recent addition of a mill with a PERFECT table, I now am
considering what to put on it so it stays that way.

What do you prefer for a fixture/tooling plate and how do you like to
prepare them? Holes? T-slots? How thick? What material? Shop made or
commercial?

And remember, a mill table is terrible thing to waste.... ;)

Thanks for any suggestions you might have.

TMT


In my opinion, milling machines are like trucks. I bought it to do a job. I
know it's going to get scratched up, and that's ok. Covers and plates just
get in the way, and add to inaccuracies. The only way I'd put a plate on a
mill as a permanent fixture is if the mill was only bought for one job, and
it would never run anything else.



I agree with the above sentiment.

Unless I need a tooling plate for a specific job, I don't use them because
all they do is collect oil, coolant, slime, oogies... under the plate and
the once pristine table surface now has stains and possibly rust! And,
every time I put it on for a new job, I wind up fly cutting the surface for
flatness. If you were to take it off to clean frequently, you'd have cut
your plate down PDQ.

Just be a good machinist and don't mill/drill into your table!

But, to answer the OP's question, I drill/tap threaded holes wherever I need
them to be for the job. I drill and counter bore (as deep as possible) for
1/2-13 SHCS to hold the plate down to the table surface using standard
T-nuts. Also, if you really want to leave the plate on for extended periods
and are running different jobs, drill a set of tapped holes to mount your
vise.

Thickness depends on how much you want to lift :-) Nothing less than 1"
though.

Many here may gasp and disagree, but I've even drill tooling holes (by
design) directly into the table surface. I pressed in a bushing and had
accurate reference points/ removable stops...

It's just a tool, treat it with care and respect, but use it in whatever
manner needed to be most efficient, and accurate for a job.
--
Skuke
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"Too_Many_Tools" wrote in message
oups.com...
With a recent addition of a mill with a PERFECT table, I now am
considering what to put on it so it stays that way.


Is the tabled hardened? We had mills at school made of soft cast iron, and
others of the hard (not sure exactly which alloy). The ones with the hard
tables virtually never got dented or scratched.

I agree with the others though. A tooling plate just to prevent mistakes is
like having training wheels on a bike. Learn how to use a 6" rule and you
shouldn't have issues with machining/drilling the table.

Regards,

Robin

skuke wrote:
But, to answer the OP's question, I drill/tap threaded holes wherever I need
them to be for the job. I drill and counter bore (as deep as possible) for
1/2-13 SHCS to hold the plate down to the table surface using standard
T-nuts.

And before you mount a plate that's going to stay put for a long time,
hose the table down with BoeShield or equivalent longterm corrosion
preventer.