Related to my yesterday's vise refurbishing project, where I milled a
little thin layer off the anvil to make it look smooth. I used a 5/8"
carbide endmill. I made multiple passes, each time removing a "strip"
approximately 1/2" wide.

While the result is perfectly acceptable for a vise anvil, it was
nothing to brag about as far as finish quality is concerned.

Here's one revealing pictu

http://igor.chudov.com/projects/misc...-Vise-2182.jpg

The ridges you see, are visually exaggerated by the fact that some
passes fere from left to right and some were from right to left. They
look bigger than they are because of this. In reality they are not
really that high.

So. What would you do, to achieve a decent looking flat finish,
without a surface grinder or anything of the sort.

--
Due to extreme spam originating from Google Groups, and their inattention
to spammers, I and many others block all articles originating
from Google Groups. If you want your postings to be seen by
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Ignoramus9931 wrote:

Related to my yesterday's vise refurbishing project, where I milled a
little thin layer off the anvil to make it look smooth. I used a 5/8"
carbide endmill. I made multiple passes, each time removing a "strip"
approximately 1/2" wide.

While the result is perfectly acceptable for a vise anvil, it was
nothing to brag about as far as finish quality is concerned.

Here's one revealing pictu

http://igor.chudov.com/projects/misc...-Vise-2182.jpg

The ridges you see, are visually exaggerated by the fact that some
passes fere from left to right and some were from right to left. They
look bigger than they are because of this. In reality they are not
really that high.

So. What would you do, to achieve a decent looking flat finish,
without a surface grinder or anything of the sort.

Flycutter

Ignoramus9931 fired this volley in
:

Related to my yesterday's vise refurbishing project, where I milled a
little thin layer off the anvil to make it look smooth. I used a 5/8"
carbide endmill. I made multiple passes, each time removing a "strip"
approximately 1/2" wide.

While the result is perfectly acceptable for a vise anvil, it was
nothing to brag about as far as finish quality is concerned.

Here's one revealing pictu

http://igor.chudov.com/projects/misc...-500S-Vise/Rep
ainting-Of-Wilton-500S-Vise-2182.jpg

The ridges you see, are visually exaggerated by the fact that some
passes fere from left to right and some were from right to left. They
look bigger than they are because of this. In reality they are not
really that high.

So. What would you do, to achieve a decent looking flat finish,
without a surface grinder or anything of the sort.


Iggy, you need to square up the bit to the work. Your vertical axis is
off-kilter. The ridges are an artifact of each cut being a slightly
radiused groove, rather than a "true" face-milling.

Usually, it just involves squaring up the head in its rotation. Rarely,
but on old, worn machines, the table might not be square vertically along
the y axis. That one's harder to fix, and often not worth it.

LLoyd

A flycutter is an excellent suggestion. That is what I used when
doing the exact same job. Be sure that the mill head is trammed. No
flycutter? Use a boring head and a single point tool set to the
diameter needed to cover the area in one pass.

A surface grinder works too.

Bob

It is not possible to get a flat surface with a milling machine anymore than
you can get with a cup grinder. The surface looks flat and for most
applications is flat enough. This is where the old fashion planer and shaper
have the task covered. Fly cutters, face mills and cup grinders are all
subject to spindle deflection and tramming issues, where the stroking
pointed lathe cutter is not. That is why I will not part with my 18" 4 ton
shaper. It makes flat surfaces. My humble opinion.
Steve

"Bruno" wrote in message
...
Ignoramus9931 wrote:

Related to my yesterday's vise refurbishing project, where I milled a
little thin layer off the anvil to make it look smooth. I used a 5/8"
carbide endmill. I made multiple passes, each time removing a "strip"
approximately 1/2" wide.

While the result is perfectly acceptable for a vise anvil, it was
nothing to brag about as far as finish quality is concerned.

Here's one revealing pictu

http://igor.chudov.com/projects/misc...-Vise-2182.jpg

The ridges you see, are visually exaggerated by the fact that some
passes fere from left to right and some were from right to left. They
look bigger than they are because of this. In reality they are not
really that high.

So. What would you do, to achieve a decent looking flat finish,
without a surface grinder or anything of the sort.

Flycutter

In article ,
Ignoramus9931 wrote:

Related to my yesterday's vise refurbishing project, where I milled a
little thin layer off the anvil to make it look smooth. I used a 5/8"
carbide endmill. I made multiple passes, each time removing a "strip"
approximately 1/2" wide.

While the result is perfectly acceptable for a vise anvil, it was
nothing to brag about as far as finish quality is concerned.

Here's one revealing pictu

http://igor.chudov.com/projects/misc...ise/Repainting
-Of-Wilton-500S-Vise-2182.jpg

The ridges you see, are visually exaggerated by the fact that some
passes fere from left to right and some were from right to left. They
look bigger than they are because of this. In reality they are not
really that high.

So. What would you do, to achieve a decent looking flat finish,
without a surface grinder or anything of the sort.

Wrap a piece of coarse-grit wet-dry sandpaper around a flat piece of
metal, and wet sand the surface flat by hand. Change sandpaper often.
If the mill has done its work well, it will not take very long before
all miil marks are gone. If desired, use finer grades of sandpaper to
eliminate the frosted surface. This can be carried to any extreme,
including mirror surfaces, which seems extreme for an anvil surface.
Unless you are a jeweler.


Joe Gwinn

On 2008-05-29, Joseph Gwinn wrote:
In article ,
Ignoramus9931 wrote:

Related to my yesterday's vise refurbishing project, where I milled a
little thin layer off the anvil to make it look smooth. I used a 5/8"
carbide endmill. I made multiple passes, each time removing a "strip"
approximately 1/2" wide.

While the result is perfectly acceptable for a vise anvil, it was
nothing to brag about as far as finish quality is concerned.

Here's one revealing pictu

http://igor.chudov.com/projects/misc...ise/Repainting
-Of-Wilton-500S-Vise-2182.jpg

The ridges you see, are visually exaggerated by the fact that some
passes fere from left to right and some were from right to left. They
look bigger than they are because of this. In reality they are not
really that high.

So. What would you do, to achieve a decent looking flat finish,
without a surface grinder or anything of the sort.

Wrap a piece of coarse-grit wet-dry sandpaper around a flat piece of
metal, and wet sand the surface flat by hand. Change sandpaper often.
If the mill has done its work well, it will not take very long before
all miil marks are gone. If desired, use finer grades of sandpaper to
eliminate the frosted surface. This can be carried to any extreme,
including mirror surfaces, which seems extreme for an anvil surface.
Unless you are a jeweler.

Joe, I agree, I think that 5-10 minutes with sandpaper will get me
covered.

i


--
Due to extreme spam originating from Google Groups, and their inattention
to spammers, I and many others block all articles originating
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How about a belt sander?
"Ignoramus9931" wrote in message
...
On 2008-05-29, Joseph Gwinn wrote:
In article ,
Ignoramus9931 wrote:

Related to my yesterday's vise refurbishing project, where I milled a
little thin layer off the anvil to make it look smooth. I used a 5/8"
carbide endmill. I made multiple passes, each time removing a "strip"
approximately 1/2" wide.

While the result is perfectly acceptable for a vise anvil, it was
nothing to brag about as far as finish quality is concerned.

Here's one revealing pictu

http://igor.chudov.com/projects/misc...ise/Repainting
-Of-Wilton-500S-Vise-2182.jpg

The ridges you see, are visually exaggerated by the fact that some
passes fere from left to right and some were from right to left. They
look bigger than they are because of this. In reality they are not
really that high.

So. What would you do, to achieve a decent looking flat finish,
without a surface grinder or anything of the sort.

Wrap a piece of coarse-grit wet-dry sandpaper around a flat piece of
metal, and wet sand the surface flat by hand. Change sandpaper often.
If the mill has done its work well, it will not take very long before
all miil marks are gone. If desired, use finer grades of sandpaper to
eliminate the frosted surface. This can be carried to any extreme,
including mirror surfaces, which seems extreme for an anvil surface.
Unless you are a jeweler.

Joe, I agree, I think that 5-10 minutes with sandpaper will get me
covered.

i


--
Due to extreme spam originating from Google Groups, and their
inattention
to spammers, I and many others block all articles originating
from Google Groups. If you want your postings to be seen by
more readers you will need to find a different means of
posting on Usenet.
http://improve-usenet.org/

On Thu, 29 May 2008 06:59:49 -0500, Ignoramus9931
wrote:

Related to my yesterday's vise refurbishing project, where I milled a
little thin layer off the anvil to make it look smooth. I used a 5/8"
carbide endmill. I made multiple passes, each time removing a "strip"
approximately 1/2" wide.

It's hard to tell from a photo, but it looks to me as though your
endmill is not sharp.

--
Ned Simmons

Joseph Gwinn wrote:
Wrap a piece of coarse-grit wet-dry sandpaper around a flat piece of
metal, and wet sand the surface flat by hand. Change sandpaper often.
If the mill has done its work well, it will not take very long before
all miil marks are gone. If desired, use finer grades of sandpaper to
eliminate the frosted surface. This can be carried to any extreme,
including mirror surfaces, which seems extreme for an anvil surface.
Unless you are a jeweler.

Joe Gwinn

I was waiting to see if someone came up with this. Or as I thought
first off was "draw filing" .
...lew...

In article ,
Joseph Gwinn wrote:

Wrap a piece of coarse-grit wet-dry sandpaper around a flat piece of
metal, and wet sand the surface flat by hand. Change sandpaper often.
If the mill has done its work well, it will not take very long before
all miil marks are gone. If desired, use finer grades of sandpaper to
eliminate the frosted surface. This can be carried to any extreme,
including mirror surfaces, which seems extreme for an anvil surface.
Unless you are a jeweler.

I don't know about that - my friend the armorer (plate, various sorts,
Italian 15th century being his favorite, as I recall) always kept the
anvil faces and hammer faces polished to a mirror shine. Not overly
difficult to maintain when in regular use. Takes a good deal of work to
get an abused rusty farm anvil up to that standard in the first place,
however.

Mine look like crap, comparatively, but that's mostly because they are
sitting around in one of the interminable phases of not getting much
work done while trying to get the shop ready to use. The older one did
get a full workover when I got it, and I oil them to slow the surface
rust while they wait for me to get things set up.

--
Cats, coffee, chocolate...vices to live by

What the others said about tramming, flycutter instead of end mill, hand
sanding the finish, etc. Also you should have this:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=93981

In a corner somewhere. Very useful for surface finishing on a WIDE range
of stuff.
JR
Dweller in the cellar


Ignoramus9931 wrote:
Related to my yesterday's vise refurbishing project, where I milled a
little thin layer off the anvil to make it look smooth. I used a 5/8"
carbide endmill. I made multiple passes, each time removing a "strip"
approximately 1/2" wide.

While the result is perfectly acceptable for a vise anvil, it was
nothing to brag about as far as finish quality is concerned.

Here's one revealing pictu

http://igor.chudov.com/projects/misc...-Vise-2182.jpg

The ridges you see, are visually exaggerated by the fact that some
passes fere from left to right and some were from right to left. They
look bigger than they are because of this. In reality they are not
really that high.

So. What would you do, to achieve a decent looking flat finish,
without a surface grinder or anything of the sort.


--
--------------------------------------------------------------
Home Page: http://www.seanet.com/~jasonrnorth
If you're not the lead dog, the view never changes
Doubt yourself, and the real world will eat you alive
The world doesn't revolve around you, it revolves around me
No skeletons in the closet; just decomposing corpses
--------------------------------------------------------------
Dependence is Vulnerability:
--------------------------------------------------------------
"Open the Pod Bay Doors please, Hal"
"I'm sorry, Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that.."

On 2008-05-29, JR North wrote:
What the others said about tramming, flycutter instead of end mill, hand
sanding the finish, etc. Also you should have this:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=93981

I kind of like this sander a lot because it is so small. I have a hand
held electric sander also. All good ideas.

In a few days I will be similarly refurbishing a 4" vise (this one was
a 5").

i

In a corner somewhere. Very useful for surface finishing on a WIDE range
of stuff.
JR
Dweller in the cellar


Ignoramus9931 wrote:
Related to my yesterday's vise refurbishing project, where I milled a
little thin layer off the anvil to make it look smooth. I used a 5/8"
carbide endmill. I made multiple passes, each time removing a "strip"
approximately 1/2" wide.

While the result is perfectly acceptable for a vise anvil, it was
nothing to brag about as far as finish quality is concerned.

Here's one revealing pictu

http://igor.chudov.com/projects/misc...-Vise-2182.jpg

The ridges you see, are visually exaggerated by the fact that some
passes fere from left to right and some were from right to left. They
look bigger than they are because of this. In reality they are not
really that high.

So. What would you do, to achieve a decent looking flat finish,
without a surface grinder or anything of the sort.



--
Due to extreme spam originating from Google Groups, and their inattention
to spammers, I and many others block all articles originating
from Google Groups. If you want your postings to be seen by
more readers you will need to find a different means of
posting on Usenet.
http://improve-usenet.org/

"Ignoramus9931" wrote in message
...
On 2008-05-29, JR North wrote:
What the others said about tramming, flycutter instead of end mill, hand
sanding the finish, etc. Also you should have this:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=93981

I kind of like this sander a lot because it is so small. I have a hand
held electric sander also. All good ideas.

In a few days I will be similarly refurbishing a 4" vise (this one was
a 5").

i

In a corner somewhere. Very useful for surface finishing on a WIDE range
of stuff.
JR
Dweller in the cellar


Ignoramus9931 wrote:
Related to my yesterday's vise refurbishing project, where I milled a
little thin layer off the anvil to make it look smooth. I used a 5/8"
carbide endmill. I made multiple passes, each time removing a "strip"
approximately 1/2" wide.

While the result is perfectly acceptable for a vise anvil, it was
nothing to brag about as far as finish quality is concerned.

Here's one revealing pictu

http://igor.chudov.com/projects/misc...-Vise-2182.jpg

The ridges you see, are visually exaggerated by the fact that some
passes fere from left to right and some were from right to left. They
look bigger than they are because of this. In reality they are not
really that high.

So. What would you do, to achieve a decent looking flat finish,
without a surface grinder or anything of the sort.



--
Due to extreme spam originating from Google Groups, and their
inattention
to spammers, I and many others block all articles originating
from Google Groups. If you want your postings to be seen by
more readers you will need to find a different means of
posting on Usenet.
http://improve-usenet.org/

It doesn't appear that you're looking for a mechanically flat surface here,
only one that *looks* flat, right? Because getting a truly flat surface with
hand sanding or files is a specialty that requires some understanding. And
getting a truly flat surface with a belt sander is nearly impossible. Look
at the sole of a new Stanley plane, and take a good straightedge with you to
check it, and you'll see that they're a swaybacked mess. They're
"abrasive-belt machined." Right. g

But filing or hand-sanding can do a credible job if you use your head. For
the initial flattening on my chunk of railroad track, which I try to keep
flat for whacking on odds and ends with a hammer, I used an angle-head
grinder and a straight edge. Then I draw-filed it. Then I struck it (filed
straight along the length.) Then I cross-filed it, then struck it
diagonally. All of this filing took less than five minutes. It's pretty
darned flat.

This is the same method I have used in the past for flattening cylinder
heads on lawnmowers, BTW. And don't tell anyone, but I also used it to
flatten the manifold faces on the aluminum heads of a Mitsubishi V6 motor. I
took them to a machine shop and they said it was better than anything they
could do with machine tools. g

Once you get it flat, you can use abrasive sanding to make it smooth. But
that's smooth, not flat.

You probably know all this but just in case...

--
Ed Huntress

....
grinder and a straight edge. Then I draw-filed it. Then I struck it (filed
straight along the length.) Then I cross-filed it, then struck it
diagonally. All of this filing took less than five minutes. It's pretty
darned flat.

This is the same method I have used in the past for flattening cylinder
heads on lawnmowers, BTW. And don't tell anyone, but I also used it to

I didn't reply here earlier cause I knew iggy wanted smooth not flat.

I'm curious. When I need both, I've used your procedure, only with stones
and kerosene. It does take a lot of time. Good idea or am I wasting time?

Karl

On Thu, 29 May 2008 06:59:49 -0500, with neither quill nor qualm,
Ignoramus9931 quickly quoth:

Related to my yesterday's vise refurbishing project, where I milled a
little thin layer off the anvil to make it look smooth. I used a 5/8"
carbide endmill. I made multiple passes, each time removing a "strip"
approximately 1/2" wide.

While the result is perfectly acceptable for a vise anvil, it was
nothing to brag about as far as finish quality is concerned.

Here's one revealing pictu

http://igor.chudov.com/projects/misc...-Vise-2182.jpg

The ridges you see, are visually exaggerated by the fact that some
passes fere from left to right and some were from right to left. They
look bigger than they are because of this. In reality they are not
really that high.

So. What would you do, to achieve a decent looking flat finish,
without a surface grinder or anything of the sort.

3 minutes with a file, and a minute with a 120 grit DA sander, maybe?

--
I wish the Department of Homeland Security knew what
ol' Unca Doug did, instinctively, so many years ago:

There is no security on this earth, there is only opportunity.
-- General Douglas MacArthur

To me it looks like the vise might have been slightly unstable on the
swivel base when you milled it. I have cleaned up import milling
vises, my anvil, and a PYH end mill sharpener like this:

If the top surface wasn't milled, level it with wedges and take a
light pass to remove high spots and see how it cuts. Shiny spots are
harder and may be high afterwards.
Flip it over and block it up on the just-milled surface. Cut enough
off the base to see fresh metal all around.
Turn it back upright, locate clamps over the cuts on the bottom so the
casting doesn't warp, fly-cut the top. I take no more than 0.005" per
pass and often 0.001" for the last one, after stoning the bit.

I tried this on an RF-30 mill-drill once without success, the vertical
feed was too sloppy. I had to take the vise home to mill it.

Since I have a surface grinder I next grind the bottom side until the
wheel cuts at least most of the area, turn it upright and grind the
top to taste.

Previously I filed most of the tool marks off and then finished with
SiC paper wrapped around a file or a piece of scrap tooling plate. You
can file in the middle of a surface without rounding the edges with a
file that curved during hardening, which is common for the cheap ones.

I would clean up the swivel base of your beautiful red vise separately
on a faceplate in a lathe.

Jim Wilkins

On 2008-05-29, Jim Wilkins wrote:
To me it looks like the vise might have been slightly unstable on the
swivel base when you milled it.

No, I removed the vise from the swivel base and bolted it directly to
the milling table ways.

I have cleaned up import milling
vises, my anvil, and a PYH end mill sharpener like this:

If the top surface wasn't milled, level it with wedges and take a
light pass to remove high spots and see how it cuts. Shiny spots are
harder and may be high afterwards.
Flip it over and block it up on the just-milled surface. Cut enough
off the base to see fresh metal all around.
Turn it back upright, locate clamps over the cuts on the bottom so the
casting doesn't warp, fly-cut the top. I take no more than 0.005" per
pass and often 0.001" for the last one, after stoning the bit.

I tried this on an RF-30 mill-drill once without success, the vertical
feed was too sloppy. I had to take the vise home to mill it.

Since I have a surface grinder I next grind the bottom side until the
wheel cuts at least most of the area, turn it upright and grind the
top to taste.

Previously I filed most of the tool marks off and then finished with
SiC paper wrapped around a file or a piece of scrap tooling plate. You
can file in the middle of a surface without rounding the edges with a
file that curved during hardening, which is common for the cheap ones.

I would clean up the swivel base of your beautiful red vise separately
on a faceplate in a lathe.

Don't have one... And most sadly, do not have space for one...

I removed exactly 1mm from the anvil surface, and that was too much,
should have removed 0.5mm.
--
Due to extreme spam originating from Google Groups, and their inattention
to spammers, I and many others block all articles originating
from Google Groups. If you want your postings to be seen by
more readers you will need to find a different means of
posting on Usenet.
http://improve-usenet.org/

"Karl Townsend" wrote in message
ews.com...
...
grinder and a straight edge. Then I draw-filed it. Then I struck it
(filed straight along the length.) Then I cross-filed it, then struck it
diagonally. All of this filing took less than five minutes. It's pretty
darned flat.

This is the same method I have used in the past for flattening cylinder
heads on lawnmowers, BTW. And don't tell anyone, but I also used it to

I didn't reply here earlier cause I knew iggy wanted smooth not flat.

I'm curious. When I need both, I've used your procedure, only with stones
and kerosene. It does take a lot of time. Good idea or am I wasting time?

Karl

I guess it will work, but if the material can be filed, it's a whole lot
quicker. If the material can't be filed, and if the part is small enough,
I've sometimes "lapped" it on an old marble table top with a piece of emery
cloth taped or glued (with rubber cement) to the marble. This is a method
sometimes recommended for fixing Stanley planes that are new and which
therefore suck.

I have a good collection of files and I save my best ones for jobs like
this. If the part is work-hardened steel or c.i. and kind of hard, striking
with a file can be iffy. If the file skates you'll wreck it. The file has to
bite. But my piece of RR track was no problem, despite lots of
work-hardening from years of use.

--
Ed Huntress

On May 29, 9:36 am, Joseph Gwinn wrote:
In article ,



Ignoramus9931 wrote:
Related to my yesterday's vise refurbishing project, where I milled a
little thin layer off the anvil to make it look smooth. I used a 5/8"
carbide endmill. I made multiple passes, each time removing a "strip"
approximately 1/2" wide.

While the result is perfectly acceptable for a vise anvil, it was
nothing to brag about as far as finish quality is concerned.

Here's one revealing pictu

http://igor.chudov.com/projects/misc...on-500S-Vise/R...
-Of-Wilton-500S-Vise-2182.jpg

The ridges you see, are visually exaggerated by the fact that some
passes fere from left to right and some were from right to left. They
look bigger than they are because of this. In reality they are not
really that high.

So. What would you do, to achieve a decent looking flat finish,
without a surface grinder or anything of the sort.

Wrap a piece of coarse-grit wet-dry sandpaper around a flat piece of
metal, and wet sand the surface flat by hand. Change sandpaper often.
If the mill has done its work well, it will not take very long before
all miil marks are gone. If desired, use finer grades of sandpaper to
eliminate the frosted surface. This can be carried to any extreme,
including mirror surfaces, which seems extreme for an anvil surface.
Unless you are a jeweler.

Joe Gwinn


As a cheat you can 'wet sand' with normal sandpaper and some type of
light oil- WD40 works well for this.

Dave

On May 29, 1:00*pm, "Karl Townsend"
wrote:
...

grinder and a straight edge. Then I draw-filed it. Then I struck it (filed
straight along the length.) Then I cross-filed it, then struck it
diagonally. All of this filing took less than five minutes. It's pretty
darned flat.

This is the same method I have used in the past for flattening cylinder
heads on lawnmowers, BTW. And don't tell anyone, but I also used it to

I fixed an air compressor that blew gaskets by filing the warped block
flat after pouring wax onto the pistons to catch the debris. It was
too tall for my surface grinder. I ground the head flat and used it
with bluing to see where to file the block. That problem is solved but
it still has others...

I didn't reply here earlier cause I knew iggy wanted smooth not flat.

I'm curious. When I need both, I've used your procedure, only with stones
and kerosene. It does take a lot of time. Good idea or am I wasting time?

Karl

I have a new coarse/fine stone that's only used to take the burrs off
machine tool tables. The one I sharpen knives and plane blades on
isn't flat enough any more. SiC paper on a flat block works quite well
if you can find the flat block. I've used 1-2-3 blocks and a ground
angle plate salvaged from an old rusty fixture. The area between the
rust pits is still very flat.

In general you can work to whatever accuracy or flatness you can
measure, because after measuring you know where to correct. I fitted
loose scope bases to another shooter's rifle at the range by smoking
the bases with a lighter and scraping the contact marks down with
pieces of broken glass. He went from off the target frame to about a
4" group.

Jim Wilkins

Bruno wrote:
Ignoramus9931 wrote:

Related to my yesterday's vise refurbishing project, where I milled a
little thin layer off the anvil to make it look smooth. I used a 5/8"
carbide endmill. I made multiple passes, each time removing a "strip"
approximately 1/2" wide.

While the result is perfectly acceptable for a vise anvil, it was
nothing to brag about as far as finish quality is concerned.

Here's one revealing pictu

http://igor.chudov.com/projects/misc...-Vise-2182.jpg

The ridges you see, are visually exaggerated by the fact that some
passes fere from left to right and some were from right to left. They
look bigger than they are because of this. In reality they are not
really that high.

So. What would you do, to achieve a decent looking flat finish,
without a surface grinder or anything of the sort.

Flycutter

With the head meticulously aligned parallel.

On May 29, 7:59*am, Ignoramus9931
wrote:
Related to my yesterday's vise refurbishing project, where I milled a
little thin layer off the anvil to make it look smooth. I used a 5/8"
carbide endmill. I made multiple passes, each time removing a "strip"
approximately 1/2" wide.

While the result is perfectly acceptable for a vise anvil, it was
nothing to brag about as far as finish quality is concerned.

Here's one revealing pictu

http://igor.chudov.com/projects/misc...on-500S-Vise/R...

The ridges you see, are visually exaggerated by the fact that some
passes fere from left to right and some were from right to left. They
look bigger than they are because of this. In reality they are not
really that high.

So. What would you do, to achieve a decent looking flat finish,
without a surface grinder or anything of the sort.

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End mill - solid carbide or inserts? It makes a difference. The
solid carbide mills have a decent rake angle, and can be quite sharp.
Usually, the inserts aren't.

Was the surface ground to begin with, or as-cast? If as-cast, you may
have not been getting under the scale and hard surface.

Might also try upping the RPM.

John Martin

Bruno wrote:

Flycutter



That's so the whole surface can be milled at one pass, I take it?

Jordan

On May 29, 6:19*pm, Jordan wrote:
Bruno wrote:

Flycutter

That's so the whole surface can be milled at one pass, I take it?

Jordan

I don't quite know why, but even a small flycutter on a large surface
cuts smoother than end mills.

In article ,
"peter divergilio" wrote:

How about a belt sander?

Far too hard to control, and will likely make such a small surface
humped.


"Ignoramus9931" wrote in message
...
On 2008-05-29, Joseph Gwinn wrote:
In article ,
Ignoramus9931 wrote:

Related to my yesterday's vise refurbishing project, where I milled a
little thin layer off the anvil to make it look smooth. I used a 5/8"
carbide endmill. I made multiple passes, each time removing a "strip"
approximately 1/2" wide.
[snip]

"Ignoramus9931" wrote in message
...
I kind of like this sander a lot because it is so small. I have a hand
held electric sander also. All good ideas.

I have had to flatten a few 2"-5" pieces of mild steel recently.

FWIW, here is what works for me:
1) Sanding attachment in angle grinder - 40, 80, 120, 220 grit till I am
happy it is flat
2) Clean up with *palm* sander 60 (sometimes skip), 120, 220, 320, 400 grit.
3) I love my 4x36" belt sander but for this job it did not work as well as
the above.

--
Michael Koblic,
Campbell River, BC

Here is what you do.
Get ahold of a big ass hammer and wail the tar out of it for half an hour.
It will look used, useful, and you will never know the difference.
Shoot for a heart rate of 80 or so.

"Ignoramus9931" wrote in message
...
Related to my yesterday's vise refurbishing project, where I milled a
little thin layer off the anvil to make it look smooth. I used a 5/8"
carbide endmill. I made multiple passes, each time removing a "strip"
approximately 1/2" wide.

While the result is perfectly acceptable for a vise anvil, it was
nothing to brag about as far as finish quality is concerned.

Here's one revealing pictu


http://igor.chudov.com/projects/misc...-Vise/Repainti
ng-Of-Wilton-500S-Vise-2182.jpg

The ridges you see, are visually exaggerated by the fact that some
passes fere from left to right and some were from right to left. They
look bigger than they are because of this. In reality they are not
really that high.

So. What would you do, to achieve a decent looking flat finish,
without a surface grinder or anything of the sort.

--
Due to extreme spam originating from Google Groups, and their
inattention
to spammers, I and many others block all articles originating
from Google Groups. If you want your postings to be seen by
more readers you will need to find a different means of
posting on Usenet.
http://improve-usenet.org/

Take lots of little cuts instead of feeding the full width of the
cutter

On Jun 1, 10:04*am, Dan@ (Dan H) wrote:
Take lots of little cuts instead of feeding the full width of the
cutter

What kind of milling machine do you have?
My experience with a smallish Clausing mill has been that a flycutter
or shell mill taking a wide but very shallow cut gives the best
finish, as long as the non-moving table and quill clamps are tight.