I was going to make some stops for the mill table. I thought it would be
simple to mill a slot in an appropriate size metal and mill female
dovetails, set-screws and Bob's your uncle. Might even throw in a brass gib.
However, when I measured the male dovetail angles they are 55 degrees. To my
knowledge there are only 60 and 45 degree cutters commonly available. So the
questions a

1) Is this usual?
2) Would you mill a 60 degree female dovetail and accept the disparity
(after all it is only a piece of iron to stop the table going any further -
nothing magical about it)?
3) Would you seek a wise Sifu in the Sinkiang province for only he knows the
ways of 55 degree dovetail cutters?
4) "Sod it, I am going to make do without stops!"
5) Devise different stops altogether (magnets, adjustable bars like on taig
lathe, etc.)?

Thanks,

--
Michael Koblic,
Campbell River, BC

Michael Koblic wrote:
I was going to make some stops for the mill table. I thought it would
be simple to mill a slot in an appropriate size metal and mill female
dovetails, set-screws and Bob's your uncle. Might even throw in a
brass gib. However, when I measured the male dovetail angles they are
55 degrees. To my knowledge there are only 60 and 45 degree cutters
commonly available. So the questions a

1) Is this usual?
2) Would you mill a 60 degree female dovetail and accept the disparity
(after all it is only a piece of iron to stop the table going any
further - nothing magical about it)?
3) Would you seek a wise Sifu in the Sinkiang province for only he
knows the ways of 55 degree dovetail cutters?
4) "Sod it, I am going to make do without stops!"
5) Devise different stops altogether (magnets, adjustable bars like
on taig lathe, etc.)?

Thanks,

Tapered gibs .
--
Snag
every answer
leads to another
question

On Fri, 16 Jan 2009 18:09:53 -0800, "Michael Koblic"
wrote:

I was going to make some stops for the mill table. I thought it would be
simple to mill a slot in an appropriate size metal and mill female
dovetails, set-screws and Bob's your uncle. Might even throw in a brass gib.
However, when I measured the male dovetail angles they are 55 degrees.

I'd mill the angle on a separate piece and screw and pin it to the
body of the clamp. That way you can make any angle you like by tipping
the piece in the mill vise.

--
Ned Simmons

On Fri, 16 Jan 2009 23:26:27 -0500, Ned Simmons wrote:

On Fri, 16 Jan 2009 18:09:53 -0800, "Michael Koblic"
wrote:

I was going to make some stops for the mill table. I thought it would be
simple to mill a slot in an appropriate size metal and mill female
dovetails, set-screws and Bob's your uncle. Might even throw in a brass gib.
However, when I measured the male dovetail angles they are 55 degrees.

I'd mill the angle on a separate piece and screw and pin it to the
body of the clamp. That way you can make any angle you like by tipping
the piece in the mill vise.

Simpler still, clamp the stop-to-be at 5 degrees to the horizontal and mill
the 55degree dovetail directly with the 60 degree cutter :-)

Mark Rand
RTFM

On Fri, 16 Jan 2009 18:09:53 -0800, "Michael Koblic"
wrote:

I was going to make some stops for the mill table. I thought it would be
simple to mill a slot in an appropriate size metal and mill female
dovetails, set-screws and Bob's your uncle. Might even throw in a brass gib.
However, when I measured the male dovetail angles they are 55 degrees. To my
knowledge there are only 60 and 45 degree cutters commonly available. So the
questions a

1) Is this usual?
2) Would you mill a 60 degree female dovetail and accept the disparity
(after all it is only a piece of iron to stop the table going any further -
nothing magical about it)?
3) Would you seek a wise Sifu in the Sinkiang province for only he knows the
ways of 55 degree dovetail cutters?
4) "Sod it, I am going to make do without stops!"
5) Devise different stops altogether (magnets, adjustable bars like on taig
lathe, etc.)?

Thanks,

6) Use your shaper, set the tool angle to 55. Easy.

Pete Keillor

On Jan 16, 9:09*pm, "Michael Koblic" wrote:
I was going to make some stops for the mill table. I thought it would be
simple to mill a slot in an appropriate size metal and mill female
dovetails, set-screws and Bob's your uncle. Might even throw in a brass gib.
However, when I measured the male dovetail angles they are 55 degrees. To my
knowledge there are only 60 and 45 degree cutters commonly available. So the
questions a

1) Is this usual?
2) Would you mill a 60 degree female dovetail and accept the disparity
(after all it is only a piece of iron to stop the table going any further -
nothing magical about it)?
3) Would you seek a wise Sifu in the Sinkiang province for only he knows the
ways of 55 degree dovetail cutters?
4) "Sod it, I am going to make do without stops!"
5) Devise different stops altogether (magnets, adjustable bars like on taig
lathe, etc.)?

Thanks,

--
Michael Koblic,
Campbell River, BC

Sifu's grandchildren makes these things:
http://www.wttool.com/product-exec/p...e=SiteChampion
http://www.wttool.com/product-exec/p...Set_WT_Import_
Or search for "angle block set".

I like the 30mm thick blocks because they make a more stable stack
than the thin ones. Tthe 55 degree stack (30+15+10) on the table in
front of me is 2-1/4" high at the lowest corner of the work, too high
for my milling vise. I'd clamp the pile to an angle plate and use it
to make a low 55 degree plate I could use in the vise.

Here's my answer to a similar problem:
http://picasaweb.google.com/KB1DAL/T...55378162487314

Jim Wilkins

Michael Koblic wrote:

I was going to make some stops for the mill table. I thought it would be
simple to mill a slot in an appropriate size metal and mill female
dovetails, set-screws and Bob's your uncle. Might even throw in a brass gib.
However, when I measured the male dovetail angles they are 55 degrees. To my
knowledge there are only 60 and 45 degree cutters commonly available. So the
questions a

1) Is this usual?
2) Would you mill a 60 degree female dovetail and accept the disparity
(after all it is only a piece of iron to stop the table going any further -
nothing magical about it)?
3) Would you seek a wise Sifu in the Sinkiang province for only he knows the
ways of 55 degree dovetail cutters?
4) "Sod it, I am going to make do without stops!"
5) Devise different stops altogether (magnets, adjustable bars like on taig
lathe, etc.)?

Thanks,



Dovetails come in a number of angles and 55 deg. is one of them. To
mill a matching dovetail, if you have a bridgeport type mill I would
just tilt the head to the proper angle. Another way would to just use a
round piece of brass stock and clamp it into the dovetail or a half
round piece.

John

On Sat, 17 Jan 2009 09:19:56 +0000, Mark Rand
wrote:

On Fri, 16 Jan 2009 23:26:27 -0500, Ned Simmons wrote:

On Fri, 16 Jan 2009 18:09:53 -0800, "Michael Koblic"
wrote:

I was going to make some stops for the mill table. I thought it would be
simple to mill a slot in an appropriate size metal and mill female
dovetails, set-screws and Bob's your uncle. Might even throw in a brass gib.
However, when I measured the male dovetail angles they are 55 degrees.

I'd mill the angle on a separate piece and screw and pin it to the
body of the clamp. That way you can make any angle you like by tipping
the piece in the mill vise.

Simpler still, clamp the stop-to-be at 5 degrees to the horizontal and mill
the 55degree dovetail directly with the 60 degree cutter :-)


That'll work (with a 45 degree cutter), but won't clean the surface
under the overhang without a second setup -- not a big deal. The other
possibility is to use a regular endmill and live with an undercut
perpendicular to the 55 degree wall.

I hope Michael understands our ramblings.

--
Ned Simmons

"john" wrote in message
...

Dovetails come in a number of angles and 55 deg. is one of them. To mill
a matching dovetail, if you have a bridgeport type mill I would just tilt
the head to the proper angle. Another way would to just use a round piece
of brass stock and clamp it into the dovetail or a half round piece.


Thank you!
I like low tech. My skill set should just about cope :-)

--
Michael Koblic,
Campbell River, BC

Jim Wilkins wrote:

Here's my answer to a similar problem:
http://picasaweb.google.com/KB1DAL/T...55378162487314

I am afraid you lost me. How does the wrench fit into this?
OTOH it gives me an idea: Some sort of split nut on the leadscrew rather
than the stop on the ways?

--
Michael Koblic,
Campbell River, BC

On 2009-01-17, Michael Koblic wrote:
I was going to make some stops for the mill table. I thought it would be
simple to mill a slot in an appropriate size metal and mill female
dovetails, set-screws and Bob's your uncle. Might even throw in a brass gib.
However, when I measured the male dovetail angles they are 55 degrees. To my
knowledge there are only 60 and 45 degree cutters commonly available. So the
questions a

1) Is this usual?

Not very common, but I believe that is the angle for Sherline
ways. (Or is it that Taig/Peatol?)

2) Would you mill a 60 degree female dovetail and accept the disparity
(after all it is only a piece of iron to stop the table going any further -
nothing magical about it)?

No. Your stop will tilt when it is hit.

3) Would you seek a wise Sifu in the Sinkiang province for only he knows the
ways of 55 degree dovetail cutters?

No. But perhaps find someone with a Tool and Cutter grinder,
and have him modify a 60 degree dovetail cutter to become a 55 degree
one. (The cutter will be weaker than a 60 degree one, of course.


4) "Sod it, I am going to make do without stops!"

No.

5) Devise different stops altogether (magnets, adjustable bars like on taig
lathe, etc.)?

Probably not.

Can you tilt the Mill's head? Tilt it by five degrees, and you
can subtract that angle from the 60 degree cutter. (Except that you
may need to undercut things to clear the other side of the cutter. Hmm
.... use a 45 degree cutter with a tilted head. Or tilt the workpiece
with a 10 degree tilt in the mill vise. (You'll have to re-setup for
the other side, of course.

Do you have a friend with a (metal, not wood) shaper? That is
the machine to use for creating strange dovetail angles. You can do it
with plain HSS lathe bits which you grind to shape.

Good Luck,
DoN.

--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

On Jan 17, 5:57*pm, "Michael Koblic" wrote:
Jim Wilkins wrote:
Here's my answer to a similar problem:
http://picasaweb.google.com/KB1DAL/T...55378162487314

I am afraid you lost me. How does the wrench fit into this?
OTOH it gives me an idea: Some sort of split nut on the leadscrew rather
than the stop on the ways?

Michael Koblic,
Campbell River, BC

Perhaps you lost me too. I read your post to mean that you had a male
dovetail shape standing proud from the mill and wanted to cut a female
dovetail slot to fit onto it. The tool I showed you has a difficult
internal hex shape split into two easily milled halves. Replace the
hex with the two halves of the dovetail.

If you change the brass locating pin to a screw that pushes on the
other piece, you could adjust the two screws to make the clamp bear
evenly on the dovetail sides even if it wasn't machined exactly. Slot
the large end of the female dovetail for a Woodruff key which will
float into alignment with the flat on the end of the male dovetail.

Wakarimaska?

Or you could make simpler, less rigid clamps that hold dial indicators
and mill to a reading rather than the somewhat uncertain increased
handle resistance when you hit the stop.

Jim Wilkins

Jim Wilkins wrote:
On Jan 17, 5:57 pm, "Michael Koblic" wrote:
Jim Wilkins wrote:
Here's my answer to a similar problem:
http://picasaweb.google.com/KB1DAL/T...55378162487314

I am afraid you lost me. How does the wrench fit into this?
OTOH it gives me an idea: Some sort of split nut on the leadscrew
rather than the stop on the ways?

Michael Koblic,
Campbell River, BC

Perhaps you lost me too. I read your post to mean that you had a male
dovetail shape standing proud from the mill and wanted to cut a female
dovetail slot to fit onto it. The tool I showed you has a difficult
internal hex shape split into two easily milled halves. Replace the
hex with the two halves of the dovetail.

If you change the brass locating pin to a screw that pushes on the
other piece, you could adjust the two screws to make the clamp bear
evenly on the dovetail sides even if it wasn't machined exactly. Slot
the large end of the female dovetail for a Woodruff key which will
float into alignment with the flat on the end of the male dovetail.

Wakarimaska?

Hai, wakaru to omoimasu.

Or you could make simpler, less rigid clamps that hold dial indicators
and mill to a reading rather than the somewhat uncertain increased
handle resistance when you hit the stop.

Right. I did not make the connection.
I am keeping the indicator idea as a plan B - I have a nice little magnetic
holder on order for just that purpose. Or even a combination of methods.
It's just that the dovetail angles threw me...

Still, it is refereshing to get a bunch of different answers with none of
them containing the phrase "You need a lathe!"

--
Michael Koblic,
Campbell River, BC

On Sat, 17 Jan 2009 08:39:42 -0500, Pete Keillor
wrote:

On Fri, 16 Jan 2009 18:09:53 -0800, "Michael Koblic"
wrote:

I was going to make some stops for the mill table. I thought it would be
simple to mill a slot in an appropriate size metal and mill female
dovetails, set-screws and Bob's your uncle. Might even throw in a brass gib.
However, when I measured the male dovetail angles they are 55 degrees. To my
knowledge there are only 60 and 45 degree cutters commonly available. So the
questions a

1) Is this usual?
2) Would you mill a 60 degree female dovetail and accept the disparity
(after all it is only a piece of iron to stop the table going any further -
nothing magical about it)?
3) Would you seek a wise Sifu in the Sinkiang province for only he knows the
ways of 55 degree dovetail cutters?
4) "Sod it, I am going to make do without stops!"
5) Devise different stops altogether (magnets, adjustable bars like on taig
lathe, etc.)?

Thanks,

6) Use your shaper, set the tool angle to 55. Easy.

Pete Keillor

Indeed. Simple as can be.

Gunner

Whenever a Liberal utters the term "Common Sense approach"....grab your
wallet, your ass, and your guns because the sombitch is about to do
something damned nasty to all three of them.