EZ-Tram opinions?

GlennM · Mar 17, 2005

Hi,

I searched to see if this topic has been covered before, but didn't find anything so --

Does anyone have one of these things: http://www.eztram.com/product.asp ?

It sure looks like a fast way to tram the head. I read the previous topics here about tramming a mill head, and some of those tips helped but it still seems like it would be very, very nice to sweep the indicator full circle without interference.

Glenn M.

matt_isserstedt · Mar 17, 2005

Looks like a good way to check in the middle of a vise setup.

Other than that use a tip I picked up from Forrest Addy...use a solid (or nearly solid) 1-2-3 block to span the T-slots in the table as you are moving the indicator tip around.

-Matt

Dweller · Mar 18, 2005

If you have access to a surface grinder you can take an old huge bearing race and grind it flat and parallel. That's what they used in school when they taught us to tram the mills. Here's one I found that's over 4" and almost 5".

GlenBA

ottoluck · Mar 18, 2005

New fangled stuff!. Its just another item that will end up collecting dust. Use a thick parrallel so the indictor can be spun without touching the table. When the indicator is positioned, slide the parrallel under it and compare readings!. If you were to use this thing, how would you move the head without messing up the set-up?.

RAS · Mar 18, 2005

If you were to use this thing, how would you move the head without messing up the set-up?.

A very valid point. If the job is that critical, that you need to tram with the vise on the table, tram the bottom ways of the vise.

RAS

Greenie · Mar 18, 2005

Why not tram the head the easy way, just stick the magnet, holding the dial gauge, onto the table and then move the quill all the way down. Then you only have to dial in the quill by raising and lowering the table, do it to the X axis, then the Y axis. You can soon see what you need to do to the quill to get the dial gauge needle NOT to move at all. You can pull it to within 0.0005" each way real easy and you finish with a perfectly true quill to the table. Much easier and a lot less stuffin' around.

radish

adama · Mar 18, 2005

i have just always put a tool with a flat face in the spindle dropped the knee all the way down stuck my mag base on the face and used a long peice of drill rod in place of the standard cross bar to hold the indicator out further to clear the obsticalls. After all when traming the head the larger the rad the indicator swings the easyer it is. I also hate having anouther source for errors, remember KISS

GlennM · Mar 18, 2005

I think there has been a bit of misunderstanding.

I know how to tram the head using 1-2-3 blocks or parallels; as I mentioned, I read the previous discussions about tramming a mill and I tried the different methods until I found one that I like.

But.

It will always be easier to sweep the indicator around a continuous gaging surface than it is to go back and forth between blocks.

If a person wants to keep a vise bolted to the table most of the time, being able to tram over the vise might be handy. I just finished a little project that called for a couple of angled surfaces, and it would have been nice to tilt the head, mill the angles, then tram the head again without disturbing the vise setup. The ability to tilt or nod the head is not a boon if tramming the head is a PITA every time. Time is money, you know.

OTOH, $230 is not pocket change for me, and I *don't* want another gimick gathering dust on the shelf. That's why I asked for opinions about the product. My take-away from the responses is that few people actually own this thing, so I'd be on my own if I buy one. At least there is a 30-day allegedly-no-questions-asked return period.

Radish - I have *no* idea what you are talking about. That made no sense to me. Please elaborate.

Glenn M.

Rex TX · Mar 18, 2005

If you had 3 1-2-3 or 2-4-6 blocks and a flat ground plate (disk, ring) you could make your own EZtram.

A good alternative to the blocks might be HD diesel wristpins. I got a few to play with and they are made to a very high tolerance, including length. I use one with a rod to quick-tram my minimill.

GlennM · Mar 18, 2005

The suggestion to use a large bearing race seems plausible. My father-in-law is an ex-marine diesel mechanic, I suppose if I asked he could still get a old bearing race for me. An 8" race should not be a problem to get, eventually.

Glenn M.

Michael Moore · Mar 18, 2005

Glenn,

I think he's saying that you could extend the quill and run an indicator up and down it on the x and y axes, using the knee to move the indicator. This will show if the quill is running true in relation to the knee ways. However, I think that most tramming is to get the head to run square to the table surface, which wouldn't necessarily have to be square to the knee (though we'd hope it would be).

So if you are machining stuff and just moving the table back and forth you'd tram to the table. But if you were going to do some boring using the knee to raise and lower the workpiece you might want to check tram to the knee movement in case that is working in different planes from the quill/table. But if you are going to bore with the quill then you'd probably want to tram to the table as is usually done.

cheers,
Michael

Greenie · Mar 19, 2005

When "tramming' the quill on both the X & Y axis, you have actually trammed the head of the quill EXACTLY SQUARE to the TABLE. If you don't believe how easy it is to do it this way, try it and you wont ever go back to trying to do it the other way. The table on the mill would have been checked, to see if it ran true to the X & Y axis, before it ever left the factory and the knee runs up and down on the ways which are dead true to the quill axis. Try it this way, much easier and far less b*llsh*t to wade thru..

Maverickmachinist · Mar 19, 2005

A quick way to rough tram the head after tilting it for an angle. Or when the machine is brand new and the head is upside down. If you have a large square, that is very precise .0002 or better. Lower the knee and bring the quill down as far as possible and place the square on the table. Bring the square up to the quill and place it so you could see light come through any part of the qill that isnt square. Use the square on both sides of the quill, brining the head in till you cant see light come through the square at all. With practice you can square the head on both x and y very quickly, and whithin a few thousands. I can usually be tramed whithin .001 doing it this way, than true it up with an indicator. With practice this can be done very quickly and very easily.

pgp001 · Mar 19, 2005

Heres one I made earlier

Phil

imported_Bill_B · Mar 19, 2005

Man, that's a lot of T-slots there, Phil. Nice.

I'm sure the round tramming gadgets work great, but they're a bit expensive for my taste , either in $ or labor. IMHO it's a lot quicker, cheaper, and easier to fasten an angle plate to one side of the table, pop a test indicator into the quill, and run it up & down against the plate to tram.

Besides, I'd probably drop the expensive gadget on day 31....

BillB

kap pullen · Mar 19, 2005

Hi,

I try to do all the precise work before tilting the head so I don't have to re tram the head in the middle of a job.
Usually works.

Otherwise I'll indicate and mark up the vise top, and tram to the vise readings.

I'd save that 250$ for something else.

kap

Mr Bridgeport · Mar 19, 2005

On a Bridgeport their are notches milled into the front of the J head casting just outboard of the quill micrometer screw. They are used to square the head with a precision square. Once that looks good, if you need beter precision than tram it in with an indicator. Almost nobody realises that they are there for that purpose. Also the front of the table should be trammed asf much as 0.0005 higher than the back. As you add the weight of a vise and workpiece the table will deflect back down. Hope this is of some help.
Bill

gbent · Mar 19, 2005

If you don't like tramming over your vise, mount the vise off to one side. Then you can move down and tram the table in the usual way, and also have room for small jobs without removing the vise. This saves me alot of time, and my BP only has a 42 inch table.

Jerald MI. · Mar 20, 2005

How would a brake rotor work for this?-Jerald

pgp001 · Mar 20, 2005

The one in my photo above was just made from a disc of mild steel I happened to have laid about, I would think a disc brake could be very easily used for this purpose. Mine took longer to paint than it did to make !
The trick is to make the three legs screw into the disc, all you do is take a direct measurement from the top suface to the underside of each foot, and set them all the same. Assuming the disc is nice and flat, it cannot do other than sit parallel to the table.
If your machine has a table that tilts in two planes, as well as a tilting vertical head, these gadgets can save loads of time.

Phil

EZ-Tram opinions?

Aluminum

Diamond

Plastic

Cast Iron

Stainless

Aluminum

Diamond

Aluminum

Titanium

Aluminum

Titanium

Aluminum

Cast Iron

Cast Iron

Aluminum

Cast Iron

Stainless

Diamond

Hot Rolled

Cast Iron

Similar threads