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Squaring up a block of material

Metalismo

Plastic
Joined
Aug 1, 2006
Location
Phoenix, AZ
Can someone help me here? I was taught when squaring up a block of material to first fly cut the face with the largest area with the block seated on two parallels. Then turn that surface so it is against the solid jaw of the vice and using one parallel in the back and a drill/reamer blank between the moving jaw and the block, seat with a dead blow mallet and cut the second side. Now this is where my assistant and I do it different. He says to rotate the block so the first side is facing down and the second side is against the solid jaw. I flip the block so the second side is facing down and the first side remains against the solid jaw. Again using the drill/reamer blank between the block and moving jaw the third side is cut. He rotates again for the fourth side with the second side facing down and the third side against the solid jaw. I place the block second side down and first side against the solid jaw to cut the fourth side. What is the proper way?
 
".....using one parallel in the back and a drill/reamer blank between the moving jaw and the block, seat with a dead blow mallet and cut the second side." - Parallel might influence squareness, so dont hit with mallett.

Your assistants method gives too much room for error - also you need to ensure a fairly decent sawn part. I reckon!!!!
 
I was taught, best face to the fixed jaw, m/c second best, flip to second best face against the jaw best face on parallels etc and so on.

If the first face is much higher than the jaw, use an angle plate,.......... sometimes finding the best starting face is a bit of a gamble.

Take care, Sami.
 
Metalismo,

I was taught that you put the flattest surface of the block against the stationary jaw, with a piece of round stock between the moveable jaw and the block. Take a cleanup cut and then rotate the freshly cut side to the stationary jaw, put the round stock back between the moveable jaw and clean up the next face. Repeat this until all four sides have been cleaned up. For the ends you can use a square to set up so the top is square to your sides. Then flip upside down and cut the bottom.

Jim
 
It's always depended on the circumstances for me, although the basics are almost always the same.

Try squaring up a 3 ton block of tool steel that cost half a gazillion dollars and took 3 months to get.
 
Try squaring up a nice block of steel (about 5" by 7" by 36")thats been cut from round bar (because thats all the stuff comes in).
The roughers machined the blanks + .008" on all sides and .006" out of square

Then you get the warning for taking so long to finish a simple blank off when the squareness limit is .0015"

Glad I left that place :D

Boris
 
I remembered the alternate way to square the ends after the "faces" were done.

I actually did this on a short run of brass parts. About 3"x4"x1.5"

Turn up one "rough" end and hold the narrow sides in the vise jaws. Fly cut the top easy until it cleans up. You may want to lean it just a bit so you know which edge is the highest.

Then rotate it 90 degrees and use that highest edge to set on the vise bottom clamping on the widest sides. The highest became perpendicular to the narrow sides when you machined it.

So when flycutting the last end it will become perpendicular in both directions.

Lastly reverse the ends again and recut. It then it too will also become square.

Of course this presupposes the vise jaw is perpendicular before you start.

Regards,

Stan-

[ 10-18-2007, 02:00 PM: Message edited by: Metalcutter ]
 
"First do this ... then do that" cookbook recipes for basic operations may be common sense approaches but they leave out important preliminary steps like determining initial error.

First check your vise for base parallelism and fixed jaw squareness under clamping load, and your spindle axis for squareness parallelism. If you don't know what your equipment is doing before you start, attempts for precision will be guesswork.

There are many ways of squaring a block on a mill. Most will work but only a few are efficacious. Most people have a rough idea of how their equipment performs under various circumstances. I favor seeking out error sources so I can neutralise their effects before they bite me in the butt.

If you wish to go directly from rough to square and parallel in a minimum number of steps first check the machinery and the set-up - if you have not already done so.
 
Boy I hate to do this but what would this forum be without the ability to ask a question...

Why can't I visualize those steps?? Been starring at the movements too long now so now I need to ask for a someone (metalcutter pls:) lol) to explain that maneuver a tad better.

I loose it here: "You may want to lean it" :confused:

Now I keep on reading, and bam "Then rotate it 90 degrees"... the part or the vise - hope it's not the vise...

So now I'm thinking the fresh cut side is face down, canted from the "lean" cut and then clamped
lengthwise in the vise?? I better stop here because I think I'm looking to far into something obviously simple.

Maybe if this thread started 6 hours ago and the coffee was fresh and ... well you get the picture. ;) help me out here guys
 
I try to grab as little stock as possible. I face mill the top and side mill the 4 sides as deep as possible with a rougher and finisher.

Then when I flip I can grab the part perfectly and face the top and side mill the sides. You have to be careful when side milling that it blends with the flipped side. If done right you can't tell.
 
I actually did this on a short run of brass parts. About 3"x4"x1.5"

Turn up one "rough" end and hold the part by the narrow sides in the vise jaws. Fly cut the top easy until it cleans up. You may want to lean it over to the right or left a degree or so you know which edge is the highest * after the cut.

Then rotate * the part 90 degrees looking from the top down. Then turn the part upside down.

Now use that highest edge to rest on the vise floor next to the fixed jaw. You will be clamping on the widest sides. The highest edge became perpendicular to the narrow sides when you machined it.

So when fly cutting the last end it will become perpendicular in both directions.

Lastly reverse the ends again and recut. It then it too will also become square.

Of course this presupposes the vise jaw is perpendicular before you start and the vise floor is flat to the table travel.

I hope this helps. It can take a bit to understand what's going on here.

Maybe take an actual part and roll it around and try to visualize it all. Sometimes words are not enough. :- )

Regards,

Stan-
 








 
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