rimcanyon
Diamond
- Joined
- Sep 28, 2002
- Location
- Salinas, CA USA
I'm scraping the ways on a Deckel mill saddle. X axis ways include both planes: XZ and XY, and the Z axis ways include both XZ and YZ planes. The ways I am worried about are the XY and YZ guide ways, which need to be perpendicular to each other and are on opposite sides of the saddle, since they establish the geometry of the machine. Here are some pictures. The saddle is upside down in all 3 pictures of it. The first shows the Z axis ways, second X axis ways, third the profile of the X axis ways, and the 4th shows the table. I have some more recent photos I will post that shows the progress with the scraping. At this point the XZ plane ways have been scraped flat and parallel, on both sides, and what is left are the guide ways for the table (XY plane) and the column (YZ plane). Both are box ways with a gib on one side (none of the gibs are shown, but there are also gibs that bolt on to the flanges, that run up against the back sides of the box ways). I also have the table left to do along with all the gibs.
I have the saddle on my surface plate, sitting on the scraped surfaces shown in the first picture (which establish the XZ reference plane). So it was relatively easy to get the XZ ways scraped flat and parallel. There doesn't seem to be any other suitable surfaces on the saddle to use as reference surfaces for the XY and YZ guide ways... So I'm left to devise some other means. Getting the two guide ways perpendicular to the XZ ways is a fitting issue, not an alignment issue - it will work itself out at the point where I fit the table to the saddle and the saddle to the column.
BTW, the surface that the saddle is sitting on in the three pictures above is not a suitable reference surface, its out of parallel with the X axis guide ways by at least .001" side to side, and it is a machined surface, not a ground and scraped surface. However, one possibility I had considered is to scrape it first and make it the reference surface for the XY guide ways. Then the problem would still be to get the YZ guide ways perpendicular to it (or to the surface plate).
The best I have come up with as a strategy is this:
Scrape the YZ guide ways first and fit the saddle to the column, then do the scraping of the XY guide ways after the saddle is mounted on the column. The point being, I can use a sensitive level to get XY ways perpendicular to the column.
I've been racking my brain for a slick way to do it on the surface plate. Part of the problem is that it is a lot harder to measure the relative angles of the guide ways directly (using a level for example), since they are small and there are obstructions. Its a lot easier to measure the ways relative to the column with the saddle mounted in place. I'm open to suggestions. The method needs to be easy to set up since it will get used repetitively to check progress.
I guess it would help if I explained what measurement tools I have available: an autocollimator, an optical right angle for it, mirror, sensitive levels and a square with a sensitive level in it (for measuring plumb), cylindrical squares, angle blocks, etc.
-Dave
I have the saddle on my surface plate, sitting on the scraped surfaces shown in the first picture (which establish the XZ reference plane). So it was relatively easy to get the XZ ways scraped flat and parallel. There doesn't seem to be any other suitable surfaces on the saddle to use as reference surfaces for the XY and YZ guide ways... So I'm left to devise some other means. Getting the two guide ways perpendicular to the XZ ways is a fitting issue, not an alignment issue - it will work itself out at the point where I fit the table to the saddle and the saddle to the column.
BTW, the surface that the saddle is sitting on in the three pictures above is not a suitable reference surface, its out of parallel with the X axis guide ways by at least .001" side to side, and it is a machined surface, not a ground and scraped surface. However, one possibility I had considered is to scrape it first and make it the reference surface for the XY guide ways. Then the problem would still be to get the YZ guide ways perpendicular to it (or to the surface plate).
The best I have come up with as a strategy is this:
Scrape the YZ guide ways first and fit the saddle to the column, then do the scraping of the XY guide ways after the saddle is mounted on the column. The point being, I can use a sensitive level to get XY ways perpendicular to the column.
I've been racking my brain for a slick way to do it on the surface plate. Part of the problem is that it is a lot harder to measure the relative angles of the guide ways directly (using a level for example), since they are small and there are obstructions. Its a lot easier to measure the ways relative to the column with the saddle mounted in place. I'm open to suggestions. The method needs to be easy to set up since it will get used repetitively to check progress.
I guess it would help if I explained what measurement tools I have available: an autocollimator, an optical right angle for it, mirror, sensitive levels and a square with a sensitive level in it (for measuring plumb), cylindrical squares, angle blocks, etc.
-Dave
I am not so good in english but I have tryed to describe how I would do this. I need the spellcheck function so I have written my idea in a Word file. The file is 39.5 kB, to big for this forum, wat can I do?
