Veritical bore alignment

So we use a system 3r base with a custom fixture for one of our parts. It is titanium with a .1575 bore in it already. We place a pin thru this bore and using a test dial indicator very carefully touch off on the alignment pin above and below the part to vertically align the bore with the machine z-axis. Time consume and prone to errors if you move the wrong way etc.

Does anyone know of a better way to do a vertical alignment of an existing bore hole?

After alignment we proceed to enlarging the bore to .159-.161 depending on internal finish, and cut multiple slots also from the inside of the bore hole.

Our machine is a Sodick AG600L with LN2W control.

On that alligment pin, could you Grind and fit a parallel perpendicular to the top held on with a bolt. Like a T shape? Then simply clock along the top in The X axis then turn through 90 and clock along the Y axis?

With out a image of the part and fixture it’s hard to envisage what’s possible.

Or depending how deep the bore is, could you invest in a DTI with a long stylus?

Hi nlancaster:
Further to Luke Kerbey's comments, a long straight pin with two orthogonal flats on it is the easiest way forward I can think of.

When I have things like this to line up (I have a rotary axis on my machine so I do these kind of alignments a lot getting jobs to run perfectly coaxial to the rotary), I've found the best and most foolproof way is to run two indicators at the same time, so you can see what's happening at both ends of the alignment bar at the same time.
In your case I'd use the following protocol:
1) push in my long pin and clock one flat in X
2) set up a granite square somewhere else on the table and align it in X as well
3) mount two tenths clocks one above the other so they both read zero when touching the granite face.
4) traverse the table so the clocks are touching the pin flat.
5) adjust away until you're happy.
6) verify you're good by running the bottom clock up and down the pin flat with the Z axis.
7) do it all again in the YZ plane
8) re-verify in the XZ plane
9) burn happily and with confidence.

Once you've farted about with it a few times you get to understand how you have to position the clocks to make it work easily and quickly.

In my case I only ever have to align in one orientation, but the principle holds for your problem too.

So if you have four clocks and can get them all set up at the same time against two faces of your granite square you have a winner.
If you can make a simple fixture to mount your clocks on, even better.

Cheers

Marcus
Implant Mechanix • Design & Innovation > HOME
Vancouver Wire EDM -- Wire EDM Machining

nlancaster said:

So we use a system 3r base with a custom fixture for one of our parts. It is titanium with a .1575 bore in it already. We place a pin thru this bore and using a test dial indicator very carefully touch off on the alignment pin above and below the part to vertically align the bore with the machine z-axis. Time consume and prone to errors if you move the wrong way etc.

Does anyone know of a better way to do a vertical alignment of an existing bore hole?

After alignment we proceed to enlarging the bore to .159-.161 depending on internal finish, and cut multiple slots also from the inside of the bore hole.

Our machine is a Sodick AG600L with LN2W control.

Click to expand...

nlancaster,
Hey I also run a Sodick and use 3R bases with custom fixture quite often. If you have the centering fixture for your 3R, you should be able to put that on and square your wire to that and be ready to roll as long as your custom fixture has the pallet mounted and things are square, it will repeat very well. If you don't have the centering fixture you can mount an extra pallet on to a good square block and use that for alignment.

Preset outside the machine?

When I was in the wire business, I probably preset 3/4 of the jobs I did on a setup block sitting on the surface plate.

Not sure if that would lend itself to working for you here... ?

nlancaster said:

So we use a system 3r base with a custom fixture for one of our parts. It is titanium with a .1575 bore in it already. We place a pin thru this bore and using a test dial indicator very carefully touch off on the alignment pin above and below the part to vertically align the bore with the machine z-axis. Time consume and prone to errors if you move the wrong way etc.

Does anyone know of a better way to do a vertical alignment of an existing bore hole?

Click to expand...

Hi Precisionmetal:
How accurately repeatable did you find the 3R fixtures to be?
I used the sinker version for a few years once upon a time long ago (early 1990's), and it was pretty good, but not split tenths pretty good.
I found that if I set up a graphite bar, cylindrical ground it, took it off to interrogate it and then replaced it on the 3R chuck to take a twitch more off I'd often be running out up to a few tenths in 3", so I stopped taking the parts out of the 3R chuck mount and figured out a way to interrogate while still in the grinder instead.
For most of the molds we built, it didn't matter at all, but I've always been uncomfortable with off-machine setup as a result.

Your experience seems to have been different from mine...now I'm wondering why?
BTW, this was with brand-new out-of-the-box fixtures so no thrashed out beaters, and yes, I was pretty anal about cleanliness.

Cheers

Marcus
Implant Mechanix • Design & Innovation > HOME
Vancouver Wire EDM -- Wire EDM Machining

Marcus,

I'm sorry for the delay -- don't skim the EDM forum as much as I did when I was in the business.

I never had any problem repeating to within .0001" or less when swapping between machine and setup block on the surface plate in my shop. I did have very good temperature control across the board though -- climate-controlled room, and the wire machine and all the inspection equipment was maintained to 68°F plus/minus less than 1°. I also used a torque wrench when tightening onto the dovetail whether in the machine or on the setup block (I think it's human nature to tighten the adapter more in the machine than on the surface plate).

PM

had a thought.

would using the u/v alignment system work for aligning wire to vertical bores in parts? all the cuts are aligned with that bore.

nlancaster said:

had a thought.

would using the u/v alignment system work for aligning wire to vertical bores in parts? all the cuts are aligned with that bore.

Click to expand...

I've had luck using the U/V alignment in hole with a decent finish in it. Go for it.

Using the U/V alignment has worked really good for me just make sure to center the bore before doing it and then recenter if it needs to be really accurately located. Done quite a few jobs where location to a bore had to be .0002" or better.

yeah, these parts are bore and slot alignment of .0005 or better, over a distance of 110mm.