Miniature milling table

[mklotz]

Most of the parts I make are small to tiny and fit nicely into my small Eron milling vise. Nevertheless, the odd part will come along that won't and I really hate to remove the vise in order to table mount the part, then have to spend time reinstalling and tramming the vise again.

So I built a small, auxiliary milling table that looks like this.

The table is 1/2" thick aluminum and the bottom is fitted with a machined block that can be grasped in the milling vise.

Most work can be clamped directly to the table using the T-slots. The removable fences allow the work to be aligned to the edges of the table which, in turn, are aligned to the x and y axes of the mill when the block is clamped in the vise. Making the fences removable (after the workpiece is clamped in place) ensures that they won't be damaged during the machining operations.

I had thought of drilling an array of tapped holes in lieu of the T-slots but came up with something a bit more flexible. I had acquired some tooling plates that were perforated with holes exactly the right size for tapping 1/4-20 or 6 x 1 mm (for Unimat accessories). I took a piece of this plate and squared it so it can be located accurately using the fences. Then the edges of the perforated plate act as additional part alignment features and the tapped holes can be used for clamping in almost any location.

Obviously not something the guys repairing tractors need but a very handy tool if one is making small models or miniature engines.

[kbalch]

Thanks Marv! I've added your Miniature Milling Table to our Milling and Workholding categories, as well as to your builder page: mklotz's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

Miniature Milling Table by mklotz

tags: milling, table, clamp

[Ed Weldon]

Marv - I love it. I've constructed some simple variations of this milling table idea for use on my 7x30 vertical mill, but yours is a real and versatile tool design. It could be a money maker for someone with open time on a 3 axis simple CNC mill. Various sizes are possible with threaded hole sizes to match.
Ed Weldon

[Frank S]

Marv I especially like the perforated tooling plate. I used to have the big brother on steroids to that on my Cleereman jig drill it was 24" by 30" by 2" thick aluminum with holes on a 1.5" pattern all holes had 1/2-13 stainless thread-certs ( similar to helicoil but solid not the spiral springs) When I got back from overseas I got the Cleereman back but someone had stolen the jig plate. They probably sold it for a tenth of what it cost me to make

[Ralphxyz]

Thanks Marv, once again great idea. Looking forward to making one.

I like not have to re-tram the vice, very logical.

Ralph

[Frank S]

A slightly larger version of Marv's milling block also note that he has included removable fences on this one as well