Milling machine setup

[Susumu Mori]

Hi all,

I recently purchased a mini mill/drill to use it as a regular drill and also as a right-duty over-arm router.
I got a version from LittleMachineShop and so far it has been performing well.

I believe there are people in this forum who are using mill/drill for woodworking and I would appreciate if you share your setup with me.

I think milling machines are usually used with a vise and there are instructions about how to squaring a vise. That's great but for woodworking, often the size of the material is larger than regular 3-inch vise. So, I need to mount stocks directly on the XY table. I guess my questions are;

1: What do you use for a spacer between the stock and the table? Do you lift the stock with spacers or lay a sacrificial layer of wood?
2: The XY table is a great promise for many operations like mortise. To use the XY table precisely, however, the stock needs to be squared to the table. How do you do that?
3: Did you make any kind of table attached to the XY table?

I'd appreciate your information.

Thanks,

[Mike Heidrick]

I have a RF30 that gets duty as a wood drill press. I use a 5" vise. I made a sub table that just mounts in the vise and is supported on the flat of the milling vise - no fence on it. Just a right angle T of wood. It is sacrificial.

The 1050 knee mill has dual Kurt 6" vises. I mount aluminum between them. Its a CNC so I just touch off with a touch probe and the software corrects the vector for the position of the stock. Its pretty trick.

I also have a permanent sub table made of alum that has a grid of threaded holes in it to register vises and parts.

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e169/BloomingtonMike/CNC%20Millport/a96b2ffb-e523-49a3-8d2f-5a3921c3f36e_zps2bebdc8d.jpg

On your table just make yourself a couple registration pins that mount in T nuts. Use a shoulder bolt. Resting your stock against two of these will ensure parallel to the T slot.

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e169/BloomingtonMike/CNC%20Millport/P3134510_zpsd9783637.jpg

[Susumu Mori]

Thanks Mike,

Your operation seems quite substantial and not like my tiny mini mill, but your registration pins should work.
I'll give it a try.