[Fishin_Rod]

I just ordered a sieg x2 mill. I have never used a mill before, but I am a quick learner. I need to order a vice, clamps, and other tools for my mini mill. I am not for sure of the best was to clamp the round bar for the milling and type of cuts that I need to do. I do not want to order the wrong type vise or clamps. Most all my work is done using 1" to 1.5" aluminum bar.

The reason I bought the mill, is to make air gun parts and shrouds. I have a 9x20 lathe that I have been using with a drill press to make my current shrouds. The first picture below is the type of shrouds, I have built in the past.



The following pictures are that of what I want to mill. What is the best way to hold this type work down for milling?

[HuFlungDung]

The long spool type part should be okay to clamp in a vise, if the spool flanges are all the same diameter, and if the vise is long enough to contain the entire length of the part.

The bottom part looks very crushable, and a vise would not work directly on that. Instead, I would use 5C collets (if the diameter is below 1"). Now, I have a 4th axis which I'd likely use to hold it, with a 5C collet on the headstock end, and I'd allow for a sacrificial stub on the opposite end of the part during the machining. This stub would be about an inch or two long, and be captured in a second 5C collet in a 'tailstock' of sorts. Actually, what I have is a cheap 5C vertical/horizontal fixture I sometimes use for this purpose. I machined up a spacer block to hold the 5C fixture at the correct height to match my indexer.

Take note that my 5C tailstock idea is a 'dead and locked' support, and that the part cannot be indexed without releasing the collet, indexing and then reclamping. And the benefit of using this sort of tailstock support is the improved stiffness of the part during machining, versus using just a center hole, where end thrust is required to keep the part tight, and you'd likely find yourself crushing this part from end pressure.

Now if you are on a budget, you could make do with two matched vises, and two square 5C collet blocks, which you can often find sold in sets with a square and a hex 5C holder. You'd align the vises the desired distance apart, and put the collet blocks in, slide your workpiece through, clamp them down and machine.

[307startup]

Hmmm...the part below looks like it could be made easier & less expensively by bending washers and welding them to flat stock and a lathe-turned end plug, then finish machining on a lathe. In fact if I were going to build one of these to start with, that's exactly the method I'd use. If it works, then I'd try 4th axis work...it's quite a challenge for a beginning machinist.

[Fishin_Rod]

Thanks for the quick replies. For an x2 mill and described work is the screwless vise ok or should I stick with a standard milling vise or a vise with a swivel base?

This is design I plan on using and making the most:





The smaller one is 1.009" to 1.012" od.

[Fishin_Rod]

well this is the vise I ordered from enco, hopefully it works well for my x2.
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[WhiteZee]

im not saying that vice wont work, but i know you could have made a better choice than that. iv only used that type of vice on a surface grinder with light cuts. i would go the regular 6'' kurt screw type vice, with the 5 c collet setup. or you could make some soft jaws for the kurt vice to hold your work.

[WhiteZee]

vice Enco - Guaranteed Lowest Prices on Machinery, Tools and Shop Supplies

t-slot and stud kit for mounting vice on your mill (double check your t-slot size.
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on second thought i would just make some soft jaws(picture two horizontal v-blocks with the v cut towards the top) and a work stop to position the parts in the vice, the 5c setup would be such a pita when doing more then a couple parts.

[harryn]

Hi, I am no expert, but I think it is going to take way too long to make the part on that small mill.

Correct me if I am way off here, but I would have thought that if you are starting from a rod stock like that, the way to do those parts would be to mount the bar in a programmable rotation 4th axis, and then mill it out from there. Finish by cutting off the part from the bar, then just extend the bar out again for the next part. (see swiss style machines) The swiss machines can hold 1 inch bar stock 10 ft long, and auto load / forward the bar for the next piece. Some can just stack up the bars and keep going.

I realize that you are trying to do this yourself, but I would bet it will take 2-4 hours each to do those parts on the mill you bought, while a swiss machine could do them in around 2-3 minutes tops. Even at $ 100 / hr rate, that is only a few $s/ part in a commercial shop in qty 100 - 200 pieces.