Re: Aligning multiple vises
I put a DTI in an ER collet holder to keep it as rigid as possible. Then I will indicate one vise straight and tighten it down. After one vise is straight, put a piece of inch and a half steel in the first and second vise, just to get the second vise close. Snug that vise down, remove the steel and fine tune the second vise to the first then tighten it down.
I have a customer who does it this way, and he'll put as many as 12 vises in a row on his machine and he'll do 2 rows of vises, but he has a machine that moves 720 inches in the X axis and I think 168 inches in the Y axis. That machine has 3 independent 15,000 RPM spindles and each spindle has a 100 horsepower motor.
Needless to say, he makes some pretty big parts. But I have also seen him make 24 of the same part in one set up. In a case like that, his machine might run for 2 or 3 days non stop.
You can buy GOOD PARTS or you can buy CHEAP PARTS, but you can't buy GOOD CHEAP PARTS.