Advice sought on a jig for a micro mill

[Jensmith]

Hi all,

I have a Seig X0 micro milling machine which I'm using to put some decorative grooves in wood.

What I need is some way of making a stop so that I can accurately start and stop the cuts in the same place each time.

I tried using a blaock of wood stuck down with tape but I still couldn't get them exact.

There is a measured scale on the milling table and the wheels have 1 turn = 1 mm.

For what I intend, speed of production is a factor so having something I can use as a stop rather than having to read off the scale would make things much easier and I think more precise.

Any ideas?

This is a link to the Micro mill so you can see the size etc and the table is an extra which is listed below:

http://www.arceurotrade.co.uk/Catalogue/Machines-Accessories/Milling-Machines/Model-X0-Micro-Mill

Thanks,

Jennifer,

 

[ro]

I'm not quite sure what you're asking here but it sounds like you want to make sure each piece of wood is mounted in exactly the same position on your XY table. Please correct me if I'm wrong

If this is what you want to do I'd mount a wooden fence onto the table top (using t-nuts or clamps from here) to register one side of the workpiece. Then clamp a block at 90 degrees to the fence to act as an end stop for your workpiece.

You can then slide your workpiece against the fence and block and clamp it in position (using a couple of t-nuts and studs).

Hope this helps

ro

 

[Jensmith]

Thanks Ro,

That's useful too as currently I've been using double sided selotape so that would be more precise but what I actually want to do is produce a stop to stop the movement of the table itself.

There are T slots in the table top but none in the sliding base so it's what you use and how you attach it to produce an acurate result.

The whole table fits to the milling machine via 2 T slots with socket bolts which fixes it firmly.

You could use these T slots at the back but the table itself has to sit right at the front of the base of the micro mill to be central to the cutting piece.

I'm sorry if I'm not explaining this very clearly.. perhaps I should take a photo later.

 

[ro]

Right, sorry - misunderstood what you wanted

I have had the same problem when doing milling on my mini-lathe. After lots of trying different methods I came up with a very simple plan which might just work on your XY table too.

To provide a reference point for the X axis (the top one on the XY table) I take a small G cramp and use it to clamp a small block of metal to the underside of the X table so it hits the platform that the X table moves on.

When tightened up this means that the X axis cannot move beyond this point and you can just wind the x axis until the block hits the platform. You are then guaranteed that the X table is in exactly the same place every time.

You should be able to rig up some form of stop for the y axis as well.

Hope this made sense - if it didn't let me know and I'll draw a sketch.

 

[Jensmith]

Thanks Ro.

Yes, I think that should work ok. Just need a small enough clamp that it will fit in the space between the table and the drill head. This micro mill is quite small by the time you have the table on and the head lowered so you can actually cut into your workpiece!

I'll see what's available.

 

[ro]

have you seen the most useful clamps in the world?

 

[Jensmith]

Ah! No I hadn't. Thanks for the link