Have you done the raiser yet? Are the the drawings you refer to easil aquired? (Dick Ganderton's) I just need that little bit extra height i the vertical mode. Would your idea of two, one on top of the other b OK? On a slightly different but related tack do you or anyone else have low profile vice recommendation. I didn't get one when I bought th mill and most that I have done a search on are far too high for a 2A even with an extra bit of height. Ro
I haven't made one yet - I've still to get the cast iron from College Engineering. I can send you a copy of the drawing Dick sent me - I don't think he'll object. Can you send me a valid email address and I'll mail it on to you.
When I said two, I meant two side by side instead of one longer block
- simply to cut down on the amount of metal being used. If you make one single raiser block, it will have to be about eight inches long. You can do the same job with two smaller ones about two inches long at the clamping points on the 2A.
Dick's drawing shows a block which gives a two inch raise, which suits me since it gives me enough room to get reasonable working conditions under the quill head with a milling chuck fitted. If I tried it much higher I would start running into serious clearance problems with the lowish roof in my workshop.
I'm not sure about the stability of going much highr than two inches but I think I would prefer to do it with one solid piece and I think College can supply large rectangular section cast iron which could give you enough meat to get a three inch or a four inch lift. And another problem might be that you can mill your own two inch raiser on the existing 2A, but you will probably not have sufficient height to mill a four inch raiser, assuming you use a dovetail cutter in the vertical mode. :-)
I got one with my Centec which is low profile, but it is quite large in other directions. It clamps with socket screws in tapped holes in the table since it would be difficult to clamp it using the existing slots, so it can be a bit limiting when setting things out on the table,
For small work, I prefer to use the small milling vice which Myford supply to go on their vertical slides. It is quite low profile and suits the small table of the 2A. Otherwise, I'm learning to clamp stuff directly to the tabel, or to clamp to steel angle which is then clamped to the table.
Jim, Thanks for all the input. I am new to milling, only aquiring the machine at the beginning of August and I don't as yet have a great deal in the way of other tools/tooling. Starting from scratch! You can send me the drawings at roy.jewell AT btopenworld.com. I take your point about being able to mill a large block and the stability of too large an increase in height. Roy
I've just finished rebuilding a 2A and am quite delighted. I'v included a 4" raising block which really improves things. I also us an ER20 collet chuck system which adds no end of versatility.
If you're light on tool and looking foir a good project to kick of you're milling career, try the swivelling vice kit avaialble fro Hemingway Kits
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