Showing restraint

In the first article of this series on the milling machine (Time for a Milling Machine? Issue No. 82), we put the milling machine in the workshop and had it levelled. Next, before you use the machine, it is important to check the alignment of the spindle. Then comes understanding the importance of preparing the workpiece. Work to be milled or drilled on the milling machine has to be set up so that it does not move during the job. This is one of the most important things you can do if you don’t want an important component or workpiece to end up as scrap because it moved.

Six degrees of freedom

Every component, no matter its shape, can move in six ways — up, down, left, right, forwards, and backwards — and rotate around these axes. The piece has to have these movements restrained for machining. Generally, we don’t give enough thought to how we hold a workpiece.

We can make sure to restrain all these ‘six degrees of freedom’ by getting into the habit of looking carefully at every workpiece to consider how the clamping set-up is going to cope with the cutting forces. There are two ways to accurately position every workpiece