Mill table wonky

[Steve355Participant @steve355]

Posted by John P on 05/11/2021 22:13:23:

The lug shown in the photo ,the only function of this is to provide enough
material for one of the tapped holes that hold the lead screw nut,
the two places marked on your photo here are the only adjustment
for the vertical clearance of the table if you remove those strips
there will most probably be some shim material between the
strips and the table ,there should be some reference to this in the build notes
that i believe that you have.

John

 

Thanks John, I get it. I can see how it’s happening now, i guess the idea it to shim so it moves as little as possible, but it’s still possible to get the table back on.

Back to bits again in the morning. One day I might actually make something with that mill.

axtually, I don’t have the build notes, only the drawing. No parts lost either.

Edited By Steve355 on 05/11/2021 22:49:05

[Steve355Participant @steve355]

Posted by Howard Lewis on 05/11/2021 21:17:45:

Not knowing the DW, but looking at your photographs, it may be that there is excess clearance between the steel strips on the bed and the steel strip on the underside of the table.

If this is not adjustable, it might be worth measuring the clearance at each end and side and then carefully scraping the surface of the bed on which the steel strip sits to reduce the clearance.

If this is the case, lots of bluing, scraping and offering up seems to loom!

Obviously, there has to be some clearance for the table to move, it just needs to be minimised.

HTH

Howard

.

I really hope not Howard, it’s beginning to drive me nuts, Hopefully it’s a question of some judicious shimming.

Steve

[ZanParticipant @zan]

It’s a long long time since I built and sold my dw but it was a great machine

adding shims will make the wobble worse . The table bar is located under the saddle bar, thus adding shim where you show it in the photo will increase the clearance. It would probably mean scraping the bar seat to make it thinner, but take care, material will need to be removed equally  from the front and back top faces of the saddle after removing the way bars or the table will tilt in the y direction 

where you show lug in green, above the left screw the boss does not seem to have much clearance with the underside of the table. Check you can push a feeler gauge in the gap this bar runs the full length of the saddle 

the dw was designed so it could be constructed with lathe alone. In its day, few m engineers had anything for milling except the vertical slide

the table travel can be at any angle, it will still work true, but it will make setting up difficult without using the table edge fir reference

the controlling factor here is the table bar being parallel to the table edge

if u replace any of these bars, drill and tap new holes in new positions.

Edited By Zan on 06/11/2021 00:04:34

[Steve355Participant @steve355]

Thanks Zan, hopefully I won’t need to scrape anything.

So, now I’ve taken the shims out of the left hand side (non-precision side) and the table goes back on, with possibly an improvement. I need to do the same with the right hand side. Bolts out, but these locator springs (see below)…. What’s the best way to get this strip off without damaging the locator springs? I’m worried about knackering them.

[DiogenesIIParticipant @diogenesii]

The little hollow steel 'dowels'? – they are called 'roll pins', if you need to get more – I'd guess yours are Imperial (?3/16.. ..measure to be sure..), a consumable item, still widely & cheaply available, so don't worry about damaging them. If they get 'squeezed' as you remove the strip and you don't have confidence in their fit afterwards, replace them.

Can you use a piece of brass or aluminium to gently and evenly 'pry' the strip off the pins a tiny bit at a time, taking care not to bend it..?

[Steve355Participant @steve355]

Posted by DiogenesII on 06/11/2021 09:37:08:

The little hollow steel 'dowels'? – they are called 'roll pins', if you need to get more – I'd guess yours are Imperial (?3/16.. ..measure to be sure..), a consumable item, still widely & cheaply available, so don't worry about damaging them. If they get 'squeezed' as you remove the strip and you don't have confidence in their fit afterwards, replace them.

Can you use a piece of brass or aluminium to gently and evenly 'pry' the strip off the pins a tiny bit at a time, taking care not to bend it..?

Ok, thanks, I’ve done that and removed the shims. But I still have the wobble!

And when I pull the other end of the table down by hand….

same thing if I attach the dial indicator to the y carriage, so it is the table.I get a similar reading in the other direct If I bush then other end of the table up.

I can feel it wobbling if I manipulate it with 2 hands. Only very slightly, but it’s there.

Driving me nuts now. 😢 I really don’t want to start scraping anything. I don’t have the skills or the tools, or the time.

[Steve355Participant @steve355]

I think I might have fixed it….

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

Hurrah!

Persistence pays off!

Good on yer!

[Steve355Participant @steve355]

Posted by Howard Lewis on 06/11/2021 14:24:34:

Hurrah!

Persistence pays off!

Good on yer!

Honestly, I was close to giving up. But once it was put together and adjusted as the designer intended, suddenly it started working properly. A few more tweaks, and now I have a square, non-wobbly in any plane, mill table with a lovely smooth handwheel action. Now I can get on and finish my vise jaws

(once I’ve trammed it and indicated in the vise AGAIN)

Thanks to all who helped me

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

MARVELLOUS!

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