X-axis marks the spot
Mill Table Stop
©
Frank Ford 2008; Photos by FF
This is one of those little things I'd been planning to make for quite a while, and every time a job came along where I needed it, I told myself I'd get it made up soon. Well, today I had a repetitive milling job to do - making up some Brazilian rosewood guitar bridge blanks. Knowing that a really solid table stop would be a big help, I decided to get the thing made.
My mIll originally came with a pair of weenie table stops fitted
into a T-slot on the X-axis:
These engaged a stop in mounted on the knee, but that stop had to be removed in favor of the limit switch for the X-axis power feed. As a result, I had no physical stop left. I wanted my stop to be solid enough that I wouldn't have to think about it moving if I cranked the table (by hand, of course) and bumped right into it.
Here's what I came up with:
It's a hefty piece of steel milled to fit into the slot, and under the table way.
It has a long t-nut with two 3/8-16 threaded holes:
I chose to make the T-nut long with two holes rather than using two single nuts which might be harder to align.
Here's the nut:
The assembly slides right in at either end of the table.
I made the stop as close fitting as I could because I really don't want the stop moving even a tiny bit when I move the table over and clunk into it.
For this job I set the stop on the left side of the table:
With a work stop set to index each roughed out bridge blank
and the Y-axis locked, it was quick and easy to run this big cutter in to just
the right depth for a perfect cut:
Running at 500 RPM, this multi-flute cutter made nice big fat
chips as I climb cut with ease and control:
Beats the heck out of my old shaper. The mill just piled the chips up neatly and quietly, where the shaper spits sawdust from here to eternity, screaming like a banshee in the process.
These pieces of Brazilian rosewood cost just about he same
as equivalent size pieces of brass, so it pays to take some care working with
them. My product this afternoon - two dozen of the nicest bridge blanks
in town:
