Well, I'm starting a new project.

I had picked up, disassembled, and basically trashed an X-Y cross slide vise last year...fascinating contraption. It was a bit crude, but it showed a lot of promise. Here's a picture of the one I bought. Many of us probably have a similar one, somewhere in the workshop.

http://www.cumminstools.com/prodimg/3143.jpg

On Monday, a Chinese tool sale (Cummins tools) came around to my little town, again, and I decided to go for it. I bought another one, with the very real intention of using what I had learned to build a nice little machine capable of doing more than just light woodworking. I've wanted a relatively small, but heavy duty machine for a while...and this should provide it.

Today, I went to the hardware store and bought some nylon inserts, which I will use to "replace" the pathetic quality Chinese rolled ACME screws and nuts. They'll screw in to the housing, and provide me with something I can tap for a better quality screw. Heck, hardware store ALLTHREAD is of better quality than the included screws...they're really pathetic!

My thrust bearings will be half Rollerblade wheels -- they're designed to hold the bearings securely, and if sliced in half should provide a nice flat surface for mounting. A couple of screws and it'll be well supported.

My motor mounts will be some 3" square pipe offcuts I got at the hardware store...hopefully I can make them work with minimal fuss...seems quite a workable solution.

So, my project is off to a roaring start. BUT, first I need to lap the ways. Yes, this thing has cast iron dovetailed ways, and an adjustable gib, but it's sufficiently rough that it is going to need some work.

This ought to be fun!

I live in a small town, and need to find some grit with which to lap. Any suggestions on where to look?

-- Chuck Knight

P.S. Does anyone have any hints on how to convert a plunge router base into a Z axis? I picked one up, for my Ryobi trim router, for just $2 at the same sale. It looks promising.

I think napa in bonham has laping compound

Thank you Marcus...you live in Honey Grove? Small world, isn't it?

-- Chuck Knight

Yes I know Bonham I live in Honey Grove .

So, has anyone else done a project like this? I understand Otto at MaxNC had a plan set for these things, a while back...never heard of it until recently. Anyone got any pictures?

(It wouldn't hurt to encourage me a little bit, so this thing actually gets finished! Can't be more honest than that.)

-- Chuck Knight

Chuck:
I have one of those X-Y vises. I had issues with the dovetails and gibs being less than smooth. I grabbed an idea I found on mini-lathe.com: automotive polishing compound. Not the fastest process I've ever used, but the mating surfaces are now near mirror-like.
I worked the gibs on a piece of crocus cloth on plate glass to get the initial surface.
With the screws out the slides work end to end with no detectable (to my calibrated finger tip) tight or loose spots.

robotic regards,

Tom
= = = = =
“One must eat to live, and not live to eat.”
- - Molière, French comic dramatist,

Well, I've gotten some lapping compound. I didn't realize "valve grinding compound" was the same thing. And, it was cheap, too! Always a good combination.

When I get a chance, I'll go ahead and do some lapping on my vises...hopefully they'll turn out as well as everyone says.

-- Chuck Knight

For those who are contemplating an attempt to bring precision to the Cummins X-Y vise, there is an article in the British magazine Model Engineering Workshop which may be of interest. The author converted an import drillpress vise to one suitable for use in milling. Particularly of interest was the much improved hold-down plate, which would bring similar improvement to the axis travel on the Cummins.