Need tips on squaring multiple parts at once.

[aucran]

Hi,
I making some small run parts and I'm finding that just squaring the stock is taking up a lot of time.

The parts are 1/4" x 1/2" x 3", cut with a horizontal band saw, so the ends aren't especially great, some have a little strip where the cut-off part broke off before the blade cut it.

I'd like to, and have been, staking about 5 at a time and putting them in inline in my vise, such that the vise squishes the group together. I use a parallel on either side to align the edges and then a square to make sure it is true to vertical.

My difficulty is getting the parts to be much closer to the same height. Even hammering them down and there is still some variation. Is there a better way to do this? I think it would be better to have them floating above the base of my vise, but I just don't see a good way to set the height while I'm using one hand to align and square them and the the other to close the vise. :X

[christinandavid]

What about making a little fixture with a shallow pocket/corner/nest in which to align and lay the components together. Clamp over the top with a suitably sized packer plate to ensure even clamping on all the components, then run an endmill along the ends. Flip parts around and machine to length.

If you want to go to town you could push parts together and urge them into the wall of the fixture with a little grub screw set into the fixture. Whatever time you spend making fixture would probably be saved when it comes to machining the parts.

DP

[Zygoat]

wavy parallels would be perfect, but i dont know if you can find any wide enough for your material.

check them out.

YouTube- Crash Course in Milling: Chapter 4 - Work Holding, by Glacern Machine Tools

YouTube- Crash Course in Milling: Chapter 4 - Work Holding, by Glacern Machine Tools

skip ahead to about 1:00


also you could just get a block of material. a little skinnier than all the pieces together. lay it in the bottom of the vise. stack the pieces on top. clamp it down. then remove the block (spacer.)

[aucran]

hmm, that may be the best way to go about it.

I'll take some C shape channel and mill the surface off flat. Drill and tap a hole thru one of the short legs. Line the parts up in there, align them all perpendicular to the channel end with a square and tighten them in with a screw. Then I can just drop that in my vise.

Even if my Z axis wont be repeatable it would save a lot of time figiting to get them standing up straight in the vise while I try to close it.

Heh, I think I'll make a couple, so I can change them out faster, or do two at once, one on either side of the vise. (Will have to see how even it clamps.)

Thank you very much christinandavid.

Edit: using a parallel as a spacer under them is what I learned to do today.

[knudsen]

I've done similar parts. First grind the burr. Then I started with the rough cut ends up, ignoring the edge height, mill until even and through the rough scale. Flip them over, mill off and they should be perfectly even in length. Then I set them on regular parallels, with the freshly milled ends against the jaws, so the edges that are together are perpendicular to the jaws, and mill that edge. Flip over, repeat, and they should all be the same size. Thickness of mine was not critical, so I just fly cut each of the larger flat areas one at a time. If you get a burr along the way, be sure and file or grind it off, don't just smash it flat. When you are cutting with the parts perpendicular to the jaws, if you have trouble getting them to hold tight, put a piece of paper between the jaws and the parts at one end or both.