Traming the "Y"

[TT350]

When I first got my machine I didn’t have time
to level it, I did check the tram and it was out
.007 in the X and .004 in the Y.
I used it like this for 3-4 mouths.

I built a new shop and move the Tormach in
and leveled it with a Starrett level and rechecked
the tram and it hasn’t changed.

I setup my dial indicator and started jacking on the
corners and ended up with .125 shim under the right
rear corner and the tram is dead on in the X.

This leads me to believe that the control cabinet has the
machine twisted.

It took me about 10 min’s it fix the X but nothing I
do will make any changes in the Y.

Where are you guys shimming the machine to tram the Y?

[benji2505]

My understanding is: the spindle is tilted in y direction, so you would not get a plain surface when face milling, right?

In this case: You won't like the answer, but:

I have had the same issue with a similar machine (Not:Tormach). There is basically no reasonable way to fix this and keep the rigidity of the machine in place. I know some persons fix it by inserting a self-made wedge between base and head, but it causes a loss of rigidity. I returned my machine.

[twocik]

Well I'd sure like to know, call tormach and see what they have to say. Don't forget to come back and tell us too...

[philbur]

Out in the X-axis will give you a concave surface. Out in the Y-axis will give you a flat surface but i will not be in the same plane as the table surface.

After squaring the column then if the spindle is out in the X-axis it can be adjusted by pulling the dowell pins and adjusting the head relative to the Z carriage. If the spindle is out in the Y-axis it may be due to the z-axis gib not beening correctly adjusted or something on the faces between the head and the saddle.

I brought mine into spec by fiddling with all of the above issues. Fortunately I didn't need to shim (or scrape) the column as its squareness to the table was already well within spec.

Phil

My understanding is: the spindle is tilted in y direction, so you would not get a plain surface when face milling, right?

[MichaelHenry]

TT350,

Were you shimming between the corners of the base and the bosses on the stand or under the feet on the bottom of the stand? Tormach told me to do the former and that got the tram to within spec.

Mike

[TT350]

I shimmed between the machine and the stand.

[twocik]

TT350
So they told you to shim it and problem solved ?


Any pictures ?

[MichaelHenry]

TT350,

My mill was out quite a bit in both X and Y when first set up, but mostly in X. I methodically under each of the corners with various shim thicknesses and kept a table of the shims used and tram results from each step. Eventually the tram got down to the factory specs. FWIW, mine needed shims under both of the front corners.

Mike