Spar milling

[Roger Pellett]

Ted, You don’t need a dividing head! If you look at that vise, you will see a triangular groove in each in each jaw. That allows you to clamp a piece of square stock to machine the corners to form an octagonal shape. Go to your local craft or home improvement store and browse around for a piece of wood with square cross section.

I suspect that the kit designer never thought about how their customers were going to turn dowels into octagons.
Including dowels instead of square stock for these spars is nothing more than a marketing gimmick to convince buyers that they are getting more for their money.

Roger

 

[Bob Cleek]

This table is sloppy in the x axis but stable in the y.

This is a common phenomenon with Chinese machine tools. They rarely come properly set up straight from the factory. This is one way they keep the cost down. If you don't mind doing your own fettling, they can be a bargain for home hobby work, though. Have you adjusted the gibs?

 

[Ted Robinson]

This is a common phenomenon with Chinese machine tools. They rarely come properly set up straight from the factory. This is one way they keep the cost down. If you don't mind doing your own fettling, they can be a bargain for home hobby work, though. Have you adjusted the gibs?

No, I haven't. Thanks for listing the YouTube video. I saw it before I got the x,y table but was only half watching.

 

[saitam]

My problem is that I don't know how to calculate the width of the flats other than divide the circumference of the dowel divided by eight

To calculate the side of a regular polygon inscribed in a circle, use the following formula:
l = 2 * r * sin(π/n),
where 'l' is the side length, 'r' is the radius of the circle, and 'n' is the number of sides of the polygon.
(translated by Google Translate)

 

[Ted Robinson]

To calculate the side of a regular polygon inscribed in a circle, use the following formula:
l = 2 * r * sin(π/n),
where 'l' is the side length, 'r' is the radius of the circle, and 'n' is the number of sides of the polygon.
(translated by Google Translate)

Thank you for the formula.
I'm struggling with math that was second nature in the past.
Right now I'm in the hospital for the fourth time in the past month. Hopefully going home tomorrow lm

 

[Stuart Little]

I got the x,y table anchored to the Dremel Workstation and the mini vise attached.
I have a sample dowel in the vise to experiment on the flats.
I still need to put in a milling bit.
New tools always provide joy and excitement at the prospect of precise parts and hours of enjoyment.
This table is sloppy in the x axis but stable in the y.
View attachment 536209View attachment 536210

I have one of those X-Y tables, which I use with a home-made mill utilising a Makita trim router, I stripped it (the table) down, cleaned it up & reassembled fitting thrust bearings, & reset the gibs, a much improved piece of kit. I use it mainly for metal & jobs too big for MF70.

 

[Stuart Little]

The dividing head sounds like what I need.

As Roger said, it's not absolutely necessary, BUT as I have one, I use it, admittedly it's not used a lot, but it's still useful to have. There's always the 'Now, how do I go about this?' question, then one remembers that there's a dividing head on the shelf!

 

[Namabiiru]

Ted, You don’t need a dividing head! If you look at that vise, you will see a triangular groove in each in each jaw. That allows you to clamp a piece of square stock to machine the corners to form an octagonal shape. Go to your local craft or home improvement store and browse around for a piece of wood with square cross section.

I suspect that the kit designer never thought about how their customers were going to turn dowels into octagons.
Including dowels instead of square stock for these spars is nothing more than a marketing gimmick to convince buyers that they are getting more for their money.

Roger

I have the same vice, and it only has a v-groove on the red jaw face. That will make things a bit sloppy, but then again, my dremel stand was never square either.

 

[Namabiiru]

As Roger said, it's not absolutely necessary, BUT as I have one, I use it, admittedly it's not used a lot, but it's still useful to have. There's always the 'Now, how do I go about this?' question, then one remembers that there's a dividing head on the shelf!

Can you show us a picture of it? From whence did you get it?

 

[Ted Robinson]

I have the same vice, and it only has a v-groove on the red jaw face. That will make things a bit sloppy, but then again, my dremel stand was never square either.

I have indexed the table fairly accurately to square. Still need to adjust the five on the table. I'll do that as soon as I get out of the hospital

 

[Ted Robinson]

Ted, You don’t need a dividing head! If you look at that vise, you will see a triangular groove in each in each jaw. That allows you to clamp a piece of square stock to machine the corners to form an octagonal shape. Go to your local craft or home improvement store and browse around for a piece of wood with square cross section.

I suspect that the kit designer never thought about how their customers were going to turn dowels into octagons.
Including dowels instead of square stock for these spars is nothing more than a marketing gimmick to convince buyers that they are getting more for their money.

Roger

I think I get the concept.
I agree that the dowels are a step backwards if the spars have anything but round centers.

 

[Ted Robinson]

This is a common phenomenon with Chinese machine tools. They rarely come properly set up straight from the factory. This is one way they keep the cost down. If you don't mind doing your own fettling, they can be a bargain for home hobby work, though. Have you adjusted the gibs?

Many thanks for this video. After watching it I knew enough to find a video on the exact table I bought r om Amazon.
Dissecting the Mini BG6300 milling table