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i have been complaining for a long time about having to change between lathe tool post and mill vice on my combo lathe / mill machine. every time i have to switch to the mill vice i usually spend a considerable amount of time getting the vice square. it doesnt have tabs on the base to fit the t slots of my slide to self center it so i use the test indicator in the mill chuck and back and fourth with the vice until its square. sometimes i get lucky and only takes a couple of minutes but usually it takes a long long time and my arm gets tired of cranking back and fourth. you know the losen nuts, gentle tap on one side or the other then run the slide back and fourth to get a overall reading and try to split the difference, then repeat until the needle doesnt move or is "close enough"
so last night i had an idea. since its a combo lathe / mill maybe i can use that to my advantage. using the lathe chuck, a piece of 1/2 round stock and a piece of plate aluminum i made a for lack of better words a framing square. the 1/2 inch rod is pressed into a reamed hole at a right angle into the plate aluminum. with this i just chuck the round stock in the lathe chuck, move the table over until the plate aluminum can go in the mill vice jaws and then clamp the vice down on it. this squares the vice at a right angle to the chuck. if i want the vice parallel to the lathe chuck then i simply use a 1/2 rod only and clamp the rod in the chuck and also in the vice. i was happy to find out that the lathe chuck and the mill vice are close enough to the same height that this actually works.
hope this can help anyone using a smithy or a bolton tools combo lathe.
so last night i had an idea. since its a combo lathe / mill maybe i can use that to my advantage. using the lathe chuck, a piece of 1/2 round stock and a piece of plate aluminum i made a for lack of better words a framing square. the 1/2 inch rod is pressed into a reamed hole at a right angle into the plate aluminum. with this i just chuck the round stock in the lathe chuck, move the table over until the plate aluminum can go in the mill vice jaws and then clamp the vice down on it. this squares the vice at a right angle to the chuck. if i want the vice parallel to the lathe chuck then i simply use a 1/2 rod only and clamp the rod in the chuck and also in the vice. i was happy to find out that the lathe chuck and the mill vice are close enough to the same height that this actually works.
hope this can help anyone using a smithy or a bolton tools combo lathe.