Basically, the fixed (rear) jaw is not vertical. I learned this by zeroing a dial indicator at the very bottom of the jaw, and then going z+ to the top of the jaw I noticed there is a -0.0045" difference. The top of the jaw is being pushed away in y+. Seems like this must be at least part of my problem with squaring up stock. So anyway, how can I fix it? Should I just mill the jaw in its current position?
The vise itself or the replaceable jaw is not vertical?
The replaceable jaw is not vertical. I swapped the jaws around (the fixed jaw and the moveable jaw) and now its off by one thou over the height of the jaw, much better. Could this have to do with my y axis not being trammed? I put my dial indicated on my table and noticed a drop of about 5 thou across the length of the y axis.
If you’re seeing the table itself isn’t level, you need to correct that before you worry about your vise. Have you run through the commissioning steps to check for level and twist? It’s a bit time consuming but not terribly difficult and the results are well worth the effort.
Yeah you’re right. How can I level it? I bought the machine used from EBay, lol. I don’t see anything in the commissioning/calibration manual or the general manual about leveling the y axis specifically. The machine itself is level, it’s just that over the travel of the y axis it comes up a little bit.
I see, as I mentioned the machine is level. I’ll try to record a video of my issues.
Edit: oops, for clarity when I asked how to level it I meant the y axis itself, not the machine along the y axis. The y axis gets closer to the spindle over its travel, if that makes sense.
The machine being level is not as important as the bed having no twist in it. If the Y axis is getting closer to the spindle over the length of its travel, then something is not square and/or you have twist in your bed. Twist can be removed using the procedure in the video. If the bed isn’t twisted, then column needs to be checked for square to the bed.
Hello
I saw this conversation and I thought I would remind everyone that all non wear and tear items, including our vises, which were purchased from our website are covered by our 1-year warranty, as outlined on our website here: Tormach Warranty
The easiest way I can think of to isolate whether the parallelism of the jaw to the table is off because of the jaw, or because of the table, would be to indicate the vise without a jaw screwed on. If the vise is straight, and putting the jaw on causes the parallelism to be off, then it’s just the jaws. If the vise is crocked by enough that it can’t be straightened, and you can verify that the table is level and correct, then I would recommend filing a support ticket, and we can replace the vise assuming it is under one year old.
Do you have a fixture plate mounted and, if so, are you sure that it is parallel top to bottom and mounted flat on the mill table?