Can we talk about people not tramming their vises properly?

I used to think a few thousandths off was no big deal for most jobs. Then last month at the shop in Portland, I had a part come back with a .005 step on one edge. Checked the vise with a test indicator and the thing was tilted side to side by almost .003. That one bad part cost us $40 in material and 2 hours of rework. How often do you guys actually check your vise alignment before a job?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_susan3d ago

Honestly, I read somewhere that a lot of guys only tram their vises when they first set them up and then just assume it stays perfect forever. I heard about a shop that had a .008 error on a brand new vise right out of the box. I check mine every time I swap a part or at least once a week on the mill. Better to catch a .002 tilt before it ruins a whole batch.

the_ben3d ago

What blows my mind is nobody ever talks about the temp swing in the building throwing your tram off. Walked into the shop one morning at 6am and it was 62 degrees, by 2pm the concrete slab had heated up enough to shift the whole machine base a couple tenths. Checked it with a sweep and sure enough, the bubble on the level was actually moving as the day went on.

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