Re: Mill/Drills

>I find this is a real drawback (not being able to maintain alignment while
>raising and lowering the head on my Asian mill/drill) so much so, that one
>of my next projects may be to add an external guide that prevents the head
>from rotating. It would have to be very stout and yet easily disconnected

One idea you might like to try that a friend of mine told me about was to
1 Set your column of the mill truly vertical.
2 Mount a cheap laser pointer (prerably with lens) rigidly to it horizontally.
3 On a clear wall (if your workshop is lucky enough to have this) and as far
away as possible with a plumb bob and string line draw a vertical line on the
wall.
4 Use this as reference for vertical alignment.

Another idea in MEW involved a reference line and a mounted microscope
with a reticle, but I don't have the magazine number to hand.

Cheers

Peter.
Peter Bailey
pbailey@...