Milling Keyways on shafts 3

[joker]

We make shafts of varying sizes ranging from 2" OD X 12" long to 10"OD X 80" long. I am trying to come up with a simple setup to handle these parts. I am trying to reduce setup time because we only do 1-2 pc orders at a time. The shafts have different OD's along the length. Thanks for any help.

 

[sevincel]

i think to center the shaft for every diameter you have to use centering vise which is available on market.<br>as an example ARLA Gmbh devices seems suitable for this operation.<br>also company BRIO AS from Danmark provide hydraulic motor driven parallel jaw vices to centered fixing. i personally used for a project.<br>Hakan Sevincel

 

[vinod]

USE SELF POSITIONING DEVICE AFTER CLAMPING AND AUNIVERSAL MILLING HEAD

 

Setup v-blocks to position a representative shaft. Once done, other shafting of various diameters will utilize the same center.

 

[JoeA]

Climax makes a portable milling setup which may be useful if the actual rigging of the shafts is the problem.

Another suggestion to handle the multiple diameters is to make precision shims to go under the V blocks to easily level the different diameters. Some type of key or pins in the bottom of the V blocks may also be necessary to keep position when adding the shims under the blocks. The key or pins will index the block in the table slots.

Joe Agro
joea@autodrill.com

http://www.autodrill.com

Please pass by our website.

 

[sbi]

Use the frount &quot;T&quot; slot as your &quot;V&quot; block
Slide your clamps in the the center slot and you still have room behind them
for the blocks.
Use a new eletronic style edge finder to find the side and top of the shaft
dial it in and cut your keys
If you have a cnc mill do the same and let the mill help on find its center,
if you were lucky enough to get it with some probe software