Face mill finish

[Edward]

OK, I've now trammed the column to be perpendicular to the table. I just shimmed it to one side (for the X) and slightly towards the back (for the Y). I am pleased to say that the step over raised edge when using the face mill has completely gone, so the piece is now completely flat. A pleasant achievement.

However, one problem still remains. The Sieg SX2.7 has a fixed head, it can't be rotated, unlike the X3. This means that while you can shim the column to be perpendicular to the table, the spindle may not necessarily be perpendicular as well.

In other words, it doesn't follow that both the spindle AND the column are parallel to each other and in turn that BOTH are perpendicular to the table.

So I did the typical spindle tramming, with an indicator set on a radius of 150mm and lo and behold, when measuring both sides along the X, there was a disparity (even though the column and table are perpendicular).

This probably accounts for the slight face mill circular marks, as the facemill is engaging the piece at an angle as it's not perfectly horizontal to the piece. Since the tool marks are at the trailing half of the face mill circle, this probably gives me a clue as to which way the tool (i.e. the spindle) is tilted.

This poses a new problem....how do I tilt the spindle? I am not sure if it will be possible to shim it, first I have to find out how to take the spindle out, etc...


But before I do so, and find the hard way, is there anyone with knowledge of similar machines who can tell me if there may me some slack in the spindle housing that will allow me to tilt it slightly, or any other suggestions? Or do I just have to live with it?

Edward