Squaring a mill vise | Hugonweb Annotated Link Bibliography

A tutorial on squaring a vise. Includes a nice tip on how to roughly square the vise before bolting it down.

Unfortunately, the videos don't play cleanly. I found them to be better in Firefox on a computer than on a phone.

Haas also has a YouTube video highlighting how you can move the table around to help indicate the vise and to check your vise doesn't hit part of your mill! They also recommend a combination oil-filled aluminum oxide abrasive stone.

Tormach also has a video

Steps combined from the sites:

1. Sweep and t-slot clean away chips from the machine table.
2. Clean the machine table with degreaser or isopropyl.
3. Use a fine grit abrasive stone on the table and bottom of vise to remove burrs etc.
4. Apply a light coat of oil to the table and vise.
5. Gently place the vise on the table and loosely attach the hold-down hardware.
6. Make sure the vise doesn't hit a part of the mill or enclosure when jogged forward and back in Y (possibly with the head all the way down in Z).
7. Slide the vise backwards until it is stopped by the bolts in the T-slot.
8. Slide the vise forward until it's centered in the T-slot. Use your thumbs, bracing the edge of the table with your index fingers.
9. Snug the left bolt and only tighten the right bolt enough to keep the vise from moving by hand. This allows it to pivot on the left bolt.
10. Indicate the fixed jaw on the left end and rotate the gauge to zero.
11. Jog the indicator to the right end.
12. Tap the vise with a dead-blow hammer until it's a little past zero again.
13. Repeat 9-11 until it's perfect. It should take 3-5 repetitions.