• PathPilot®
  • PathPilot® HUB
  • Contact Us
    Logo Tormach_T Icon_Solid Shape_Horizontal_Blue_NoTM
    • Home
    • News
    • Learn
      • Learning CNC
      • How to
      • Shop talk
    • Get inspired
      • Art & jewelery
      • Automotive
      • Education
      • Gunsmithing
      • Hobby
      • Knife making
      • Medical
      • Prototyping
      • Production machining
      • Replicas & models
      • Robotics
      • Sports
      • Woodworking
    • Tormach.com
    IMG_1455-800x534

    Tormach

    The Hidden Benefits of Squaring Your Vise

    04/ 20/ 2017

    Shop talk how to machine CNC Coolant maintenance touch probe squaring vise

    When you’re dealing with CNC, keeping things square is vital to the entire process. While you can get away with a crooked vise, it will eventually come back to bite you.

    The old rule of thumb handed down from manual machinists is, “if you don’t start square, you won’t end square.” Even though you can get closer, the same still holds true for CNC.

    Since the benefit is fairly straightforward, I won’t preach the importance of squaring, but there are a few hidden benefits to regularly squaring up your vise.

    squaring a vise

    Maintenance

    First off, it’s just a good maintenance workflow. The importance of a clean machine is multi-pronged – it keeps your machine running smooth, gives better visual checks for mechanical components, and it can help keep things precise.

    Taking your vise off the table, cleaning all the chips and coolant off, and squaring things back up can do a lot to keep your machine performing its best. You’d be amazed at all the junk that can gather under your vise.

    To that end, chips and coolant piled on your table can cause rusting, and nobody wants that.

    measuring tools for squaring a vise

    Practice

    Taking the time to square up your vise can be tedious. But, it can help teach, or remind a veteran, of a fundamental machining skill. Patience.

    CNC makes cutting metal fast, which is great, but it can lead to a forgetting of basics. Even if you can set up and cut things fast, sometimes it’s valuable to take your time. Having patience and taking the time to set things up properly is important when you’re dealing with automation, and squaring up your vise can help bring you back to the basics.

    A Good Foundation

    The old adage about starting and ending square holds true in CNC. If your vise isn’t square, everything else will suffer. In some situations, the off-square issue could even get compounded by other issues down the line, which might not have an effect if your vise starts square.

    What it all boils down to is that, while squaring up your vise is incredibly important, there are some side benefits that should make you feel better about taking the time to square things up properly.

    3 Reasons You Should Update to PathPilot v 1.9.10

    Robot Season Is Underway

    Quick links
    • Home
    • News
    • Get Inspired
    • Shop Talk
    • Learning CNC
    • How-To
    • Shop Tormach
    • Privacy Policy
    Recent posts
    Proper Workholding Adds Efficiency to Your Shop
    Chopper Designer Breaks into New Markets with His Tormach
    Real People. Real Stories. - In Conversation with Jon Working
    Adding Efficiency to the 24R Router
    Essential Tools When Cutting Steel
      SUBSCRIBE

      Stay up to date with the Tormach community by subscribing to our blog now.

      Get in Touch
      •  
      •  
      •  
      •  
      •