[kevbo22]

First let me say I have never had a mill or used one. But I decided to put a tormach 770 in my welding shop. I fabbed up my own stand for the tormach 770.

Anyway I have watched a lot of videos on leveling and tramming mills. And it has been really hard for me to get to this point. I have spent the past 4 days doing this. It is extremely tedious to say the least!!

First I started with a precision .0002/10" level. I checked for calibration before starting. Going back and forth in the y axis until it was level.

Then I used a dial indicator (5 tenths .0005) over roughly a 12" span using 123 blocks.

Then I ran the dial indicator up and down the z axis on the 123 blocks as well.

the z axis on the 123 block was maybe 5 tenths or a little less on the dti.

I also used a protram system from edge tech that came in at .000 which makes sense becuase my 5 tenths dti said it was 5 tenths.

Here is a video of the level being moved in its y axis to front and back showing it is very level. You cant see the table moving, but it is traveling to both y axis stop points



Attached some pics of setup as well to give better pitcure of whats happening.

Forum wont let me post two videos see my next post below.

[kevbo22]

Here is a video of running the dti in the x axis across about 12" which is showing about 5 tenths.



Is this good to go? Ive never done it before.
Was it setup correctly, and was the dial indicator arm in the correct position for these tests.

Thanks for anyone who can help, much appreciated.

[Jim Dawson]

Looks like you did just fine in both tests, the machine looks level and trammed. Most mills would run fine if you screwed the base to the wall, pretty hard to twist the bed frame. Unlike a lathe where it needs to be level to eliminate any twist in the bed.

Normally you set the level with the machine off and the table centered in it's travels. Checking both the X and Y axis. Also rotating the level 180° at each check. Rotating the level compensates for any error in the level adjustment. There is an adjusting screw on one end of the level that allows you to calibrate it so it reads the same when rotated.

As far as tramming the head, that's exactly the way I do it (have done it for the last 50 years ).

[jwatte]

Sounds pretty good to me.
Btw, depending on where you got those 123 blocks, getting .0005" precision on their squareness is all by itself pretty good :-)
Happy machining!

[TurboStep]

Here is a video of running the dti in the y axis across about 12" which is showing about 5 tenths.

Is this good to go? Ive never done it before.
Was it setup correctly, and was the dial indicator arm in the correct position for these tests.

Thanks for anyone who can help, much appreciated.

Did you make any adjustments between the two videos?
Step

[kevbo22]

Did you make any adjustments between the two videos?
Step

I believe the only thing different is I bolted down the machine right after the level and before the dti and nothing else. Something tells me you know I did something wrong.

Thanks all for the posts of verification, at least it seems like I am finally getting this machine moving in the right direction.

[TurboStep]

Something tells me you know I did something wrong.

Not at all! Perhaps the only mistakes you might have made are to watch too many videos and to purchase the protram (absolutely unnecessary in my opinion). The only video you need to pay attention to is the recent one from Tormach in which they (finally) make the distinction between leveling and tramming. Judging by your method, it appears you got that right.
Not having your mill absolutely “level” isn’t going to make any real difference but it makes the next step easier. Removing any residual twist out of the Y axis (from 3:08 onwards) is, in my opinion, important. This should be checked using a level with the mill bolted to the stand. This is what I proposed in this forum back in 2012 (how time flies) https://www.cnczone.com/forums/torma...ml#post1163013
but it wasn’t received at all well then! Things can get difficult after this step if the mill isn’t square but yours appears pretty good. I wouldn’t be tempted to readjust the shims to compensate for any other issues – you can only add twist this way.
Many make the mistake of just “tramming” the mill by shimming a corner until the sweep with the dti shows the same reading across X. If the column or the head are not square this will simply add unnecessary twist to the Y axis. Someone's likely to point out there’s a video out there, but I believe this to be the cause of many reports of excessive Y axis backlash. Don’t believe everything you see on YouTube (unless its from me ).
If you’re happy with the setup then just start making chips. Stop worrying about the last few tenths. If you’re starting out you can probably make a lot of chips before this ever becomes a problem for you – if it ever does.
Have fun,
Step

[Djstorm100]

I did a combination of shimming the corner to tram the X. For Y I placed small shims under the head where the heads bolts to the z axis carriage.