T Slot Faceplate
T Slot Plates Steel
Need a t-slot faceplate for a HRT 210 asap. Hi, I bought a Haas VF3 and it came with a HRT 210 4th but its missing the 't-slot faceplate' I need one asap. Also looking for the 'chip collector' trays that go around the milling table. Slide a faceplate stop into each end of the T-Track on the faceplate. In setting the stops, you will always use the 8” mark on the faceplate scale to represent the “center” of your slot length. To set up for a 2” long slot, set the outfeed faceplate stop to 7” and the infeed stop to 9”.
A lathe faceplate is a basic workholding accessory for a wood or metal turning lathe. It is a circular metal (usually cast iron) plate which fixes to the end of the lathe spindle. The workpiece is then clamped to the faceplate, typically using t-nuts in slots in the faceplate, or less commonly threaded holes in the faceplate itself.
The faceplate may be attached to the lathe in several ways: the two most common are a thread and a precision cone arrangement, and threaded studs and a circular recess fitting a flange on the end of the spindle. Increasingly common is the camlock arrangement, in which shaped studs and cams replace threaded studs for rapid exchanging of the faceplate with other accessories, such as three or four jaw chucks.
The faceplate was the ancestor of lathe chucks, an arrangement of three or more adjustable 'dogs' bolted to the faceplate providing a primitive chuck arrangement. The smaller plate in the upper photo is specifically a 'dog face' with slots intended to hold a bent tail dog while the work itself was supported on centers. The larger plate to the right simply provides a variety of ways by which work can be bolted or clamped to the plate. The slotted plate on the lower photo accepts wedged holders which can be used to fasten the work to the plate. The plates were expendable, so it was not unusual as shown in both photos for a machinist to drill additional holes in the plates for attaching work that could not otherwise be attached. While the dog plates were usually fairly small regardless of the lathe size, the classic face plate is usually matched to the maximum diameter that the lathe will swing.
It may seem that a faceplate is a primitive accessory superseded by precision chucks, but its inherent flexibility (almost any shape can be attached to a faceplate with care and the right fixings) and the possibility of achieving great accuracy by careful setup make it essential for a well equipped lathe.
For certain specialist jobs, temporary or special faceplates can be made, perhaps in wood or light alloy, that can be machined or adapted for difficult workholding jobs. One example might be attaching thin sheet metal to a wooden faceplate using wood screws, allowing the trepanning of holes, with the tool cutting into the sacrificial faceplate material.
See also[edit]
- 'Locating Faceplate for your Lathe.'Popular Mechanics, December 1954, pp. 203-205.
External Links[edit]
I picked this blank casting up at an auction a while ago and it needs T-Slots so i decided to put 8 slots into it.
No big deal really, you just slot through your vertical male slot first and find the depth you want, the hard part is the slotting the horizontal slot. These little cutters are fragile because of the necking down of the stub to accommodate the clearance for the vertical slot. In this next shot i have the planer gage supporting a parallel because i can set the height of the T-Slotter using the parallel as a reference.
I do not want to touch bottom of the slot, i want it elevated about 3 thou higher, the reason is because i want the cutter when it is milling into the material to have a gap for relief of swarf and dust, while the slotter is rotating i am constantly removing swarf from in front and behind of the cutter some people use air to do this. This little technique eliminates most of the chances of the slotter binding up. This is cast iron so i had no lubricant, i cant remember the dimensions but its around 11/16 wide x .300 deep with just under 1/2 wide male slot, for the speed I ran the same for both end mill and T-slotter and it was around 550SFM i hand fed it very gently.
Here is the finished project, all i have to do now is make the T- Slots.
Happy Days Anthony.
Thanks for taking the time to document your project and share it with us.
Tom
Very nice job on the face plate. You might want to cut some shallow rings on the surface to aid in aligning workpieces to the plate.
When you said 'all i have to do now is make the T- Slots', I'm guessing you meant you just have to make the T-nuts.
Ed
DaveH
T Slot Base Plate
A video would be ideal.
Ed
(08-03-2013, 03:10 PM)EdK Wrote:
A video would be ideal.
Ed
Very nicely done
John
T Slot Plate 28
The face plate was held on with this plate that has a 1-1/2 - 8TPI register for the Rotab. I can install all my chucks from the lathes with it.
Ed.... your right i completely forgot to do that. Yes i meant to say T-Nuts.
Steve.. i have another project coming up soon which needs slots i will show pictures...
T Slot Plate
Ed