Not sure if that would be a problem Terry, the tool holders are hardened, the steel holder is just mild steel so rather soft. I will be sure to monitor it though and if I it looks to be the case I will make up some Delrin inserts.

Hood

If I can find them I will show you the damage it can cause to a tool holder over time.

Been there, (;-) TP

Well Terry, the more I thought about it the more I thought it not worth taking a risk. The holders for the Chiron are all specific to Chiron so they are not common second hand and not cheap new. Decided to take out the holes in the plate to 52.5mm so the holders sit right down on the outer race of the bearings.
Also got my probe adapted so it fits into the chirons spindle. I only ever use it for finding edges or centres and not as an auto probe although I do have that functionality built in if I ever decide to. When I made it I had it powered from a coin battery and a LED is lit and goes out when tripped. I also have a jack plug socket on it which disconnects the battery and that means I can shove 24v through it if I decide to connect up as a probe via Mach, may do that at some point in time but for now it works well the way I use it.
Hood

Just tested out the newly implemented rigid tapping with the CSMIO/IP-A controller. Tapping M6 in mild steel at 300rpm and reversing out at 600rpm.

http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php/topic,24610.0.html

Hood

Hi Hood,

That's nice! The change log says they have rewritten the MPG code. Do you feel any difference?

Dan

No I think the change log may actually reflect the changes they have been doing since the log was last updated.
However I did find that when I set my encoder outputs from the drive to 15,000ppr instead of 4096 the motion is much improved and although not as sweet as it was in earlier versions it is definitely still usable and still much better than with the parallel port or the SmoothStepper.

Hood

The tools on the Chiron do not reach down to the table, well long ones will but the shorter ones such as milling cutters are as much as 75mm higher when the Z is fully down. I do quite a lot of parts made from sheet material and it is often not practical to hold it in a vice.
The table is bolted to the main bed via 4 bolts and I could quite eaily have raised the table, that however would have presented problems when using the vice or the chuck as it would have seriously reduced the Z travel when using the vice/chuck.
 I decided the best option was to get a sub table, I hunted around and found a few cast iron ones with T-Slots but they were either too expensive or the sellers did not get back to me. I then priced up some cast aluminium tool plate and it was cheaper than I had expected. I got a piece of 40mm thick by 375mm wide and 500mm long for £141. I cut two bits off the end to make the ends and bored and tapped and fitted them then drilled and tapped 36 x M10 holes for clamping bolts. Sadly I didnt have the camera handy to take a video  while I was doing it (only took about 10 minutes) but everything worked as expected
 The tooling plate is machined both sides and is meant to be within +/- 0.1mm so I was expecting I would have to face it. When I got it however I measured it and the max variation I could measure was less than 0.01mm, in fact he digital mic showed it to be within 0.002mm,  how accurate the mic is I cant say so I called it less than 0.01mm.
 Anyway today I decided to use the probe to test all over the surface and I have a variance of 0.01 mm or less so I have decided not to bother surfacing it.
 Pic below of the plate, it is 420mm wide and 375mm deep. That way I can have a vice or a chuck to one side and have the plate fixed in place also. I may at some point get a full sized plate and make another up but I think this will suffice for the majority of jobs I do.
Hood

HIYA Hood, IF you plan to leave it attatched make sure you grease the bottom of the legs before you anchor it down. I use electrical grease here. Alum and iron do not always get along in certain conditions and it will eat into the table top. 

On my old BP you can still see where the sub table was bolted down for years. It is etched into the table where it sat.

Just a thought, (;-) TP

Nice addition, Hood, I do a lot of sheet type parts and I love having a tooling plate as well.

Dave

Terry,
 I usually just use some waylube, seems to work well, I have had Alu jigs sitting on machine tables for long times and no real problems.

Dave, only thing is I will be almost as terrified of going through and marking it as I would the actual table

Hood