5-axis adjustable vice stop

I needed an adjustable stop for repeatable positioning of workpieces in the vise on my mill.  I found a couple of ideas on Google Images and decided to have a bash at making something.

6mm HT Allen bolts 40mm long hold the thing very rigid.  Five degrees of freedom (six if you count the T nut slide) mean I can set the stop just about anywhere relative to the vice jaws.

Top assembly with 6mm rod made from 316 stainless in an offset hole reamed at the joint of the top two parts. The rod is clamped tight as the bolt is snugged up.  That also locks the discs together, and locks the cylindrical milled faces to the ends of the main body.

Silver steel hinge pin and base with cylindrical housings to allow 180 degree rotation and clamping.

The main body, 25 x 20 x 100mm

The main purpose of this piece of tooling is to help position workpieces in the vice when I’m making multiple identical things, so each one will be fixed solidly in the same position in the vice.

 

 

Dial test indicator clamp base

I bought a cheap Chinese version of a Noga clamp, with the clever single-knob which tightens all of the axes in one go.  OK, it isn’t quite as nice as my actual Noga, but it was one eighth of the price.  I needed a base mount to fit it to the T slots in my Bridgeport mill, so I turned up a bit of silver steel, tapped M8 one end and with a single-point turned M12 thread on the other.  Also made a collar from 6082 aluminium to stiffen the assembly, and milled and tapped a T nut from a scrap of EN8.

The finished base in use

 

close-up showing the tapped spigot and T nut

 

Fitted into the table slot.  Flats are 20mm A/F.  The silver steel body is inset 4mm into the aluminium  disc so it can rotate as it is tightened