Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Fig. 1.24. This large casting is called the knee. It allows the milling table to be raised
and lowered. The left-hand wheel raises and lowers the knee while the right-hand
handle winds the cross slide in and out.
The table
The milling machine table normally moves in the X and Y axes; the table usu-
ally travels a far greater distance in the X direction than it does in the Y direc-
tion. Some universal milling machine tables swivel left or right in the middle,
but you are unlikely to come across this feature; it was often used on univer-
sal horizontal and vertical mills where the table leadscrew was connected to
a compound dividing head through a gear train for milling helical cutters and
gears.
The mill's base
A vertical milling machine will usually have a separate base, which the table
is fitted to and the column bolts onto or fits into. The base of a round column
milling machine will often allow the column to raise and lower right through the
base casting and also through the workbench or stand to change the height
of the head.
The base of a turret milling machine is much more likely to have been cast
all in one with the column, and it will be a much more substantial item. Quite
