TOS FA3V Mill update: New bits and I poke around a bit more.

I got to work this morning and the tarp that I have over my mill was off. Huh. After work I wanted to make sure nothing was messed with. of course, I could help but poke around a bit while I was checking everything over!

I started off by pulling the start/stop switch cover to see what the switches look like:

 That's a bit more complicated than I was expecting, not that I knew what I was looking for:

 I am sure that I could find something modern and new that will work, but I am likely going to give a go at fixing the broken face of the stop switch. I like fixing original stuff, especially since the whole mill is made to last and to be serviceable, unlike most modern throw-away stuff.

I took the "back splash" off:

 Mounting the vice will need the extra space, I think.

I found a lot of chips to clean up:

 The back splash was mounted by simply drilling and tapping four holes on the back of the table:

 This actually bodes pretty well for the eventual DRO install.

I left it there for now, as I was tired after a long day of having an inspector hovering over my shoulder. Refraining from beaning him in the head with a hammer was the most tiring part. LOL!

Yesterday, the collets I ordered arrived. I've managed to get one stuck already:

 Lesson learned: Don't crank the collet nut down without the endmill in the collet! I'll get it out easily enough.

This is a poor sideview of the collet body:

 The recess in the upper part of the collet fits into the collet nut, which has a raised edge for locking the collet in place. In fact, the proper way to load the collet into the holder is to snap the collet into the nut FIRST, then tighten the nut onto the holder. If you load the collet into the holder first, you'll just jam everything together and make a mess of things. You certainly won't be holding your endmill or tool correctly at all!

Here's what the assembly can look like:

 I really like this system so far. =)

Another thing arrived in the maill today in this non-descript grey plastic box:

 Shazam!

 There we have a Mitutoyo dial test indicator that reads to .0001" for a very, very reasonable price. It seems to be working perfectly, too! A dial test indicator is a very precise device that allows one to measure small deviations along axes and even diameter with the proper setup. The first thing I will do with this is use it to line up the fixed jaw of my vise to make sure it is parallel with the spindle. This will keep the work in a fairly precise location and allow parts to be made precisely parallel or perpendicular to the spindle, which is important for longer pieces or parts that must meet certain specs for flatness or parallelism.

My phone really sucks at macro shots, so this is the best I could do to get a closeup of the face of the thing:

It came with a couple of basic accessories, the most important of which is this 3/8" shank dovetail adapter:

The shank will be held by a collet in one of the holders. I'll get pics of how I use it when I use it.

Slowly but surely things are falling into place! This is about the most exciting thing to happen until I get the stuff I ordered to make a drawbar and can then actually make some chips! Oh, I ordered oil, too, as I don't want to run the mill dry. Duh! There is a lot of complex mechanical workings going on in this thing, and it should be oiled properly for maximum smoothness and minimized wear and tear.