No matter how much you think you know, there's always something new to learn. I've been doing this for more than forty years and still discover new and better ways of doing things.

Tom

All vises allow the work to rise when you clamp it (even my Kurt), so tapping the work down is a normal part of the procedure when milling. Glad you got some useful tips from the video.

Your video was one of the first I watched as a beginning Toolmaker apprentice about 4 years ago. All of our Journeymen were retiring and didn't want to train us. It sucked because we had to learn  a lot on our own. But thanks to Youtube, the Internet, and videos like yours, we trudged through as apprentices with no Journeymen and figured it out the hard way. I just want to thank you as one of our digital Journeymen that actually cares. A lot of those skills were lost when the retirees left, but we persevere. A Toolmaker solves problems. And we like puzzles.

Thank you for your very clear and straightforward video. No distracting music, unnecessary graphics and other attempts to be cool and funny. I learned what I needed to learn - totally new at this. Not only did I learn how to square everything, your additional hints that you mention in passing are very informative. It was like watching Penn and Teller show how they do their tricks. Obvious when you know how - but I didn't! Thanks again.

This is such an awesome bit of machine lore.

I'm a hobby machinist, and don't do this often enough to totally memorize the process. But today is my nTh viewing (always come back for a refresher) and I think I may be finally 'getting' it!  Thanks for all your good info, Tom!

The basic formula for rpm is four times the cutting speed of the material divided by the diameter of the end mill. In this case I was using a 1/2" end mill and cutting aluminum, which has a cutting speed of 250 surface feet per minute, so 4 X 250 /.5= 2000 rpm.

FINALLY someone who thinks outside the box. You wouldn't believe the amount of flak I'm taken over using that ball pein hammer in the video. ;)

Ball peins are smaller than pretty much any other hammer so you can hold the part with your fingers and feel when it sits down on the parallels. Like you say, any marks will be machined away. A lot of techniques I use are outside the norm but I use them because they work.

Thanks.

Tom

I first used a shop tool 12 years ago, and I was shown how to use a mill a year after that.

I still remember this and your other videos fondly. There wasn't too much machining on Youtube back then, so it was amazing to find clear instruction from a professional.

Granted, it's still not the norm today, but it was perfectly timed back then!

This video is so helpful, I'm not much of a mill guy, and I never seem to get blocks square on the first time. Thanks for taking the time to make these videos.

Thanks Vince.

Side milling is a good option for long or thin parts, but only as a last resort. You''ll get a part that is more square if you face mill or fly-cut because you won't get the cutter deflection that you get when side milling. I normally side mill when squaring up plate stock.

Glad you enjoyed the video.

Tom

Thanks Richard.

My videos are definitely geared toward beginning students because that's who I worked with when I started teaching. It's a lot of fun to get back to teaching again.

I am hard at work on a website that will make it much easier to browse the videos and offer something new that I call project tutorials where I provide drawings for a useful project and then build it start to finish. They will include many different machining processes and have different levels of difficulty.

Tom

Thank you! Been battling to square up, finally got it right. It’s a janky hobby combo machine but in by 0.02 mm which is good enough for me.

Thanks. I'm glad you enjoyed it and learned something from it. I have a few other ideas for videos, just need to get busy and make them.

This was exactly the method I just learned in my machinist class, and is outlined in the NIMS textbook. The only variation we learned was for milling sides 5 and 6: if the piece is a long rectangle you might not want too much standing up in a vise, so simply raise the bench and run the side of the end mill over the sides of the workpiece. Good video thank you!

I like the tip of using the welding rod to take up the irregular surface.

Thanks for commenting.

I prefer the feel and size of a ball pein over other types of hammers on rough surfaces. If I was working on a part that was already machined, I would use a plastic hammer.

Sticking small parts out the end of the vise if fine for larger parts, but on a small part like this it's asking for trouble. The vise won't grip the part evenly and the risk of it moving is high. A side milled part also won't be as square as an end milled part due to flex in the end mill.

Thanks for the reply Sir. I haven't turned or milled since 8 years, but I sure miss doing it. Watching these videos brings back memories from school. I can smell the hot metal and coolant...

People are really trying to knock this guy.  If at the end of the day he is happy with the amount of time spent, the tooling lifespan, and the dimensional correctness of the part he delivers then is there anything wrong with how he arrived there?  It fits his purposes fine.  Shoot in my hobby machining I do things differently than I see a lot of machinists do on YouTube.  Not because their method is wrong but because my smaller machines just can’t handle the methods used with larger industrial machines.

Quite frankly I found it to be a rather informative video.  Good content.  👍

And for god sakes people stop worrying about the ball peen hammer.  The surfaces he strikes are already marred up from sawing...🙄

Nice you took the time to put this out there!  I have interviewed a lot of people for tool maker positions and I always ask to explain how to square a block. As mentioned There are a few  ways depending on accuracy required. One thing we did is grind the side block on the vice square so a 123 block can be screwed on as a rail for that last side.  Helps save time when you have a lot of blocks.  Check out the video by lindquist steels showing how they square up blocks. Now that's fast!

Good point.

Burrs on the part and chips under the part are the two biggest problems when squaring up stock. You can do everything right and still not end up with a square part if you don't deal with the burrs and chips. I keep a brush hanging on the side of the machine and a file within reach.

Tom