Just figured out a better way to tram my spindle at a shop in Dayton

I was out at a job shop in Dayton last month helping a buddy with his Haas VF-2 and kept getting crap finishes. Turns out his tram was off by almost 0.005 inch across the table and a quick shim fixed it. Has anyone else found a faster way to check tram without pulling out the test indicator every time?

2 comments

2 Comments

skyler_fox721mo ago

Flip your indicator upside down and clamp it in the spindle with the tip riding on a good 123 block or a precision square sitting on the table. That way you cover both the Z axis squareness and the table tram in one shot, plus you can spin it by hand slow and watch for any weird bounce in the bearings while you're at it. If you keep a dedicated setup next to the machine with the block already cleaned off, you can do the whole check in under a minute without hunting for tools. That little trick saved me from chasing a false tram issue last year when my indicator was actually just acting up.

brookekelly1mo ago

Hear me out but I've got a different take on this. That method works fine for a quick sanity check but it assumes your indicator is perfect and your 123 block is dead square, which isn't always the case. I've seen guys chase phantom errors because their "good" block was actually worn on one edge from years of use. Also, clamping the indicator upside down in the spindle feels risky to me one slip and you're smacking the stem into the table. I'd rather sweep the table directly with the indicator in the spindle then check Z separately with a square against the column. It takes a couple more minutes but you isolate the variables way better.