Buckshot... [Archive] - Cast Boolits

Buckshot

02-24-2006, 04:50 AM

...............Parallels are used for all kinds of stuff. No one particular thing. Everything from cleaning under your fingernails to setup's for machining. Probably the most common use is in milling vises for setting stuff up to be milled. Stuff too short for the depth of the jaws. Also in vises for drilling. You don't want to drill into the bed of the vise so you use a couple parallels to hold the work up and then you drill down between them.

They're also used as packing between parts for some machine operations. Since they're usually hardened from 58 to 62 RC they can be used between work and chuck jaws to keep from marring softer material. Really good ones can almost be wrung together like gage blocks.

I think the thinnest common are 1/32" thick to 1/4" thick. Length is commonly 6", some 4". Heights vary in sets. Some go by 1/8" increments and some 1/4" and 1/2" jumps. For most, the real critical distance is width and not thickness. You can pick up a really nice Chinese made set for like $29, but the winners are still US domestic and quality European. Accurate to less then .0002" over thier width and thickness, and they are NOT sold for $29 a set 8).

.................Buckshot