 Welcome to squaring a part. Before starting any new project, you need to make sure your part is square. A part that hasn't been milled both to square and to size creates a final product that is out of alignment. Always begin your projects by milling your part to square and to size if it hasn't already been done. Begin by making sure the head is squared and the vice is indicated in. Clamp the rough stock into the vice so the two sides that are most parallel to each other are against the solid jaw and the movable jaw. It's a best practice to mill the widest side first. You may have to use a set of parallels to bring the part up and above the vice jaws. Don't pound down the part with a dead blow hammer. Next, select the cutter to face the surface. The cutter's diameter should be one and a half times larger than the part's width. So, for a two inch wide part, you would multiply two by one and a half to calculate the size of the cutter. For this part, you'd need a three inch cutter. The cutter diameter should never be bigger than one and a half times the part width. Remember, you also need to calculate the correct RPM and feed rate for the cutter. Next, bring the cutter over the right end of the part. Make sure the quill is all the way up and locked. Bring the cutter up until the cutter touches the part. Then, zero out the collar on the knee. Move the table until the cutter is off and to the right of the part. Bring the knee up to the desired depth. For the first side, it's always a good idea to clean it up by taking off roughly 30 thousandths of an inch. Also, you should always face mill from right to left so that the chips are thrown into the back of the machine instead of out toward you. Mill the first side to clean it up and turn off the spindle. Take the part out and deburr the edges. Then, rotate it until the face you milled is up against the solid jaw. Clamp the part into the vise. Depending on the height of the part, you may be able to remove the parallels. Don't pound down the part with a dead low hammer. Clean this face up, remove it from the vise, and deburr the part. Next, make sure the two sides you milled are square to each other by using a solid square. If the two sides are square, you can continue. If they aren't, you need to repeat the previous steps. Once they are square, position the part in the vise so the first face you milled is toward the bottom and the second face is toward the solid jaw. Clamp the part and pound it with a dead low hammer. Clean up the third side and deburr the part. Check the side you've just milled to make sure it's square to the previous side. Rotate the part until the third side you milled is up against the solid jaw. Then, clamp it and pound it down with a dead low hammer. Clean up the fourth side and deburr the part. After cleaning up all four sides, make sure they're square to each other. If they are, position the part in the vise to cut the sides to the correct dimension. If the sides aren't square, repeat the previous steps. Once the four sides are square and to size, finish the process by squaring the ends. Clamp the part in the vise so that one end hangs out. Switch out the face mill and put in an end mill. Calculate the correct RPM for the cutter. Calculate the feed, keeping in mind that you can't use the power feed because it's not part of the Y axis. Move the table until the cutter is positioned at the end of the piece but not touching it. Bring the knee up to make sure the end mill cuts the full thickness of the part. Turn the spindle on and by hand move the table in the X axis until the cutter just touches the part. Move the table in the Y axis until the cutter is off the part and position to conventional mill. Always conventional mill with an end mill on a bridge port. Zero out the X axis on the digital readout and then move it to remove 10 to 20 thousandths of an inch. Lock the table to prevent the X axis from moving while milling. Mill the end of the part by moving the Y axis. When the end is cleaned up, remove the part, deeper, and check it squared as. If the end is square, flip the part in the vise and repeat the previous steps to clean up this end. Once everything is square, measure the part and calculate the correct amount of material to move in order to get the correct length as specified on the blueprint. You've completed squaring a part.