Has anybody in the forum used a laser to level an aluminum part for surfacing.
I.e to surface an engine head, the top surface of the part must be colinear with the base. Assuming the top surface of the spoilboard, using HDPE plastic instead of MDF to avoid changes due to temperature and humidity. Place the part to be machined in a vise. This part now needs to be colinear with the table surface for the aluminum surfacing bit to cleanly take of say 2 or 3 thouands.
It seems a laser mounted on the table can be used for this purpose. Has anybody done this? If so what vendors tool did you use?
You could use an indicator mounted in/on the spindle and shim the head until level. Use a clamping system that will not warp the head.
However I would suggest taking the head to a automotive machine shop with dedicated head surfacing machine and valve equipment.
I wouldn’t even try. I do this all the time. Clamp it and do a surfacing op. Flip it over on the now flat surface, surface it again.
The reason is trying to chase the the spindle’s alignment to the spoilboard will always be imperfect.
For the record, this is SOP for pro level metal machines as well.
You can always use the Mach4 surface mapping plugin. This will require turning off the ESS stop on probe failure function documented elsewhere on the forum.