got me a new tool
Cummins where in town…went there yesterday to pick up some drill bits and a drillpress…..bumped into RichT, who told me the drillbits he bought last year where same model as i had just gotten and they where crap….i decided to tjeck them out…it had been a year since he got his…maybe production had gotten better but no…4 out of 10 was bendt some more than others….one of the 10 tested was more than .25″ off….so had to go back today to return it
drillpress i got was nice….but then i saw the minimill….drove back home grabbed the drillpress which was still in its box…and got a the Mill
it comes in a wooden freight box…..weighs a TON…and just not easy to carry, damn near broke my back getting it into the basement
only thing i cant figure out is how to mount stuff to the table of it…and now all xmas money is gone 🙁 not even money for materials to machine or to get tools lol
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and thats what im gonna do…..learn it…use what i got….and then take it from there
just looking at 150 bucks+ shipping for a rotary table….if a cnc kit was double that it might make sence to go cnc instead of rotating table….as cnc doesnt need it…..
started to ebay alot of my crap….hopefully my paypal will be bulging 🙄 with enough money that i can get a rotary table
allso need a bit that can do a 1.25″ cut in a piece of wood for my stock or figure out some other way to cut that airtube groove for my bullpup project
I’ve been looking at DRO displays for a while.
Just adding a digi-caliper to the ‘Y’ on my mill-drill would be a real job to get working right.
Take my advice and make a bunch of chips before you start adding all those extras. (and double the cost of the mill)..
My dream project is to put some displays on my lathe. Like this
http://www.gadgetbuilder.com/DRO2.jpg
But, for now.. I’ll just wing it. 🙂
the red rust preventing grease is gone….i just gave everything a quick wipe with some old rags and wd40 seems to thin it just nicely…
the horse dude sure has some good ideas….dro for under 300 bucks…thats pretty cheap
150 bucks for belt upgrade….well thats 150 bucks…alot of money….rotary table is first on the list
are those belt wheel with teeth or just round wheels ?
i see alot of cnc plans….but none of the discusses how to control it….software t think i saw some freeware somewhere….do they hook up with USB, Serial, paralell….does the pc need a controller board….how much would a complete setup be….
Have a look at this site for your belt drive , might be a cheaper option and also gets you cutting metal to see what your baby can do ! (for the experiance). Im in the middle of making one myself. Lots of other ideas for improvemens to this mill also. Happy cutting 😀
http://www.hossmachine.com/
That is a nice looking little mill.. That same red tar was all over my mill
(and lathe).
It took all day to clean up. Mostly, I used old news paper to wipe off
the thick stuff and then used cleaner and paper towels on the rest.
I’ve never seen one of those close up, you will have to invite me
over this summer and show me your setup..
Get some WD40 and get that red gunk off of there. That stuff is a mess. You are going to have a lot of fun. I just power a power feed for mine today and went and picked it up from little machine shop.
It works great. Did you gets some collets for it? There is a lot of stuff this mill can do and as long as you dont push it you will love it.
BTW when you break those gears do yourself a favor and get a belt drive system for it. Great mod for $120
it was boxed in a wooden crate….insides where molded styrofoam….no way to damage the inside without some major markings on the crate
pictures are crap as i just went into my basement real quick to take them, and i didnt bother turning the light on
it came with two T pieces that go into the table, but no 10×1.5mm screws…lowes didnt have any either…but i found some inch screws that worked, so i got the vise mounted temporary as i got a real mill vise comming tomorrow (along with 40 pounds of other stuff, wonder what is so heavy)
so i milled a bit with a center drill(not good), and some boring bars which was pretty good in the aluminum…..
got the table tightened so theres no slack.
my biggest annoyance….the gears…they are VERY loud, after 5 minutes i had enough…and grabbed my shooting hearing protection….
milling some scrap stuff….things that took me long time before, like cutting that groove on the outside of a breech….before it was a 20-30 minutes job with my dremel…..now….2 minute job
i bought a 4″ drillpress vise….
No binds or dings?
When I got my stuff from those truck guys, (4×6 saw, sander & lathe)
some of the packaging looked beat, but the hardware didn’t even have
any chipped paint. I was lucky..
Post some pics of your new rig..
Cygnusx, the angle on the vise would require you to be pressing the peice agaisnt the end mill to make the cut, which wouldnt give a very nice cut. Rotary tables have a wheel just like the x and y axis.
You’d also need to rotate the workpiece in the vise to get a full 360 degree’s so even if you had a super steady and strong hand to feed it, the “circle” made from composite curves as you rotate the peice probably wouldnt match up.
Just another suggestion for something the wife would kill you over… a CNC kit, Would make my orders easier too – Just send you a CAD file and then drop by and pick up my stuff 😆
damn 310 bucks…for “essentials” man the wife is gonna be mad when she checks the account…. 😥
still missing a rotary table…i hope i can rig something with that swiveling vise
i noticed the degree thing on the vise….can that be used as a poor mans rotating table…by offsetting the material ?
thanks to all for the suggestions…think the kit is the way to go….and then get what WOK suggested
damn those rotary tables are expensive 130 bucks at least pluss shipping
DRO would love it….but 350…..my budget was around 150 bucks lol
Looks like everyone already got you covered on what you need while I was at work 8)
LMS has a kit:KIT
I have this vise: VISE Holds OK.
Got the R8 collets but only use one size so far…Still want a rotary table. Love these little machines…
Edit: Yeah mine has a “whine” sound from the gears, much different sound then from the lathe but haven’t had any problems with it, got it last year….
I was thinking that too, but I didnt wanna be a dick and say it 😆
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Wood is not too hard to work with on a small mill. But don’t try doing that in Aluminum..
I did most of the work on my DIY-FT stock for the S400, but my mill is too small to handle a cutter that big..
I had to take it to a buddy that had a full-sized mill. Took him a few minutes.
If I decide to make another one for the B50, I plan to do it the cheap way.
I’ll use U-channel that’s a tad smaller than the air tube.
It should make the build time shorter and the rifle a lot lighter.
I’m also considering using U-channel on the Remington 788 .223 stock..
(My off-hand 200yd rifle project).
So, if I were doing it in wood, I would mill out the insides (where no one can see) with a plain old 3/8″ end mill.
Then make the tip of the stock round and pretty. 🙂
One idea I had for doing a short round cut in wood was to loosen a few items on the head of my mill, so I could swing it over to the side of the bench.
I would clamp the stock(up-right) in a place where I could lower the cutter down into the wood. Just like drilling a hole with a drill press..
A small fly-cutter should work fine.
But the cut would only be about 3″ long/deep..