Milling machine

[Metalistico]

Hey everyone, I'm looking at buying a mini mill, thing is I know nothing about them, I was hoping someone here could steer me in the right direction, as to what to buy and what to stay away from.
Budget is around $2000.
Thanks.

 

[YYCHM]

Why a mini? Your budget would get you a much larger machine. It only took a year for me go grow out of my 7X12 lathe and mini-mill.

 

[Aliva]

Why a mini? Your budget would get you a much larger machine. It only took a year for me go grow out of my 7X12 lathe and mini-mill.

Totally agree, I bought a round column mill drill from King Industrial. A year I went for a 9x42 knee mill. The mill drill was a pain keep accuracy when moving the head up.

 

[Metalistico]

Why a mini? Your budget would get you a much larger machine. It only took a year for me go grow out of my 7X12 lathe and mini-mill.

I hear what your saying as i could already use a bigger lathe lol, it all comes down to space and power demands.

 

[YYCHM]

I hear what your saying as i could already use a bigger lathe lol, it all comes down to space and power demands.

How much space do you have to work with?

 

[Metalistico]

My garage is 24 X 24 But i also have a hydraulic bike lift and tire machine and balancer in there

 

[YYCHM]

My garage is 24 X 24 But i also have a hydraulic bike lift and tire machine and balancer in there

24 x24 Garage, I wish. You have plenty of room to play with......

This is what I have to live with 8 x 12, but I've managed to get a 9X22 lathe, RF30 mill/drill, 8" shaper, band saw, and a PHS in there LOL.

 

[Metalistico]

that's cool, i Love that Lathe you got , Is that a Myford ? I also see you got power feed on you x axis on your mill.

 

[YYCHM]

that's cool, i Love that Lathe you got , Is that a Myford ? I also see you got power feed on you x axis on your mill.

Standard Modern 9" Utilathe. The mill and the shaper are 220V the lathe is 110V.

 

[Metalistico]

I see, I need something like that, I'm just starting out so I got lots of time to look around and find something, I bought a 7 X12 King mini lathe and it's working all right for now, although I had to do a bunch of fixing to get it to turn a decent part, there pretty flimsy,
Now I need a mill.

 

[YYCHM]

I see, I need something like that, I'm just starting out so I got lots of time to look around and find something, I bought a 7 X12 King mini lathe and it's working all right for now, although I had to do a bunch of fixing to get it to turn a decent part, there pretty flimsy,
Now I need a mill.

Those mini mills take a bunch of fooling around right with from the get go, including installing a DRO in order to make them usable.

CX605 Down Feed Tune Up

Finally got fed up with the sloppy down feed and head drop issues on my CX605 and decided to do something about it. Apparently the head drop issue has to do with the poor mesh between the column rack and up/down feed gear as well as the sprung head support system. I tackled the mesh issue by...

canadianhobbymetalworkers.com

Mini Mill DROs

So, after much poking around I have concluded that I can add basic independent 3 axis DROs to my mill for around $150 or go for integrated 3 axis systems for $250-$400. Question is.... is the extra $$ worth it? How many of those extra functions are useful on a manual mini mill? Mini Mill...

canadianhobbymetalworkers.com

Rotary Table Chuck Adapter Plate

I'm attempting to make a chuck adapter for my rotary table. I have roughed out a piece of 1/2" hot rolled to approx. 4" dia. Should I turn it to 4" on the lathe or mount it on the rotary table and mill it to final dimension? What would you do?

canadianhobbymetalworkers.com

 

[Metalistico]

yeah I figured as much, anything mini is a work in progress, speaking of DRO's I just installed 1 on my tail stock on the Lathe and thinking on doing the cross slide as well.
They are the cat's meow for sure.

 

[YYCHM]

yeah I figured as much, anything mini is a work in progress, speaking of DRO's I just installed 1 on my tail stock on the Lathe and thinking on doing the cross slide as well.
They are the cat's meow for sure.

What kind of DROs? I had these https://littlemachineshop.com/products/product_view.php?ProductID=5675&category= on my 7 X12. The cross slide one worked OK, the compound one not so much.

 

[Metalistico]

I just used 2 Vernier Calipers, I just fabricated a couple brackets to hold them. Same principal except it only cost me $30 compared to $140 that LMS wants, works the same.

 

[YYCHM]

I just used 2 Vernier Calipers, I just fabricated a couple brackets to hold them. Same principal except it only cost me $30 compared to $140 that LMS wants, works the same.

Probably works better than the LMS rotary DROs, they were kind of flakey.