Home milling machine?

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  • thequintessentialman

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    Mar 19, 2015
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    Are any of you hobbyists playing around with garage shop milling machines, lathes, etc? I'm toying with the idea of getting an inexpensive one, even CNC if it fits the budget. I've always liked the idea of machining metal and now that I'm starting to build some "toys", I thought I would like something better than a Dewalt router or a modified door planer. The wife is always wanting me to build small things for her craft hobby so the extra band width would not be wasted. (Wife is real good at finding reasons not to get something then finding things for me to do with it after I do finally buy one... :) )
    Military Camp
     

    ROGER4314

    Been Called "Flash" Since I Was A Kid!
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    Shop carefully. Tooling for a metal lathe or mill is what bites you hard. They ought to give you the machine for free and make their bucks on the tooling!

    The best ride I ever had was at the steel mill after I left teaching. Mills, drills, full tooling, shears, brakes, welding machines and every other imaginable machining process was set up for my use. I bought my own sets of drills, end mills, calipers and micrometers because the meat heads screwed the company equipment up. I kept my stuff locked up! It was sweet!

    Flash
     

    Texan-in-Training

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    Always read that harbor freight mills could be converted into CNC mills

    As the proud owner of both a Harbor Freight mill/drill and lathe, I am extremely aware of their limitations. They are adequate for my needs, though.
    I think if I was going to throw some money at them, I'd use it on a digital readout for the mill.
     

    TheDan

    deplorable malcontent scofflaw
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    This guy's design has been making the rounds. "DIY Smart Saw"

    Here's a review on it,
    http://woodworkingnova.com/diy-smart-saw-reviews/

    He doesn't sell the motors but gives you resources where you can buy them. It's just the plans. As pictured, the estimated cost is $500. With a scrounging cost of $160.
    More of a CNC router than a mill. Probably not sturdy or torquey enough for metal.

    As the proud owner of both a Harbor Freight mill/drill and lathe, I am extremely aware of their limitations. They are adequate for my needs, though.
    I think if I was going to throw some money at them, I'd use it on a digital readout for the mill.
    Yep, DRO definitely makes it easier and more enjoyable.
     

    Texan-in-Training

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    There's lots of homebrew DRO as well. Most are made with digital calipers.
    While using calipers for a quill DRO seems fairly straight forward, the thought of using six inch calipers for table travel has intimidated me enough that I never pursued it. Seems like it would require some sort of magnetic attachment so it could be moved when needed. Got the secret? Or even better, a link to someones design page?
     

    TheDan

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    While using calipers for a quill DRO seems fairly straight forward, the thought of using six inch calipers for table travel has intimidated me enough that I never pursued it. Seems like it would require some sort of magnetic attachment so it could be moved when needed. Got the secret? Or even better, a link to someones design page?
    You wouldn't actually use the whole caliper. The "reader" part would be taken off and mounted to an appropriate sized rail. Then you'd feed the digital output from it to some other type of counter brainbox. People have built them with arduinos and the code is freely available. I wouldn't want to use a system like that or absolute position, but it should work great for relative position. Probably cost you $50 and a little time.

    That one you found for $238 looks like a good value if you don't want to build your own.
     

    Texan-in-Training

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    People have built them with arduinos and the code is freely available.
    Though I made my living as an Electronic Technician, I've never pursued learning about arduinos and the newer technologies... probably bruise what little I have left of brain-cells. :laughing:
    Between posts yesterday, I used the HF mill to open up the dovetail on my Great Plains Hunter barrel for a "primitive" rear sight. Lyman makes a beautiful rifle, but their adjustable buckhorn rear sights (on left) suck. It got a little stressful towards the end, but I stopped about ten thousands short so I could use a file to final fit the sight and not screw up a three hundred dollar barrel.
    GP Hunter Dovetail.jpg.jpg
     

    APynckel

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    Quality is paramount in mills. Ball screw slop, lack of precision in the dove tails for the axis, slop in the spindle, will all add up QUICK. Seriously "entry level" for a manual mill should be a used (but in certified good condition) bridgeport. If you want CNC, there are good American made mills that can be had for a couple thousand, namely the Tormach 440 - 1100, depending on your HP / workarea needs.
     

    TheDan

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    ...and you can run a Tormach "manually" or semi manually if you wanted. I didn't realize you could pick one up for only a couple grand. That's in the same neighborhood as a well used knee mill. I'd get the Tormach.
     

    APynckel

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    ...and you can run a Tormach "manually" or semi manually if you wanted. I didn't realize you could pick one up for only a couple grand. That's in the same neighborhood as a well used knee mill. I'd get the Tormach.

    Yea, the only downside is you can't "force feedback" with the Tormach. No axis drive handles to feel if you're driving too hard. It's "to step or not to step". That's all you got.
     
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