How many have mills

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bluwolf

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No point to this thread, just curious. How many with metal lathes also have a mill? If you feel like it, how about pix of your mills and any modifications you've done to them.

Mike
 
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Autonoz

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I have a metal lathe and am considering a mill. I would be interested to know what folks use them for.
 

trapper

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im considering adding one to my lathe here in the uk as im installing cnc to it it might just be able to do the same as a pen wizard. Jut athought quite how to do it im still trying to get straight i reckon it would nead a five axis controller anyone got any thoughts......... im doing cnc n the lathe to make replica parts but the mill bit?????
 

BRobbins629

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Here's my CNC mill which has gone through 3 or 4 variations and upgrades. Its a collection of various parts and pieces. Some parts are a little weird, but I tried to design in flexibility for my applications. The Z axis has always been mounted on an old Harbor Freight arbor press.

Version 1 had an mdf Z-axis which served me well for a long time. Found another on sale and replaced it with something more stable. The spindle, originally a Foredom tool, is mounted on a plate and attached to T-track. That way I can easily move it up or down for clearance and can even use the spindle horizontal for threading in the chuck.

The initial machine used a couple of Parker linear tables for the X and Y axes and a Parker rotary. The X and Y were limited to 4" of travel and are fine for pens, but I wanted something longer. For the latest mod, I found a Parker table on ebay with 16" of travel. Really makes a difference. Also found a used NSK spindle which is quiet as a whisper at 25000 rpm. Quiet is nice.

When you don't have a CNC to build a CNC, there are some compromises. To compensate for any run out in the rotary axis, I mounted a 4 jaw independent chuck and can center the work with a dial indicator prior to milling.

By far my favorite piece of equipment in the shop.

Pictures show initial and current.

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mredburn

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Hey! Where is a picture 0f your "Tower Of Power"? The one that's world famous for making tail stock DRO pieces.
 

lorbay

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No mods yet, just learning how to use it.

Lin.
 

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MarkD

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I have a Grizzly G4015Z Combo Lathe/Mill. I have not used the Mill portion of the machine very much.
 

Dalecamino

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I have one....I keep it in my buddies garage/shop :biggrin: sorry I don't have pictures of it. Maybe I can get my buddy to post some for me :biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:
 

Brooks803

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When I bought my HF metal lathe the guy threw in the matching mill for free. Didn't argue with him but I've yet to try it out. It works fine though.

Mini Mill - 2 Speed Mini Milling Machine

Are you kidding me? Did you make the deal out the back door? That's awesome.

lol...it was a guy off of craigslist. The metal lathe you could tell was used regularly, but the mill was as clean as could be. The guy bought it and couldn't get the hang of it so it sat on the shelf. When I came to buy the lathe I almost didn't do it, but then he said he'd throw in the mill so I jumped on it. Now it sits on my shelf....:rolleyes: I have plans for it though, just too much on my plate right now.
 

bluwolf

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jd99

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A few

Don't have pictures right now, but I have a Horazontal, and two Vertical mills, and a Jig Boring Machine at the shop. And a small one at home.
 

bluwolf

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Hey! Where is a picture 0f your "Tower Of Power"? The one that's world famous for making tail stock DRO pieces.

After looking at you guys with the cnc stuff, not to mention that sweet white Craftex, I'm embarassed to:rolleyes: The only thing it has is a bit more size, but it sure ain't pretty.

I have one....I keep it in my buddies garage/shop :biggrin: sorry I don't have pictures of it. Maybe I can get my buddy to post some for me :biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:

It's okay Chuck, I'll post pix of ours, but you have to share in the embarassment, okay?:wink:

Mike
 

bitshird

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I've got a couple, I have a 3 Axis Taig CNC also an old Bridgeport 9x42 but it's not CNC
I really want a 4th axis for mt Taig, Got the 4 axis Controller, just not the Sherline rotary and tail stock.
 

randyrls

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Harrisburg, PA 17112
I have a metal lathe and am considering a mill. I would be interested to know what folks use them for.

I use the mill to drill blanks. The mill is designed to resist side forces and the spindle turns very true. An X2 mill has barely enough vertical height to use a large drill bit and the blank, so you must be careful about set up. An air spring kit to replace the torsion bar spring with a longer rack for the vertical column is just barely enough.
Air Spring Conversion Kit - LittleMachineShop.com


I also use the mill to mill parts for other things.
 

bluwolf

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I was looking for pictures of it's good side, then I realized it didn't have one:biggrin: But I got a good deal on it. Paid $25 less for it than I sold my mini mill for, and got a ton of tooling with it. It's a Jet 8x30. Grizzly sells the same thing for $3900+shipping. So if you want to see what it should look like go here, it's actually on sale right now:

G0731 8" x 30" Vertical Mill with Power Feed

First I added a DRO to the quill. But it wasn't long before I had to adapt a powerfeed to X axis. That was an interesting project. Then after putting a DRO on the tailstock of the lathe and liking it so much, I got a couple of the long scales with the remote displays and put them on the X and Y axis. Not as nice as the real DRO on my lathe but a heck of a lot cheaper. One picture of the mill and one of the lathe and mill. Someday I'd like to paint the mill to match. Umm, Chuck, you paint stuff don't you?:rolleyes:

Mike
 

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Jim Smith

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My Emco compact 5 lathe came with a mill and collet set when I purchased it. Even though it was previously owned, it had never been used at all so it was still new with many of the components still in the wrappers.

Jim Smith
 

bluwolf

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An oldie but goldie. Bridgeport 9 x 42. And only paid $700.00 for it with kurt vise on a rotary base.

Crap, I thought I did well. So essentially you bought a first class vice and got a Bridgeport for free:biggrin:

Mike
 

bitshird

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An oldie but goldie. Bridgeport 9 x 42. And only paid $700.00 for it with kurt vise on a rotary base.

Gary, I've spent half my life dancing with one of those, and a few 9 x36, I hope the police don't show up at your door saying you stole the mill, but you got a great deal, if the machine was tight and not horse whipped.
Kudos on a great deal.
 

Rich L

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Centennial, CO
This thread got long fast.

Deckel FP1 universal, 2nd generation, Heidenhain DRO

I use it a lot for accessory tooling I need to make and for some special effects I want to put on barrels and finials, and, whatever. I also use it sometimes to hog down Damascus to a shape suitable for turning.

Cheers,
Rich
 

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bluwolf

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This thread got long fast.

Deckel FP1 universal, 2nd generation, Heidenhain DRO

I use it a lot for accessory tooling I need to make and for some special effects I want to put on barrels and finials, and, whatever. I also use it sometimes to hog down Damascus to a shape suitable for turning.

Cheers,
Rich

I've seen a few Deckels (not that I know what I'm talking about). I've never seen one that nice before:eek:

Mike
 

Penultimate

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I have the Sieg mini mill. I've done a little milling but use it primarily to drill blanks. It has more travel than a bench top drill press. I'm going to put DRO's on it someday.
 

CaptG

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Otsego, Mi, USA.
An oldie but goldie. Bridgeport 9 x 42. And only paid $700.00 for it with kurt vise on a rotary base.
Crap, I thought I did well. So essentially you bought a first class vice and got a Bridgeport for free:biggrin: Mike
Yup, thats what I thought too. Gotta love Craigslist.
An oldie but goldie. Bridgeport 9 x 42. And only paid $700.00 for it with kurt vise on a rotary base.
Gary, I've spent half my life dancing with one of those, and a few 9 x36, I hope the police don't show up at your door saying you stole the mill, but you got a great deal, if the machine was tight and not horse whipped. Kudos on a great deal.
A little wear on the ways, but I can live with it. I picked up a 10 hp rotary converter and it powers mill, clausing engine lathe, and reid surface grinder. All Craigslist treasures.
 

KBs Pensnmore

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I've got a copy of the Seig mini mill and use it for making bits and pieces, still learning to use it properly before I think about using it for pen stuff. Got it off my brother along with his 7x12 minilathe including heaps of tooling, cutters etc. for FREE!!!!!!!!:biggrin::biggrin:
Kryn
 
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