What's this tool used for?

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That is the next tool you want to buy once you've had a metal lathe for a while. :biggrin:

Without any fancy accessories, it will simply make nice perfectly flat surfaces or perfectly positioned holes in virtually anything.

Add some stuff like rotary table, DRO, CNC etc etc and it will make almost ANYTHING accurately.

I want one!!!:biggrin:
 
I use a smaller version to make parts for pens. Take what ever the mill costs and double it for the extra goodies you will want to get . Used they are available about a 3rd of new.
 
Those are sweet! A long way out of my range right now! I was looking at the drill press attachment that turns your drillpress into a planer type situation, that would keep me happy for at least another two or three days!



There is a welding shop in town. They have a MONSTER milling machine. This thing is an absolute BEAST. They mostly use it to bore great big holes in giant square oilfield things. I have no idea what any of it os for or does, but last time i was in there, they had a solid piece of metal on the machine that was every bit of 2 foot tall, by about 3 foot wide, and about 4 or 5 foot long. They were boring a hole in it that was probably a good solid 10 inches. Pretty intense stuff!
 
ok, but does it make really cool noises when it's turned on?

I found a vid on YouTube for one. I will watch it now and probably want one real bad. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jn0YRgvxF6c

Santa ain't gonna fit that down the chimney this year, that's for sure. Heck, I don't even have a fireplace!
 
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There was a machine shop near me getting rid of two of these. (free)
They were much bigger, though.. maybe 7 ft tall. All I had to do was move
it out THAT DAY! They were getting rid of them to make room for the new
CNC version.. (although these were early CNC, too)

I had no way to move them, no place to put them and even if I could have
raised the ceiling in my shop, the floor wouldn't support one.
I cried a little.
Ok, for weeks.
 
Love those mills, Never worked on a South Bend but spent hundreds of hours on Bridgeports and Lagun's and that's not a bad price for American machines, even the Chinese clones run close to 5000.00
 
I had a mill similar to that where I worked. Used it in my knife making and for making a few gun parts etc. Then I retired. Miss not having the mill to use but would rather be retired.
:biggrin:
 
whats this tool used for

skiprat said:
That is the next tool you want to buy once you've had a metal lathe for a while. :biggrin:

Without any fancy accessories, it will simply make nice perfectly flat surfaces or perfectly positioned holes in virtually anything.

Add some stuff like rotary table, DRO, CNC etc etc and it will make almost ANYTHING accurately.

I want one!!!:biggrin:
Click to expand...

Amen brother this is the next tool on my list. Just bought a metal lathe.

Lin.
 
checkout 'mrpete222" on youtube. -- He is a retired metalworking shop teacher who has made about 100 vids explaining all metalworking machines and processes. -- current project is steam engine he made from cast aluminum -- This guy is great. Definitely fills the void for us that want, but don't have metalworking equipment.
 
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I almost scored one this weekend. I was at an auction and there were tons of tools I wanted and could afford, but I knew the mill would be expensive, so I gambled for an all or nothing approach. Waited half the day till the mill came up and I bid up to what I was willing to pay for a Central Machinery single phase mill with rust on it and was out bid. But...now the other guy has to deal with how to load 600 or more pounds of rusty metal into his truck and there were some broken knobs on it. I wouldn't go over $600 on the bid for it, especially when I can get a Rong-Fu at Enco this month for $1300 brand new and it's a bigger machine with a dovetail column. I much prefer a dovetail over a round post column.
 
I had to sell my Bridgeport mill and Claussen lathe when I moved to Texas. To big and no room for them. Boy do I miss them:frown::frown: My buddy a machinist always said if you had a Bridgeport mill you could build another mill with it.

Keith "mrburls"
 
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