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1/30/2021 9:04 PM  #1


My "new" / "homemade" mill made its first chips yesterday.

For those of you that missed my original post I started a project where I took the mill head off of my HF mill/lathe combo and built a stand for it to make it a stand alone mill. As of yesterday the conjoined twin separation surgery was a success. What was a lathe mill combo unit is officially a stand-alone lathe and a stand-alone mill. I cut both aluminum and steel with the mill and both metals cut well.



I need to do some tweaking to the cross slide. The gibs are a little small and the gib adjustments are all different length. The gib locks are not very effective and will need to be replaced. There is a little vibration when cutting but that is to be expected as I set it up on a temporary table. That will also be reduced when I fell the bottom tubing with led which should add 100-150 LBS. I have a few other adjustments that will need to be done before I take it to the powder coater, but over all I am very happy with it.

Here is what it looks like all set up for test cuts.



There is a height adjustment accomplished with 1 2 3 blocks it gives me 4 height adjustments from 0-4"


I used the speed adjustment pulleys as a quick and simple way to drive the unit, and made the motor mount adjustable to take up belt slop.




Here is the fabricated base with out the cross-slide table or the mill head.



Like I said I have a few more things to do to it as well as a digital RPM readout, and a DRO to mount up, but over all I am very happy with it!


If it isn't broken...modify it anyway! http://www.DazeCars.com https://galaxieforum.boardhost.com
 

1/31/2021 1:30 AM  #2


Re: My "new" / "homemade" mill made its first chips yesterday.

Outstanding work Day!


Bob. 69 Mach 1, 393W, SMOD Toploader, Armstrong  steering, factory AC.
 

1/31/2021 9:11 AM  #3


Re: My "new" / "homemade" mill made its first chips yesterday.

You should-be-happy...nice work
(real 'show-quality welds' too Daze!)
6sal6


Get busy Liv'in or get busy Die'n....Host of the 2020 Bash at the Beach/The only Bash that got cancelled  )8
 

1/31/2021 1:42 PM  #4


Re: My "new" / "homemade" mill made its first chips yesterday.

Nice work!   I was going to offer you a machinist vice for your project, but it looks like you have one!  I got a set of parallels from harbor freight at Xmas, and they work just fine with it.   Have fun!


If multiple things can go wrong, the one that will go wrong will be the one that causes the most damage.
 

1/31/2021 2:20 PM  #5


Re: My "new" / "homemade" mill made its first chips yesterday.

6sally6 wrote:

(real 'show-quality welds' too Daze!)

Thats because there are no close up pictures of them  

Greg B wrote:

Nice work! I was going to offer you a machinist vice for your project, but it looks like you have one!

Thanks!  I was about to order a second vise for another project.  I just sent you an email.
 


If it isn't broken...modify it anyway! http://www.DazeCars.com https://galaxieforum.boardhost.com
     Thread Starter
 

2/01/2021 6:21 AM  #6


Re: My "new" / "homemade" mill made its first chips yesterday.

That will be a handy little mill to have.

 

2/12/2021 1:01 PM  #7


Re: My "new" / "homemade" mill made its first chips yesterday.

If the vibration continues, consider welding a big X- brace under the bottom of that lower mounting plate, between the four legs and welded securely to the plate. Like 1/2” x 2” plate with the 2” dimension vertical and the  1/2” edge welded 2” every 4”.


Money you enjoy wasting is NOT wasted money... unless your wife finds out.
 

2/12/2021 1:33 PM  #8


Re: My "new" / "homemade" mill made its first chips yesterday.

Looking good there Day..

 

2/14/2021 5:27 PM  #9


Re: My "new" / "homemade" mill made its first chips yesterday.

I’m jealous.    Excellent non on fabrication of it all.

 

3/03/2021 6:10 PM  #10


Re: My "new" / "homemade" mill made its first chips yesterday.

MS wrote:

If the vibration continues, consider welding a big X- brace under the bottom of that lower mounting plate, between the four legs and welded securely to the plate. Like 1/2” x 2” plate with the 2” dimension vertical and the 1/2” edge welded 2” every 4”.

Filling the three hollow spaces on the machine with over 100 pounds of lead eliminated 90% of the vibration and once I bolt it down I will probably be 99% vibration free.
 


If it isn't broken...modify it anyway! http://www.DazeCars.com https://galaxieforum.boardhost.com
     Thread Starter
 

Board footera


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