Machinists Corner

[XSRCdesign]

What wheels were they anyway

[Duuuuuuuude]

Been watching this guys channel pretty heavily during my lunch breaks.

[clod booster]

AvE is ****ing awesome!

Originally Posted by Duuuuuuuude

Been watching this guys channel pretty heavily during my lunch breaks.

[K.O.M.]

This thread seems to be dead, but I'll post in the hopes of getting pointed in the right direction.

I'm thinking of getting a mini-mill, specifically the Sherline, but I'm not sure that I'll have enough clearance once I have all the fixtures mounted on the table:

Largest thing I'll make is probably going to be 2.5" x 2.5" x 2.5". That said, to be be able to say, even make small round bits, I'll need a rotary table and a 3" chuck. Same for being to mount a 2"-3" vise on top of the rotary table.

The Grizzly, Harbor Freight, etc... mini mills seem to have a bit more clearance, but I'm not too keen on the additional setup.

[Duuuuuuuude]

Kinda sounds like you're going to be cutting it close (pun not intended) stacking all that up on such a small mill.

[C*H*U*D]

Originally Posted by K.O.M.

This thread seems to be dead...

Not as dead as the stickied threads that were deleted. What happened to them?

Back on topic...have you thought of a Taig? Bigger than a Sherline, but still in the same class.

What additional setups are you not keen on regarding Grizzly or one of the others?

[K.O.M.]

Originally Posted by Duuuuuuuude

Kinda sounds like you're going to be cutting it close (pun not intended) stacking all that up on such a small mill.

Yes I would. I would just have to make super narrow wheels for my r/c toys if that's what I ended up making.

[K.O.M.]

Originally Posted by C*H*U*D

Not as dead as the stickied threads that were deleted. What happened to them?

Back on topic...have you thought of a Taig? Bigger than a Sherline, but still in the same class.

What additional setups are you not keen on regarding Grizzly or one of the others?

I've heard good and bad about the mini-mills with the tilting columns.

The Grizzly I think would be close to ideal, though it has a #3 Morse taper instead of the R8 like the others. Haven't looked to see if this will be a problem in terms of borrowing/sharing tool holders.

The Little Machine Shop rigid column machine is nice, but for the same price, I can get the HF or Grizzly setup with the vice, chuck, and rotary table.

I have a hard budget unfortunately because of additional work I'm doing to my house, but would hate to put this off while I have the wind in my sails so to speak.

[C*H*U*D]

A tilting head wouldn't bother me, but a tilting column would make me nervous.

I don't really know your budget or what you want to make with this, so it's hard to give any recommendations. One thing though is make sure you're comparing similar machines.

This is the Little Machine Shop Mill:

HiTorque Mini Mill 3990 - LittleMachineShop.com

And this is the comparable Grizzly:

4" x 18" 3/4 HP Mill/Drill | Grizzly Industrial

The price difference is $100 which I don't think will buy a vise and rotary table.

Another manufacturer that sells these is Micro-Mark. One nice thing about their version is the converted lead screws they use to give .050" travel per turn of the handle instead of .062" per rotation (I can add multiples of .050" in my head much easier than .062"...just something to think about). It does have 1" less travel in both X and Y though.

MicroLux High Precision Heavy Duty R8 Miniature Milling Machine

[K.O.M.]

Thanks for the replies and additional resources.

I've talked to a few more people and for my immediate needs (rapid prototyping of personal projects), I have been pointed to a CNC router like the Shapeoko or the Piranha. I already have quite a set of parts drafted in 3D, and that would get me to real parts faster. As a purist at heart, I would miss on the process required to hand machine.

I already have 3D printing at my disposal, with higher fidelity prints available via Shapeways.

Ideally, I would like to have both at my disposal, even if both are inexpensive units.

[MechDave7]

Hey, I have a Grizzly minimill and mini lathe, both are good but need a few upgrades which are all over the internet. They do a great job. I also have Shapoko 2. I'm not good in cad but if you are go to Inventables.com and check out X-Carve. Glad to give advise on mini mill and lathe and tooling or where to go for it. God Bless Ya Dave

[Duuuuuuuude]

Need some fixturing ideas. On the first go-round making these fins, I didn't put a lot of thought into the process because it was just a trial run, and really wasted material. They'll now be made of brass, and I need to squeak out as many as I can.



I'd like to cut them down to size (roughly 3/4" tall) before machining the radius that forms the fins, but I'm not sure how to solidly hold them.

This is the current idea under consideration:



The base will be clamped into the lathe chuck & rotary table on the mill, and will be drilled/tapped to accept the 1/4-20 cap head bolt. Put the part on top, drop the wedge and bolt through the 3/8" hole in the part, and tighten it all up. I don't see any reason why it shouldn't work, other than the endmill grabbing and trying to spin the part and wrecking it.

Thoughts? Suggestions? What say you?

[rob_b]

Don't see why that wouldn't work. Here is an off the shelf option... https://www.miteebite.com/products/id-xpansion-clamp/

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[Duuuuuuuude]

Nice!

[MD ENFORCER]

I ended up with a shapeoko 3 over the x-carve. The Shapeoko just seems to work better out of the box. I did add ferrite chokes to mine to help with DISCONNECTS.

[K.O.M.]

Originally Posted by MechDave7

Hey, I have a Grizzly minimill and mini lathe, both are good but need a few upgrades which are all over the internet. They do a great job. I also have Shapoko 2. I'm not good in cad but if you are go to Inventables.com and check out X-Carve. Glad to give advise on mini mill and lathe and tooling or where to go for it. God Bless Ya Dave

Originally Posted by MD ENFORCER

I ended up with a shapeoko 3 over the x-carve. The Shapeoko just seems to work better out of the box. I did add ferrite chokes to mine to help with DISCONNECTS.

Came back from the flagship Maker Faire in San Mateo this past weekend and spoke with people from ShapeOko, Shop Bot, and Tormach as well as numerous 3D printer manufacturers.

Instead of narrowing it down, I basically came to the conclusion that I need all of them

Just a question of what I will use the most, and what I can farm out. Which leads me back to the bench top mills: the Sherline has the option of a CNC upgrade, and so do the G7xx Grizzly mills.

Seems that folks over at Practical Machinist say to just get a CNC from the start if part production and a library of parts waiting to be made is the goal. Many of the Grizzly Mill/Flashcut CNC combos run dangerously close in price to a Tormach PCNC 440.

I still think that a manual vertical benchtop mill, a manual benchtop lathe, and a CNC router would be a great place to start. What do you guys think?

[Duuuuuuuude]

I've gotten a ton of mileage out of my manual machines and dinky little router. It's not the most efficient way to go about doing production work, but it'll still get done. No regrets here.

Most any machine can be outfitted for cnc down the road. Plan ahead and convert when it suits you.

[kongluc]

Ok...dumby here! What kind of inexpensive metal cutting tools are there that i can beging making flat things with? Something more precise than a dremel with a bit-cutter, or should i start practicing with that more?

Sent from my LGAS375 using Tapatalk

[kongluc]

My friend said i need a mill (i think) but isn't that for drillin?

Sent from my LGAS375 using Tapatalk

[CREEPERBOB]

Originally Posted by kongluc

My friend said i need a mill (i think) but isn't that for drillin?

Sent from my LGAS375 using Tapatalk

Yea, a fancy ass drill press that cuts sideways.