Eyeball Engineering

[Duuuuuuuude]

Originally Posted by CREEPERBOB

That top pic is a good one, that main spindle support pole is substantial , good and rigid.
And I agree the X and Y axis' are the most useful. Thats why I liked the one I got was that was included.

I think the pole is 4.5" dia. Pretty sturdy. The only time I have to move anything is when I use the monster drill chuck, which I really need to find a replacement for. It's way to big, but it came with the mill and its better than nothing.

We've got a trip planned soon to go see my folks, and my dad and I already have a little adventure scheduled for a visit to the Yard Store. If any of you happen to be in or around Wichita Ks, you have to check this place out. They buy all the surplus stuff from the local aircraft plants. All kinds of cool stuff. In the past we've spent a couple of hours just looking around, and they have new stuff you didn't see the last time you were in, so its like a mini treasure hunt. Anyway, I'm hoping to pick up some stuff for the mill while I'm there.

The really sucky thing? About 10 years ago my dad retired from Beechcraft, and machining was one of his trades (he had a few!). At some point he had pointed to a big machinists toolbox and asked me if I wanted any or all of it. I gave it a quick look-over and said "nah, I'll never need any of that". Dumbass.

[Duuuuuuuude]

Oh yeah...

Welcome To The Yard

[BigSki]

Originally Posted by Duuuuuuuude

Oh yeah...

Welcome To The Yard

very nice to have that around you. It reminded me of the Boeing surplus sales when I lived in Seattle.

[Postclanker]

[QUOTE=Duuuuuuuude;3807724]

The name plates just made me feel like I was back in school, making dumb things to hand off to my family at Christmas time.


I made a letter opener out of 1/4" aluminum in shop class for my mom...she used it every day. When she died a few years back I found it going thru her stuff...I have it now. I don't think she thought it was dumb....

Nice mill ....thanks for the visual, helps me understand some of the terms you guys use. Would love to have one to try out, but it just seems a bit over my skill level. Certainly doesn't look like the $100 special at Hobby King though. I'm sure that others don't look like that either. Guess I'll search and see what I can find for comparison....Any of you other mill owners care to share a pic of yours?

[CREEPERBOB]

Yeah it looks goood and stout.

Man chris that story about your daddy and his tools is like 'dejavue
from when my uncle Gene did the same thing to me, the kid with other crap on his mind . He was a machinist at Kaiser steel before they went banckrupt and then worked for years at Griffin wheel, (they made train wheels) , fortunately years later my cousin called me out to his garage on a visit and said, "looky here , I have some of dad's stuff left, do you wnat it"?
HELL YA I DO. Some of this stuff is hand made tools and other very old Starrett last word instrurments.
I've heard about that salvage yard in KC, I may have to make that part of our trip back that way when we go see our grandkids.

Originally Posted by Duuuuuuuude

I think the pole is 4.5" dia. Pretty sturdy. The only time I have to move anything is when I use the monster drill chuck, which I really need to find a replacement for. It's way to big, but it came with the mill and its better than nothing.

We've got a trip planned soon to go see my folks, and my dad and I already have a little adventure scheduled for a visit to the Yard Store. If any of you happen to be in or around Wichita Ks, you have to check this place out. They buy all the surplus stuff from the local aircraft plants. All kinds of cool stuff. In the past we've spent a couple of hours just looking around, and they have new stuff you didn't see the last time you were in, so its like a mini treasure hunt. Anyway, I'm hoping to pick up some stuff for the mill while I'm there.

The really sucky thing? About 10 years ago my dad retired from Beechcraft, and machining was one of his trades (he had a few!). At some point he had pointed to a big machinists toolbox and asked me if I wanted any or all of it. I gave it a quick look-over and said "nah, I'll never need any of that". Dumbass.

[Charlie-III]

Originally Posted by Duuuuuuuude

Something that has developed, which I will deal with in the near future, is that occasionally the mill will kick the breaker. Turns out that all of the outlets in the garage (excluding the one I installed) are on a single circuit, which includes the mill, overhead lighting, air compressor, battery chargers, the wifes treadmill, and most problematic, the deep freeze. Looks like I'm going to have to run another dedicated circuit.

The compressor is likely the biggest issue, inrush current can be quite high for a short time.
What amp breaker?
What sized wire? So you know, 12ga wire can handle 20A, 14ga wire can handle 15A. The breaker rating is to protect the wiring, so if you have 12ga wiring and a 15A breaker, up the breaker rating.

Originally Posted by Duuuuuuuude

Second verse, same as the first. Actually, there are three now. 1 and 2 were tapped by hand, for 3 I gathered up my courage and let the mill do the work.



I found my trigger, which is good, I've got to go racing in a couple of days. So now that I've got it back in my hands, I can discuss it, maybe get a little insight.

I guess my biggest problem is how to hold the damn thing. Once I start shaping it, the brake portion gets very thin and way to weak to work. Obviously I need to figure out the best method of attack here...any ideas?

Fixturing can be a PITA. I know people in the aircraft industry that just do fixturing.......

As to your T-nuts, I would make them thicker than the steel ones. Aluminum is not as strong. Rule of thumb is:
Soft material (plastic, brass, aluminum, etc) needs 2 diameters thread engagement at a minimum.
Hard material needs 1 diameter thread engagement at a minimum.
Thus, a 3/8" diameter thread/bolt needs 3/4" minimum engagement. A little more is better, 4x as much is past needed.

As to your trigger, nice. I agree, you would be better if you left the inner corner of the brake with a radius. This could be done by milling the shape from the side with a ~3/8 mill, it would leave a 3/16" radius. Better stress area.
You could almost mill the side shape off the end of a long block, then cut it off and belt sand the side tapers. Hope that makes sense.

Originally Posted by CREEPERBOB

Fiberglass is not a great material to just play with, it is very hard on cutters and very messy.

Fiberglass is about the most abrasive stuff to machine, even if you flood cool it. I worked in a shop many years ago, I learned a lot from the owner.

As to "Industrial Arts", I wish my son could go through it. Way back when, I had:
Wood Shop
Metals
Electrical
Electronics
Printing (with individual type......)
Small engines
Automotive (1.5 years)

Oh, Duuuude, you should also mess with regular milling (?) and climb milling. I preferred climb milling for aluminum & plastic, it tended to leave less crap on the finished surface. Each has a use.

[Duuuuuuuude]

Originally Posted by Postclanker

Would love to have one to try out, but it just seems a bit over my skill level. Certainly doesn't look like the $100 special at Hobby King though. I'm sure that others don't look like that either. Guess I'll search and see what I can find for comparison....Any of you other mill owners care to share a pic of yours?

I think this is about as entry level as you can get without going to a little bench top unit. Trust me, you're skill level isn't much below mine. I can do a few things, but a great deal of it is still by the seat of my pants.

Enco or Grizzly would be places to look for one similar to mine, or try Tiny Machine Shop for a tabletop unit.

Originally Posted by Charlie-III

The compressor is likely the biggest issue, inrush current can be quite high for a short time.
What amp breaker? What sized wire?

The compressor is only on when I turn it on, and I do understand electrical loads well enough to not try to run both together.

20a breaker, no clue what ga wire is in the walls, I'll run 12 for the new outlet.

Originally Posted by Charlie-III

As to your T-nuts, I would make them thicker than the steel ones. Aluminum is not as strong.

Thicker which way? They're machined to fit in a slot. I can go longer or taller.

Originally Posted by Charlie-III

Oh, Duuuude, you should also mess with regular milling (?) and climb milling. I preferred climb milling for aluminum & plastic, it tended to leave less crap on the finished surface. Each has a use.

Done that. Interesting the difference a direction will make.

[mtdriver]

I'm not sure how much slop your ball screws have, but be careful climb milling. Stupid kid at work I was trying to teach this stuff to didn't care to listen and got some sweet stitches in his arm. He went the wrong way on a sloppy machine, 3/4" end mill grabbed that 1/2" plate he was putting a chamfer on and pulled it right out from under the toe clamp. Didn't help that he wasn't tightening the clamp well but still...shit happens. What cut him was the chip that stayed attached to the part as it went flying to the ground, which he just made taking way too big of a cut way too fast. Lesson learned. Needless to say he doesn't help me anymore.

[Duuuuuuuude]

Not a lot of slop, but enough to notice it if I try to take a big bite. I was told to make sure I move the table in accordance to the way I will be cutting so that it can't shove it over, or just tighten down the screws if I'm making a single pass.

[Duuuuuuuude]

Made some soft jaws out of grey pvc. Man that stuff is nice to work with. Probably will add a vertical and horizontal channel to hold round stuff.

[Duuuuuuuude]

Finally got an edge finder and a test indicator. Hooray for new tools.

More goofing off. Don't ask, I don't know what it is either, just something I thought I'd try.

[rob_b]

That pretty cool

[team3six]

Can you make me a thingamajig? I keep wanting one but no one knows what it is.
I told them it connects to a whatchamadohicki

Jeesh and we have professionals here

[Duuuuuuuude]

Originally Posted by team3six

Can you make me a thingamajig? I keep wanting one but no one knows what it is.
I told them it connects to a whatchamadohicki

Jeesh and we have professionals here

Sorry, I only know how to make dumaflachys.

[sloppy]

Originally Posted by team3six

Can you make me a thingamajig? I keep wanting one but no one knows what it is.
I told them it connects to a whatchamadohicki

Jeesh and we have professionals here

Hershey knows they know everything..

[Postclanker]

get someone to suck the doomaflachy out of it and you get a widjit in no time...can you get that as an attachement ???

[Crawling Calvin]

Originally Posted by Duuuuuuuude

Finally got an edge finder and a test indicator. Hooray for new tools.

More goofing off. Don't ask, I don't know what it is either, just something I thought I'd try.

Hey nice dinglehopper ya got there made something like that in a CNC class... only lot more complex!

Thought of getting 6" Loc-Line 1/4" Flexible Modular Pipe Sump/Return | eBay and LOC-LINE 1/4" 1/16"DIA HOLE ROUND NOZZLE NEW!!! | eBay and LOC-LINE 1/4" NPT CONNECTOR PACK OF 4 COOLANT HOSE FOR LATHE OR MILL | eBay and make a simple "air blaster" for when your cutting. 1/16" nozzles are nice since you can make them bigger if need be and it gives a nice directed flow of air just a thought to save end mills

[Duuuuuuuude]

Originally Posted by Crawling Calvin

Hey nice dinglehopper ya got there made something like that in a CNC class... only lot more complex!

a simple "air blaster" for when your cutting. 1/16" nozzles are nice since you can make them bigger if need be and it gives a nice directed flow of air just a thought to save end mills

I'm working on "more complex".

The air blaster I currently have is a box fan I'm using to keep the biggest tool in the shop cool. Me.

[CadToChrome]

[QUOTE=Postclanker;3808045]

Originally Posted by Duuuuuuuude

..Any of you other mill owners care to share a pic of yours?

I know its a little more than a desktop machine....
Just thought I would share....

10 tool changer, full 3-axis

I do make a lot of "stuff" ..
I had 2-axis machines years ago, this one makes many things possible...

[Crawling Calvin]

Originally Posted by Duuuuuuuude

I'm working on "more complex".

The air blaster I currently have is a box fan I'm using to keep the biggest tool in the shop cool. Me.

LOL! Just a thought, it could easily be attached to the machine or a mag base... its amazing what a difference just a lil stream of air makes when cutting stuff