Milling Anxiety
January 18th, 2009Most Intimidating Tool of All
According to Mish, Leah Friedman i snow responding to pain. I assume that means her caregivers are poking her or something to see how she is. Her responses are considered encouraging, but she is not awake yet. So prayer is still needed.
Reader JeffW is trying to get himself banned from my comments by pushing me to get Sherline mill. The thing that saved me from getting a mill last time was the expense. That, and the fear that I would never learn how to use it.
Actually, here is the whole complex of neuroses. 1. I didn’t want to spend the money, especially since small mills aren’t much cheaper than used big mills. 2. People told me small mills were useless, because they could only make tiny objects. 3. Big mills take up as much room as bumper pool tables. 4. I was afraid I’d never learn how to use a mill.
Seriously, though, how hard is it? I thought woodworking tools would be hard to use, but they’re not. Most of the skill is in setting them up for various procedures. Once you get your jig or fence or whatever set up correctly, things work pretty smoothly. Are machine tools the same way, or do you have to go be an apprentice on a swamp planet for 25 years?
January 18th, 2009 at 9:21 PM
All signs point to getting a mill. I keep telling you, if room is a concern, you should expand the garage. You could cover up the outside with junk and tell people it’s a junk pile.
January 18th, 2009 at 9:59 PM
Mills are easy. So long as you remember to cut toward the fixed jaw, not take more cut than the IPM rate of the tool can take, fixture properly. Use the correct cutting tools for the right materials. Use the correct grade of carbide for the right grade of steel. Using the right grade of steel for the right grade of aluminum. Tramming the head. Getting the tram right. And if you have a mill it’s silly not to get a DRO. Counting turns on the handwheels is just a pain. And then there’s acessories. You need collets, a drill chuck, a boring head, and possibly an indexer. At the very least a Kurt vise, best if it’s a Kurt angle vise.
January 18th, 2009 at 10:07 PM
Well I’m not really trying to get myself banned…it just seemed like a natural progression. Tell me to shut up and I will 😉
.
“1. I didn’t want to spend the money, especially since small mills aren’t much cheaper than used big mills.”
.
I needed a Mill to create Custom GPS Instrument Panels Demos for Automotive Engineering Trade Shows. The Mill paid for itself with the first panel. I looked at various Mills, but I finally came to the conclusion that I wanted something that was flexible and offered a CNC upgrade. I chose the Sherline 5400 and later bought the CNC Kit.
.
“2. People told me small mills were useless, because they could only make tiny objects.
3. Big mills take up as much room as bumper pool tables.”
.
I guess it depends on what kind of part your trying to Mill. I think small Lathes are much more limiting than small Mills…not much call for eight-inch legs on furniture.
.
With the 5400 I’ve milled a 12″x6″ Instrument Panel (pretty much the limit without a 8-Direction kit or a new 14″ X-Axis Table, both of which are available). Milling new heads for your T-Bird the Sherline will NOT do, but it fits my needs however.
.
” 4. I was afraid I’d never learn how to use a mill.”
.
I was able to come up to speed in a month (of course I had to because I had a demo to finish), but I would NOT call myself a machinist. However, I think anyone who has an interest can learn to use a mill. I’ve made mistakes and had to scrap parts, but it was part of the learning process.
Now they have videos:
http://tinyurl.com/78prgl
.
Barb and I also lifted Leah Friedman up in prayer tonight; we pray she continues to get better.
January 18th, 2009 at 10:30 PM
Somebody commented that a mill was inexpensive to use relative to a lathe.
With a lathe, you need a tool post (which may come with it) and a tool holder to hold the carbide turning bit.
With a mill, you need collets of all sizes, end mills of various diameters, lengths and numbers of flutes, a face mill with indexable carbide bits, a drill chuck and R8 adapter, a vise, parallels, a digital readout (because a used mill will probably have a worn lead screw and you can’t count on the crank dial), an edge finder, maybe a boring head and frankly that’s just for starters.
Oh, and you have to go be an apprentice on a swamp planet for 25 years.
But it will be enormous fun to read about.
January 19th, 2009 at 8:14 AM
I tell you while speaking as an electrical engineer, a short-time physics grad student, a man who’s familiar with power-tools *and* has all of his fingers: you can figure the lathe and mill out.
I was blessed to go to a high school which still included WWII versions of said machines in their pre-engineering program. And if my mechanically clueless classmates could work things without dying…. you should be turning out pro-amateur work within 2 months.
Small pieces of advice:
– Remove ALL metal before nearing the lathe. Not totally necessary, but a good psychological warm-up.
– If you wear a shop apron, make it tight when nearing the lathe, you don’t want to get caught. Or better yet, wear something tight on your torso.
– Set both machines to remove the smallest amount of material when you start… but you knew that.
– Practice grinding/sharpening drill bits for the lathe first… reading up on drill-bit specifics might give you the confidence to crank up the machines without unnecessary fear.
Good luck!
January 19th, 2009 at 12:59 PM
There are a couple of solid books on milling out there; and available for reasonable amounts of money on amazon.
Go slow, and practice multiple times on cheap scrap blanks, and you’ll figure it out pretty quickly.
January 19th, 2009 at 4:57 PM
Buy or steal a copy of Machinery’s Handbook. Mine is fifteen years old and cost $10.00 at Half Price Books. It is a resource every person who uses or intends to use a tool should have. Even if the only tool he ever uses is a beach rock.
Gerry N.
January 19th, 2009 at 6:55 PM
Steve,
Og & Ed are correct, a mill needs lots & lots of tooling, but, it doesn’t need to be bought all at once. Other than DROs and a few collets or mill holders, the only thing you need is a vice. It should be a Kurt, used from eBay is OK.
My first mill was an off-brand antique that was nothing like a BridgePort. Sold it and went without for years, finally deciding that I needed a mill and it was going to be a B’Port, nothing less, and it was going to have DROs. Haven’t been sorry, and haven’t regretted spending the $$$ on tooling.
You’ve now found out what really good, professional tools/machines are and what they can do. Don’t stop; watching your blog posts on the process is too much fun!