Looking into getting myself a mill (as well as some instruction in how to use the thing!). Does anyone have any suggestions for what I should be looking for (most likley from the pages of eBay) ? Something that can fit in a garage would be a sensible start !
Ed
http://www.teamstorm.comhttp://www.teamstorm.com
How bigs your garage ....?
There is.. in my opinion ... one decent mill on Ebay ..... The Harrison Universal Mill , I think its a real bargain!
But removal and collection is going to be a pain.
if you want a very nice miller i would recomend a big bridgeport with everything on it, power feed, up and down power feed is very useful.
but they can get massive so check if you can fit it in before you buy it
i have also thought of buying a lathe and a mill... i have fount few plaxes here that sell those but i would want to compare them, could you list here any european sites that have information/sell lathes/mills? thank you
Theres a fair amount of space in the garage Woody. I presume youre talking about this bit of kit 3860998737 ?
Looks like getting it out of where it is could be a nightmare so I might wait for something else to come along !
Ed
http://www.teamstorm.comhttp://www.teamstorm.com
Yep ...Thats the one.
You would certainly need a decent sized truck to transport it ...preferably with an Hi-AB.
Id guess it weighs in around 1.5 tons?!
@ Jhq
http://www.homeandworkshop.co.uk/index.htmlhttp://www.homeandworkshop.co.uk/index.html
I got a small mill of ebay- was advertised as a model makers mill or somthing- but its nothing compaired to the bridgeports I do most of my work on, Remeber to watch out for the 3phaise mills, getting 3phaise fitted to your garage could cost abit.
Check my profile for my new baby arrival mid Jan. Full function CNC mill. 3 axis mind. Cant afford to get a decent 5 axis one. Poor me.
All you need to do to be able to afford to buy one of these beauts is to get made redundent at Xmas after 14 years. Check out todays payout rate at your local DTI website. A real crock of sh*t. Honest guv.
So, with doing contract work for my old company, machining parts for people and other silly venture that I have in mind (and my mind does boggle at the things that I can think of) I should do alright.
Mike.
Ed, one word of advice. Most mills have a draw bar running the length of the spindle. So many people forget this when the put the machine in the garage. Unless you buy a universal mill thats can rotate the head then you will need to make a hole in your roof to remove the drawbar if it goes wrong.
Also, buy one that has a DRO on at least the X and Y axis. The Z is nice but not essential. Power feed is also good but not essential, all it really does is saves a little elbow grease and gives a better finish to the machined surface.
A Bridgeport Universal mill about 1985 circa will set you back about £1,500 This mill takes R8 fittings and these are available quite cheap and are redily available. Look at ebay for R8 fittings etc. It will be a 3 phase unit so you will either need to get the local electric company to put 3 phase in your garage or you will need a converter.
http://www.powercapacitors.co.uk/Transwave/Transwave%20frameset.htmhttp://www.powercapacitors.co.uk/Tra...20frameset.htm
The above is my prefered choice. Use the rotary converter style. This will rush you approx £850 - £1,100 inc cables, donkey motor and convertor.
Once you have 3 phase the world is yours. Your next purchase will be a lathe. The one that Woody showed is very similar to my Myford ML7 A nice lathe but very underpowered. A nice Colchester Student is good, relativly cheap to buy.
You will find that tooling will be the greatest cost. Cutters are quite expensive. But its the normal rule of you get what you pay for. I have a cutter that cost in excess of £750 but it will last for ever, it cuts .250 (1/4) in ally in a single pass without coolant and leaving a good surface that a final cut of 0.025 will leave a nice polished surface that you will be proud to have made.
Next, never underestimate the forces that cutters put on the job. Bolt it down with the correct bits and bobs or learn to duck at a nano seconds notice. A decent vice (no jokes here boys and girls) is a MUST as well as clocks and other measureing equipment. You can only make bits as accurate as your ability to set up the machine and measure parts etc.
Machining is not a black art. It does take time, experience and tuition from experts to learn but after having learned a few basic things such as Dos and Donts the you should be able to stary making parts yourself.
Give it ago. Its fun. Honest.
Mike.
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