Hi folks, just want to say hi and....that

[slowtwitch]

I've been looking into getting a vertical mill for awhile. The machining I need to do is nothing to serious, clearance an aluminum cases for longer rods and milling pistons ( instead of a drill press, when I weight the pistons). Anyway, I been drooling over mills for awhile, but, my funds just wouldn't let me get one.

Until yesterday, I was going thru Ebay and found this one, it's an older ENCO Model #91002



it was a buy me now for $150.00 !!! It even came with a rotary table



Anyway, with the help of my sons, We got it down into the basement,( this was one heavy sob) where I then proceeded in cleaning and oiling the ways. What I thought was rust, was actually cosmoline, that was caked on.

Well after a couple of hours, here is my Enco in it's new home. It runs like a charm.



Now I just have to get some tooling and start asking you guys a ton of questions (after using the search option, naturally)


pete

[Mcgyver]

congrats on the mill - cant beat $150! and welcome to the forum

[Ken_Shea]

Nice find Pete.

That was a really great price, fortunate that it was close enough for you to drive and pick it up yourself.

Here is a list of getting started necessity items, if you may need it.
1) Set of R8 collets
2) 0-1/2 drill chuck and arbor to fit into a spare R8 collet.
3) Full set of letter, fractional and number drill bits, the inexpensive ones you find are actually not that bad a set. I have a set of USA cobalt and a set of AllTrade imported, I know there is a difference but it is hard to see in then average material you will be drilling.
4) Hold down clamp set
5) 4-6" Vise
6) Dial and/or digital 6" calipers
7) Hand 1 - 3" mic set.
8) 1/8, 1/4, 3/8 1/2 " carbide 3 flute, 3 flute because they work well in both steel and aluminum. You can get specific with your cutters down the road.
9) Try and avoid those cheap HSS cutter sets if you can, they will do OK for starters though.
10) Safety glasses
11) Some of those cheap 2" chip brushes, I bought like 36 of them at Harbor Freight for $8

And on and on it goes.

Her are a few of my favorite links
http://www1.mscdirect.com/cgi/nnsrhm
http://www.useenco.com
http://www.lscarbide.com/default.asp
http://www.industrialmetalsales.com/

Ken

[txcowdog]

Definately a find at $150. Looking forward to the transformation to full CNC. Congratulations and don't forget to post lots of pictures as the build progresses.

[slowtwitch]

Thanks guys...I'm already looking into the cnc conversion and Ken, thanks for the list, I'll be using it for sure.

pete

[ajl6549]

holy #$%# i need to shop e-bay more