homebuilt manual mill thoughts

[jimbo]

Lately I have been thinking about parts I have to machine for my cnc router. Mainly some flat motor adapters to nema 23 mount. and squaring up ends of aluminum. all parts would be small.

so i am looking for a manual mill. I would like to explore options for around 500. I was looking at the chinese ones, but for one reason or another I dont like any of the mini mill models.

I thought maybe I could build a better one. I was looking at the r8 mill head from littlemachines.com, same head used on chinese mini mills. Using a xy table with 11x7 travels. and constructing a square column from heavy square tubing. for z travels using some thk slides. The mill head, xy table, and thk slides add up to about 400. for another 150 I could outfit it with the chinese DROs.

Has this been done? are there any other sources for mill heads? Am i just blowing smoke?

As an aside, how much can one find older mills for and what typical outlets would one find them?

thanks, jim.

[kong]

Sorry for thread-crashing, just wanted to subscribe to this thread, as I have a similar interest.

[kong]

My father pointed out this drill-press on ebay last week, and I just won the auction for £41 (~$70). It seems like a good candidate for a mini-mill. Since I already have an 18x6 x-y table, all I need to consider is a spindle. The MT3 ones on littlemachineshop.com seem like a good buy for $40, but then how the hell will I drive it? I think the answers will come when I eventually pick the machine up, and see what it's got inside.

[jimbo]

kong, have you picked up the drill press yet? It looks beefy enough. how do you like the 18x6 table? is it chinese made? what do you plan cut on yours?

I havent decided yet but am leaning more towards getting an older mill. That way I wont have to cobble something together that may or may not be satisfactory.

guess there is not too much interest in creating a small bench mill.

[kong]

I picked up the drill yesterday, and boy, is it heavy! It is actualy smaller than I thought, about 2' tall, max. I think the dovetail-slide will make a nice z-axis, might be a problem getting one of littlemachineshop.com spindles to fit though!
You are right of course, if you can find an old mill cheap, then it will be a far superior machine than this. My biggest problem is space - I have none! If I can make some extra money, then I can afford to build a big garage or something, but until then, the converted mini-mill is all I have room for. Here is a good link for you anyhow!
http://www.pathcom.com/~vhchan/cnc/cnc.html

[lancedulak]

I was going to do this. Most likely a gingery mill though. In the END i wanted to end up with

1. a minimill big enough to do gun recievers etc.
2. a minilathes small enough to be desktop
3. a forge to recycle scrap (al is $1 a lb scrap)

I checked aorund and finally figured out that for a quality system id really need to buy the table and spindle and that i probably would end up spending More over time. So i bought a HF micromill (actually MEANT to buy a minimill!). The micromill is a stunning value for the price. Nice little table. Machine can actually handle more than i need by far. (noone ever thinks to stand in pics of mills for scale). AND..

I can use this mill and the forge to build a Much bigger mill and lathe. Most people do the lathe first. With the mill i can rough in the tables/beds for the bigger mill/lathe quickly and easily. I can make all the parts. I can even use t to improve itself. The only disadvantage is the mt2 spindle (which ill change once figure out how)

The cost for the mill (hf 41758) is $250. add in $50 of hf tools and you get free shipping. Add in a cnc Kit (you can do this cheaper) for around 200-250 you have a CNC minimill for about 500 which you can use to CNC your bigger mill and lathe. (though honestly i cant think of too much i cant do on this mill).
Of course you'll need (want) a LOT more tools but realistically thats always true.

As for the drill press go for it! And dont listen to all the morons saying "it cant be done". Remember a mill is nothing but a motor attached to a bit that you can move accurately. Get an R8 SPINDLE!!! It will save you a fortune. As for driving it look at the gingery books. You should be able to make/buy your own pulley or geared system (im converting mine to gearedafter i figure out how to build my own 4th axis). You can buy 1 or 2hp motors on ebay for $20-$50 all day long.

Sorry for the rambling. Just some thoughts and good luck

[Hobbiest]

Speedway has a new mini mill/drill for $200. Looks pretty good to me. Check it out here
http://www.homier.com/itemdetail.asp?i=03989&c=11

[kong]

Damn you guys, why is there nothing like that in the UK! I bet the shipping on that would be more than the machine

[Ferenczyg]

kong.. I assure you that there are countries with less DIY resources than UK.. more sun and less rain of course , but lot of less CNC too

Fer

[RotarySMP]

While we are looking at homebuilt machines of various origins, I have this frame squirrelled away in a friends garage.

http://www.wrathall.com/Interests/CN...nkenDeckel.htm

Although it was originally an engraver, it is massively built. I just bought the Sherline ER16 flange cartridge spindle for it. Got a 370W three phase motor off ebay. Just need to get some steel bar and plate and make up the head support, turn up some pulleys, and buy a VFD off ebay.

[Hobbiest]

You lucky sod! That looks nice and its a deal at twice the price.

[RotarySMP]

Yepp. that was about my feeling.