Cheap Chinese Mill-drill

Seconded. I have a round column mill-drill, and find an ER collet set to be very helpful in avoiding setup hassles. ER collets change in a lot less vertical space than R8 collets. The chuck takes space too, which is bad if you care about total table/spindle separation, though one can always use R8 collets to squeeze the last couple of inches in a situation like that.

For me, the concern is the relative height of chucked bits and collet held endmills, and ER is a great answer. It also reduces the frequency with which I need to mount the chuck because I can use collets for most bits.

Bill

Reply to
Bill Schwab
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IMHO, check the t-slot size and buy even a $35 clamping kit. The strap clamps and step blocks alone will be worth the money, and you'll get t-nuts with it. I doubt you could get the raw material for what the machined set costs, though I would ejoy being proven wrong [*]. While you're at it, you should probably get a set of parallels and a good milling machine vise, unless that is considered overkill for a mini-mill??

[*] Gainesville FL for location-specific answers.

If you expect to do any precision setups, ask for grade 8 bolts and washers.

Bill

Reply to
Bill Schwab

Ok, here's my 2 1/2 cents worth. Others have said, I agree, get an el-cheapo set of R-8 collets, they'll save you a lot of headaches, not to mention fingers or toes.

What none have said, check that thing out to make sure it's square, I had the HF version, square didn't apply. First things to check:

Column square to table. Check front to back, It probably isn't, mine wasn't. Not a big thing to deal with if you have a nearby shop with a surface grinder available. The small bracket that mounts to the base might need to have the bottom ground to make it square. Easy enough with a right angle plate to fix on the surface grinder.

Second, is the spindle parallel to the column? Mine was also a definite no. Easier to fix that it looks like, the head is made in two halves, bolted together, complete with chips, burrs and raised metal from the tapping. Straight edge and scraper make short work of this, but when you reassemble, indicate it in any manner you can think of. If the spindle is out of parallel, you're going to get errors and not know where they came from

Pull the gib strips out and get the !$(%%*^ sharp corners filed back so they're not digging into the corner of the gib, making adjustment a joke and operation rough.

1" travel dial indicators with mag backs on them can make holding a tolerance a lot easier, especially if the gib locks are set to just drag a little. Work to the indicator, not the dials.

ER collets or end mill holders may seem like a good idea, BUT! This is a small machine and the spindle isn't any too rigid to begin with. Any amount of tool overhang you can eliminate won't hurt things a bit. If you use a milling vise, don't bother with the swivel base, it's just added height you've got subtracting from your already limited space, it just makes things shaky.

Watch the oil, figure this is like most of the old machines, when the oil quits dripping, it's time to add more.

It can be an excellent small machine, but a lot depends on the initial setup, meaning make sure it's right before you scrap a bunch of stuff.

Rich

Reply to
Richard

Most people are shimming these. They tend to be out by .003 or so, column leaning toward table.

A ggod simple first project is adding a DI to the spindle limit block, the locking thing that slides up and down on the column under the spindle. Drill and tap the left end (opposite the lock handle). Make a standoff bracket to place the DI vertically to contact the bottom of the spindle case. Excellent for measuring depth of cut. Looks cool too :)

Oil? What oil? You mean as in cutting fluid, or way lube?

Get a screwless vise, don't use a drilpress vise.

Reply to
Rex B

All great info, but it leaves me wondering if there is a better forum for these machines than this one?

--D>

Reply to
Donnie Barnes

You should checkout:

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Art

... stuff deleted ...

Reply to
Art

There are at least 2 Yahoo groups that deal with these and are very active. Search on minimill. Quite a few websites devoted to these also.

Have fun

rex

Reply to
Rex B

It's the slippery stuff you'll put in your next machine ;)

Ok, humor aside. Dig up the manual and/or find others with the same basic machine to get advice, and look for oil ports (little balls). Get a pointy-tipped oil can and shoot some oil in them on a regular basis. Way oil is good for the ways; ask around about the spindle.

Bill

Reply to
Bill Schwab

Reply to
JR North

Hey John, I just got this exact same milling machine in last week. I bought mine on ebay for $480 shipped. Cummins comes through town about once a year and if they had one for $250, I would have snatched it up. That was a great deal. I buy all of my accessories from

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They have pretty good prices. They are on ebay as discount_machine. Here is the link to their sales:

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They have a 11 pc 1/8-3/4" collet set with a buy in now price of $38.00. I just ordered from them again and spent about $250 with them. I got end mills, a clamp set, the aforementioned collet set, a machine vise and some other stuff coming. I'm hoping it will be here this week. I want to play with my machine! Mike

Reply to
mj

According to F. George McDuffee :

[ ... ]

That is assuming that the spindle accepts R8 collets. It may be a Morse taper spindle instead -- and from the size data which I think I remember being posted, that it is far more likely to be a Morse taper spindle, so he will need to first determine *which* Morse taper. At a guess, I suspect MT-2 is the size which he is stuck with. Look for MT-2 collets and MT-2 endmill holders, with the latter being the better choice.

Enjoy, DoN.

Reply to
DoN. Nichols

According to Steve Hopper :

So -- what I just posted was wrong, It *is* an R8 spindle. That is good news.

A collet -- or even better, an R8 end-mill holder. The web page says that it has a maximum capacity for 1/2", so you can use either, but bear in mind that R8 collets sometimes let the endmill slip so it cuts deeper as you go along. The end-mill holders don't have this problem.

Good Luck, DoN.

Reply to
DoN. Nichols

Way lube, the nuts and the screws. None of these are hardened, no oil means wear out fast.

Micro Mark has a scew conversion, gets rid of the 16 pitch screws so you don't have to keep working with that .0625 per revolution. Just makes it a little easier.

Reply to
Richard

642,000 hits for the term "enco." (sans quotes and period) Fortunately the first two were the right two. :)

Can type and did, just thought I'd ask just _in_ case that wasn't _the_ case. Covering my bases -- and maybe my butt.:)

Look out world, indeed! Silly question. Thanks for the appropriate answer. :)

Dweller in the Cellar? Is that where your shop is? If so I'm jealous: All there is in my cellar is: utilities, water, and a big muckin' sump pump.

Reply to
John Husvar

And foidermore: :)

The machining world, at least, is in no danger from me: I'm _soitany_ not going to threaten any real machinists with my great (lack of) skills between now and the hereafter. I'm more the cut-and-try type at this juncture. I hope to learn some decent skills, but doubt I'm likely to set the world -- or even Ravenna -- on fire. :)

Reply to
John Husvar

Did it come with a drawbar which locks the chuck to the spindle ? It looks like a long bolt which goes through the spindle and screws into a thread on the taper. Pulls the chuck tight so it cannot drop out. Alan in beautiful Golden Bay, Western Oz, South 32.25.42, East 115.45.44 GMT+8 VK6 YAB ICQ 6581610 to reply, change oz to au in address

Reply to
alan200

No, which facilitated My Mistake #1. (#1 -- One shouldn't even _try_ to use an endmill in a drill chuck.)

I expect the My Mistake number to rise significantly in the next few weeks. I think I'll buy the book one poster suggested to perhaps limit the rise, but who knows what evil I can manage? Not even The Shadow.

It was just a taper connection to an R-8 insert; no drawbar to the chuck itself, just to the holder.

Reply to
John Husvar

I have one of these. I don't recall any oil ports other than on the X & Y leadscrew bearings. And I've had it very apart.

- - Rex Burkheimer Fort Worth TX

Bill Schwab wrote:

Reply to
Rex B

On Wed, 30 Nov 2005 12:02:13 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm, John Husvar quickly quoth:

I'm amazed at the fact that MSC and Enco haven't bought and don't use their shorter URLs.

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and
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aren't exactly the most intuitive of URLs for the companies, are they?

-- "Menja bé, caga fort!"

Reply to
Larry Jaques

The way the internet works now for all the larger more common companies you don't need to put in the URL. I just put my mouse pointer in the URL space bar and hit enter and it turns whatever URL that is there blue and I type whoever I want and it usually automatically will go that site. I just type in enco and it takes me to Encos site. Same with most sites I want to visit. Dick

Reply to
Dick

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