Milling projects

Harvey, "Machine Shop Trade Secrets," Appendix I - Project Drawings

David Merrill

That is easy! Mill the thing you bought the mill for. Or did you buy the mill just for barking?

Nick

Here are some suggestions:

mill a 1x2x3" block better to mill this a few thou oversize, harden $ grind to size, but milling a rectangular block is a good basic skill

mill a workstop that fits over a Kurt vise jaw should take just a few hours, you will use this over and over, I have plans I could scan & post

mill some Aloris-type toolholders for your lathe will use your rectangular block skills from above adds drilling, tapping, slotting, dovetail milling to size

GWE

Grant, I would be interested. I know that I personally need to make some sort of a thing that goes over a jaw and has a vertical slit, for holding round objects upright.

I do have a 6" Kurt style jaw, a $61 Chinese replica of a Kurt vise.

I do not have a lathe yet, but I get your idea -- I will indeed try to think of various work holding devices that would be usable with my mill. I will start with a vertically slitted jaw insert. Thanks a lot.

David, this looks like a very interesting book, I just bought it. Thanks

Not the way to go IMO. Get the 2 piece 5C block set. One is square and the other hex, and then you just grab your part in a collet and then into the vise. Easy to index too, doing 2,3,4 or 6 sides.

I'm not going to be able to scan anything soon - I'm leaving town for a week, may forget it by the time I get home. Send me an email offline in about a week, I'll get you those plans.

To email me, grab my email address from the graphic depicted here:

Ohhh, I just HAPPEN to have a whole folder of drawings of parts I need...errrr I mean PRACTICE PROJECTS, yea that's what I mean!

Star making vise accessories like stops and jaw inserts for shapes. Don't get a DRO until you have mastered the dials and the quirks of the Mill.

Why not:

Hi Iggy, just started the milling machine part of my trade course - they have what you want, starting with the machining true of a block of cast iron, then progressing until it finally becomes a V-Block....(then you mill the clamp for it...)happy to copy them as PDF and send to you if you want them....

And each part introduces you to a new aspect of machine operation - first week, learnt what the controls do, get a "feel" for them, stone the table and the vise, true up a vise on the table, change from vertical to horizontal mill ( its big bugger...)

An aside - they have some brand new Bridgeport mills, the instructors are paranoid about letting the kiddies get near them - they tend to want to hog out 10mm cuts and ignore any signs of distress from the machine. Beautifully, beautifully smooth, almost silent, machines.

Andrew VK3BFA.

On Wed, 13 Jun 2007 21:37:37 -0700, Andrew VK3BFA wrote: just started the milling machine part of my trade course - they have

I would be very interested, yes. Thanks

On Thu, 14 Jun 2007 08:34:07 -0500, with neither quill nor qualm, Ignoramus26157 quickly quoth:

That sounds like good Dropbox material, Andrew.

I scanned the plans for the vise stop:

I made one of these in milling class years ago and have used it countless times.

GWE

Ignoramus26157 wrote:

Here are some suggestions:

mill a 1x2x3" block better to mill this a few thou oversize, harden $ grind to size, but milling a rectangular block is a good basic skill

mill a workstop that fits over a Kurt vise jaw should take just a few hours, you will use this over and over, I have plans I could scan & post

mill some Aloris-type toolholders for your lathe will use your rectangular block skills from above adds drilling, tapping, slotting, dovetail milling to size

GWE

Start looking for a lathe. You have a mill, TIG and presumably silverbrazing capability. Add a lathe to that and you'll never run out of projects for yourself, friends and neighbors.

Example: neighbor needs a shoulder bolt for a wonky lawnmower wheel.

Option 1: drive 15 minutes to dealer, stand in line (on Saturday) for

Option 3: Chuck up a bit of hex stock, turn to size, cut threads. Cheaper in material and time.

I think that I will look for a lathe in a few years, just not now. I do not want to buy too much stuff at once. (too much stuff is a relative term and most people would say that I already have too much stuff)

Just yesterday I visited a house, about 2.5 to 3x size of mine (and mine is not small, 3,450 sq ft above ground plus finished basement). A huge house. The guy is finishing building it. He has a shop the size of four typical 2 car garages, that he is going to use. He is a novice in machinery, looks like a rich person who wants to have some fun with machines. He plans to buy a lot of them. He is a good person. While it is great, I want to go a different route, to build a shop slowly, cheaply, and learning things along the way.

(snip)

Doesn't hurt to look. It might take a few years to find one you like for a price you want to pay.

Grant, thanks, I printed out that image.