CNC Milling Machine

[Hydrocarbonate]

Anyone got one near the 02110 area or recommendations? Trying to cut some metal and will trade bullets, beer, and other things to get some knowledge and use.

 

[moosesgunsmithing]

Buy one for your own use. There is usually a 2 axis prototrak knee mill for sale nearly anywhere on fb/craigslist.

I can't think of any shops anywhere that will barter for shop time. Between liability and operating costs it isn't worth the headaches. 3 axis machines usually get billed out at $150-$300/hr.

 

[paul73]

i do not think there are very good 'hobby' grade ones out there, yet, to run of .gcode files like 3d printers do.
i wish there were some. but, no. that market for some reason never picked up and nothing good emerged so far.
there are professional machines, of course, but it is a very different category.

there are some machines to make stuff like ar15 lowers specifically that are quite good at that, but they have quite limited other functionality, that makes it not truly versatile.

 

[garandman]

Join a Maker Space. They usually have full metal working equipment, and classes.

Artisans Asylum

An inclusive, non-profit community makerspace dedicated to advancing the learning, practice and culture of do-it-yourself (“DIY”) fabrication

www.artisansasylum.com

 

[Hydrocarbonate]

Going to pony up and get my own mill. Seems like doing it yourself is the only way these days!

 

[VigilantesLiberi]

A manually operated mill will cost more than a good hobby CNC. I have been looking and looking. Found a Rigid drillpress that will do just fine for something like aluminum 80s. What are you trying to mill, at least what metal?

 

[pastera]

Starting out with a manual mill and adding steppers and controls is an option.
LinuxCNC is a very powerful controller especially when coupled with a low cost board from Mesa.

 

[pastera]

A manually operated mill will cost more than a good hobby CNC. I have been looking and looking. Found a Rigid drillpress that will do just fine for something like aluminum 80s. What are you trying to mill, at least what metal?

You can get a Seig X2 for $800
Or a grizzly g0781 (slightly bigger) for around $1k
You can use the mill to make stepper mounts or drop another $500-700 and just buy a ball screw conversion kit.

Even low end hobby cnc machines are going to run 2x what building off a small hobby mill is going to cost.

If you are talking about machines based off aluminum extrusion, yeah those are cheap but they don't really perform well at all.

 

[cookiecutter]

It isn't that difficult to convert a small mill like the Grizzly 0704 to CNC ... there is one part you need to open up that is a bit challenging if you don't have another mill, but a drill and a metal chisel can get it done (I have the t-shirt ) and it is never seen once you do the ball screw conversion and button everything back up. Do keep in mind that the tooling to make good use of the CNC mill once it is ready will probably cost as much or more than the mill ... but it's worth it!!

 

[VigilantesLiberi]

If you are talking about machines based off aluminum extrusion, yeah those are cheap but they don't really perform well at all.

Yea, that's what I was thinking. Personally I ended up going with a drillpress and a $35 milling vise from amazon for now. Got lucky and bought a Rigid press for $170. I get it's not a real milling machine, but for up to alum it'll be good for small stuff.

 

[pastera]

Yea, that's what I was thinking. Personally I ended up going with a drillpress and a $35 milling vise from amazon for now. Got lucky and bought a Rigid press for $170. I get it's not a real milling machine, but for up to alum it'll be good for small stuff.

A drill chuck is held on by a taper - it's not designed for side loads and can easily result in a chuck and tool getting launched into your chest at 3+ thousand RPM.
Fine for punching holes but zero application for milling.

If you are using a fixture with drilling templates to remove most of the material then using a router to finish then you can get good results if you go slow.

 

[Golddiggie]

There are SOME drill presses that use R8 collets (draw bar held) instead of the MT collets (friction fit). If you're not doing complicated shapes/cuts, then a good manual mill will work. I've finished off 80s with my Grizzly G0761 without issue. I've also used it for many other projects. A good set of DROs will make a huge difference with a manual mill.

As for the drilling and then router finishing of items. Sofa king GHEY!!! I know of people that tried using a drill press for HOURS only to need someone with a mill to get it working/right.

I do plan to get a full CNC mill at some point. Once I have room for it (plus enough power service to feed it). I do know that there are CNC conversion kits out there for some of the Grizzly mill. Just not for mine. I'd rather keep my milk manual and add a dedicated CNC machine later.

 

[Hydrocarbonate]

You can get a Seig X2 for $800
Or a grizzly g0781 (slightly bigger) for around $1k
You can use the mill to make stepper mounts or drop another $500-700 and just buy a ball screw conversion kit.

Even low end hobby cnc machines are going to run 2x what building off a small hobby mill is going to cost.

If you are talking about machines based off aluminum extrusion, yeah those are cheap but they don't really perform well at all.

I’ve seen the grizzly’s being strong contenders.

May do LMS 3990 just so it’s all in one place but darn mills are pricy!

You are being redirected...

 

[pastera]

I’ve seen the grizzly’s being strong contenders.

May do LMS 3990 just so it’s all in one place but darn mills are pricy!

You are being redirected...

I have a Seig X1 micro mill with both x&y extension - well over 20 years old now.
It works fine, slow, but fine.
The biggest limitation is the 2k rpm spindle. I need to change out the bearings and belt drive it so I can get 6-8k - that would let me maximize the material removal on such a small machine.

 

[pastera]

There are SOME drill presses that use R8 collets (draw bar held) instead of the MT collets (friction fit). If you're not doing complicated shapes/cuts, then a good manual mill will work. I've finished off 80s with my Grizzly G0761 without issue. I've also used it for many other projects. A good set of DROs will make a huge difference with a manual mill.

As for the drilling and then router finishing of items. Sofa king GHEY!!! I know of people that tried using a drill press for HOURS only to need someone with a mill to get it working/right.

I do plan to get a full CNC mill at some point. Once I have room for it (plus enough power service to feed it). I do know that there are CNC conversion kits out there for some of the Grizzly mill. Just not for mine. I'd rather keep my milk manual and add a dedicated CNC machine later.

The R8 drill presses tend to be old, industrial units that if you can get your hands on in good condition you're blessed.

80's on a manual mill without DRO really sucks - that's a ton of counting turns. DTDT don't want the t-shirt.

I do wish I had a larger manual mill with dro - some simple jobs are too much of a pain to do on the cnc even with the built in scripts in the ProbeBasic build of LinuxCNC.

 

[Golddiggie]

IIRC, Grizzly has drill press machines using a drawbar to hold the chuck in place.

I've used the micro mills in the past, so I knew it wouldn't be for me when I was ready to purchase one. The G0761 ticked a LOT of boxes. No variable speed BS was huge (gears for speeds, easy to change). It's also quiet enough for me when not cutting. 2HP 240v motor was also a big plus. Larger table and included power feed too. Added the stuff from SMS to take things to the next level.

Of course, adding the DROs was the first project. Involved making the scale mounting hardware. Which is common the majority of the time when you get DROs that are not factory installed.

IF I had the space, might have gone for a knee mill. Unfortunately the ceiling in my garage, plus the door opening, won't allow such a machine.

 

[moosesgunsmithing]

IIRC, Grizzly has drill press machines using a drawbar to hold the chuck in place.

I've used the micro mills in the past, so I knew it wouldn't be for me when I was ready to purchase one. The G0761 ticked a LOT of boxes. No variable speed BS was huge (gears for speeds, easy to change). It's also quiet enough for me when not cutting. 2HP 240v motor was also a big plus. Larger table and included power feed too. Added the stuff from SMS to take things to the next level.

Of course, adding the DROs was the first project. Involved making the scale mounting hardware. Which is common the majority of the time when you get DROs that are not factory installed.

IF I had the space, might have gone for a knee mill. Unfortunately the ceiling in my garage, plus the door opening, won't allow such a machine.

With those mini machines more than 3/4 hp is a waste. They don't have the ridgitiy to use 2 hp, even in aluminum. Grizzly uses the same 2hp motor on a lot of their machines to save costs and make things seem more capable than they really are.

Even on a knee mill it can be hard to use 2 hp in steel on your X axis. Its easily doable on the Z but its tough on the bearings on the cheaper mills. Until 90s all the bridgeports had was 1, 1 1/2 or 2 hp. The 1 1/2 and 2 hp motors were using thst inefficient varispeed head and werent close to thst at the spindle. Removing material its hard to tell the difference between a 1 hp and 1 1/2 hp BP mill.

Cuts like this are easy with 1 hp if you can use it. I can hog even more material in the Y but the x just isn't as ridgid. That was a 1/2 end mill at .600 DOC (if I recall) in gray cast iron (I previously mis remembered this as ductile cast edited for correctness. Depending on how they are heat treated the two can have radically different machinabilities).


View: https://youtube.com/shorts/D1dNEhCuz6A?si=XBWUJ5iQorCH5-Tl


Historically a lot of morse taper drill presses had a drawbar for use with a boring head or similar. It's nice but not strictly needed. You saw a lot of morse tapers in some smaller mills, too. The M head bridgeport was available with a morse taper and so were some of the other big names in smaller machine tools.

 

[Hydrocarbonate]

Mini mill acquired. Thanks all for the recommendation! Makes everything so easy.

 

[Archilochus]

Now that you've got a mini-mill, first investment - better clamps. Those jobbies are fine for woodworking, but that ain't wood.

If you've got the $$, Saxton Kant-Twist are good. Even some chinesium knock-offs would be better than woodworking clamps.

 

[Hydrocarbonate]

Now that you've got a mini-mill, first investment - better clamps. Those jobbies are fine for woodworking, but that ain't wood.

If you've got the $$, Saxton Kant-Twist are good. Even some chinesium knock-offs would be better than woodworking clamps.

They looks great, thanks for the recommendation. Need some good clamps for stable workpiece!