Shade Tree Milling Machine

D

Doug

Guest
I ran across this Sliding Vice on Ebay - think Mickey Mouse Milling Machine.

http://cgi.ebay.com/4-INCH-CROSS-SL...ewItemQQptZClamps_Vises?hash=item260298823164

Any chance I could use this with my drill press as a simple milling machine?
Simple stuff like milling a flat on brass or aluminum ½” to 1” rod.

Drill holes that are centered & parallel a couple of inches apart.
Right now I just slide my vice around the table with mixed results or use hacksaws and files etc

An earlier post talking about a slide table got me thinking. Started looking around and saw some neat slide tables in the $100 to $200 range but to add a vice and other parts would be at least another $100.

I was just hopeing to find something that could work - but keep it simple.
I might only use it 4 or 5 times a year.
 
the bearings in some drill presses are not much, and a heavy radial load might cause problems. I think it would depend on your press how well it works.
 
Thanks Butch - I should have guessed something like that.
For only $30 + 25 for shipping any chance this could be a descent vice for small drilling work??

I can not justify even a cheap mini mill for the little use I have for it so back to my belt sander, files and hacksaw. UGH
 
Yeah, that would work for for what you want. I have one I use occasionally for that kind of work. It's sometimes quicker for a job like you describe rather than set up the mill. It will work better for drilling but you could use it to plunge mill a flat too with light cuts.
 
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Doug said:
I ran across this Sliding Vice on Ebay - think Mickey Mouse Milling Machine.

http://cgi.ebay.com/4-INCH-CROSS-SL...ewItemQQptZClamps_Vises?hash=item260298823164

Any chance I could use this with my drill press as a simple milling machine?
Simple stuff like milling a flat on brass or aluminum ½” to 1” rod.

Drill holes that are centered & parallel a couple of inches apart.
Right now I just slide my vice around the table with mixed results or use hacksaws and files etc

An earlier post talking about a slide table got me thinking. Started looking around and saw some neat slide tables in the $100 to $200 range but to add a vice and other parts would be at least another $100.

I was just hopeing to find something that could work - but keep it simple.
I might only use it 4 or 5 times a year.
Click to expand...

Doug,

I use a very similar vise on my drill press at times. It definitely is NOT by any stretch of the imagination precise enough to use as a substitute for a milling machine on any but the simplest non-critical jobs. Also, the chuck will loosen under the side load pressure if you try milling with typical Jacobs or Morse taper attachments on a lot of drill presses.

Come on over to Vidalia and I will let you try it for yourself to see if it will work for your other drilling needs. If you need any small work milled you are welcome to use my mini-mill. Same offer for any lathe work you might want done (I have my South Bend Heavy10 working now).

Jim
 
I just might get one.
My drill press is a fairly heavy duty Craftsman from the early 50's.
I put a dial indicator about 1 in from the chuck holding a 1/2" drill bit.
The chuck does have a little run out (if that is the correct term) of .00075.
Other wise there is not any observable play.
 
Jim you might have made a big mistake with that invite!
I might just come over and camp out for a week of on hands schooling!

I do have a 1936 South Bend 9” x 3’ lathe that my dad got in the 40’s that I play around with.
My Dad could do just about anything with this lathe and stupid me I never got him to teach me anything. I am slowly learning by trial and error.
Heck I just learned a tip on how to get my cutting tool aligned by using a ruler between the work piece and the bit.

I even bored a tuner last week to fit a rifle project I am working on.
I never tried this before because I was afraid to clamp the tuner in the chuck and damage the ridges.
After some thought I decided to see if I could leave it assembled and just take light cuts. That worked like a charm - it just took a lot of trial and error shimming my 3 point chuck so it would run true.
 
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I've had an American made X,Y table and vise on my drill press for about 25 years very much like what you show. I can mill wood if I'm real careful. Maybe drill three holes and then mill them together to make a mortise. The tool can be very useful, especialy if that's all you have to work with. A cheap Chinese copy likely won't be as good but still might be worthwhile.

This set up won't do anything with metal but allow you to locate and drill holes you've laid out. So this might help you do some work better, easier and faster but its not even close to a milling machine.

I'd come nearer buying a cheap, crappy X,Y table and a good quality vise than the other way around. The vise will be very useful. Buy a good vise and forget the X,Y table if money is a big issue. Get one that can be clamped to the table in various positions, on side, on end, etc. Also, you'll want v-grooves for holding round stock - buy a vise that comes that way.
 
Do not waste your money,I had one and gave it away.To get all of the slop out you have to tighten up the gibs so much you can just about turn the screw.
 
Doug said:
Jim you might have made a big mistake with that invite!
I might just come over and camp out for a week of on hands schooling!

I do have a 1936 South Bend 9” x 3’ lathe that my dad got in the 40’s that I play around with.
My Dad could do just about anything with this lathe and stupid me I never got him to teach me anything. I am slowly learning by trial and error.
Heck I just learned a tip on how to get my cutting tool aligned by using a ruler between the work piece and the bit.

I even bored a tuner last week to fit a rifle project I am working on.
I never tried this before because I was afraid to clamp the tuner in the chuck and damage the ridges.
After some thought I decided to see if I could leave it assembled and just take light cuts. That worked like a charm - it just took a lot of trial and error shimming my 3 point chuck so it would run true.
Click to expand...

Doug,

Come on over anytime. I am sure we can find some "interesting trouble" to get into :D.

Jim
 
Doug,

If you have a lathe already you can mount an X/Y table/vise on a large 90 degree angle plate and then put this on the lathe carriage. Then you have a machine and bearings strong enough to mill pretty easily, holding the millng cutter in a collet or 3 jaw chuck. Sort of a vertical mill laying on it's side. Other machine tool manufacturers also sell "milling attachments" to fit a lathe if you don't wish to improvise.

I used such devices long ago when I couldn't afford a mill. They can do good work, and for 4-5 jobs a year they might make sense. Long term, and for frequent jobs, it is a pain to keep putting on and removing the milling attachment from the lathe.

A heavy drill press could do some light milling, but it is abuse to do more than routing out wood. By plunge milling, as already mentioned, would be possible to remove the bulk of material on metals, leaving only a small amount of cutting to do radially.

Scott
 
I have a fairly stout Wilton drill press, I have a rotary Palmgren table with a 4" Kurt angle lock vise. It's great for fast drilling jobs. I tried this lash-up once for a little light milling and discovered what chatter cuts looked like.

I looked at the kind of cuts you want to do on one of the chink mini-mills and can say that my set-up for drilling did about as poor of job as the mini-mill did.

Unless you have the room and the luck to get a deal on and old used big mill, I don't see how a guy can get by with out spending 3 + grand on a chink mill and get what you need to get'er done. Wish it wasn't this way, but it appears to me to be the case.
 
I met a retired machinist who had put timken bearings in his Sears drillpress and a quality compound table and he said it did good light milling jobs. He had a #2 MT spindle on his drillpress. Most drillpress chucks would be unsuitable for milling. My experience along these lines were a failure. Crap drillpress, crap compound, crap cutter, crap results.
 
X-Y tables work for certain tasks like hole positioning and light milling providing the table has graduated dials.

One caution, most drill presses of about 10" or larger have Morse taper spindle noses that hold the Jacobs chuck. Side thrust milling can cause this Morse taper/Jacobs chuck assembly to come loose while milling...not good.

Careful use of this setup can be handy though for things like inletting a stock since the side thrust load is very light.

If you have the money and room for it, a mill/drill is better or a Bridgeport type universal mill is better, no doubt.
 
JerrySharrett said:
Careful use of this setup can be handy though for things like inletting a stock since the side thrust load is very light.
Click to expand...

I had the same thought a few years back.

Like Jerry said, it's handy for stock inletting and that's about the only thing I use it for. My press doesn't handle the side thrust well to be milling metal.
 
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