Milling machines

[mopardude]

I just bought a small milling machine it can sit on a bench its 400 pounds so its not made of plastic.It has a manual feed for the bed can i make it into a power feed unit easily?It has a 3/4 hp motor i want to use it for valve notches and milling piston tops.I would like to do intake sides also but i dont thing i can i know theres not enof travel on the bed thats on it now.Mabey i could get a longer bed with power feed i dont know its all new to me Do any of you guys know about a machine like this what you can do with it?

[DAVE JONES]

Hey mopardude, congrats on your purchase.
I've owned a machine co for 20 yrs now and I might be able to help you out. I'm assuming the mill is a vertical and I need to know the max travel that you have in X and Y.
x is left and right and y is toward and away from you. I also would like to know the size of the actual table. There are usually many ways around this problem but I need this info before I go into detail on what or what you cant do with this. Depending on your machining knowledge you can usually accomplish what you want with fixturing but again it will depend on the mill, your knowledge, and application on what kind of machining needs to be done. get back to me with this info and I'll give you a hand. If you can send me a pic of the machine it would help but if not dont worry. If for some reason the mill wont work for what you want to do with it I may be interested in taking it off your hands....DAVE.

------------------

[DAVE JONES]

Now that I read you inquiry again I'll add that getting more "table" is easy by just bolting on a pc of steel that is machined or ground. The part your locked into is the travel of the machine. the table is attached to ways or linier guides. this is what allows it to move in either direction. what drives this is a ball screw which has a predetermined length of travel. Some times you can slightly adjust the travel by up to .35 but unless you have torn down machines and rebuilt them I would HIGHLY advise against this. From what you originally said it sounds like that you dont usually need much travel but I still would need more info like I requested below.

[mopardude]

Hello dave jones ok its just a small one it sitd on a bench and the make is Busy Bee Fine Machine its a canada make i think at least thats where there office is.i guess you could say it looks like a big drill press and i do have a drill chuck attachment that the old owner made he was a tool maker.it takes a mt#3 the table bolts onto the base with 4 bolts i will measure the table on sunday.it has a 3/4 motor the table has man. operation for the feed it moves side to side and back and forth the head moves up and down and angles 30deg also side to side and back and forth.has a bunch of differnt speeds for tools all i got with it is about 15 end mill bits and the cooets for them a 1/2 drill chuck setup and a home made body and a single cutter he called a fly cutter i would like to do piston tops and lighten up pistons inside,i really would like to machine the intake sureface on cylinder heads but i have to see how high the machine will go but i know the bed dosent have enof travel for the intake surface on the cyl. head.I would like to have a power feed on the bed also. e mail me at
csleight1@home.com

[Larry S.]

Dave, while we are on this topic, I do some pistolsmithing and have been considering the purchase of a Smithy machine. Have you had any experience with this company and their machines? Opinions on them? Thanks.

------------------
1970 392 Hemi Cuda

[nick s]

mopardude, I too have been a machinist for 30yrs (giveing away my age now), Dave is right in needing the info on sizes. What size is the spindle?
Also what I want to say is that you can mill the intake with a small amount of machine travel, it will be time consuming but it can be done!!
Let me know if you need any help also.

[DAVE JONES]

FIRST TO THE GUNSMITH......unfortunently I cant help you out with the smithy machine. I'm not a gun guy so I'm unframilier with the machine or what it can do. I'll ask around and if I come up with anything I'll get back to you. Hey mister mill, I agree with nick on knowing the dia. of the spindle and that you probably can machine the top of the head but we still need to know the table size and travel also.
My guess is also that based on the questions that you have asked that you have very little mill or machining experience. Dont worry though, we have all been there and I consider it a strength to ask questions . There are way too many so called "machinists" out there that really dont have a clue on machine theory but will happily pass on info to you so you can join them in their daily detail of barbequing the living shit out of the cutter, machine, part, and sometimes themselves. If i'm right about your experience level I have a concern about passing on info because......"analagy"...you are looking to build the first floor of the house but you dont have a foundation yet to draw from. You are not looking to just start drilling a tapping holes. You are taking expensive parts and removing material which probably should be done with a person with quite a bit of experience. If you are going to go thru with this anyway though I would take it slow. I would first tram the machine in. this is a simple procedure that makes sure that all the axis run perpendicular from one another. this is done using some sort of gooseneck that is mounted in the spindle and is attached to an indicator. for the size of the bench machine that you have you probably would be safe having the goose neck hold the indicator aprox 3-4 inches away from the spindle. that would give you a total sweep of 6-8 inches. the indicator is then brought down to contact the table with about .015 preload. Zero it out and sweep the table....this means rotate the spindle 360 deg. if the indicator stays on zero then its most likely trammed. if the indicator moves from its zero then you need to adjust the head either forward and back or left and right or both. its easiest to only concentrate on one axis at a time. once that one is in then go to the next one. once that one is in then the full sweep should show zero around the 360 sweep. Note....there are other factors that can affect this tramming of the table buy are far too intense to discuss now. The vast majority of time, this sweep method with be satisfactory. The indicator and goosneck will be used on all your setups in the future. No matter what i would definantly plan on getting some raw stock so you can practice cutting, slashing, mashing, hacking, swedging, crashing, and then patting it dry with a wet towel. This will be a major learning curve for you but if you are determinded enough you can do it.
Nick....what do you think about all this. with 30 yrs in the trade I'd imagine you have the same apprehensions that I do but you may have a better or different way to explain it. I've trained hundreds of machinists but never over the internet so this is defenantly a first for me.
I'll be keeping a watch on this post. Have a good one and be careful.........DAVE

[nick s]

Dave, I could not say it any better than you did, but I will add two more cautions to your
discription.....
" 1st.Make sure you have your safty glasses or sheild on you and whoever is nearby,(even kids), chips and cutters can turn into deadly projectiles when they fly.
2nd. Make sure you have your mill in neutral mode and unpluged before you rotate that spindle by hand"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[nick s]

sorry about the spelling in my previous reply, it's kinda late.

[turbododge]

I agree with much of what has been said here, especially about the safety issues! I would very much recommend an entry level milling machine course at a local vo-tech. They often have some decent entry level classes in the evenings. One thing that has not been mentioned in evaluating the machine is the backlash of the leadscrews (we have all been a little spoiled by ball screws), and how to allow for it. The tightness of the gibs in an old machine is also often a large issue. Doing intakes may be difficult on a small machine if it does not have head tilt in both directions, and to pocket and lighten pistons is very difficult without a rotary table. Don't let any of this scare you off, there is absolutely NOTHING that compares to having your own mill in your garage, just go in with your eyes open and be very careful.

[This message has been edited by turbododge (edited February 21, 2000).]

[DAVE JONES]

Double ditto on everyones advise. They are all right on the money and I highly agree with the votech class. they will teach you the basics in machining and safety.
PS.....as far as the leadscrew issue. What is being refered to is which side of the cutter is being used during the cut. The best way to describe this is to imagine your self walking directly behind the endmill during any cut. Either you can choose to climb mill which would mean that your cutter will be on the left side of the part when cutting....NO YOU DONT WANT TO DO THAT WITH THIS MILL!!!!!!!!, or your endmill can be on the right side of the part during the cut which is called conventional milling....YES THIS IS WHAT YOU WANT TO DO. climb milling actully pulls the part into the cutter during milling and conventional cutting will push the part away from the cutter. The only reason I'm telling you this is because I know you will put an endmill in and start to play. because of the backlash that was mentioned below, you want to push the part away from the cut and against the lead screw
so the table stays real smooth during the cut. if you try to climb cut the whole table and possibly machine will violently shake.
When...not if..but when you accidently do climb cut just remember to change your underwear and mop up the sweat from the floor. This is a normal experience that every machinist has encountered at one time or another. Bet ya I got more than one smile and head shake from all the machinists out there.....good luck, be safe, and get some formal training.......DAVE.
Oh ya, by the way, when you use the fly cutter make sure to use double faced tape when mounting the fly to the table. those litter critters always try to get away. They just hate getting their wings clipped .


------------------

[mopardude]

Ok this might not be what you wanted to know but here it is.The table is 19.5 long and 5 1/4 wide ok if the table is centered under the spindle the table will move only about
4 1/4 to the left and 4 1/4 to the right Ummm you said you could mill an intake even if the table dosen't have much travle how would you do this? can you email me with more on this topic guys so we dont have to keep writing in here.
csleight1@home.com

[Mr Belvedere]

Hey guys,

Also a (former) Machinist, 6 years experience, primarily in support of jets and wind-beaters. At my current job, they have a little R&D machine shop that requires a shop practices class to use. The class is 4 days, 3 of which pertain to machine tools. This class is just enough to make your average Joe-blow dangerous. Find a class, or a friend with experience, books, whatever, but mostly, use common sense, keep any body parts, clothes, hair, etc. away from any of the moving parts. Start with some small rinky dink projects to get an idea of what you and the machine can do. Use aluminum at first, just make some oddball looking blocks or something. If you take to it and like it, you will find that there is nothing you can't make with just a good lathe and milling machine.

Now, I know that 400lbs sounds pretty stout, for a milling machine, it isn't. I know of, and have used, the type that you have got. It is really little more than a drill press with a good table, but should still allow you to complete some pretty cool projects. To get the most out of this machine, you will need to build a truly STOUT table to mount it on, attach that table to the floor (as in bolted), and don't cut any corners mounting it to the table. Vibration is not only harmful for tolerances and finish, it can be dangerous.

Good luck and have fun,
Jason

btw: Being a machinist, in the military, was the 2nd best job I have ever had. The first was repo-work, stealing cars legally is a total blast/rush.

[This message has been edited by Mr Belvedere (edited February 23, 2000).]