Got my first personal mill and need lots of info about it...

[zipster1967]

I just got a King Mill at an auction but it doesn't have a manual and I need to set it up to do all the things I am planning on doing with it. I need a vice that will fit the table and I need to figure out what kind of collet holder it has and all the details about how to get this machine in running condition. It is a model DM-30. All the info I have on the faceplate is as follows:
King brand heavy duty complex drilling & milling machine
Model: DM-30
Table: 8 3/8" X 28 3/4"
Drilling Capacity: 1 1/4"
Spindle: R8
Milling capacity: 3"
Motor: 2 HP
S/N: U7247

That is all I have for info on this machine. Does anyone know where I can get an operators manual for this old of a mill? Aslo what would you guys recommend as far as a vice to fit this beast. Aslo I don;t have anytjhing to stand it on and right now it is sitting on the floor of my shop and I am not sure if I can build a stand for it or if I can get one ready made to fit the bolts in the base. Any information you guys can give me about this will be much appreciated.
Thanks in advance for anything you can do for me.

[Richard_W]

You state that it has an R8 spindle so you need R8 collets. You can buy a cabinet from Enco to mount it to.

http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INSRIT?PART ... A=208-8111


You will also wand a drill chuck, 4" Kurt style vise, 1/2" clamp set for a 5/8" table slot, an end mill set up to 3/4", a set of fly cutters and a set of drills.

[redneckalbertan]

You will also wand a drill chuck, 4" Kurt style vise, 1/2" clamp set for a 5/8" table slot, an end mill set up to 3/4", a set of fly cutters and a set of drills.

And then you will need... The list just keeps on growing from there!

[Patio]

Zipster, welcome to the board.

There is a great bunch of guys here, and they can help with most questions. I started here 3years ago, this month, myself. The more information you can provide about your particular machine, the more people can help. We all love pictures, as there are sometime lots of different makers of machine, but most will based on only a few different styles.



The resource library, is extensive and is of great help.
http://www.chaski.org/homemachinist/viewforum.php?f=44

This is a thread that should help your emediate questions. Ken572 is wealth of info.
http://www.chaski.org/homemachinist/vie ... l+#p292881

Enjoy your new machine

[John Evans]

Go to Grizzly's web site and find a mill that looks like your and down load where ever manual they have. That will be as good as you will get. Older chinese dill/mills did not come with much of anything manual wise.
Also it would be nice if you would post your location ,as a minium the state.

[zipster1967]

Thanks for all the great info so far. Yeah I am already lloking at a vice should I pay the extra and get a swiveling vice or isn;t that critical? Also it came with a drill chuck so I just have to get a collet set. Also I lloked at the stand at Enco and it's a bit pricey for my budget. I already got the wife fuming at how much I paid for the mill. (And it was dirt cheap too) but I have a bit of 3.5" square tubing 1/8" thick that I could fashion a stand out of. I also have a couple of 44" long I bar type pieces. I will post pictures of them later today once I get out to the shop. What I am wondering is do I have to worry about this thing tipping over if I put extensions out to the sides of the legs. The thing weights about 400 or so pounds. Will my 3.5" square tubing be strong enough to support the weight of the mill and the workpieces I might be putting on it?

Sketchup image of my planned stand

Will this work?
And here is the picture of my "new" mill

[hammermill]

a couple of considerations. mills can be tippy, make sure it has a wide enough base and best is anchored down. a good way to do this is put a drawer unit inside the base. all the tools your going to buy will add ballast.

swivel bases take up space and a mill drill is already challenged in the area. buy the time you get a mill holder and mill and vice you may have no room for the work.

building t nuts to fit your slots is a good early project that will help form skills you will need.
a drawbar wrench and a spline wrench are handy for changing collets and cutters.

not all collets have the same thread, you may need more than one drawbar.

[Harold_V]

I strongly advise against a base with protruding base members, such as you've shown. It's only a matter of time until you trip over them, possibly falling in to a spinning spindle, or getting impaled on something nearby. Think safety when you're around machine tools.

The tubing you mentioned is more than strong enough to support the weight in question. While you think it's heavy, it isn't.

Harold

[zipster1967]

Okay so how do I make sure it's not "tippy" and not have the protruding cross members at the base? How wide of a base do I need? The footprint on the mill (At least where the bolt holes are in the base are 13.5" wide and 19" front to back. So how wide do I need to fashion my base to make it safe? Also do I get the collet sets first then get the appropriate draw bars or are there pretty much just a couple of standards I should start out with? And thanks again everyone for your information and responses. I appreciate it very much. I am looking forward to using this mill for years to come and re-acquainting myself with the operations of this wonderful machine.
Okay I just looked at my mill and I can't locate the spindle lock on my machine. I can take pictures if that will help someone help my locate it or does anyone have suggestions on where to look for it?

[Jawn]

Looks a lot like the HF mill/drill I recently bought.

http://www.harborfreight.com/1-1-2-half ... 33686.html

Grizzly has a more "plain english" manual, this appears similar too:
https://d27ewrs9ow50op.cloudfront.net/m ... 1006_m.pdf

I bought the premade stand from WTTool (about the same price as Enco). Not bad, but not great.

[redneckalbertan]

I had access to a similar sized mill that sat on a table 24" wide x 30" long. 3" x 3" HSS for legs and a 1/2" table top no cross members anywhere else just a table top and 4 legs. It seemed stable just like that. A shelf was added and that made the base more solid and rotary table, clamp set, and other tooling was stored on the shelf.

In your drawing it looks like your legs are either beside or notched into your top lengthwise cross members. If I was building the table I would but the legs into the cross members. The notch adds time to the build.

[John Evans]

You will note a glaring omission on that machine ! No spindle locks !! Have yet to see such on any of the 20+ I have looked at.