Milling Machine spindle

[Sandman north]

I have found a King Drill/Mill model KC-40HS for a reasonable price and bigger than the small one I have.
it comes with a MT3 spindle Apparently not want you want in a mill .....can it be changed out to a R8?

Is this OK or not or will it work. OR if I buy an adapter in it from the MT3 -R8


Thanks Sandman

[SteveM]

The MT3 is smaller than the R8.

You can get adapters to fit an MT3 into an R8 spindle.

Whether you can get a new spindle depends on your manufacturer.

I believe this is your machine:


You can have your spindle machined to R8, but it may cost at least a couple of hundred dollars and there goes your "reasonable price".

I picked up a Bridgeport head for a "reasonable price" but it was B&S7 and I've spent more accumulating B&S7 tooling than I would have spent buying a MT2 model.

Steve

[spro]

R-8 is the one for milling but MT#3 collets can be found much easier/ cheaper than before. So either collet will hold the standard end mills close in the spindle for maximum rigidity. MT#3 can be more difficult to release due to the long taper but that is exactly why larger drills use MT#3.
One's circumstances and tooling should be considered. I have a similar R-8 machine and many MT#3 drills. I would like to use it as drill press and have ... Problem is, the R-8 adapter/MT#3 is Long, too long. There is no part of the #3 drill shank which is actually IN the spindle. Total joke.
If the one in question has a spindle that will actually accept a MT#3 drill shanks with the "tang", it could be a dandy heavy drill press. PLUS MT#2 fits in with a sleeve so the drawbar can also tighten that.
Many people go to a Collet Head and sets of DA /ER collets. These collets sit out from the spindle, whether R-8 or Mt#3 but not as far as a big chuck.
Edit: thought we were discussing a M/D

[LIALLEGHENY]

The King KC-40HS is a geared head drill press, not a milling machine. The MT3 taper is ideal for a drill press. I looked up the machine on their website, and they do claim that it can handle end mills up to 3/4", and face mills up to 4" but I can assure you it's only a marketing/ sales ploy. King does offer a mill/drill model PDM-30 which has an R8 taper spindle designed for milling.

Nyle

[spro]

Yes. There is the KC-40-HC model which appears to be the same as the HS but has a milling table ( I think the "C" means "cross slide" ). Round column M/D s already have issues. In this case, it would be side milling against a column mounted table. I would not change it from the gear head drill press that it is.

[Sandman north]

Ok thanks for the input this is not getting rave reviews

i have a small

CX 605.jpg (5.49 KiB) Viewed 7609 times

and am looking for something bigger but not a Bridgeport
but i would like to stay in the 110 220 V range

Any suggestions

[jcfx]

I know you're in Canada, but a member on the HSM forum picked one up from Busybee not long ago, the thread may still be active.
He seemed pleased with it.

[SteveM]

One thing you can do to both have a "Bridgeport" and "Not a Bridgeport" at the same time is to buy a small horizontal mill. There are plenty of them out there for cheap, and some of them don't take up much floor space.

Then you mount a Bridgeport head to the overarm.

Steve

[pete]

Hardinge did exactly that many years ago and sold adapters to mount the early and smaller Bridgeport heads to there fairly small horizontal mills. The TM and I think TMU ? that had the universal table.

Some might know of Dan Gelberts videos on YouTube. I had to chuckel when many on PM were sort of calling him down for his choice of a Jet Bridgeport clone. That was until he mentioned his actual mills were high end European machines and at least one industrial grade CNC, and that Jet was used as his drill press. That knee screw makes all the difference and why I gave up on any of the more common home shop grade drill presses I can afford. The table flex on those even with a 3/8ths drill is a great deal more than most think. My BP clone is my good accurate drill press and my mill as well.

[SteveM]

Hardinge did exactly that many years ago and sold adapters to mount the early and smaller Bridgeport heads to there fairly small horizontal mills. The TM and I think TMU ? that had the universal table.

There was a specific Bridgeport head for that - the model H. I think it may have just been a C with the proper adapter.

Steve

[pete]

Thanks Steve, I hadn't known that. I'd thought they were just one of the standard BP heads at the time.

[SteveM]

Here's a Hardinge UM with an H head on it:



You can see that it is very similar to the Model C:



My guess is that it is the same head, but with the Hardinge mount.

Steve