Homemade manual milling machine project
Homemade manual milling machine project
Well I thought I,d share with you guys my manual milling machine project. It started off with an x & y table, then I took 2x2 steel tubing for the base, fabricated some 1/2 L- brackets then the column is 2 X 3 steel. Now my major under taking is the steel ways as I prefer to have dovetail. Any ideas where I can find these would be great. heres a pic
Wondering what kind of power you will be running for the spindle drive?
Any more info...like what you plan on milling etc?
If you are going with a smaller motor setup for very light work then the 2X3 tubing may be alright but for most average work it will be awful light IMO.
My mill/drill has a heavy wall round column that is filled with cement and has a solid piece of 3" diameter 4140 going right through it and it is bolted to the base to further stiffen it up.
Sometimes even this isn't stiff enough for milling tough steel.
Depending on the travel and head weight you may want to consider industrial planer blades for your dovetail components.
I was going to use them for a knee setup on a small horizontal mill setup I want to build. I've since figured it would be better to get a big cross slide from a scrapped out lathe. Another thing you may want to consider.
Big ol' cross and top slides can go pretty cheap on Ebay.
Russ
Any more info...like what you plan on milling etc?
If you are going with a smaller motor setup for very light work then the 2X3 tubing may be alright but for most average work it will be awful light IMO.
My mill/drill has a heavy wall round column that is filled with cement and has a solid piece of 3" diameter 4140 going right through it and it is bolted to the base to further stiffen it up.
Sometimes even this isn't stiff enough for milling tough steel.
Depending on the travel and head weight you may want to consider industrial planer blades for your dovetail components.
I was going to use them for a knee setup on a small horizontal mill setup I want to build. I've since figured it would be better to get a big cross slide from a scrapped out lathe. Another thing you may want to consider.
Big ol' cross and top slides can go pretty cheap on Ebay.
Russ
Well, I,m really just building this to see if I can do it. I,ll probably just mill aluminum with it. The motor I,m just gonna use a cheap 1/2 horse AC. I,m planning on buying a lathe here by the middle of May. This mill that I,m building is just for practice as I realize that I,m going to need a Bridgeport type milling machine. Also at the end of May I,ll be taking some classes here at the local college in basic machining and CNC. I hope by next year to be running a fabrication shop and I was thinking of building hobby machines and CNC machines. Also I,ll be getting the Bridgeport as soon as I sell off some land I own and move into a bigger shop.
Yeah I,ve been given that some thought, I found a smaller xy table that I can probably buy fairly cheap however let me ask any of you guys this, I also found a THK ball screw with a mounting plate, its a about 20" long, no handle, It looked like it was the z axis to a cnc gantry mill, you think I could use that or would it not be ridgid enough?
Like this one http://cgi.ebay.com/THK-Integral-Slide- ... dZViewItem
THK Integral Slide Rail with Accessories
THK Integral Slide Rail with Accessories
Zip,
You'll have to keep those ball guides and screw perfectly clean if you want them to last. Almost everything I work with here at work uses the type of setup you have pictured there. It works very well until someone doesn't re-lube it correctly during an annual PM. After that we have a devil of a time getting the thing to run right again. Any dust or grit that gets in there can stop a ball or scratch a race and it's out of business.
I work in a class 1 cleanroom where there is practically NO DUST. Broken silicon causes most of the grit but wear of the balls and guides can cause issues as well.
Just an FYI!
Trot, the semiconducting, fox...
You'll have to keep those ball guides and screw perfectly clean if you want them to last. Almost everything I work with here at work uses the type of setup you have pictured there. It works very well until someone doesn't re-lube it correctly during an annual PM. After that we have a devil of a time getting the thing to run right again. Any dust or grit that gets in there can stop a ball or scratch a race and it's out of business.
I work in a class 1 cleanroom where there is practically NO DUST. Broken silicon causes most of the grit but wear of the balls and guides can cause issues as well.
Just an FYI!
Trot, the semiconducting, fox...
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JimGlass
- Posts: 2281
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- Location: 40 Miles West of Chicago/near DeKalb
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Here is a mill I made using linear ball bearings and Thompson shafting for ways. Very smooth running but lacked rigidity because the shafts were supported by the ends.
The project was great experience particularly the CNC portion.
I almost built another mill using dovetails.
Then discovered I could buy a mill like this for $1500. It already has ballscrews, stepper motors and the machine itself. Built a CNC control similar to the home built mill. Have a little over $2500 in it. Should pay for itself in a couple of weeks.
Not sure what happened to the pics but here is a link. Hoooo, now they appear
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v30/jglass/?start=0
Jim
The project was great experience particularly the CNC portion.
I almost built another mill using dovetails.
Then discovered I could buy a mill like this for $1500. It already has ballscrews, stepper motors and the machine itself. Built a CNC control similar to the home built mill. Have a little over $2500 in it. Should pay for itself in a couple of weeks.
Not sure what happened to the pics but here is a link. Hoooo, now they appear
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v30/jglass/?start=0
Jim
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Tool & Die Maker/Electrician, Retired 2007
So much to learn and so little time.
www.outbackmachineshop.com
So much to learn and so little time.
www.outbackmachineshop.com
Just thought I,d update ya on the progress
Today drilled over 30 holes ( really 60 if ya count the pilot holes), For the mounting brackets I,m using steel plates , 1/2" and 1 " blocks, out of all those holes I drilled , I screwed 2 up and had to redrill 4 more holes becuz of it not to mention it messed up my nice symetrical bolt pattern.
Also the metal block that I got are no where near being square so the only way I could square them up was with a precision square and angle grinder. Transferring hole lesson, TRIPLE CHECK YOUR MEASUREMENTS!!!
1 1/2 DC motor and controller hopefully being shipped as you read this.
Pulleys and belt ordered from McMaster( even through one of them needs to be bored out, good job for my 9x20 lathe thats sitting in the shop collecting dust).
Can,t wait until all the pieces come in.
Question? Would I do this again? ...ummm.. I don,t think so, by the time I,m done my budget will be well over the price of one of those import mini mills(which I,m using a mini mill head R-8), my time into building this so far 32 to 35 hours SOLID. But it has been like therapy for me , just love it. I bet some of the machinsts that do this for a living look at us hobbyist machinist wannabees and say WHAT THE HELL?
Sorry no pics until Thursday(My pain in the ass... umm I mean wife took my camera on her little vacation to go see her parents in the Philippines) but as soon as I get it in my hands I,ll snap some pics, I know there some guys out there that are thinking about building a mill, just don,t think your going to build one cheaper that buying one. More to come.....
Today drilled over 30 holes ( really 60 if ya count the pilot holes), For the mounting brackets I,m using steel plates , 1/2" and 1 " blocks, out of all those holes I drilled , I screwed 2 up and had to redrill 4 more holes becuz of it not to mention it messed up my nice symetrical bolt pattern.
Also the metal block that I got are no where near being square so the only way I could square them up was with a precision square and angle grinder. Transferring hole lesson, TRIPLE CHECK YOUR MEASUREMENTS!!!
1 1/2 DC motor and controller hopefully being shipped as you read this.
Pulleys and belt ordered from McMaster( even through one of them needs to be bored out, good job for my 9x20 lathe thats sitting in the shop collecting dust).
Can,t wait until all the pieces come in.
Question? Would I do this again? ...ummm.. I don,t think so, by the time I,m done my budget will be well over the price of one of those import mini mills(which I,m using a mini mill head R-8), my time into building this so far 32 to 35 hours SOLID. But it has been like therapy for me , just love it. I bet some of the machinsts that do this for a living look at us hobbyist machinist wannabees and say WHAT THE HELL?
Sorry no pics until Thursday(My pain in the ass... umm I mean wife took my camera on her little vacation to go see her parents in the Philippines) but as soon as I get it in my hands I,ll snap some pics, I know there some guys out there that are thinking about building a mill, just don,t think your going to build one cheaper that buying one. More to come.....