Milling machine with a BT or ISO spindle

Discussion on all milling machines vertical & horizontal, including but not limited to Bridgeports, Hardinge, South Bend, Clausing, Van Norman, including imports.

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xzsawq21
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Milling machine with a BT or ISO spindle

Post by xzsawq21 »

Hello
I want to buy a benchtop milling machine with a BT or ISO spindle and cast iron body, I found only Optimum MH 22V, I'm gonna produce small boxes for electronic devices or small aluminum flanges for stepper motors, sometimes I work on thin (1mm) stainless steel sheets. Can you suggest me a milling machine?

Image
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small size SS sheet with a 1mm thickness:
Image

Thanks
Last edited by xzsawq21 on Wed Mar 02, 2022 3:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
earlgo
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Re: Milling machine with a BT or ISO spindle

Post by earlgo »

1mm thick is .039" to us stuck in the US. If it is only 1mm thick, then you have 3 different surfaces that must be .33 mm (.013") apart. I'd like to know how you intend to get all those threads in that thin a part. Oh I guess one could use #0-80 screws. Oh, never mind, the pitch is .012" so one thread for each hole. So, you could use M0.25x0.075. The diameter is 0.25 (.0098") and the pitch is then 0.075(.0029") and you could get 4.4 threads per .33mm thickness.
Pardon my ignorance but I'd like to see a dimensioned drawing of your part as I have never worked on a part anywhere near that small. :shock:
--earlgo
Before you do anything, you must do something else first. - Washington's principle.
xzsawq21
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Re: Milling machine with a BT or ISO spindle

Post by xzsawq21 »

earlgo wrote: Tue Mar 01, 2022 4:05 pm 1mm thick is .039" to us stuck in the US. If it is only 1mm thick, then you have 3 different surfaces that must be .33 mm (.013") apart. I'd like to know how you intend to get all those threads in that thin a part. Oh I guess one could use #0-80 screws. Oh, never mind, the pitch is .012" so one thread for each hole. So, you could use M0.25x0.075. The diameter is 0.25 (.0098") and the pitch is then 0.075(.0029") and you could get 4.4 threads per .33mm thickness.
Pardon my ignorance but I'd like to see a dimensioned drawing of your part as I have never worked on a part anywhere near that small. :shock:
--earlgo
consider a 10x10cm stainless steel sheet with a 1mm thickness, I want to cut 9 slots in the sheet as following:
Image
earlgo
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Re: Milling machine with a BT or ISO spindle

Post by earlgo »

My error. I should have seen that.
--earlgo
Before you do anything, you must do something else first. - Washington's principle.
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NP317
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Re: Milling machine with a BT or ISO spindle

Post by NP317 »

Have the sheet water-jet cut.
RussN
xzsawq21
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Re: Milling machine with a BT or ISO spindle

Post by xzsawq21 »

What do you think about Optimum MH 22V? I don't know the quality of the Optimum milling machines. I'm thinking of buying a used Bridgeport milling machine but the milling machine is old.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LFimU0YAd8
I've got the MH25SV which is quite similar (BT30 in place of MT3 and stepper motors on 3 axes).). When I received the milling machine, all bolts securing the gibbs where loosely tighten, ending in very disappointing results, in particuler erratic travel of the Z axis when milling steel on X or Y axis.. I replaced the Z handwhell by a larger one which makes it noticeably easier to lift the head. The main problem is vibration, like other small mills, which makes it impossible to make deep milling. I try to overcome this by using carbide mills so as to have a RPM above the resonance frequency.
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Harold_V
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Re: Milling machine with a BT or ISO spindle

Post by Harold_V »

A Bridgeport would be a serious mistake for machining those slots. It is unlikely to be able to provide the needed spindle speed, and it would be impossible to mill sharp corners. I suspect you'd not enjoy the replacement of broken endmills. Stainless is difficult to machine in comparison to many other alloys, with the difficulty increased considerably with miniature cutters. A project like this is best suited to a plunge EDM. Alternately, as RussN suggested, you would likely enjoy relative success using water jet.

Have many to make? If so, a die would be a consideration.

H
Wise people talk because they have something to say. Fools talk because they have to say something.
xzsawq21
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Re: Milling machine with a BT or ISO spindle

Post by xzsawq21 »

Harold_V wrote: Thu Mar 03, 2022 2:59 am A Bridgeport would be a serious mistake for machining those slots. It is unlikely to be able to provide the needed spindle speed, and it would be impossible to mill sharp corners. I suspect you'd not enjoy the replacement of broken endmills. Stainless is difficult to machine in comparison to many other alloys, with the difficulty increased considerably with miniature cutters.
H
Later I can sharpen the blades with an iron file.
Last edited by xzsawq21 on Thu Mar 03, 2022 4:48 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Harold_V
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Re: Milling machine with a BT or ISO spindle

Post by Harold_V »

It's not clear to me what you're saying but if I understand you correctly, you are terribly misguided. Blades are not used in milling--the tools used are end mills (for this particular operation). They can NOT be sharpened with a file. If they could be, they wouldn't be up to the task of machining steels of any description. Beyond that, in order for one to enjoy any type of longevity with the needed end mill, carbide would be the best choice, and it requires diamond or CBN to be sharpened. It is harder, by far, than a file.

End mills require a cutter grinder to sharpen them properly. They can not be successfully sharpened by hand.

H
Wise people talk because they have something to say. Fools talk because they have to say something.
xzsawq21
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Re: Milling machine with a BT or ISO spindle

Post by xzsawq21 »

Harold_V wrote: Thu Mar 03, 2022 4:12 am It's not clear to me what you're saying
H
Image
RSG
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Re: Milling machine with a BT or ISO spindle

Post by RSG »

That portion of the cut would be a relatively sharp point to begin with Xzsawq21 but the ends of the cuts would be round, based on an endmill as shown below...

Image

As long as you're ok with that then using an endmill would work although the resulting finish may not be what you are hoping for. Not sure how small these slots are intended to be but I've machined slots in 303 and 420 stainless about the same thickness as your request(.039") using a .073" dia endmill with good success. The higher RPM you can get away with the better. My mill only goes up to 4300 RPM but it seemed to cut well accordingly. The only thing I will add is there is a learning curve that can't be avoided when machining alloys like stainless not to mention using small endmills. By the sounds of things you are planning to jump in right at the top which could lead to great disappointment. If I'm correct these are cover plates so there will be many "V" slots required to be cut which just isn't practical on a manual mill so my choice would be to send them out to be laser cut but even that will leave less then desirable return edges unless you plan to finish them all.
Vision is not seeing things as they are, but as they will be.
xzsawq21
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Re: Milling machine with a BT or ISO spindle

Post by xzsawq21 »

RSG wrote: Thu Mar 03, 2022 8:25 am That portion of the cut would be a relatively sharp point to begin with Xzsawq21 but the ends of the cuts would be round, based on an endmill as shown below...

Image

As long as you're ok with that then using an endmill would work although the resulting finish may not be what you are hoping for. Not sure how small these slots are intended to be but I've machined slots in 303 and 420 stainless about the same thickness as your request(.039") using a .073" dia endmill with good success. The higher RPM you can get away with the better.
Perfect solution for my application 👍 Thanks and Regards
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