Milling machine

With some snazzy gear work one COULD rig a basic rotary table to do spiral milling. It won't be as direct as the Universal Dividing Head method. And it won't be good for anything requiring actual proper fractional divisions unless you're very lucky. But if the goal is simply to get slick looking spiral flutes for decorative purposes it would work fine.

The idea would be to rig the rotary table at the end of the mill's table and link that end of the lead screw stub to the stub where the wheel goes on the rotary table. From there you'd need one pair of 45° bevel gears to "turn the corner" and some gearing that produces a lead screw to indexing table ratio that results in a pleasing looking spiral angle.
 
I don't think it would , you can find a small fadal cnc mill center for about 10-12 grand, way more useful, fadal has built in in graving routine
 
SkytopBrewster said:
Think I will go with this one, have a couple months to decide. Is this enough machine??? :)

http://www.moderntool.com/products/modern-model-ys-4kvs-nt40-ram-turret-milling-machine/
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I believe the term "Gross Overkill" is appropriate! :D Really. Sorta the .450 Nitro as a gopher gun, kinda thing going on.

If you really want a rough guide to how the various machines compare (given that they are all about the same otherwise) take a look at the specs sheets for their weights. Two machines can be roughly the same on paper, but if one has a couple thousand pounds more iron into it, you can generally expect it was put there for a pretty good reason.

At the end of the day, will it fit your needs, and can you run it and tool it up without it killing ya? Then it's a good pick.

Edit: I'll also add, get in front of these machines in person, if you can. We had a BP-ish looking mill delivered to one shop I was in that was frikken HUGE, to the point that it was awkward to work around it without a bunch of step stools to stand on when you were trying to get at the control levers on the head and such. OK if you are not tearing down and setting up different jobs all the time, but...
Aside from the size, it had the most gawdawful, counter-intuitive set of controls on it that it eventually went back.

Cheers
Trev
 
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I got a Grizzly mill/drill a few months back. It was the largest drill model before the true mills. I farm and work on lots of different fix it jobs. The mill has done a lot of small to med jobs with no problems. I would agree that if you are really getting into a lot of work that a larger true mill would be best. But with most things cost is an issue. My machine can sure produce finer work than I am capable of yet. As far as used machines with no backup I would not go that route.
 
SkytopBrewster said:
Any of you guys work on one of these machines, looks pretty solid but I won't get a chance to go see it until next week. No tooling but comes with the VFD and wiring.

http://www.kijiji.ca/v-view-image.html?adId=558511549&image=0&enableSearchNavigationFlag=true
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Looks like a nice BP clone.

What's he asking? That will really spell out what kind of enthusiasm you should be feeling about it.

But I figure for a home mill, unless the ways are wallowed out like a Pringle potato chip, you'd go for a long time without feeling the need for 'more'.

Cheers
Trev
 
How complicated is it to install a 2-axis DRO on a machine like that. Due to no formal machinist training I think it would make things like bolt holes for brackets or whatever a lot easier. I flunked Trig in school.
 
It's not overly complicated, just got to put them in the right place, dial with the axis travel. A hand drill and 1/4-20 tap, center punch and a level does most of it, might have to make a few spacers, brackets, that depends on the machine. I've put up to 14' scales by myself. Some machines are easier than others, some machines have really messed up castings, others have nice surfaces already machined in line with the axis for easy mounting.
One of the best systems for ease of install is Acu-rite with back up spars. On my mill I use their S200 3axis plus a mitutoyo quill kit.

To me DRO's are a must have on just about any manual machine.
 
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SND said:
One of the best systems for ease of install is Acu-rite with back up spars. On my mill I use their S200 3axis plus a mitutoyo quill kit.

To me DRO's are a must have any just about any manual machine.
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That sounds like a pretty darn good set-up.

I would suggest that you bite the bullet and put a 3 axis on it from the outset. The scale kits that go on the quill are a cheap to add feature that you will really really like, but I would say that the table and the knee for X,Y, and Z axis readouts is about the best thing you could do. The reason for the knee is to be able to utilize it's full travel while you have the spindle locked fully up in it's most rigid position.

Best of all worlds is to have a DRO that will allow you to combine the two Z axis movements so that you are costantly keeping track of where your cutting tool is in relation to your Zero.

LOTS of Bridgeport type kits available. Hit the web and read a few of the install manuals. Off the top of my head the tolerance for a Acurite beam from end to end was around 50 thou. You should be able to align better than that with a wooden ruler. Straighter is better though. :) Read the manuals! :)

Cheers
Trev
 
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