Basic equipment for starting milling ?

This topic has 14 replies, 9 voices, and was last updated 7 September 2013 at 13:47 by Ady Wilson.

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4 September 2013 at 19:54 #128599
Ady Wilson
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@adywilson52106
Hi I received delivery of my clarke cl500m combo machine yesterday. Very heavy thing to move, had to strip as much off it as I could to reduce the weight then find a innocent stranger to help me lift it onto one of our recyle bins which acted as a trolley to transport it through the house and into the shed. It did give a good height when moving it over onto the bench, not bad for a piece of plastic really.

I have a few questions about some of the kit I am going to need to get me doing a bit of milling on it, hopefully some of you can point me in the right direction.

1. What size and type milling vice should I get ? The table is T Slotted and is 150mm x 200mm ( I dont want to spend a lot as I am just starting out so something that will be adequate for playing around with)

2. I see the is quite a distance between the mill head and table and that even with a vice mounted working on smaller parts is going to be tricky. Do I need a machine block ? Is there a workaround. I am guessing if I need a block then I am going to need T nuts/ clamping kit etc.. to fix everything down.

I did want to make my own T Nuts as a project but I cant see how thats possible with all that distance between mill and table. I just really need to know what are the essential things I am going to need or cant do without to get me using the mill. Even some suggestions on best cutters for a beginner to start with would be appreciated.

many thanks,

Ady.
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4 September 2013 at 19:54 #6860
Ady Wilson
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@adywilson52106
4 September 2013 at 23:19 #128619
Bazyle
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@bazyle
The T nut doesn’t have to be a T. A flat plate with no rising bit can work to start with but just put less strain on it as there are fewer threads.
Although a collet check (eg ER32) will use up a lot of room it is rather expensive. Normally I would suggest just a single MT3 half inch collet and a half inch slot drill to start with for minimal outlay and is enough for 6 months learning to mill.
One way of using up some height might be to mount your vice on a pile of MDF sheets topped with a slab of aluminium plate at least 1/4 inch which you drill and tap to secure the vice. 4-6 bits of studding to bolt it all down. Shim with drinks can sheet to level. A dial indicator is a pretty essential bit of kit.
4 September 2013 at 23:27 #128621
GaryM
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@garym
Hi Ady,

I'm no expert as I've only had my mill for six months but two suggestions to start with are Harold Hall's books "The Milling Machine" and "Milling: A Complete Course" in the Workshop Practice Series. Full of useful info and starter projects including T-nuts, clamps etc.

If you just want to get started buy a 10mm HSS end mill and 10mm MT3 collet to take it. This won't cost you much and will get you making some swarf. You could also buy a clamp set which you will still use even when you've bought a vice and leave the vice purchase for a while.

Oh, and welcome to the forum.

Gary
4 September 2013 at 23:31 #128622
mechman48
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@mechman48
Ady

I think this is a ref. to your post of 2/9… in which you have received a number of responses to your questions & IIRC I also mentioned that you would need to get a machine block to allow you to mill without lowering the quill a long way.

“another item I suggest is the cast iron riser block that fastens to the cross slide as this will keep your mill/drill spindle at its shortest extension, otherwise you may have to lower your spindle to reach the vice/job which will reduce rigidity even though there is a spindle lock”.

Vices I used were … Clarke ctv 25b tilting vice & Clarke 4” drill vice cdv 40c which were capable of what I needed for the CL500.

Check back & see there are a number of responses from other members, Oh & by the way a belated welcome to the forum.. enjoy

Cheers

George
4 September 2013 at 23:35 #128623
Ady Wilson
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@adywilson52106
Thanks for the tips Bazyle, much appreciated. I could definately save a few quid going with your single collet suggestion. I need a vice so that in itself will fill some space but was looking at these tilting angle plates

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/290854921745?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

That would fill 110mm then a vice on top would take up some more, plus I would have the ability to set angles when milling. I will take some measurements tomorrow to see how it all works in. I have a dial indicator already so can set everything with that.
4 September 2013 at 23:47 #128625
Ady Wilson
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@adywilson52106
Posted by mechman48 on 04/09/2013 23:31:55:

“another item I suggest is the cast iron riser block that fastens to the cross slide as this will keep your mill/drill spindle at its shortest extension, otherwise you may have to lower your spindle to reach the vice/job which will reduce rigidity even though there is a spindle lock”.

Thanks for the advice. I did look at the block from clarke/machine mart but they want about £70 for it, I think Chronos sell it for £62 ish. What do you think of

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/290854921745?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

would it do the same job ? Its considerably cheaper and would allow me to use its angle feature as well. Its 110mm high. I find with machine mart/clarke stuff that they dont give you much data in regards to dimensions and sizes of some of their products, at best they just say it is for " model number xxxx"

I think I will definitely go with getting a single collet and tool to go with it as the money saved there will allow me to get other things.
5 September 2013 at 06:43 #128630
Thor 🇳🇴
Participant
@thor
Hi Ady,

the block yo found on ebay seems Ok, but I haven't tried the RDG one. If you want something even cheaper a piece of 12 to 15mm steel the size of your table with holes drilled and tapped in it (for the top). Use four pieces of 25mm rod of equal length as spacers. Drill through and clamp them and the top to the table with long bolts or similar. A MT 3 collet will get you started, but if it is a problem to "reach fown" to the table you could buy an end mill holder.

Thor
5 September 2013 at 09:15 #128635
martin perman 1
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@martinperman1
Ady,

I have the same lathe as you and bought my block off of EBay for a lot less that Machine Mart wanted, they do pop up now and then.

Martin P
5 September 2013 at 09:17 #128636
Bazyle
Participant
@bazyle
That is quite a good price for a T slotted angle plate as a used non slotted one recently went for about that price. Mostly you don’t wnat angles, getting flat is the problem. Another easy start is an offcut of 6×6 box section. I found a bit in a skip before the pikies so scrap yards must have bits. Less rigid but cheap.
5 September 2013 at 10:01 #128639
NJH
Participant
@njh
Ady

Personally I would avoid the adjustable angle plate unless you have a constant need to create angled cuts. Most times you want to produce cuts that are parallel to and at right angles to the table. If you introduce an adjustment by means of the plate you will always need to ensure that it is level and the additional adjustable interface will reduce the ridgidity of the set up. In the good old days ( maybe 10 years ago ) when access to college workshops with big machines was available, I made an adjustable angle plate for use on my mill. Good exercise – it turned out well – I guess I've used it about twice! My mill came with a "cheapo" adjustable vice similar, but not as good as, THIS one. For the odd very light cut or for drilling a hole at an angle it is fine.

Norman

Edited By NJH on 05/09/2013 10:04:11
5 September 2013 at 12:57 #128646
Chris Parsons
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@chrisparsons64193
I am also a beginner (mill not delivered yet) and asked a similar question, have a search for "New mill being delivered…"

Some of the advice/comments might help?

Best of luck

Chris
5 September 2013 at 14:08 #128653
Ian S C
Participant
@iansc
After a clamping set (I got mine as discount when I bought my Mill), a small fly cutter, with a suitable draw bar. Arceurotrade have two sizes of blocks, they are metric 10 – 20 – 40 and 20 – 40 – 80, and these seem to me quite cheap at 12 and 18 pounds per pair. V blocks are also handy. Ian S C
5 September 2013 at 19:23 #128686
mechman48
Participant
@mechman48
Ady

Unless you plan on doing a lot of angles I would stick with maintaning a flat surface, you may have a problem with locking the angle plate in the horizontal plane as the cutting forces may shift it slighty & you can end up with undiscernable angles where you don't want them.

I made my own riser block a few years back to suit the CL500 & put a machined tapped clamping plate on top for fixing the vice & or workpieces to suit. Simple channel or I beam would do, mine had the height set to 100mm (approx) & I found I ended up raising the mill head to allow drill chuck & drill to clear the top of the block so you could make yours 75mm high,or whatever size to allow as least extension of the mill head as possible.

The brown marks are grease that I have used since having put it away after upgrading, will find a use for it on my WM 16 eventually…the top was machined level & then I hand scraped it to a decent level of flatness…

Cheers

George
7 September 2013 at 13:47 #128846
Ady Wilson
Participant
@adywilson52106
I just want to thank everyone for their input there has been some great ideas and advice. I am happy now to order some stuff and hopefully will be able to post details of my projects when I get started.

cheers,

Ady.
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