myke pocock
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| posted on 22/12/12 at 11:05 PM |
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Small Milling Machine
Anyone got any experience of these? Thinking about getting a small independent milling machine and these are the only ones I can see available.
Sealey Tools SM2502 Bench Mini Drilling Milling Machine Mill Drill Tilt Column 
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mark chandler
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| posted on 22/12/12 at 11:17 PM |
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I have a very sturdy meddings drill with a high quality chuck, when I attached a sliding table and tried to use as a mill the tool kept dropping out
the chuck.
I struggle to see how this will hold tools in a better fashion unless it comes with a collet set and a means of pulling and holding the taper in
place, the description does not include any collets.
Regards Mark
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Theshed
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| posted on 22/12/12 at 11:27 PM |
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unless you are very short of space or content to make models..... not in a million years. For real work buy a second hand machine. You could easily
buy a Tom Senior M1 for that money or a worn Bridgeport clone. Another 500 quid and you will have a machine that will last for life.
With milling machines big is best no matter what the wife may say.
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MikeRJ
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| posted on 22/12/12 at 11:59 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Theshed
unless you are very short of space or content to make models..... not in a million years. For real work buy a second hand machine. You could easily
buy a Tom Senior M1 for that money or a worn Bridgeport clone. Another 500 quid and you will have a machine that will last for life.
With milling machines big is best no matter what the wife may say.
I agree that older, quality made machines are a far better investment, but if you don't have the space for a large machine then you don't
have much choice.
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mark chandler
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| posted on 23/12/12 at 12:01 AM |
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Either that or if you just want to work small pieces buy a decent lathe.
I sold a horizontal mill maybe 18 months ago for £400, it just did not get any use so moved on.
[Edited on 23/12/12 by mark chandler]
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trextr7monkey
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| posted on 23/12/12 at 01:37 AM |
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Myke we bought a small vertical miller from Axminster tools a few years ago for simlar kind of money and it is much more substantial than the sealey
example- you arewelcome to come and have a look at it in January when we are back to work if it helps.
atb
Mike
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14016102@N00/ (cut and paste this dodgey link)
Our most recent pics are here:
http://s129.photobucket.com/albums/p211/trextr7monkey/
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trikerneil
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| posted on 23/12/12 at 05:24 AM |
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Have a look at Axminster Tools their stuff is reasonable quality for the price
or Chester Machine Tools.
I have a Chester round column milling machine.
If the head needs to be moved (eg for deep hole boring greater than the 60mm quill travel) then alignment is lost as the head rotates about the
column.
I have found that taking more than 1mm cuts is nigh impossible so roughing out can require a lot of patience, I have just taken a 100mm long piece of
83mm dia alloy down to a 60 x 40 x 100mm rectangular bar 1mm at a time.
Having said this I have made a pair of alloy fork yokes for a bike I'm building.
Make sure the table travel and height under the quill is enough for the jobs you have in mind. Don't forget once the tool is in the spindle the
room left for the job height is much reduced. The cost of enough tooling to make the machine useful will add quite a bit to the total price.
I am not sure that my investment in the milling machine and tooling is really justified by the amount of use it gets and have considered selling it on
more than one occasion.
HTH
Neil
ACE Cafe - Just say No.
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Talon Motorsport
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| posted on 23/12/12 at 08:28 AM |
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+1 for not buying a 'new' small toy type mill. Buy some thing such as second hand axminster or senior for not a lot more money and it
will last for ever (if serviced and cared for) I picked this up for £800 it makes a bridgeport look like a toy made in 1974 and has a horizontal as
well, ok not ideal to fit in a typical garage but you get the idea.
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big_wasa
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| posted on 23/12/12 at 08:32 AM |
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I had a clark version and took it back the next day. The gears where made of nylon and already stripped when I got it home. The quality of the machine
meant I would only ever be able to do plastic and soft alloys. ie model making.
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AdrianH
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| posted on 23/12/12 at 09:15 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by trikerneil
Have a look at Axminster Tools their stuff is reasonable quality for the price
or Chester Machine Tools.
I have a Chester round column milling machine.
If the head needs to be moved (eg for deep hole boring greater than the 60mm quill travel) then alignment is lost as the head rotates about the
column.
I have found that taking more than 1mm cuts is nigh impossible so roughing out can require a lot of patience, I have just taken a 100mm long piece of
83mm dia alloy down to a 60 x 40 x 100mm rectangular bar 1mm at a time.
Having said this I have made a pair of alloy fork yokes for a bike I'm building.
Snip
Some one else using one of the Chester machines, they are not bad, Just been using mine as bench drill recently for 1 inch holes in steel.
I did a CNC conversion years ago to the machine means I can do repeat holes and a bit of 2D machining. They have a 3 Morse taper in the quill and can
use a draw bar to hold chucks or collets in place so quite good within limits.
 
Adrian
[Edited on 23-12-12 by AdrianH]
Why do I have to make the tools to finish the job? More time then money.
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Dualist
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| posted on 23/12/12 at 09:40 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by myke pocock
Anyone got any experience of these? Thinking about getting a small independent milling machine and these are the only ones I can see available.
Sealey Tools SM2502 Bench Mini Drilling Milling Machine Mill Drill Tilt Column
I've got one similar to this (different name that is all) and I've a full set of collets (which were about £30 back then) and 16mm is
about it's limit (have to pre cut to use a 20mm cutter). You can see there is a small cover directly above the chuck for the drawbar that holds
the chuck in.
I used to have a Herbert 3phase mill that had about the same size table, well it was a little smaller.
The only downside to it is that speed is controlled by a crap inverter and unless you are going flat out you have sod all power.
Rotary build coming soon...
quote:
Originally posted by RichardK
I recently discovered that pigs can p i s s sideways when being transported 
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 23/12/12 at 10:04 AM |
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You may find this site useful if you decide to shop around for an old machine:
lathes
I know it says "lathes" but they also cover milling machines & other stuff!
It's also a good place to get minor spares such as custom drive belts.
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franky
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| posted on 23/12/12 at 10:06 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by trikerneil
Have a look at Axminster Tools their stuff is reasonable quality for the price
or Chester Machine Tools.
I have a Chester round column milling machine.
If the head needs to be moved (eg for deep hole boring greater than the 60mm quill travel) then alignment is lost as the head rotates about the
column.
I have found that taking more than 1mm cuts is nigh impossible so roughing out can require a lot of patience, I have just taken a 100mm long piece of
83mm dia alloy down to a 60 x 40 x 100mm rectangular bar 1mm at a time.
Having said this I have made a pair of alloy fork yokes for a bike I'm building.
Make sure the table travel and height under the quill is enough for the jobs you have in mind. Don't forget once the tool is in the spindle the
room left for the job height is much reduced. The cost of enough tooling to make the machine useful will add quite a bit to the total price.
I am not sure that my investment in the milling machine and tooling is really justified by the amount of use it gets and have considered selling it on
more than one occasion.
HTH
Neil
Do you fancy selling it?
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chillis
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| posted on 23/12/12 at 12:13 PM |
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Item Number
360496600931
These are a little more expensive but much better - very popular with the modelling community.
The sealey one is just a glorified drill and if its anything like any of the other sealey things I've owned an expensive disappointment.
Never under estimate the ingenuity of an idiot!
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chillis
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| posted on 23/12/12 at 12:19 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Talon Motorsport
+1 for not buying a 'new' small toy type mill. Buy some thing such as second hand axminster or senior for not a lot more money and it
will last for ever (if serviced and cared for) I picked this up for £800 it makes a bridgeport look like a toy made in 1974 and has a horizontal as
well, ok not ideal to fit in a typical garage but you get the idea.
I bought the 'toy' size mainly as I dont have the space for a bridgeport (weapon of choice) but went for the popular types that the
modelling comunity use as at least they'll be reasonable quality. For big stuff I can do at work. I have the same make lathe (bought from AshG)
and thats really useful for smallish stuff.
Never under estimate the ingenuity of an idiot!
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trikerneil
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| posted on 24/12/12 at 06:53 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by franky
quote:
Originally posted by trikerneil
Have a look at Axminster Tools their stuff is reasonable quality for the price
or Chester Machine Tools.
I have a Chester round column milling machine.
If the head needs to be moved (eg for deep hole boring greater than the 60mm quill travel) then alignment is lost as the head rotates about the
column.
I have found that taking more than 1mm cuts is nigh impossible so roughing out can require a lot of patience, I have just taken a 100mm long piece of
83mm dia alloy down to a 60 x 40 x 100mm rectangular bar 1mm at a time.
Having said this I have made a pair of alloy fork yokes for a bike I'm building.
Make sure the table travel and height under the quill is enough for the jobs you have in mind. Don't forget once the tool is in the spindle the
room left for the job height is much reduced. The cost of enough tooling to make the machine useful will add quite a bit to the total price.
I am not sure that my investment in the milling machine and tooling is really justified by the amount of use it gets and have considered selling it on
more than one occasion.
HTH
Neil
Do you fancy selling it?
I'll have a good think over Christmas work out it's value and decide.
Neil
ACE Cafe - Just say No.
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