Been lurking on the forum for a week or so,

Some hugely informative and helpful posts by what look to be a really nice bunch. Decided to register and say hello, probably to ask questions and may post on occasion.

I'm semi retired oilfield trash (I get away with staying at home as long as the current Mrs G can put up with me) and work a few months of the year when she can't put up with me any more.

I'm a pretty active glider pilot and part time tow plane pilot.

Ride a motorcycle faster than a man of my limited abilities and advancing age should.

Have had "ideas" bubbling in the back of my greying napper for downhole tools and surface disconnect systems for years and kind of want to "prototype" them.

To this end, I've started to kit out my garage properly, I've now got some decent workbenches on which to start plonking machines on.

Arceurotrade have relieved me of some ill earned dosh and I shall endeavour to launch unsuspecting finely cast metal in various directions from the seig 2.7 Mill and as yet undecided lathe 'till I read the instructions or start to get the hang of what i' M doing.

My only practical engineering fabrication Al experience is breaking things well trained engineers have made for me at work.

I'm intending making up small working models of the half baked wheezes I have. Time will tell how I get on (in the interim, the mill will be placed as far from breakable windows as possible ) my only practical knowledge is that the toys have more than enough grunt to remove fingers, so I'll be very very careful (and be prepared to duck when things get launched)

Roy.

Woo hoo! Mill arrived from arceuro.

The shipping had been subbied out to arr craib big (ish) outfit up here in the frozen North. Driver appeared, in a flatbed 1.5 tonne wagon, no taillift, no handling equipment. I really felt for the driver, he'd been stuffed. His previous drop had been an engine to a garage (that also didn't have a forklift, oddly I don't have a forklift at the house either…..)

Proffered tea and buns to the driver, found a couple of neighbours, opened the box in the back of the truck and got as much out as possible to get the weight down. And through pure unreasonableness got the mill into the garage.

After much stretching, pre lift planning, hoiked up onto bench. Cleaned up, plugged in and tested.

Ooh, it's nice.

Ooh, it's quiet.

Ooh, it's shiny (now that the shipping grease is mostly off) I'm really impressed by the kit supplied by arceuro and know that shipping is not really in their hands when things come this far north.

Mill bolted down, Garage tidied, plans afoot to go skip diving at some of the local fabrication outfits to get bits of metal to launch round the garage .. it does look like a very cool bit of kit. The table operation is very smooth, the mill is amazingly quiet at low revs, very much looking forward to having a play and making "chips" (swarf where I live)

How long do end Mills last

Are they disposable items

Well, things I've learned so far:
The Vendors I've dealt with (Arc and Machine DRO / Banggood) are ace.
Arc, way above and beyond what could reasonably be expected, to the point of phoning and pointing out a "woops" on my part from a forum photo.
Machine DRO, Patrick has been inordinately helpful by e-mail.

DRO kit was delivered on Monday midday, and machine as shown by 19:00 tonight.
Everything works, all 3 axis.
The Z axis turning out to be the least hassle one to do (butchered the existing DRO to take the supplied bits and fed it off to the display)
Most faff was getting the swarf cover back on with the brackets in place.
Second highest faffage was getting the Y axis read bracket, but Epoxy / Chop saw / Sacrifices to the gods of supplied brackets and all was well.

Wiring the extra sockets in was a pain in the hoop, not helped by my flat dislike of electrickery and associated gubbins. But, no sparks, no fires, no "magic smoke" escaping from components so all good.

Now, to figure out the "curve" function without launching aluminium across the garage . .
Keeps the grey matter engaged this does