Milling on a mini lathe

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

Milling in the lathe is possible, as many have said and demonstrated.

BUT, bear in mind the limitations

Low power; Machine not really intended for milling.

I bought a mill/drill after finding that a vertical slide on a Myford ML7 showed up the lack of rigidity (Maybe I went at it too hard, having been used to industrial machines)

So yes it is possible, and fantastic work has been done in this way, but bear in mind the low power available and lack of rigidity, so take things very gently.

For some machines, this may mean drilling and tapping bthe Cross Slide (Beware of the Leadscew underneath when you are doing this!)

With care, most things are possible.

One of the first purchases was a set of ER colletst. Absolutely invaluable!

Used for all sorts of jobs, in the lathe as well as the Mill/Drill; sometimes in shop made, special purpose holders. (Sliding Tailstock Tap holders, drill sharpening, work holding for Milling) You become familiar with cutting 1.5 mm pitch threads!

Howard

Howard

[Andy Chancer]

On Andy Chancer Said:

Apologies if this is a bit of a daft question but I’ve looked and can’t really find a comprehensive guide on what items I need to do this-or is it just not worth it?

im after real experiences of doing this,I’m aware there’s limitations but need to be able to achieve some sort of milling attachment.So I’d like to know what I need to buy to be able to do it on my warco super mini lathe.All attachments and tools needed.

any help or advice is always appreciated.

Realistically there are only 3 sizes of milling cutter shank you can use 8, 10 & 12mm, Warco currently are selling MT3 collets for an m12 drawbar @ £5.52 each + the slide £125 + tool post vice £34.  So if you need to have a cutter run true each time and don’t mind removing the lathe chuck it’s the next cheapest to using the 3 jaw chuck and more accurate. That said you only get about 80 x 80 movement so if you need more wait till you get a milling machine.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

I would have said 6mm is also a very useful shank size or the imperial 1/4″ if you are working to an imperial design.

As you are unlikely to find any cutting diameter below 6mm on 8, 10 and 12mm shanks you would be rather limiting what you could do if you left out that size.

[Matt SchneiderParticipant @purpleslurplegmail-com]

This thread is a little old, but I stumbled upon it and thought I’d chime in…

Like many, I only have a mini lathe, but would like to expand my capabilities into milling. There are numerous ways to do this, but I stumbled upon a $0 solution that should work for many mini lathes (I own a Vevor 7 X 14).

It’s easy to implement and, maybe a little surprisingly, quite rigid. It will cost you nothing (vice optional) if you follow my plan, and the results are, frankly, quite good.

I used the lathes compound slide and tool post as my vertical milling attachment. Here’s a picture of the setup. (Hopefully will have details on my blog soon.)

[John HaineParticipant @johnhaine32865]

A neat adaptation Matt.  Same principle as the Hobbymat lathe which came with an aluminium angle plate to mount the topslide on for milling, and a small machine vice.  Hobbymat version let down by the very poor quality of the vice and the available milling area was very limited.  I assume you use the tailstock feed to set the depth of cut?

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Until about 20-25 years ago, the great majority of home workshops lacked a mill and milling in the lathe was a recurrent topic in the pages of ME and MEW. Also, the controversial subject of using a pillar drill as a ‘light milling machine’.

The main issues constraint is work holding and capacity, issues of rigidity are easily addressed just by taking things gently.

Neil

 

[Matt SchneiderParticipant @purpleslurplegmail-com]

Thanks John. I wasn’t aware of the Hobbymat kit, although have seen the Hobbymat spoken of. I’ll have to check it out. I am in fact using the tailstock to set depth. I also push the tailstock housing up against the tool post and lock it down to add rigidity (spindle retracted of course). Really tightens things up. But as Neil and others suggest, always easy does it 🙂 The creativity of hobby folks never ceases to amaze me: work holding, cobbled together (perfectly functioning) solutions, etc. Glad I’ve joined the community. This is a nice welcome.

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

When I had a Myford ML7, I had a Vertical slode, but found that being bthe single bolt vesrion, tended to move.

Next came a Rodney milling attacment, which was a major improvement.  So good tghat it enabled me mto go for it to disclose the lack of rigidity in the lathe bed.

So, the vertical slides, and milling attachments mare not as rigid as a purpose built milling machine.

But treated with sensible care work can be produced.  But not at the same speed, feed rate, or depth of cut that a 2 ton Cincinatti industrial mill would deliver.

Even an old small industrail horizontal mill would cope with 3/16″” deep cuts with a 6″/ minute feed rate; but I would npt comtemplate nthat for a hobby machine!

Eventually, I bought an economy mill/drill (Because that was all that would fit into that workshop)

Even bottom end hobby mills can be seen to deflect under heavy (for them) cuts.

Unlike most turning, Milling is a process of intermitent cutting, as each cutter tooth contacts the work, so everything is subjected to a series of blows. To withstand this requires greater rigidity, which implies thicker sections of metal, and heavier machine.

We are talking about light duty machines which need light duty cuts.

Used within their limitations light machines can deliver what is required, but not as quickly as their bigger and more powerful sisters.

Howard

 

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