milling and drilling

[Marc.com]

Hard to beat the old bridgeport Milling machine, also very heay to move...
Brett

thats why I want to keep it real regarding what I expect to do, rather than drag few tons of mill through my life.

[HL500]

Weight is definitely a consideration.  I hope my next move is my last.  The lathe weights around 850kg and is gear driven.  The mill is Kirby and weighs around 450kg and cast iron.  We had to use a car hoist to move them.

[Lozza]

Hard to beat the old bridgeport Milling machine, also very heay to move...
Brett

Way over priced and over rated.
Used these mills many times and add a 3 axis DRO for about $500 would be awesome. Many proper engineering shops have these mills in them for jobbing work nobody has a bad word to say.

https://www.machineryhouse.com.au/Products?stockCode=M1605

https://www.machineryhouse.com.au/Products?stockCode=M603D


This would be my choice for a littl'un

http://www.smithy.com/index_inside.php?id=177

[lukeb1961]

This would be my choice for a littl'un

http://www.smithy.com/index_inside.php?id=177

and weighs under half a ton! Very nice.

[Marc.com]

Yeah one of the retire engineers I know has own small CNC mill and lathe in his home workshop. Turns out some brilliant stuff.

Be nice to produce your own goodies, my UDX forks have been digitised so we may see some of those coming out of South Auckland.

[sverige]

Auction on Tuesday, live internet bidding available.


http://auctions.laudiston.com.au/online.php?action=dai&mode=dap&aid=725&sp=4&gtp=151

http://auctions.laudiston.com.au/online.php?action=dai&mode=dap&aid=725&sp=5&gtp=201


cheers

[crash n bern]

I bought an old Myford 7 lathe from a swap meet that does me because I am clueless when it come to turning and am crap at measuring and working to any kind of accuracy.  I use it for turning up spacers and stuff and have a ball playing around on it and learning.  I probably destroy more than I make on it.

I'd love a small mill but don't get enough shed time to justify it these days.

I did read on a turning forum where some bloke bought a Chinese lathe and stripped it down and rebuilt it with better bearings and stuff to get it into tolerance and said you couldn't beat it for the money.  Beyond me though.

[lukeb1961]

that might have been OldFart !

[Lozza]

I did read on a turning forum where some bloke bought a Chinese lathe and stripped it down and rebuilt it with better bearings and stuff to get it into tolerance and said you couldn't beat it for the money.  Beyond me though.

Accuracy is down to the skill of the machinist

[crash n bern]

I did read on a turning forum where some bloke bought a Chinese lathe and stripped it down and rebuilt it with better bearings and stuff to get it into tolerance and said you couldn't beat it for the money.  Beyond me though.

Accuracy is down to the skill of the machinist

Does that mean a good machinist can get accuracy out of a dodgy lathe?

[Mike52]

I did read on a turning forum where some bloke bought a Chinese lathe and stripped it down and rebuilt it with better bearings and stuff to get it into tolerance and said you couldn't beat it for the money.  Beyond me though.

Accuracy is down to the skill of the machinist

Does that mean a good machinist can get accuracy out of a dodgy lathe?

Can be done Crash but it is a pain in the arrrrrrrrrrrs.
I have a 3mtr b/c chinese lathe , the accuracy is not that good but can it shift some metal.

[Marc.com]

Does that mean a good machinist can get accuracy out of a dodgy lathe?

Yeah on odd occasions I have produced accurate parts with some pretty shitty equipment on board ship. Most machines you can lock the slides or adjust up the wedges in them to get you ball park accuracy, then the rest you can polish out.

Finally added this baby to my workshop tools. I didn't have any need for Bridgeport that I could imagine. Just the odd VMX project on the weekends.

[sudman]

I have milling cross slide on my old Atlas lathe & they both get used lots on VMX projects, nothing better than making your own bits.

[Marc.com]

I have milling cross slide on my old Atlas lathe

Yeah I will probably do both as my lathe is a little more rigid if you are making things out of bits of mild steel.

Also vertical cross slide has its uses if you are notching tube for welding frames and brackets etc. Next is probably band saw which is also another one of those things that you can use pretty accurately in prepping stuff for milling. Bandsaw mounted with accurated adjustable vice fits the picture.

[Lozza]

Accuracy is down to the skill of the machinist

Does that mean a good machinist can get accuracy out of a dodgy lathe?

Yes most lathes and mills wear around the centre of the travel, just knowing that helps. If I were to look at buying a used lathe I would arrive with a reasonable size hollow bar or rod and take a test cut with the cross slide locked and longditudinal power feed on. Then mic around the centre of the bar, Any change in OD will have to be wear in the slideways, you have to go up to tool room (Moriseki etc) lathes to get them not to cut a taper.

Marc the round columns have a problem stayng on centre when the head is raised or lowered. If it cuts on the backcut the head isn't straight.