Poor Man's Milling Machine Demo

[N9155E]

cmon dude, please bolt 2 stepper or AC-motors to your machine and you will reach the next level of evolution.

[explode13]

I was rolling when I saw this video, sharing it with my other matching buddy's. Loge the song lol

[watzupdawg]

Groovy !

[WhammyMechanics]

Whatever works.

[IROCKID]

That's awesome.

[guitarslf132]

Im doing the same thing but mounted on steel and for squaring and milling guitars :D

[tomte47]

When i look up cutting data for my milling it says "requires stable setups" under it, now i know why they say that on every page :)

[drbelli]

poor man?! with cross slidin vice, aluminum plated fancy router (WITH LED LIGHTNING !!!), non crooked bits...

you sure dont know how a poor´s man shop iz....

first world people, with second world budget, thinking that theyr poor! just kidding.. nice cardboard shield though

[IndisputableAttitude]

Anybody know if this would be OK to use on steel if you used a carbide bit in the router?

[kutzbill]

@IndisputableAttitude No, way too fast spindle speed. If you could adjust it down to around 2500 RPM it would work, of course that is mild steel, and not Hi-Carbon or chrome steels.

[jcims]

The drill produced a chuckle on this end. Great idea!

[Bertziethegreat]

@scorch1974 how much of a cut are you doing at a shot?

[scorch1974]

@Bertziethegreat I think the deepest I ever cut in one pass was about .030 inches (1/32").

[HeroSavage]

Haha, background music makes it cool. This is what youtube was made for, not all the random useless bullshit I have to wade through to find good vids. Thanks for the vid man, now let me put my hazard-suit back on and wade through some more shit youtube videos to find what Im looking for.

[Trajiq187]

Why are you using such a small end mill?

[scorch1974]

@Trajiq187 I only have 1/4" and 1/2" collets for the router. The 1/2 inch end mills are about twice the cost of 1/4 inch end mills. I think the smaller bits are also a little less risky for this setup.

[kutzbill]

@Trajiq187 Also in machining there is something called "surface feet per minute", which determines what speed the spindle should turn. A 1/2" end mill in a router, would be going way too fast, and you can melt the metal and fill up the flutes of the end mill, breaking it.

[hitman86850]

Ingenious improvisation. Just what I was looking for.

[19gino65]

music?

[fall22123]

I work in a large, modern machine shop. We use woodworking tools on aluminum and plastic all the time at work. We have a panel saw to cut aluminum sheets up to 2" thick. Use a carbide tipped blade, spray it with wd-40 and it cuts like butter. You should do some research on draw filing. It is an old, almost forgotten method of getting a flat surface. Takes some practice and skill, though.

[Closeoutracer]

Berry berry Nice !!.. :)

[Burksworks]

Beats the hell out of using a drillpress! I might just try this!

[mikefrankthedrummer]

And milling with a drill press IS dangerous. The taper is literally hanging in the spindle, as it is intended for plunging into a workpiece. Pushing a workpiece into it laterally can cause the entire taper, collet and bit/endmill to fall out of the spindle and go flying at high speed. THAT is a misuse of equipment. THIS is innovation and ingenuity.

Scorch1974 - how's the Gingery lathe coming along??

[scorch1974]

@mikefrankthedrummer I bought a CNC mill so my gingery lathe has taken a back seat for a while.  The lathe is pretty much in a functional state but could use some fine tuning.

[MrBurnTec]

@mikefrankthedrummer hers another fucktard going on about health and safety if he wants to do it let him not up to you his choice if he wants to risk it

[mikefrankthedrummer]

To anyone who may suggest this is a misuse of tools, router collets are perfectly adequate for holding endmills and performing milling operations in metal. They are identical in function to many lathe and mill collets. Whats more, C2 carbide, the same grade of carbide as is found in wood cutting bits, is recommended for cutting and milling aluminum, and HSS is perfectly adequate with lubricant. Ask a machinist.

As far as safety goes, this rig is perfectly safe if built strong.

Again, thank you!!

[mikefrankthedrummer]

Thank you! I am milling the hell out of things, with pretty close tolerances and close to no chatter. I used 3/8" plexi glass for the top and bottom, and 4x4's for the columns, like you. I mounted my plunge router to the top, giving me the Z axis. The top is hinged in the back, allowing me easy access to the workpiece and for changing router bits. I use 1/4" HSS bits with WD-40 and they haven't dulled a bit. Using 1/4" shank drill bits turns it into a drill press. :)

[MrInventWorld]

There is no such thing as "Miss using equipment"! How do you think most new things are made, somebody takes something and repurposes it to accomplish something else. Do you think a baseball Bat is the miss use of a stick? No! Neither is this.

[RWTXldb]

Great song. But just spend the $500 and get a real mill. A router ain't made to be a mill. Don't misuse equipment.

[MattOGormanSmith]

@RWTXldb would someone with $500 to spare be building a Gingery lathe?

[Rodfraeser]

Like that..

[normaldotcom]

Looks like you could turn that into a cheap CNC machine if you wanted, toss a few steppers on each axis (router depth would be a bit tough though).

[shawbros]

Git-R-Done

[mercurial4u2view]

you should position a device under the

gingery vice to raise and lower it, so you could work in 3 D

[OMFGlennart]

Cool, whats that song in the background?

[scorch1974]

The song is "All They Ever Do" by Barry Jensen. It can be found on coppertunes myspace page or on sparkflightstudio under music.

[EmperorAst]

Simple enough!

5*

[tzkelley]

Rube Goldberg would be proud.

[DoctorHerbert]

A lot better than what I can get my drill press to do. Great idea.

[TheOpinionationer]

That's pretty creative. What kind of cutter did you use to be able to handle the router's rpm?

[scorch1974]

It is a two flute carbide end mill. End mills for high speed aluminum machining are readily available. I have also used router bits designed for wood.

[wackedoutdude]

Cool idea at least it does the job.

[rickrick1545]

cool