Author Topic: New Lathe and Mill for the shop (Read 15236 times)

KensAuto · « **Reply #50 on:** November 25, 2015, 10:58:28 PM »

Hey, you butt out of it troublemaker!!

I don't mind at all, I mean, the thread is about machinery.

Speaking of which, I made a couple v-blocks out of a piece of aluminum the other day. It was fairly simple, and good practice.

I cut the square stock into equal lengths, made some marks, turned the mill head to a 45* angle, and let the chips fly. 3 different sizes to hold several different size round parts:

stlaser · « **Reply #51 on:** April 10, 2018, 10:05:18 PM »

Ken, how is the mill holding up and which model did you purchase? I know the base was wrong but couldn't find where you stated the model for the mill.

KensAuto · « **Reply #52 on:** April 10, 2018, 10:27:25 PM »

It's still working fine. There's a rubber chip guard that goes behind the bed that is completely dry rotted, but that's the only real negative.
If you go to the first page, I gave you a link to the mill on Grizzly's web site (take too many mary jane gummy bears today buddy?) :)
http://www.grizzly.com/products/Heavy-Duty-Mill-Drill-with-Power-Feed/G0754

stlaser · « **Reply #53 on:** April 10, 2018, 11:09:09 PM »

Quote from: KensAuto on April 10, 2018, 10:27:25 PM

It's still working fine. There's a rubber chip guard that goes behind the bed that is completely dry rotted, but that's the only real negative.
If you go to the first page, I gave you a link to the mill on Grizzly's web site (take too many mary jane gummy bears today buddy?) :)
http://www.grizzly.com/products/Heavy-Duty-Mill-Drill-with-Power-Feed/G0754

Yeah, overlooked it sorry. Honestly, I wish the cause was some MJGB's but alas that is not the case. My world has been turned on it's head a bit since last Friday. Things will be up in the air until end of the month but I may be in the market for a smaller mill (foot print) but one that still has the HP. The one you bought is a contender with a couple upgrades such as DRO. Once I know for sure which way the wind is blowing I'll give the forum the news.

edit: the other one I am considering is this

http://www.grizzly.com/products/Heavy-Duty-Mill-Drill-with-Stand-and-Power-Feed/G0755

JR · « **Reply #54 on:** April 10, 2018, 11:29:45 PM »

Remember you will spend at least another 25% or so on tooling. I got my lathe used but it has 6 boxes of tooling.

Start watching CL (I use searchtempest) for guys getting rid of stuff. New is nice, but mostly chinese now.

stlaser · « **Reply #55 on:** April 10, 2018, 11:40:01 PM »

Quote from: JR on April 10, 2018, 11:29:45 PM

Remember you will spend at least another 25% or so on tooling. I got my lathe used but it has 6 boxes of tooling.

Start watching CL (I use searchtempest) for guys getting rid of stuff. New is nice, but mostly chinese now.

I had a Bridgeport for years, still have the tooling and the clamping / fixture tooling in storage (well kinda as I am using some for the fixture for the axle weld up now

). I'd like to have another Bridgeport but the foot print / height and the weight are a no go for me currently. I don't want to have to bring in special equipment to move it when we move in the next several years. Which was reason I sold my last one.

When we bought our HAAS VF8 cnc mills we figured upfront to spend just as much on tooling and fixturing / bed plates as we did for the machine.

seriously......

This will be a business purchase and I won't have time to deal with homo'slist as I'll be under a time frame which is tight. I can't chance issues that a service tech or sending in another new unit can't fix immediately.

KensAuto · « **Reply #56 on:** April 11, 2018, 12:16:29 AM »

Yeah that 755 is a better machine for sure.
Not sure if I mentioned it but their mills are Taiwan and much nicer, and better tolerances, than their china lathes.

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stlaser · « **Reply #57 on:** April 11, 2018, 12:23:35 AM »

Quote from: KensAuto on April 11, 2018, 12:16:29 AM

Yeah that 755 is a better machine for sure.
Not sure if I mentioned it but their mills are Taiwan and much nicer, and better tolerances, than their china lathes.

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I don’t know if you did or not but I’m glad you mentioned it now.

JR · « **Reply #58 on:** April 11, 2018, 03:05:36 AM »

One of my first JET lathes was a Japan made (used), next was a new Jet and wow could you tell the diff.

Footprint is a big deal. Neighbor had one that he had to use a forklift to move around (fine if you have one)

Tabletops are fine and you can get roller tables for them that makes it nice.

That 755 looks good. I like the R8 collets which are more of a standard than my M2 taper. They show a DRO for it going for $1000, but you build your own for half that. If you ever go CNC it won't be used.

stlaser · « **Reply #59 on:** April 15, 2018, 01:24:11 AM »

So I'm getting close on pulling the trigger, should know tomorrow if I am going this route or not. As I stated it is a business purchase and having a call with a guy who will in essence force me to invest in a machine or not.

I keep going back and forth between the 754 & 755 in all honesty there is a case to be made that Ken bought the better unit in terms of bang for your buck. His has a larger working area in terms of swing and also table movement on the Y. Granted the table is not as wide but for my application it is not needed. The 755 may be slightly more precise with it's heavier casting and dovetail way column although I'm not convinced that column design is stronger on these bench top machines. Added weight typically makes a difference however the one has the base included and the other doesn't (separate base does not have a weight listed) so that may be misleading a bit? If you look at HP, bearing designs etc they are identical. A big factor for me is the base footprint being slightly smaller in an already crowded shop and the table being narrower helps as well. Reality is I am having a hard time convincing myself the 755 model is worth an extra $800. I'm just not seeing it.....

Ken's mill and base which I am leaning towards

http://www.grizzly.com/products/Heavy-Duty-Mill-Drill-with-Power-Feed/G0754

http://www.grizzly.com/products/Mill-Drill-Stand/T25677

Versus the next step up

http://www.grizzly.com/products/Heavy-Duty-Mill-Drill-with-Stand-and-Power-Feed/G0755

JR · « **Reply #60 on:** April 15, 2018, 04:01:10 PM »

The 755 is how I would go. Larger table and power feed means a lot.

stlaser · « **Reply #61 on:** April 15, 2018, 04:23:11 PM »

Quote from: JR on April 15, 2018, 04:01:10 PM

The 755 is how I would go. Larger table and power feed means a lot.

754 has power feed as well, slightly larger table with slightly shorter y movement isn’t worth the $800 difference to me

KensAuto · « **Reply #62 on:** April 15, 2018, 04:34:03 PM »

The 754 is really stout, but I have gotten a bit of flex out of the post. You have to really tighten the pinch bolts (like 1" nuts iirc). The wrench it comes with doesn't have enough leverage. Need to set up a socket and breaker bar but I keep forgetting.

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stlaser · « **Reply #63 on:** April 15, 2018, 04:58:12 PM »

Quote from: KensAuto on April 15, 2018, 04:34:03 PM

The 754 is really stout, but I have gotten a bit of flex out of the post. You have to really tighten the pinch bolts (like 1" nuts iirc). The wrench it comes with doesn't have enough leverage. Need to set up a socket and breaker bar but I keep forgetting.

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Movement because you let H tighten the pinch bolts? Or are you saying the post flexed & if so what were you doing? Don’t tell me you let Don torture test it.......

Flyin6 · « **Reply #64 on:** April 15, 2018, 06:29:06 PM »

Quote from: stlaser on April 15, 2018, 04:58:12 PM

Quote from: KensAuto on April 15, 2018, 04:34:03 PM
The 754 is really stout, but I have gotten a bit of flex out of the post. You have to really tighten the pinch bolts (like 1" nuts iirc). The wrench it comes with doesn't have enough leverage. Need to set up a socket and breaker bar but I keep forgetting.

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Movement because you let H tighten the pinch bolts? Or are you saying the post flexed & if so what were you doing? Don’t tell me you let Don torture test it.......

I haven't seen it, nor run over it, nor bush hogged anything like that recently...

KensAuto · « **Reply #65 on:** April 15, 2018, 06:58:35 PM »

Last time I remember, I was using a large bit to face a piece of steel and it wouldn't take a .025 cut. the vibrations caused the nuts to loosen even tho I had tightened the crap out of them (with the supplied wrench).
Probably a multitude of user errors, like cheap bits, feed to fast, no strength in my arms, you know, the usual.

stlaser · « **Reply #66 on:** April 15, 2018, 07:15:04 PM »

Quote from: KensAuto on April 15, 2018, 06:58:35 PM

Last time I remember, I was using a large bit to face a piece of steel and it wouldn't take a .025 cut. the vibrations caused the nuts to loosen even tho I had tightened the crap out of them (with the supplied wrench).
Probably a multitude of user errors, like cheap bits, feed to fast, no strength in my arms, you know, the usual.

Ken, copy just a thought but you know the difference between conventional & climb milling?

stlaser · « **Reply #67 on:** April 15, 2018, 07:16:11 PM »

Quote from: Flyin6 on April 15, 2018, 06:29:06 PM

Quote from: stlaser on April 15, 2018, 04:58:12 PM
Quote from: KensAuto on April 15, 2018, 04:34:03 PM
The 754 is really stout, but I have gotten a bit of flex out of the post. You have to really tighten the pinch bolts (like 1" nuts iirc). The wrench it comes with doesn't have enough leverage. Need to set up a socket and breaker bar but I keep forgetting.

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

Movement because you let H tighten the pinch bolts? Or are you saying the post flexed & if so what were you doing? Don’t tell me you let Don torture test it.......
I haven't seen it, nor run over it, nor bush hogged anything like that recently...

Sorry, my mistake these machines are green not your favorite orange color for bush hogging and running over.....

JR · « **Reply #68 on:** April 15, 2018, 08:30:41 PM »

Looked again and the 755 has a bigger table and more travel. I like the square post too, less flex.

KensAuto · « **Reply #69 on:** April 15, 2018, 09:00:43 PM »

Naw, but I did stay in a holiday express once.

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stlaser · « **Reply #70 on:** April 15, 2018, 09:59:36 PM »

Quote from: KensAuto on April 15, 2018, 09:00:43 PM

Naw, but I did stay in a holiday express once.

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The short of it is on a manual mill you should conventional mill so if the cutter is spinning clockwise then you should attack the cut in a clockwise fashion. This link explains it in much greater detail. CNC guys will normally climb mill which is attacking in opposite direction.

https://www.cnccookbook.com/climb-milling-versus-conventional-milling/

Btw, last holiday inn I stayed at near Indianapolis airport (new version with restaurant in it) wasn’t half bad.

stlaser · « **Reply #71 on:** April 16, 2018, 08:34:06 AM »

Ken, anyone else look at the Matthew Precision mills? I was reading reviews on the grizzlies last night & someone mentioned them. They are Taiwan made as well (probably same factory as grizzlies) but at quick glance may be a little better unit. Definitely more working area on them at least.

http://www.precisionmatthews.com/shop/pm-940m/

Looking at option #5 as they have it in stock, wanted #4 w/ included DRO but they have an 8 week lead time. Can always throw DRO on myself later.

stlaser · « **Reply #72 on:** April 16, 2018, 10:44:32 AM »

& after talking with them I just bought the precision Mathews.......

should be delivered early next week

JR · « **Reply #73 on:** April 16, 2018, 02:03:49 PM »

Looks like a solid machine with options.

Building a DRO is not hard at all. I made mine using separate scales from ebay for under $100. You can get kits for way less made for mills; https://www.ebay.com/itm/Digital-Readout-DRO-Linear-Scale-Kit-for-CNC-EMD-Milling-Lathe-Engraving-Tool/202255320316?hash=item2f175b44fc:m:m2w8AegNQnijq36sP4crxWw

stlaser · « **Reply #74 on:** April 16, 2018, 03:40:13 PM »

JR, I will get with you when I’m ready. I’ve fixed or replace components on them before at the shop but never built one from scratch if you will.

JR · « **Reply #75 on:** April 16, 2018, 03:53:28 PM »

I built from scratch using separate scales. The kit above is made for a mill and has readouts as dedicated unit would.

Anytime.