Who's got mills

[bmxdad]

There's one for lathes, so what about milling machines??

My new, to me, is an ENCO Model 105-1110. Same as the Grizzly 0705 and RongFu 30.

It has a 2hp motor, which can be wired 110 or 220. Came with a small vice, 2 fly cutters and 5 end mill holders. Spindle is an R8 so thinking of getting an ER collet system with quick release.

Ways still have the scraping visible, and everything is still tight. First project I'd like to do is a turner cube... apprenticeship stuff.

 

[cvairwerks]

QR systems eat up quite a bit of your Z axis, so make sure you can live with the reduction before spending the bucks on one. Best suggetion is getting a number of individual tool holders and setting up various cutters semi permanently.

 

[larry_g]

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Above is my small Index 40 getting ready for a DRO



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The above two pictures show the saddle of the Index set up on the Dufour 62(?) to cut a flat for mounting the scales on it. Both these pictures come from my album where I documented the installation of the DRO. You can find the thread at https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=273996 . More pictures of the Dufour in my build thread below.

couple of pictures of a boring operation for the crosshead of a small steam engine

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The boring of the crosshead was a challenge for me to get all set up on a raw casting that was a 5"+ deep hole with some thin legs that would not hold the casting steady enough. I had enough singing with a 3/4" bar without having the whole casting wobbling around. Got it done though in spec...

lg
no neat sig line

 

[rsanter]

I have a Bridgeport
I love having a mill, opens up all kinds of things I can do

 

[MushCreek]

I have a '65 Bridgeport that still has crisp factory flaking. Must not have been used much, as there's also very little backlash in the screws. It has the short 36" table, which is fine for home use. It also has a DRO, and I run it off of a VFD.

I used to have my own shop, so I have lots of tooling- Kurt vise, rotary table, drill chucks, boring head, collets, and tons of used end mills and drills.

 

[jmarkwolf]

I bought a big mill/drill like the one in the first post. Bought it to help build my aircraft, and continued using it for 15 years. Sold it for what I paid.

Then I bought a 1967 Bridgeport Series 1 J-head for $900 from a pawn shop. Cleaned it up and did some repair to it and used it for about 4 years. I wanted to have it re-furbed as a retirement gift to myself but they wanted at least $10,000.

So I sold it and bought a brand new Acer E-mill (see below), transplanted the DRO and table feed to it, and bought a new Power Drawbar (much taller machine and couldn't reach the stock drawbar). Nice machine! It will easily outlast me!

Can't live without a mill!

 

[Shadowdog500]

Here is my Rockwell mill. I planned on getting a Bridgeport later, but this mill seems to do everything that I need it to do.

I gave up on photobucket after last year so I’m posting a video.

Chris

 

[OccupantRJ]

I have 4 Bridgeports at the moment, a 1948 round arm and 3 mid sixties dovetail models. Two are complete and two are disassembled for refurb or restoration, depending on which one I decide to keep for myself. I am leaning toward keeping the J2 variable head, powering it with a VFD, and mounting it on the best base.

 

[930dreamer]

I'm still looking but don't want to make a poor selection.

 

[Milton Shaw]

I friend who used to sell Bridgeports told me a story about the China clones. Under the scale on the quill Z axis is a number 4.0??. That is the finished diameter of the quill, so that is the quill has to be replaced the factory could have send a replacement that is an exact fit. China copiers didn't know what the number means and so they just stamped the same number under all the quill scales, meaning you could not get a fitting quill without having to hone it your self. At the time the company went under they had a year wait on a new one when China clones were in stock. No wonder the business went under.

 

[Provincial]

I have a RAM mill, which is a Taiwanese Bridgeport clone. The quill wobbled in the casting, and I discovered that the head casting was bored tapered, with the large end at the bottom (working) end. I had it honed straight, and the quill hard chromed and ground to match the head. It wasn't that expensive, but that was in the early 1990's.

Nowdays, if I had a Bridgeport with a loose quill, I would seriously look at this option for repair.

By the way, I got the mall cheap, and did some jobs with it that paid for the repairs right off the bat.

P.S. - Larry, that is a nice setup on the steam engine job! Did you surface the feet before this setup?

 

[txvwnut]

Here’s a pic of my Enco just after it was loaded in the shop.

 

[larry_g]

P.S. - Larry, that is a nice setup on the steam engine job! Did you surface the feet before this setup?

I did a preliminary cut on them. When I made this setup they weren't quite perpendicular to the casting core so I shimmed it ~.020" as seen by the feeler gauges. Once I finished the bore I faced the top of the cylinder so it is square to the bore. I now intend to fixture it off the bore and face and dust off the feet to be parallel to the face.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[wrenchguy]

my sons biggest at his shop.


this smaller 1 he installed last year. Sorry, i only took pics of his bigger stuff.

 

[bczygan]

Bridgeport with 2HP Chinese motor.

Bill

 

[NitroShark]

I've had a Bridgeport for about 30 years. I have used a lot of the "copy" models and even though they look exactly the same they definitely do not work as well.

Mine was built in the early 80's




.

 

[Jawn]

Horrible Freight mill/drill with wholesale tool stand and Enco power feed. Figured I'd get a few years out of it before deciding I needed an upgrade.

 

[davewo]

My humble Bridgeport and I was lucky to get it. I'm surrounded by co's loaded with equipment, but no one is ever selling.
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[PNWguy]

QR systems eat up quite a bit of your Z axis, so make sure you can live with the reduction before spending the bucks on one. Best suggetion is getting a number of individual tool holders and setting up various cutters semi permanently.

With an R8 collet, why would get tool holders? You're going to lose your Z every time you change end mills. Or are you describing something I'm not familiar with?

 

[PNWguy]

I'm still looking but don't want to make a poor selection.

Just buy one. Use it. Learn more. If it ends up being a POS, sell it after you've learned the difference.

I've got a Jet right now, it's it's not a great mill. But it's far better than no mill at all. I'm waiting for the right one to come along, and when I get it, I'll sell the Jet for at least what I paid for it.

 

[PNWguy]

I've had a Bridgeport for about 30 years. I have used a lot of the "copy" models and even though they look exactly the same they definitely do not work as well.

There's some fantastic mills that don't have "Bridgeport" cast into he head. You've got a nice one, but they certainly don't have a monopoly on good equipment.

 

[930dreamer]

I inquired about this one on FB Marketplace today, they said it needed some table work but the seller didn't know what. $2050, it's apart for some reason?

 

[Brand X]

There's some fantastic mills that don't have "Bridgeport" cast into he head. You've got a nice one, but they certainly don't have a monopoly on good equipment.

They can also work being somewhat different too.. This one is 250 miles(one way) from me, but was worth the drive. I just need to drag my trailer over there now.. Traded out a plasma cutter for it. I did bring the head home with me.. The table is mint, and not a mark on it..In fact the Mill is in very nice shape overall.Head was rebuilt,or worked on, but seems fine..

https://oregoncoast.craigslist.org/tls/d/milling-machine/6750214050.html

These are decent.. seems like good value on this one.

https://bend.craigslist.org/tls/d/lagun-ft-1-mill/6766924568.html

 

[OccupantRJ]

I inquired about this one on FB Marketplace today, they said it needed some table work but the seller didn't know what. $2050, it's apart for some reason?

$500 maximum, like that. It could be table nuts, or it could be worn ways, or more. Either way, it was taken apart for a PROBLEM. Consider it a parts machine until proven otherwise.

 

[cvairwerks]

With an R8 collet, why would get tool holders? You're going to lose your Z every time you change end mills. Or are you describing something I'm not familiar with?

We ran the Kwik-Switch system on the last mill I ran for any length of time. It was an ACRA knee mill that was set up as a CNC/Manual machine. It allows the operator to change tools in about 10 seconds and you didn't have to mess with the drawbar at all. When run in the CNC mode, the tool offsets were already programmed in, and it only required touching off to set the current zero point prior to continuing the program if there was a knee movement required.

Our Maho 700 in the instrument shop I used to work with, was converted to the Kwik-Switch when the power drawbar system had a failure that was going to require about 5 weeks downtime for replacement parts and fitting .
https://www.universaldevlieg.com/shop/category/84-kwik-switch

Brand X: You'll never wear that Cinci out in your lifetime or your kid's. It was made to make chips 24/7 365 for years and years. Size, weight and 3 phase power scares most people off of them.

 

[Brand X]

The #2 universal does not really have all that much foot print.. In fact I was surprised I found Room in my shop for it. The weight is manageable ,and similar to my Metal Muncher that I unloaded myself. Now off over the mountain to unload my last plasma cutter to a electrician. Seems he has some electric motors out in his yard.. I will know more later if I can build a converter out of one of them. 5HP on the mill, so not too bad..

I look at what my friend drags home.. 16 ft lathe out of the Trojan nuke plant, and also a 8 ft brake that weighed over 38,000 pounds.Beast

 

[Doug Arthurs]

I have two at the moment. A bridgeport that is pretty worn but I can still make decent parts with and now a Taiwanese one that has a dro and table power feed. Once I set the newer one up I will be selling off my Bridgeport to someone else who hopefully will be bitten by the metal bug and use it for a long time.

 

[dr_clyde]

My mill is nothing special. 1975 Bridgeport with a 1.5HP 2J head. I has a Kurt power drawbar, power feed on X and an Accurite 3 axis DRO. I plan to replace the DRO with a new one at some point, the X axis misbehaves quite often.

If you have never used a power drawbar, they are the BEST accessory for a manual mill. I don't miss rattling a wrench around overhead AT ALL.

I bought it at auction, and I like it very much. I would like to get a bigger mill to augment this mill, one that can run a CAT or NMTB style taper, (R8 is very limited) and has a little more rigidity. ACRA makes a nice one. I wouldn't mind a Series 2 Bridgeport either.

I had a Cincinnati horizontal for a while, I loved it, but I didn't use it often enough to justify the floor space it took up. It was also really old, and had some limitations.

 

[930dreamer]

$500 maximum, like that. It could be table nuts, or it could be worn ways, or more. Either way, it was taken apart for a PROBLEM. Consider it a parts machine until proven otherwise.

I sent an offer.

 

[KMScott]

I fit this Haas TM-1 in my Geodesic Dome basement a couple years ago, just have a ball with it making vise parts. Wore out my 1995 Miltronics Partner building jaws. Parts are not available anymore so I went with the Haas. I did have to lower it 9" to fit and lost the coolant pump being under the machine. Built a tray around the table to drain the coolant back to the tank and use a shop vac for the over spray. I use the Miltronics like you would use a Bridgeport as a manual machine.

 

[PNWguy]

We ran the Kwik-Switch system on the last mill I ran for any length of time. It was an ACRA knee mill that was set up as a CNC/Manual machine. It allows the operator to change tools in about 10 seconds and you didn't have to mess with the drawbar at all. When run in the CNC mode, the tool offsets were already programmed in, and it only required touching off to set the current zero point prior to continuing the program if there was a knee movement required.

Our Maho 700 in the instrument shop I used to work with, was converted to the Kwik-Switch when the power drawbar system had a failure that was going to require about 5 weeks downtime for replacement parts and fitting .
https://www.universaldevlieg.com/shop/category/84-kwik-switch

The Kwik-Switch system is nice, but I think it would end up costing more than the mill. Hard for me to justify in my personal shop.

 

[Ign]

My mill is nothing special. 1975 Bridgeport with a 1.5HP 2J head. I has a Kurt power drawbar, power feed on X and an Accurite 3 axis DRO. I plan to replace the DRO with a new one at some point, the X axis misbehaves quite often.


If you have never used a power drawbar, they are the BEST accessory for a manual mill. I don't miss rattling a wrench around overhead AT ALL.

I bought it at auction, and I like it very much. I would like to get a bigger mill to augment this mill, one that can run a CAT or NMTB style taper, (R8 is very limited) and has a little more rigidity. ACRA makes a nice one. I wouldn't mind a Series 2 Bridgeport either.

I had a Cincinnati horizontal for a while, I loved it, but I didn't use it often enough to justify the floor space it took up. It was also really old, and had some limitations.

I'm sure you know this but the new (not that new these days) Mitutoyo potted scale stuff is phenomenal for a manual mill IMO. Specifically, you lose nothing when you turn it off, and it can't be confused by chips getting in there 'cause it's not optically reading a glass scale. They're also some of the least expensive of the "real" brand names (clones and knock-offs excluded)

I know glass scales are supposedly more accurate but C'MON MAN......we're talking 30-40 year old manual mills here. You're not gonna be positioning that table within 2 tenths no matter what

 

[Riggerson]

Just a small 1hp J head powered via TECO 1hp VFD. Working on a plan for more room in order to start adding CNC equipment. At some point I'll take it apart to clean, paint, install DRO, etc and will remove it from the pallet at that time. Currently it's kind of nice being able to pick up with a pallet jack.

I have a second one I've got disassembled down to bare casting and am cleaning it back up. I've got it back in primer at this point. Someone had put a horrible paint job on it and filled all the oiling ports with grease so it seemed the most prudent thing to disassemble to get everything out. Also good practice prior to giving mine a once over. Aside from some of the head internals they are extremely simple machines.

 

[PhantomEB]

My buddy has 2, both came down from his old man (RIP). He’s soon to be making room for the big one to hit his shop so I am more than likely gonna buy his small one which itself is a monster.

Everyone says why? I say why not, then I won’t be one with out either!

 

[Provincial]

In the 1970's I ran a Cincinnati #4 horizontal mill that had a vertical head (360 deg. rotation on both axis) built into the overarm. As others have said, it took up surprisingly little space, and it was capable of doing amazing things. The shop repaired logging and sawmill equipment, and this mill was often called on to handle jobs that were larger and heavier that it was designed for. It was strong, rigid, accurate, and dependable. It was probably made during WWII, and even in the 70's parts could be hard to find.

Last spring a Cincinnati #4 probably from the '60's sold at auction in Salem for $250.00 with two cabinets full of tooling and cutters. It was in excellent shape, too! These excellent old machines sell for nothing these days because everyone wants to go CNC, and using an old manual machine like this requires skill and experience. The only places they find a home now are true repair shops and hobbyists that have large home shops.

 

[TerryH]

I got my first mill a few months ago. Enco 105-1110. $500 Craig's List find with a good amount of tooling. I gave it some love, adjusted, cleaned, painted, built a new stand. I like it. Still trying to learn.

 

[My Old Tools]

My little Powermatic Millrite MVN. It was used as a drill press most of it's life. Pretty nice condition.

 

[454ragtop]

I have something a little different, a Van Norman 1RQ-3-28. This model has a swiveling head to do horizontal and vertical milling, as well as having a quill with power down feed. Had a good sized K&T horizontal with the optional vertical head, cool machine, but was just too big.

 

[Jawn]

couple of pictures of a boring operation for the crosshead of a small steam engine

PM Research #4? Or something else?

 

[ez-duzit]

My ancient Index Super 55.