My first mill! What usage?

[BartW]

Hello All;

 

Tomorrow I'm getting this thing delivered (see picture below).

What I know of it so far: 

3000W Siemens motor, 380V (I've got a 380V in my workshop sooo) . Goes from 500 rpm to 4000 rpm; belt driven. 

600 Kilo's (1200 pound). It's a swiss made thing; as the body on the back is marked "shaublin". 

It has an ISO 30 / SK 30 head; and it will be delivered with machine clamp; drilling head, and a box of milling cutters.

There's integrated cooling (big box of cooling liquid in the foot.). 

I got it for fixing their network and a server (it helps to be an ICT engineer sometimes). I was up for a new column-drill; and I suppose this thing can drill holes too. But what can this thing do more ?

 

[Anachronist58]

Are you at all familiar with machining? And if so, to what extent? Do you make things?

Imagine a giant file, just for starters. Go to your youtubeoid channel and search: Schaublin Mill - I think that you will get some ideas.

Schaublin makes good stuff.

Robert Taylor

[BartW]

I am familiar with bladesmithing, forge welding, grinding stuff, but I also have a large metal lathe, and I know how to make tread inside and out side, axles and bushings. Mostly from a repair point of view. Experienced machinist? Nope. 

 

 

[Anachronist58]

I think that qualifies you for millwork, nonetheless. Look into tutorials on feeds, speeds, and methods. The same principles, with some extrapolation, used for turning may be applied to milling.

Cutting threads (singlepoint) demands a certain discipline that lends itself to many different machining operations.

You might want a key seat in a shaft, or a lock thread in your custom split shaft collar.

[Kozzy]

First step is tramming everything so you know the head is square to the table.  That's a tedious process that shouldn't be skipped.  Also check run-out and backlash with a dial indicator to see how worn things are.  Bearing noise, etc should all be at least looked into.

Nice little machine and handy to have.  Looks perfect for CNC conversion which is not cheap but not horribly expensive these days.  Mach3 is a cheap and wonderful controller for homebrew cnc.  Works great for most people.

What can you do?  Well, it's a milling machine.  With the right tooling or fixtures, you can do smithing things like the slot in guards and obviously drill holes.  You can also do fullers with a little care and set-up.  Add a rotary table and you can start doing some fancier stuff like flutes in lathed parts for handles.  This is more about imagination than anything else---unless you go CNC, you need to imagine what you can do with clever set-ups.  As you do more, you'll learn a ton that will open up other avenues of what you can do.

If you get into casting aluminum bits, you can take them further from the rough cast...for instance cast half a handle in 2 halfs and machine the rabbit to fit your blade. 

And of course it's good for surfacing things to a good flat finish if you have the right tooling.

Edited March 28, 2019 by Mod30
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[ThomasPowers]

Make a lot of friends making powerhammer dies?

[Anachronist58]

Well spoken.  Milling cutters, not to mention other tools, can be exceptionally robust and long-lived (not to say that I have not damaged a tool by pushing the envelope - but hey, I am a tool & cutter grinder by trade - what, me worry?), making the work a pleasure.

[BartW]

Well I got it home, now I need to get it off the trailer. And outdoors I don't have a crane. 

I'm thinking of taking the table off (like the saddle of a lathe) but that thing itself is also way too heavy for me to carry. Or the head part with motor... 

Tramming the head to the table is needed off course. A teacher in machining told me once that it's best to let it sit in its place for a couple days before Tramming. Like leveling a lathe and fixing runout. 

I also got a large machine clamp, and a couple of mills, two three and four flute hss-co8, 20 mm mills. And a ER20 intake set for small mills. 

Mvg Bart 

[arftist]

Think of milling as similar to using a router on wood. You can cut slots to make an adjustable motor mount.

You can mill keyways into shafts. 

You can square the ends of bars.

With a dividing head you can make taxes or squares on rod ends.

With a rotary table you can layout and drill circular hole patterns like a car wheel or cut curved slots.

Lots of fun, couldn't live without one.

Be aware, yours is a high speed mill, better suited to small diameter tools and or soft metal.

[BartW]

Absolutely love it, and it came with lots of accessories.. I tried to mill a symmetrical grind on a bar d2. 4 degrees, works like a charm. Most of the tooling is carbide that came with it, and i like it best with this head in it at 1000 rpm. It is also very quiet. You stand next to it and talk normally while working. 

Can you identify all tools?

 

[Chris C]

You have received a gift from the gods.  You will love owning such a piece of equipment.  I could use one almost any day of the week and mourn the closing of my machine shop 22 years ago.  So many things you can do with that piece of equipment.  Once you learn how to use it, you will wonder how you ever managed to do the things you do without it.  Congratulations. 

[Cedar Crest Forge]

On 3/28/2019 at 12:49 PM, ThomasPowers said:

Make a lot of friends making powerhammer dies?

Good point! I've been looking for a Bridgeport mill for that exact reason. I already have the steel set aside. 500$ for a powerhammer die is a bit too steep for my taste, and the ones with interchangable dies are even more expensive.

[BartW]

I've found another use of my mill

Surface grinding. It's a 240grit stone; at 2k rpm, it delivers an almost mirror finish ; like shown on the block of iron. Check out how it reflects the magnetic chuck. The 240 grit stone isn't "fast", but it delivers precision. 

 

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

Make a guard to go around the stone. When abrasives come apart it can get ugly

 

[BartW]

hmmmm good idea.. need to look into that. Thanks.

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

Flood coolant also helps. I have had pieces in my surface grinder heat and warp up off the mag chuck , and into the wheel with ill effects on the part.

Make the guard out of something like 1/8" (3mm) or thicker, not sheet metal.

For smaller parts on a mag chuck it is good practice to place some bigger, but slightly thinner, pieces of steel around the part to help keep it in place. Smaller items have a tendency to scoot around on the chuck. I used to use thin parallels.