What depth of cut is safe to take with a HSS end mill of 1/8" dia, and
how fast can you feed in mild stee without breaking or quickly dulling
the end milll? The ROT of that I'd read in a book years ago was 1/8th
of the end mill diameter as the depth of cut (0.015 for an 1/8" mill)

I don't have power feed, and have never had coolant, except flood
coolant (what a mess) the few times I ran the horizontal part of the
mill. [1940s vintage Hardinge Universal horizontal mill with a
Bridgeport C head in the overarm hole for vertical milling - not very
rigid, but it's what I have] Any technique to use to do hand feeding
of the table?

Thanks

RWL