boy, was that a pain - I have a mill - an Abene (photo on my web page under
hobbies/tools below) - 6 hp spindle, 40 taper, all that stuff - but for the
last day or so I have been milling a fairly intricate pattern .060 deep into
brass using an 1/8 inch end mill - it's possible with the big mill -- I did
it - but it sure would be nice to have something small, with a 1/8 hp
motor - I have a really ancient sensitive drill press, where a lever raises
the table - I tried it, and it is possible to use it but the big mill is
actually easier - maybe this is an opportune time for a little CNC setup to
play with? a 2 or 3 inch work space (X,Y,Z) might be adequate.

ideas? what are good names for tiny old (cheap) manual mills of amazing
quality? DIY CNC or out of the box? (I have spare PCs, and good enough
computer/electronics knowlege) this is really a toy for me, not a piece of
production equipment.

--
Bill
www.wbnoble.com


** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

"Bill Noble" wrote:

ideas? what are good names for tiny old (cheap) manual mills of amazing
quality? DIY CNC or out of the box? (I have spare PCs, and good enough
computer/electronics knowlege) this is really a toy for me, not a piece of
production equipment.


http://www.sherline.com sells ready go to mini mills.


Mach 3 conversions of the Sieg bench top machines seem to be popular also.

No actual experience other than eyeballing some at Names show.

Wes

http://www.mini-lathe.com/KX3/KX3-2.htm

On Dec 25, 2:07*am, "Bill Noble" wrote:
...
ideas? *what are good names for tiny old (cheap) manual mills of amazing
quality? *
Billwww.wbnoble.com

http://www.campbelltools.com/rusnokmill.html

The Clausing is a convenient size for closeup manual carving, max
speed on mine is 3250 RPM. The tradeoff for having the crank handles
easily within reach is that it's work envelope is smaller than a mill-
drill's, though.

Jim Wilkins

"Bill Noble" wrote in message
...
boy, was that a pain - I have a mill - an Abene (photo on my web page
under hobbies/tools below) - 6 hp spindle, 40 taper, all that stuff - but
for the last day or so I have been milling a fairly intricate pattern .060
deep into brass using an 1/8 inch end mill - it's possible with the big
mill -- I did it - but it sure would be nice to have something small, with
a 1/8 hp motor - I have a really ancient sensitive drill press, where a
lever raises the table - I tried it, and it is possible to use it but the
big mill is actually easier - maybe this is an opportune time for a little
CNC setup to play with? a 2 or 3 inch work space (X,Y,Z) might be
adequate.

ideas? what are good names for tiny old (cheap) manual mills of amazing
quality? DIY CNC or out of the box? (I have spare PCs, and good enough
computer/electronics knowlege) this is really a toy for me, not a piece
of production equipment.

Taig has a good rep and lots of folks have converted them to CNC.

Here's an interesting site to wander through:

http://www.cnccookbook.com/

Mike

Wes sez:

"http://www.sherline.com sells ready go to mini mills."

Right on Wes! I've had one for years along with the Sherline lathe. Santa just brought me a
Sherline microscope and mount for the lathe. I may get the mill mount later. There's no reason
they can't be used for production. Sherline's book, "Tabletop Machining" shows several examples of
their tools being used for production.

Bob Swinney



"Wes" wrote in message ...
"Bill Noble" wrote:

ideas? what are good names for tiny old (cheap) manual mills of amazing
quality? DIY CNC or out of the box? (I have spare PCs, and good enough
computer/electronics knowlege) this is really a toy for me, not a piece of
production equipment.



Mach 3 conversions of the Sieg bench top machines seem to be popular also.

No actual experience other than eyeballing some at Names show.

Wes