ericc, just curious what head you used? I own a Pratt & Whitney 3C bench horizontal mill and I want a vertical head. I am actually gathering parts for a home-made version based on some I have seen on Youtube.
Thx
Thx
Ok, I thought you still had the drill press setup....I used the whole horizontal mill and put a vertical head on the overarm. Somebody hit the horizontal drive countershaft with a tractor.
The main problem was the quality of the import XY table.
I am pretty sure you don't want to hear this but I would search long and hard for a used off brand mill, even a mill/drill, before I would ever try to make one. You will be $$$$$ ahead in the long run and have a better, more accurate mill. I have seen used off brand mills sell for little more than scrap value because 1) people are fixated on bridgeports and CNC mills and 2) mills are heavy and expensive to move if you have to pay someone to move it. IMHO unless you are a very skilled machinist/fabricator I think that it would be very hard to even duplicate the accuracy of a round column mill/drill in a home made mill.
I paid around $500 for my round column Excel 31 mill/drill. The table is smooth and accurate in both the x&y directions and I don't seem to have flex or movement in the head when milling. The quil is accurate in the z direction. With careful planning I have not had to raise the head to change tools. There is no way that I could have cobbled together a home made mill that would have been anywhere near as precise as my mill/drill.
Maybe I am missing something here.
ericc, just curious what head you used? I own a Pratt & Whitney 3C bench horizontal mill and I want a vertical head. I am actually gathering parts for a home-made version based on some I have seen on Youtube.
Thx
Hi Ericc,
I'm wondering how much worse these are than the tables on a cheap mill/drill from China? Did you try and tighten things up on the one you had, or just use it as shipped?
BTW, I'm originally from Cupertino....
Thanks,
John