Milling in the lathe

savarin

savarin

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I know everyone says "you must get a mill" and in general I agree but unfortunately there is no way I can, or should I re-phrase that with - there is no way the financial controller will let me get one.:nono:
So with that out of the way what is the best verticle slide to fit an Asian 9x20 and what else is required?
I can sneak in small purchases under the radar sometimes.:biggrin:
 
I haven't tried to fit a milling attachment to a lathe that small. I did buy a Palmgren milling attachment many years ago for a 10" lathe,but it had a MUCH MORE substantial cross slide and compound than yours. I'd recommend taking the compound off,and fitting the Palmgren to the cross slide directly. Snug down the gibs,too. You want the cross slide to slide,but too much flexing will break end mills off easily.

Grizzly used to sell a milling attachment that looked more massive than the Palmgren,but I don't know if they still sell it. It might be too big for your lathe,though.

In any case,you'll have to rig up a way to bolt the attachment to your cross slide,and be careful to NOT break out chunks of the circular T slot, If possible,use the center hole that the compound swivels on. I'd recommend,failing that,to drill and tap holes on the cross slide,because I'm certain your circular T slots will get broken trying to use them. If possible,drill and tap the bolts beyond the sides of the dovetails if there is room. You will be able to drill and tap deeper and more securely there.

Use coarse threaded bolts. Coarse threads are for cast iron. Fine thuds. are for steel. Then,put a strong steel strap across the base of the milling attachment,to run under the bolts. Usually,the Palmgren is designed to clamp around a lantern type tool post. Your lathe simply can't stand that strain,and you'll break off the compound trying to do that.
 
Charles,
Do you have something specific in mind for your milling needs? You can hold square parts in your 4 jaw chuck and face them flat, turn 90* and face adjoining sides flat, (ie you can make something square shaped in a lathe). You can hold parts stationary, clamped on your cross slide or small parts in your tool post and put the tool in the chuck, (horizontal mill). You can hold parts stationary in your chuck and use the carriage/cross slide to drive a tool repeatably against the work piece, (shaper).
Have you got a drill press? You can get a XY table and make your drill press into a mill.
Lots of ways to skin a cat :))

Cheers Phil

pm sent
 
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Drill press spindles are not good for sideways stress. If the chuck is held on with a taper,it can get vibrated loose,as well as getting the bearings messed up.
 
George, thanks for pointing that out. I did omit to mention that, and I should have. The point of the post was to get people thinking outside the square.
Yes a milling machine has its place and there are operations that can not be performed successfully using a drill press, however a 1 off job, (depending on material and milling operation) may be able to get by in the home shop using other methods.

Cheers Phil
 
If your milling needs are very basic, you can fairly easily mount the workpiece on the lathe's compound and use a endmill in the chuck. I had to step some 1/2" square stock once and it fit the turret type tollpost well enough and I scribed lines for each step, however there were radius at the end of the steps that required filing to get straight but it worked well enough for that particular need.

I don't know if you have anything like a Craigslist there but if you are patient and watch the ads you might find something fairly reasonable or even visit some local shops and if you build a friendship with them they may be able to do milling for you at cost or even for free.
 
12bolts said:
Charles,
Do you have something specific in mind for your milling needs? You can hold square parts in your 4 jaw chuck and face them flat, turn 90* and face adjoining sides flat, (ie you can make something square shaped in a lathe). You can hold parts stationary, clamped on your cross slide or small parts in your tool post and put the tool in the chuck, (horizontal mill). You can hold parts stationary in your chuck and use the carriage/cross slide to drive a tool repeatably against the work piece, (shaper).
Have you got a drill press? You can get a XY table and make your drill press into a mill.
Lots of ways to skin a cat :))

Cheers Phil

pm sent
Click to expand...

Thanks Phil but I dont have any particular items at present, its just something I will probably need in the future.
I have a mate who has a mill and lives 5K away so getting a particular job done is easy its just I want to do it my self.
 
george wilson said:
Drill press spindles are not good for sideways stress. If the chuck is held on with a taper,it can get vibrated loose,as well as getting the bearings messed up.
Click to expand...

Bin there, done that:whiteflag:
My chuck is epoxied in place as it once spun off and went flying across the room.
I have often used it to turn aluminium cast items using the ends of files sharpened and used like a wood chisel
It worked surprisingly well.
Here I am turning a couple of pulleys
http://forum.atomiczombie.com/showt...o-the-implementation-of-cable-steering-part-1
from message 27 The warning regarding the chuck is further down.
I did try an end mill and a vice but I chipped the bit with the chatter.
 
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Build your own spindle to mount on your cross slide. Get this book, There are many spindles in this book. All are within your range with your 9X20 Lathe.Spindles
Harprit Sandhu

Workshop Practice Series #27 Isbn - 1-85486-192-2

Publisher -- Nexus House

"Billy G" :))

spin (700 x 525).jpg
 
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