My First milling project

[rpatton]

Not nearly as pretty as some of the projects I have seen and I have a few "baling wire and bubblegum" portions to throw in. I am new to milling and have only had my machine a little over a month and am doing the self teaching thing so I started with something really simple... all straight lines so here goes...

The freezer has been missing the retainer bar since we moved in, it wasn't till I got the milling machine that I was able to devise a fix (that didn't involve just buying a new one)


First, I had to create pins to fit the holes and of course they weren't a standard 1/4" but 1/4" aluminum rod was as close as I could get. Not having a lathe I wound up using my drill press and an old file to trim the rod down to 7/32". Here it is ready to cut threads:


Just in case using a drill press for a lathe wasn't enough, turns out I was missing the handle for the die...


So... I made my own out of a c-clamp and a couple of sockets...


The mill definately came in handy getting the holes spaced just right for tapping the holes for the pins...



I do not yet have the round and radius type end mills so all the corners are square and sharp.


But I did get the pins space perfect... they snap in and hold themselves in place.


So here it is all ready for holding more ice cream...

 

[hq308]

Nice work.)

 

[Old Iron]

Nice work and I like the way you came up with to thread the pins. Most people would have given up then.

As for using the file and the drill press for a lathe, That is whats known as a Hill Billy Lathe.

Paul

 

[jfcayron]

Not nearly as pretty as some of the projects I have seen and I have a few "baling wire and bubblegum" portions to throw in

You are kidding, right? :LOL:
The result as far as I can see is just right. I wish my first project had been that neat.:whistle:
(I am a beginner, too).
Thanks for taking all the pictures and sharing.:tiphat:

 

[jumps4]

I'm not showing the wife this her list for me is on cd now too big for paper, we have a fridg with the same problem.
nice job that fix will outlast the fridge
paul i didnt know i owned a hill billy lathe
steve

 

[rpatton]

As for using the file and the drill press for a lathe, That is whats known as a Hill Billy Lathe.

Paul

Was born in Arkansas so I come by it naturally I suppose... was actually figuring that people would cringe at using a file on Aluminum...in my defense the file should have been tossed years ago so no big waste there.

 

[jfcayron]

was actually figuring that people would cringe at using a file on Aluminum

Duuude! If it works for you... A lot ot people cringe at a lot of things we do (not just in machining, mind you). It does not mean they are right or we are wrong and vice-versa. :whistle: