Power tool vs machine tool

[Koi]

Yes.

Koi, what are you making? What is it that you need to do?

I'm planning to make simple mechanism like a gun firing mechanism not those that fires bullet just as a demo but prior to that I'm learning how to use hand tools but I'm stuck with Learning to slot/carve with a chisel.

 

[Koi]

I think he's trying to make the most out of a limited budget and limited tool availability, and perhaps even expensive/unreliable power (I know all about this, the shop is not hooked up to my backup generator).

As for the scraping question, scraping is for adjusments in the area of 0.0001" (0.00254 mm, according to units). Better off drilling as many holes as you can i the area you want to remove, then file/chisel out the stuff between the holes. A cold chisel would suffice for this, though it may not be optimal.

How a bout chiselling and then scrap to finish it off.

 

[ThinWoodsman]

How a bout chiselling and then scrap to finish it off.

Scraping is really only needed for a precision flat surface. It would be better to rough (drill, saw, etc), then chisel, then file, then polish (emery cloth, sandpaper, stones). If the surface still is not flat enough after all that, consider sraping. Though I'm not sure how effective it would be to scrape a blind hole.

 

[ThinWoodsman]

A couple other things that occurred to me over coffee:

* check out riffler files and finishing stones - these are just examples, cheaper ones can be had
* a hand-powered shaper might interest you, though good luck finding one. Goodell-Pratt also made a hand-powered drill press

If you plan to do work with hand tools, your most important purchases up-front are going to be a vise and a grinder. Build a bench or pedestal stand for the vise so it is at proper filing height (roughly, vise jaws at elbow level). If you have these already, you can start making your own hand tools. A cold chisel could be ground to a different shape, though you won't be able to get a cape chisel out of it without some forge work. A broaching-style tool could probably be made, roughly the size of the blind hole with one edge sharpened, and pounded into the hole with a hammer to form/smooth the sides of the hole. There's a lot to experiment with, just make sure you are grinding hardened tools and that they have the proper edge geometry for what you are trying to do.

 

[Koi]

A couple other things that occurred to me over coffee:

* check out riffler files and finishing stones - these are just examples, cheaper ones can be had
* a hand-powered shaper might interest you, though good luck finding one. Goodell-Pratt also made a hand-powered drill press

If you plan to do work with hand tools, your most important purchases up-front are going to be a vise and a grinder. Build a bench or pedestal stand for the vise so it is at proper filing height (roughly, vise jaws at elbow level). If you have these already, you can start making your own hand tools. A cold chisel could be ground to a different shape, though you won't be able to get a cape chisel out of it without some forge work. A broaching-style tool could probably be made, roughly the size of the blind hole with one edge sharpened, and pounded into the hole with a hammer to form/smooth the sides of the hole. There's a lot to experiment with, just make sure you are grinding hardened tools and that they have the proper edge geometry for what you are trying to do.

How do you use a riffler file for rapid material removal on metal

 

[Koi]

My first mill was a round column mill. Over the years, it has been used for a vast multitude of work ranging from large to very small. The largest was facing a 100 lb. anvil and the smallest had features that were less than .01" in size. I have a 12" RT on the table and have on occasion set it up for vertical operation so I could do four axis machining.

The 5.3" quill travel can be challenging but with a little planning ahead and creative choice of tooling, it isn't a problem for virtually all work. I use collets to hold drills so the tool offset is comparable to the end mills. A tap wrench and tap used with a tap follower in most cases comes close to the drill length. For larger drills, moving off the work to mount a tool is conveniently accomplished by virtue of the DRO..

In those instances where it is necessary to move the head, it is useful to realize that the y axis reference changes very little. I would set up a reference edge in the x direction and re-reference to that edge after the move. Where it isn't necessary to maintain .001" accuracy, a dowel pin mating with a hole before and after the move is sufficient. If I had a piece of work mounted in my vise with the vise jaws parallel to the x axis, I would loosen the work and mate the pin to the hole and reclamp.

What's the problem with the 5'3 quill.

 

[RJSakowski]

What's the problem with the 5'3 quill.

When you are working on a part with different elevations and using tools with different length, you can eat up the 5.3" of quill travel quickly. I tend to use collets for holding both drills and end mills so I don't see too great a difference there. Having a DRO is a big advantage because you can move off the work zone to change a tool and accurately return. You still have to plan out your work flow though.

 

[Koi]

An die grinder might be "better" in the sense that you can use it on more things (not just whatever can be clamped to the mill table), but following that logic a file is better still.

If all you have is a die grinder, and a machine tool is too expensive or otherwise burdensome, then you can make a mount for the die grinder and a mount for your workpiece, make sure one of them is on a sliding bearing (or better yet, an X-Y table), and you've got yourself a reasonable substitute for a machine tool.

I could buy one used but I'm only 18 so yeah I'll stick with my hand tools

 

[NortonDommi]

However, I did have to send out the heads to be surfaced on a mill....

Surface plate and Wet & Dry?

 

[brino]

The problem for me with the die grinder was controlling it. I was doing a lot of precise work with it and after decades of using it freehand decided it was time to change it up. So I made a bench mount with the small table so I could control the work, not the die grinder. It works so much better I wish I'd done it years ago.

I am SOOO stealing that idea!
Thanks for posting it.
-brino