What's under your (little) mill?

[DavidR8]

I just ordered the matching base when I bought the mill:

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I thought about buying or building something for it, but when bought as a package you get a discount on it.

I also made the decision that tather than messing around trying to figure something out, I just wanted it delivered and have a quick assembly so I could start throwing chips sooner rather than later.

Its nothing special, but it gets the job done with no fuss, no muss.

A roll around cabinet would have been great for storage, but I went a different way:

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I like having the tools visable instead of having to remember where one is or dig through a cabinet to find what I need.

YMMV….

What are those green metal strips on the wall? They look like they could be used to hang Akro-Mills plastic bins.

 

[great white]

What are those green metal strips on the wall? They look like they could be used to hang Akro-Mills plastic bins.

Its actually steel deck edging. The hangers were orginally built for DIN rails, but I couldn’t find them around here. Walked in to the local HW store and found these that fit just right. They were also on clearance for a buck a strip, so it was pretty much a no-brainer…

 

[C-Bag]

David’s rig is really nice setup. He’s a much better wood worker than I for sure. Personally I’ve come to appreciate and gravitate to as shallow as possible drawers. So much of the stuff I use for machining doesnt need much depth of drawers. My latest acquisition of a 40x30 flat file has proved to be my ultimate ideal for this. If I was still trying to come up with something for my mill I would have made it my mill table. One drawer of the flat file is equal to a wood machinist box. I gave my HF wood box to my neighbor.

 

[DavidR8]

Thanks @great white I'll do some sleuthing in my local hardware store.

 

[DavidR8]

David’s rig is really nice setup. He’s a much better wood worker than I for sure. Personally I’ve come to appreciate and gravitate to as shallow as possible drawers. So much of the stuff I use for machining doesnt need much depth of drawers. My latest acquisition of a 40x30 flat file has proved to be my ultimate ideal for this. If I was still trying to come up with something for my mill I would have made it my mill table. One drawer of the flat file is equal to a wood machinist box. I gave my HF wood box to my neighbor.

Thanks sir!
I sized my drawer heights for the tallest thing I thought I would fit which happens to be a pair of stinking heavy angle blocks. which are 4" tall on their sides.

 

[C-Bag]

Thanks sir!
I sized my drawer heights for the tallest thing I thought I would fit which happens to be a pair of stinking heavy angle blocks. which are 4" tall on their sides.

That’s the really tough thing about individual organization. I HAVE to put everything in drawers or cover it because I’m close to the ocean. Rust is just a fact of life. I decided early on those outliers like angle plates, fixtures etc were going in their own drawer in a metal file cabinet. The really big ones like my 10” RT were going to get stored on the back of my mill table with a cover.

 

[great white]

That’s the really tough thing about individual organization. I HAVE to put everything in drawers or cover it because I’m close to the ocean. Rust is just a fact of life. I decided early on those outliers like angle plates, fixtures etc were going in their own drawer in a metal file cabinet. The really big ones like my 10” RT were going to get stored on the back of my mill table with a cover.

I live in Nova Scotia, never more than 20 mins from the Atlantic.

I find I get less rust on my tools/steel if they’re actually out of cabinets. If something does start to rust, I get to see it right away and clean it/oil it before it gets any worse. Hidden in a cabinet just means it rusts until I open the drawer and notice it.

Rust is bad here. You can walk on to a new car lot, look underneath and see serious surface rust on a brand new car.

My tools probably don’t rust that badly/quickly because my garage is heated in winter ( heated concrete slab) and air conditioned in summer.

When we built our retirement home, I knew the garage was going to be my sanity saver in retirement so I made it as comfortable as possible. That meant a heated floor as a minimum. Lying on cold concrete is for young ‘uns, not old fossils like me….

 

[C-Bag]

I live in Nova Scotia, never more than 20 mins from the Atlantic.

I find I get less rust on my tools/steel if they’re actually out of cabinets. If something does start to rust, I get to see it right away and clean it/oil it before it gets any worse. Hidden in a cabinet just means it rusts until I open the drawer and notice it.

Rust is bad here. You can walk on to a new car lot, look underneath and see serious surface rust on a brand new car.

My tools probably don’t rust that badly/quickly because my garage is heated in winter ( heated concrete slab) and air conditioned in summer.

When we built our retirement home, I knew the garage was going to be my sanity saver in retirement so I made it as comfortable as possible. That meant a heated floor as a minimum. Lying on cold concrete is for young ‘uns, not old fossils like me….

once again this demonstrates different locals determine different approaches. There is a spread of about 20degF here year around being about a mile from the Pacific as the crow flies. And fairly low humidity especially for the coast. But depending on what's going on in land like the usual heatwave we can have lots of "marine layer" or over cast. We have a small gas central heater and no A/C. The heater is run seldom. Nothing in the garage/shop for heat or cooling. My "routine" is such that if it's funky outside I don't usually work in the shop and have work I can do in my office. If I am working the big garage door is open along with the side man door. For a fresh air freak like me it's paradise. All machines that are uncovered and don't have a coat of FluidFilm on it will rust quickly while stuff in drawers it takes years to show rust. If I have parts that need to be preserved I use plastic totes with BullFrog emitters in them and that keeps things completely rust free for years.

 

[great white]

once again this demonstrates different locals determine different approaches. There is a spread of about 20degF here year around being about a mile from the Pacific as the crow flies. And fairly low humidity especially for the coast. But depending on what's going on in land like the usual heatwave we can have lots of "marine layer" or over cast. We have a small gas central heater and no A/C. The heater is run seldom. Nothing in the garage/shop for heat or cooling. My "routine" is such that if it's funky outside I don't usually work in the shop and have work I can do in my office. If I am working the big garage door is open along with the side man door. For a fresh air freak like me it's paradise. All machines that are uncovered and don't have a coat of FluidFilm on it will rust quickly while stuff in drawers it takes years to show rust. If I have parts that need to be preserved I use plastic totes with BullFrog emitters in them and that keeps things completely rust free for years.

True enough. We get waaaay more than a 20 degree swing here and it can be so humid in summer you lay on top of the bed sheets in a pool of sweat. AC is essential here, but not for the heat, for the humidity.

I know that if I were to throw a pair of pliers or a coupon of bare steel in the back yard, the pliers will be locked up in under a month and the steel will have serious pitting within 6 months…

 

[graham-xrf]

The UK is an island. Large enough to be a nation, but still essentially an island. The daily temperature range is quite low compared to places far into the middle of continents. The air blows in, having traversed the Atlantic. Metal stuff here is ready to give up it's iron back into the ore like from which it came!

I have tried all sorts of things. When I can, I go for stainless. For all else, I protect. I use ACF-50 or the blue "Corrosion Block" grease, both from Lear Chemical. There is also a tenacious kind of industrial spray-on as used on oil rig platforms. I have some called Wynn's "Viscotene". It comes out as a pinkish white wet foamy that rapidly disperses into a very sticky stuff. It dries off, and from then on, it's hard to shift unless with WD or kerosene.

I have sometimes resorted to home-brew nickel plating. It's a messy chore to set up, and needs some care, but easy enough for anyone to do, and only uses common kitchen substances - and some nickel. The main work is in the preparation. Actual ingredients, and kit you need is very cheap. It absolutely works permanently. I have posted about it in HM about it a long while back. The countershaft in the picture has been given 700mA plating out of vinegar solution for about 10 minutes. I'm lazy, so most times I reach for oil, grease or spray-on protective.



I also butchered some plastic 110mm drain pipe to make a plating bath container. I blocked the ends with those white stopper lids that are used to block the ends of cardboard shipping tubes. This one was to go around a South Bend spindle. Spindles are generally safe from corrosion, except for the precious MT3 taper up there. It's a great little plating bath, so that one does not need gallons of solution, but I still found it faster, and more convenient to just put the sticky oil up the taper.



I think I may follow the route @DavidR8 took, going for a welded stand. It will have to be treated with primer and some tough paint. Dave probably used his mill stand as a welding experience skill-building project.
That would also be the case for me!