Why I bought a mill

DavidR8 said:
Order of need:
  1. Gallon or two of Varsol
  2. Hoist
  3. Paint
  4. Vice
  5. MT3 ER32 or ER40 chuck
  6. Matching collets
  7. ...
:D
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Oh it is just starting, lathes are pretty simple, there is so much more tooling out there for a mill, dividing heads, indexers, collet blocks, vee blocks, thin parallels, thick parallels, adjustable parallels, angle blocks, rotary tables, hold down kits... and don't be thinking one vise will do it, no you may need a vise to go in your vise.
:devil:
 
Aaron_W said:
Oh it is just starting, lathes are pretty simple, there is so much more tooling out there for a mill, dividing heads, indexers, collet blocks, vee blocks, thin parallels, thick parallels, adjustable parallels, angle blocks, rotary tables, hold down kits... and don't be thinking one vise will do it, no you may need a vise to go in your vise.
:devil:
Click to expand...
I'm rapidly discovering this reality. I'm deep in the research woods, vises, collets, parallels, hold-downs, Oh my!
 
Dave, I'm one of the worst enablers on this site but let me offer some unsolicited advice.
  • Focus on the basics first. You need a really good machine vise - this is the foundation for 90+% of your work so buy a good one.
  • You need an accurate way to hold tooling in order to cut stuff you hold in your good vise. The cheapest way to go is collets of some kind or end mill holders. Accuracy here matters so buy decent quality.
  • The rest - buy as you need it. Note that I said NEED. You will be lured by rotary tables and dividing heads and on and on but most of it will sit like an expensive lump for sometimes years on end. If you must have a tool and you cannot do it with the tooling you already own, then buy it. Of all the advice I could possibly give you, this is the most important. Buy what YOU need, when you need it.
  • Invest in good measuring tools. Yeah, I know, Shars, right? No ... buy good and buy once. I'll catch flack for this but you don't need a drawer full of tools; you need tools you can rely on. Do your homework or ask because you can only cut as good as you can measure.
 
mikey said:
Dave, I'm one of the worst enablers on this site but let me offer some unsolicited advice.
  • Focus on the basics first. You need a really good machine vise - this is the foundation for 90+% of your work so buy a good one.
  • You need an accurate way to hold tooling in order to cut stuff you hold in your good vise. The cheapest way to go is collets of some kind or end mill holders. Accuracy here matters so buy decent quality.
  • The rest - buy as you need it. Note that I said NEED. You will be lured by rotary tables and dividing heads and on and on but most of it will sit like an expensive lump for sometimes years on end. If you must have a tool and you cannot do it with the tooling you already own, then buy it. Of all the advice I could possibly give you, this is the most important. Buy what YOU need, when you need it.
  • Invest in good measuring tools. Yeah, I know, Shars, right? No ... buy good and buy once. I'll catch flack for this but you don't need a drawer full of tools; you need tools you can rely on. Do your homework or ask because you can only cut as good as you can measure.
Click to expand...

Indeed, you are one of the worst enablers on this site. ;) ;) ;) :p

And you are also one of the most helpful and supportive. For that I’m very grateful.

I am hamming it up a bit for effect. I enjoy the bantering and back-and-forthing as it were.

I do plan on getting set with the basics.
My bank account is going to take a whacking on a vise but I was also gifted a small fortune in Starrett, Mitutoyo and Moore and Wright indicators, micrometers and calipers, 1-2-3 blocks and rules so that end is fairly well covered.

My tool buying habit has always been to only buy that which is required to do a job. And I seem to be pretty good at seeking out quality kit at decent prices.
I just picked up a decent Starrett back plunger indicator for $40 to complete my Starrett 196 boxes set.

Oh and many thanks to @ttabbal for my new, 3D printed indicator holder which arrived today!
5e9f3aca8f4eee3645df4a8f66efeb9b.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I gotta send Aukai a film tonight of a Wohlstrom chuck in action . I brought one in from home and he may just be looking for one ! :big grin:
 
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