# I Loves Me Some Milling Attachment!



## Smudgemo (Feb 8, 2013)

Okay, I know this thing doesn't handle heavy work, but man, for bicycle building it's the bomb.  I made a quickie vee-block holder for this fork blade and easily notched it for the dropout.  Previously, the job required marking out, hacksaw cuts, and file work.  Measure properly, and nothing else is needed.  Tilt, angle, feed depth - no problem.  I like hand-made as much as the next guy, but I only have so much time to devote to my hobby, and this is a lot more fun to set up, and the results are close to perfect with a lot less effort.

For reference, this is a fork leg for a 20" wheel mountain bike for my six year old daughter.






Different bike, but this is where I'm headed with this operation: 





Just thought I'd share on a Friday evening.  The build can be followed in Flickr if you're interested.

-Ryan


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## DMS (Feb 9, 2013)

Looking good there. Are other pieces brazed on?


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## wa5cab (Feb 9, 2013)

Ryan,

Neat!

It wouldn't be of any use on what shows in your photos, of course.  But if you ever needed a way to for example do a little milling (as opposed to turning) on a sprocket, the table off of the Atlas Universal Compound Vise (X-Y table) fits the milling attachment in place of its vise.  It will also fit the pintle on the cross slide.  The vise jaws that come with the X-Y table can be handy, too.  As they will open up much wider than the milling attachment vise.  Atlas once upon a time sold just the table which they described as a boring table.  But I've never seen one for sale by itself in recent years.

Robert D.


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## Smudgemo (Feb 9, 2013)

wa5cab said:


> Ryan,
> 
> Neat!
> 
> ...



I don't believe I've ever seen one, but I also have a small Grizzly mill and I think I'm picking up a Benchmaster horizontal mill later today that will probably suffice for anything I will ever have interest in.  Interesting that the compound and vise are sized for the same mount.  I'll keep that in mind as an option.  Never know when something new and weird will come up.


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## Smudgemo (Feb 9, 2013)

DMS said:


> Looking good there. Are other pieces brazed on?



Thanks!  It's all thin stuff, so it's all brazed.  Bronze brazed or silver soldered depending on what is needed/wanted.  TIG is big too, but I only have and know how to use O/A.  But, you can do so much with it. 

Here is my version of attaching the seat stays to the seat post binder (another mitering operation the lathe will be able to handle):



This bike's fork dropout slots were done by hand.  Not perfect, but they were pretty good.  You can see the layout lines and why the Atlas setup will be so much more precise.



And the finished goods at Donner Pass in the Sierras:



It makes for an awesome commuter bike, too.  The even have a spot for blue bike parking on the BART train!


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## David Kirtley (Feb 9, 2013)

Gorgeous bikes. Really enjoyed the photos on flicker.


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## wa5cab (Feb 10, 2013)

OK. I sometimes use the milling attachment vise on the cross slide (acquired a second one for the purpose, in fact). I made an adaptor for my Dremel rotary tool that fits it so that I could cut off some very small diameter (<1/8") thin wall tubing. 

I've no idea what you might use it for but the compound will obviously also fit on the milling attachment.

Robert D



Smudgemo said:


> I don't believe I've ever seen one, but I also have a small Grizzly mill and I think I'm picking up a Benchmaster horizontal mill later today that will probably suffice for anything I will ever have interest in. Interesting that the compound and vise are sized for the same mount. I'll keep that in mind as an option. Never know when something new and weird will come up.


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