# Mini Mill?



## mnm99 (Jan 30, 2015)

Hello,
This is my second post so don't be too hard on me. I've been doing a bunch of reading on Mini Mills, but still don't know if it will do what I need and what cost I'm getting into. As of right now I'm looking to mill some under water light housings for my boat. The housings could be made out of Aluminum or Bronze. What I'm looking to do is mill a pocked 1/4" deep out of a 4"x1" round puck. The machines I'm looking at start at around $500 from Harbor Freight then I'm reading that I need like $500 worth of add ons?? What if the cheapest route I can go to get a job like this done? where should I start looking? There are a ton of different bits ect... What tools would I need to complete this project? If I'm looking at big $$$ I may just have to hold off. 
Thank You


----------



## stupoty (Jan 30, 2015)

Hello,

yeha always plan for tooling as thats a big part of the total cost.

basic stuff;
vice

clamping set

123 blocks

parallels

vee blocks

collets for holding end mills

drill chuck for holding drills and reamers or taps

some end mills in a selection of sizes and flute numbers 2/3 or 4 (generaly)

mesuring tools (a basic good quality calipers is a good base to start with, i often see mitotoyo or moore and wright and starret stuff at good prices on ebay)

enginears square(a number of sizes is handy)

steel ruler in 2/6/12 inch (i curently dont have a 2" one and am constantly cursing this fact 

the second hand path is good for saving money and things often come with accesories.

new is good because  it should all work as intended, theirs a garentee, some support may be available from the supplier.

brakedges will happen when your new to stuff, e.g. To agressive or not enough rpm with small end mills. Drilling into the table all that good stuff.

I'm sure other will chip in with oppinions.  Some stuff will depend upon what you want to do e.g. If the pocket for the light is round you would need to use a booring head or a rotory table depending upon the size.

The Size of end mills will define the corner radius on a square hole, worth having big and small for that reason.

ok i'm rambling on now and will stop before i write a book.

Stuart


----------



## bpratl (Jan 30, 2015)

If the housings are round it would be better to use a lathe machine out the recess. Can you supply a detail drawing?


----------



## JimDawson (Jan 30, 2015)

It will take a fair amount of tooling to do the job you describe when starting with nothing.  A rotary table would be the easiest way to do the job.  As Stuart said above, you will need measuring tools and a clamp kit and a few other accessories to complete the package.

Another option might be a small lathe and a drill press.  It would be pretty easy to pocket that disk on a 7x10 lathe, with minimal tooling.  Then use the drill press to drill the mounting holes.

Another option is to look around for some used equipment on your local Craigslist.


----------



## mnm99 (Jan 30, 2015)

bpratl said:


> If the housings are round it would be better to use a lathe machine out the recess. Can you supply a detail drawing?




Here is a basic diagram. The green will be milled out. I could go with Square or round. Looking at it I would prefer square. Looking for the cheapest rout to mill these out. If it get's too expensive maybe I can contract them out to some of you..LOL. If these lights work out I may be making a bunch to sell so I will need to be able to do it without too much trouble. Thanks...Here's the pic. It will start out with a 4" round x 3/4" thick aluminum. Needing a pocket 3/8" deep.


----------



## herbet999 (Jan 30, 2015)

For the round depression, a lathe would be more appropriate. How many do you have to make? (ok.. i saw you answered that question.. more than one).


----------



## herbet999 (Jan 30, 2015)

I'm right here in NJ.. if you want to send me one and I'll hollow out the round depression for you as a prototype. As long as you don't need it to be too accurate. I'm not a professional.


----------



## mnm99 (Jan 30, 2015)

herbet999 said:


> I'm right here in NJ.. if you want to send me one and I'll hollow out the round depression for you as a prototype. As long as you don't need it to be too accurate. I'm not a professional.



Thanks. I may take you up on that. I'll keep you in mind.


----------



## lpeedin (Jan 30, 2015)

Several folks have mentioned a lathe; however, keep in mind that even though a mini-lathe is usually 7X, the standard chuck will not hold something 4" in diameter.  I'd suggest a mini-mill and a boaring head. Of course, as mentioned above you will need the required clamping devices to hold your work to the table.

I just invested in the LMS Sieg X2D mill and by the time I purchased it, a tooling kit, DROs, boaring head, etc. I have well over $1200 invested.  The machine is just the start, but it sure is a lot of fun to make chips on it.


----------



## mnm99 (Jan 30, 2015)

I have a question about this vice http://www.harborfreight.com/5-in-rugged-cast-iron-drill-press-milling-vise-69159.html . Could I use a drill press like this one http://www.harborfreight.com/16-speed-floor-drill-press-43389.html and use them in combination with a milling bit? Just wondering if something like this would save me a few bucks. I would use it for the square light cutout.


----------



## herbet999 (Jan 30, 2015)

You may be able to make one.. but you would be hating life.

If you were to go that route, I would think about the mini-mill at harbor freight for not much more. Not that I would recommend that either since I don't have any experience with them. I'm sure there's plenty of information about the mini-mills from members of this forum.

Which is, I guess, how you started this thread. You've come full circle.


----------



## mnm99 (Jan 30, 2015)

herbet999 said:


> You may be able to make one.. but you would be hating life.
> 
> If you were to go that route, I would think about the mini-mill at harbor freight for not much more. Not that I would recommend that either since I don't have any experience with them. I'm sure there's plenty of information about the mini-mills from members of this forum.
> 
> Which is, I guess, how you started this thread. You've come full circle.



If I go with HF mini mill how much more stuff do I have to buy to get started? A 4" vise and bits? Anything else?


----------



## Bishop (Jan 30, 2015)

I would think you might be better off to have a couple built for you and see if there is going to be a market. If you can make money selling them I would definitely buy the right tool for the job. A drill press milling in aluminum will look like a beaver chewed out the recess


----------



## John Hasler (Jan 30, 2015)

mnm99 said:


> Hello,
> This is my second post so don't be too hard on me. I've been doing a bunch of reading on Mini Mills, but still don't know if it will do what I need and what cost I'm getting into. As of right now I'm looking to mill some under water light housings for my boat. The housings could be made out of Aluminum or Bronze. What I'm looking to do is mill a pocked 1/4" deep out of a 4"x1" round puck. The machines I'm looking at start at around $500 from Harbor Freight then I'm reading that I need like $500 worth of add ons?? What if the cheapest route I can go to get a job like this done? where should I start looking? There are a ton of different bits ect... What tools would I need to complete this project? If I'm looking at big $$$ I may just have to hold off.
> Thank You



I hate to discourage anyone from buying machine tools but the cheapest way to get that job done is to pay a machine shop to do it for you.

But once you've got a mill and a lathe and a bandsaw and a grinder and a thousand dollars worth of tooling you'll think of lots of things to do with it.


----------



## herbet999 (Jan 30, 2015)

mnm99 said:


> If I go with HF mini mill how much more stuff do I have to buy to get started? A 4" vise and bits? Anything else?



I would do way more research than just listen to my suggestions. But you really only absolutely need two additional things. A way to clamp the raw piece to the mill's table and a tool to cut the aluminum (an end mill). 

You could use a vise to hold the piece or you could clamp it to the table using t-bolts and clamps. 

The end mill you could stick in the drill chuck (not the best solution) or you could buy a collet to hold the end mill. Looks like the HF mini-mill has an R8 spindle. You can buy an R8 collet all day long on ebay.

one thing you want to be sure of is that any tool you buy is big enough to hold the 4" part. For example, make sure you buy a vice that opens to 4 inches and not just has 4 inch wide jaws. Also, the table on the HF mill is less than 4 inches. So you have to make sure you can position the piece on the table and still be able to mill the area you want to mill out.

There's gobs of information out there about mini-mills. Do a lot of research


----------



## Vladymere (Jan 30, 2015)

I think John Hassler is right regarding contracting the job out locally.  Have you checked with any of the local machine shops?

Vlad


----------



## compsurge (Jan 30, 2015)

If you came here to ask us how much it will cost to get outfitted with machine tools to do the job, you're asking a bunch of folks who would probably not want to face how much they've actually spent. :jester:

That being said, often the mini mill appears attractive at first, then the G0704, then the RF-45, then the knee mill. A lathe with a milling attachment (not the same as the combo milling head on lathe) may be able to make the parts as well. I'd venture to say you'll be in this for $1500-2000 with the basic tooling on any of the paths forward.

The cheapest route will be to get a machine shop to make your parts. If you want to take up machining as a hobby, spend a little more time thinking about your budget and what other projects you can take on and try to spend the funds on the biggest machine you can afford with a good setup of tooling. My tooling is about on part with my machine cost.

The hobby is really limitless - there are a number of members on this forum who have turned out some amazing projects.

Don't hesitate to ask questions, we're the friendly group 

Also, I found out recently the Shars 4" 440V vise is now a 4" width and *6" *opening!


----------

