Husky A1S - 8x30... Just purchased my first mill.

Looks good Mike.
I have the Enco 8 x 30 version of yours. It’s a perfect fit for my garage shop.
A DRO would be a nice addition for your machine along with the VFD down the road.

I picked up this drill chuck, I really like it so far.
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The Rohm chucks should be a good start if they are in good condition.

I forgot to mention earlier, if you need to replace the belts and they were made by "First Rope" do not trust the code on the belt to be the same as a US brand belt. Measure the length.

My mill had the original belts and they were in dire need of replacement, the outer fabric had worn off or was coming off. They were made by First Rope. The code was B-35. I wanted to replace the solid belt with a cogged belt so I purchased a BX-35 belt. I foolishly did not measure. When the belt arrived it was too big.
 
What size parallels?

I have a cart started on the Shars sight:
R8 collet set 1/8" to 3/4" + 1"
3/16" to 3/4" TIN end mill set
5/8" shank for 1/32 - 1/2" chuck
1/2" shank for 0 - 3/8" chuck
Edge Center finder set
Small fly cutter set

Parallels are more expensive than I had expected! I have no clue what size parallels set to get? 1/32" set and a 1/4" set? Or look for a adjustable set on ebay?

Machinists precision level??? I believe I will need one... but wow they are kind of pricey! I have MANY levels for woodworking and construction but have no clue about machinists levels? Can someone point me in the right direction on a precision level please?

I have many bits, HSS and Carbide for my lathe... I hope I have something that will work with the fly cutter set. I think I will be doing smaller work like gunsmithing... installing sites etc. So I figured I would be using smaller mills and smaller collets hence 1/2" and 5/8" arbors for the chucks I just picker up. Good idea?
 
Nice score on the Rohm chucks.
they are high quality tooling- most German Manufactured tools are high quality.

there are 2 methods i use to determine belt sizes...
1) if you have the belt and the belt is broken or otherwise unsuitable for use, simply lay the belt out lengthwise if broken and take the measurement of the broken section. if the belt is in one piece cut the belt and lay it out flat and take the measurement

2) if you don't have the belt ...
take a piece of small rope or string and loop around the drive pulleys tautly, and mark the rope/string where the free end meets up .
then take the measurement. i usually add 1" to the string/rope measurement to avoid getting too short of a belt
 
i have both the thick and thin parallels
the thick ones are nice when working on larger pieces in a vise, the thin parallels are sometimes useful, for smaller work so the jaws of the vise can close more.
both are valuable to have, although the thin ones are a little more versatile, but a bit more of a PITA to use sometimes
Precision machinist levels can be very expensive and can have resolutions of .0005" in a 12" span
i have a Blanchard Level that is .0003" in 12"
if you are vigilant, you can find old Starrett spirit levels for less than $125
an 8" or 12" level would be preferable, but 6" levels can be useful too
 
Ulma Doctor said:
i have both the thick and thin parallels
the thick ones are nice when working on larger pieces in a vise, the thin parallels are sometimes useful, for smaller work so the jaws of the vise can close more.
both are valuable to have, although the thin ones are a little more versatile, but a bit more of a PITA to use sometimes
Precision machinist levels can be very expensive and can have resolutions of .0005" in a 12" span
i have a Blanchard Level that is .0003" in 12"
if you are vigilant, you can find old Starrett spirit levels for less than $125
an 8" or 12" level would be preferable, but 6" levels can be useful too
Click to expand...

Thank you! That is very helpful to get me going in the right direction! Having a ball park on price and size gives me a reference to start looking!

My understanding is most milling operations start with a well leveled mill then you level your work piece knowing this will make the work piece parallel to the mill table. Is my understanding correct?
 
You need to tram the head to ensure it is 90 deg to the table and then when the vise is installed the fixed jaw is parallel to the X axis.

I leveled my mill since I had the precision level, but I am not sure how critical this is since no method to remove twist - if any - in the table.

Leveling the metal lathe is important to remove any twist in the bed. It is amazing how a tiny adjustment of a foot can alter the twist in the metal lathe bed.

I have a set of 1/8in parallels which I use often. I recently purchased some 1/2in thick parallels which are useful but do not get as much use as the 1/8in parallels.

I got a relatively inexpensive precision level from CDCO.

If you need arbors for the drill chucks, I would get R8 arbors. The collet chuck will consume some of your Z axis. If the drill chucks already had a straight arbor, I could imagine using it is a collet chuck, but since you have to get arbors, I would want to minimize the Z axis consumed.
 
The more level your machines are, the finer work they can produce.
But you can still produce square and parallel work with a machine out of level
Naval machinery is almost never level underway but the macinists can still produce
parts to specifications
 
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Never really thought about leveling the mill.
 
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