What's under your (little) mill?

[graham-xrf]

@graham-xrf That's not quite the same base. Mine is the Shop Fox D2058A base which has a weight rating of 1300 lbs.

Shop Fox D2058A Adjustable Mobile Base, Large : Amazon.ca: Tools & Home Improvement

Shop Fox D2058A Adjustable Mobile Base, Large : Amazon.ca: Tools & Home Improvement

www.amazon.ca

It's rock solid in use. Moves just fine as well though it's hard to get it going; a 700 lb mill on a 50 lb stand with drawers full of tooling, the whole thing is probably north of 800 lbs.

The drawers are all on 100 lb capacity full extension slides. 1/2" Baltic Birch ply drawer boxes.

OK - I see it now. The differences seem to be in the wheels, and the style of jack levelers. Yours has screw-knobs. The one in (my) picture has some sort of lever handle jack-up.

For both of them, they seem to only have leveling for front-to-back, (2 jacks), and nothing for side-to-side. They still look useful for most machines if on a relatively level floor.

 

[C-Bag]

My simple levelers are on each castor and I pulled it out for easy access and leveled it once several years ago and it’s still dead on. With all the weight and not moving very often I’m surprised the castors don’t have any flat spots but so far so good. A neighbor was friends with a guy who was a service tech in a local hospital and he would save the castors off their equipment when they scrapped it. I got a whole 5gal bucket full for $40. I wish I would have had access to their scrap as it’s all stainless. That would cure my rust problem

 

[DavidR8]

OK - I see it now. The differences seem to be in the wheels, and the style of jack levelers. Yours has screw-knobs. The one in (my) picture has some sort of lever handle jack-up.

For both of them, they seem to only have leveling for front-to-back, (2 jacks), and nothing for side-to-side. They still look useful for most machines if on a relatively level floor.

The non swivelling wheels are cast iron, not sure of the material for the swivelers.
I suspect the material on mine is a bit stouter. It's all 1/8" thick steel.

 

[tghsmith]

a stand that was overbuilt for a craftsman jigsaw (at least fifty years old) new top deck added with drip tray,, large pad leveler feet added.. it has been working well..

 

[T Bredehoft]

My PM 25 is mounted on a recycled Formica counter top, it was originally factory made, formed particle board, (humped, rolled edge) with top and bottom Formica'd. I screwed and glued a second piece of similar material under the body of the mill for stability. The counter top is mounted on 2 X 4's screwed to the wall and vertical legs supporting the front. Were I to make another installation, it would be similar, no problems with shake of vibration.

Edit: yes, I built drawers beneath it, for collets, tooling etc.

 

[ChazzC]

Here's my Mini-Mill:



Working from the floor up:

• 2x4 base that was shimmed to level the top

• 18" W x 26-1/2" D x 30" H, heavy-duty steel, 2-drawer (legal size) file cabinet; the sides of the cabinet are tied together in two places just below the upper drawer with 5/16" all-thread & T-Nuts to prevent the sides from bowing; the cabinet is fastened to the 2x4 base.

• 2 layers of 3/4" (actual) particle board, attached to the cabinet top from below.

• 12-1/2" W x 15" D x 2-1/8" H spacer block (3 layers of 3/4" (nominal), 10-ply plywood); glued together, then trimmed, sanded and given four coats of polyurethane.

• LMS chip tray (EDIT: forgot to include this, and thought I'd avoid some questions).

• LMS 3990 HiTorque Mini-Mill, bolted through the spacer, particle board and steel top using 3/8-16 bolts with standard washers under the heads and over-size thick fender washers & standard washers under the nuts below the steel top.

The top drawer contains drill bits, end mills, end mill holders & seldom used R8 collets and R8-mounted drill chucks, face mills, slitting saw arbor & fly cutter. The bottom drawer has screwless vises, vise and clamping accessories, ER Collet Blocks, Rotary Table Chuck & ER Collet Holder and some other, heavy odds & ends.

The base, file cabinet and 3/4" particle board previously supported a large mill-drill (in the 90's) and then a 14" benchtop drill press until I got the Mini-Mill. The only issue I have ever had with the setup is that it's a pain to move, even without the mill and taking the drawers out.

And yes, I know my shop is too clean.

 

[slow-poke]

I wanted some drawers, and also prefer to have the mill higher rather than lower so I don’t have to bend over.

Continuing with my ever thrifty approach, I found a file cabinet from the 60’s. It’s pretty robust but I decided to beef it up a bit, so I attached steel 1x2’s in the corners with adjustable levellers and then stacked it on top a door cut into three pieces. Looks a bit Mickey Mouse, but it is level and sturdy.

 

[graham-xrf]

My PM 25 is mounted on a recycled Formica counter top, it was originally factory made, formed particle board, (humped, rolled edge) with top and bottom Formica'd. I screwed and glued a second piece of similar material under the body of the mill for stability. The counter top is mounted on 2 X 4's screwed to the wall and vertical legs supporting the front. Were I to make another installation, it would be similar, no problems with shake of vibration.

Edit: yes, I built drawers beneath it, for collets, tooling etc.

If done as a woodwork, and is nicely stable, that sounds like a convenient scheme for me. I have a lot of 2 x 4, and a planer/jointer thicknesser. Woodwork I can do. Metal stock, like 100mm x 40mm x 3mm rectangular box section I would have to buy in, and I have zero metal of that kind stashed anywhere.
Is it OK to maybe try for a picture of the tooling drawers?

 

[graham-xrf]

I wanted some drawers, and also prefer to have the mill higher rather than lower so I don’t have to bend over.

Continuing with my ever thrifty approach, I found a file cabinet from the 60’s. It’s pretty robust but I decided to beef it up a bit, so I attached steel 1x2’s in the corners with adjustable levellers and then stacked it on top a door cut into three pieces. Looks a bit Mickey Mouse, but it is level and sturdy.

The only filing cabinets I have, (and have had) were all pop-riveted things of thin steel that would "wiggle" a bit if you shook the top sideways. Until I saw yours, and the other sturdy-looking job from @ChazzC , I would not have thought it would work. These look great! I guess there can be better grades of cabinet made of 1960's style thicker steel that can do the job

Wanting the mill at a convenient height is the same for me. I am a tall guy.

Your mill may be atop a cabinet, but it looks altogether a beefier, more powerful machine than mine. It looks "heavy". Are the 1 x 2's on the corners inside? Looking closer, there are more things that catches the interest like the fat X-axis stepper motor, and the huge screen. Nice setup!

 

[slow-poke]

The only filing cabinets I have, (and have had) were all pop-riveted things of thin steel that would "wiggle" a bit if you shook the top sideways. Until I saw yours, and the other sturdy-looking job from @ChazzC , I would not have thought it would work. These look great! I guess there can be better grades of cabinet made of 1960's style thicker steel that can do the job

Wanting the mill at a convenient height is the same for me. I am a tall guy.

Your mill may be atop a cabinet, but it looks altogether a beefier, more powerful machine than mine. It looks "heavy". Are the 1 x 2's on the corners inside? Looking closer, there are more things that catches the interest like the fat X-axis stepper motor, and the huge screen. Nice setup!

Steelcase is one brand of early file cabinet that were built to last, these are in no way comparable to the cheap box store cabinets they have been selling for the last 25+ years. When I went to look at it I jumped up top and hopped a bit, solid as a rock. My mill weighs If I recall correctly 650lbs before the CNC stuff was added.