My new Mill :)

[Mirage_Man]

Well after getting frustrated with not being able to do milling ops I ordered my first milling machine. I tried to find a used BP but in my area there aren't any that are worth a darn or if there are they want a mint for them. So I ordered a Rong Fu RF31. With Enco's 10% off sale it was a decent deal I think.

Here's the mill.

 

[TranquillityBase]

Re: Just ordered a Mill

Nice :twothumbs

 

[DaFABRICATA]

Re: Just ordered a Mill

I CANT WAIT to see what you produce when that sucker comes in!!!

I'm excited for you!~

 

[Axkiker]

Re: Just ordered a Mill

You will love it. I have a full size Jet knee mill and its great. you can do all sorts of stuff on it.

I will say that if you plan on doing alot of machine work go ahead and plan on a dro. they make life so much easier.


later

 

[Mirage_Man]

Re: Just ordered a Mill

You will love it. I have a full size Jet knee mill and its great. you can do all sorts of stuff on it.

I will say that if you plan on doing alot of machine work go ahead and plan on a dro. they make life so much easier.


later

Yeah, I have a DRO on my lathe. One for the mill is certainly in the plans. I just can't afford one yet.

 

[gadget_lover]

Re: Just ordered a Mill

Congrats. I hope you will find it as rewarding (but not as costly) as your lathe.

DId you get the free shipping with that? The clamping kit and shell mill are an extra hundred or two all by themselves.

There's quite a difference between a full sized bridgport and a mill/drill. What changed your mind?


Daniel

 

[precisionworks]

Re: Just ordered a Mill

That's the model I use, but it's the Enco brand. Power table, 2 axis DRO. As nice a machine as you'll find for the money

 

[Mirage_Man]

Re: Just ordered a Mill

Congrats. I hope you will find it as rewarding (but not as costly) as your lathe.

DId you get the free shipping with that? The clamping kit and shell mill are an extra hundred or two all by themselves.

There's quite a difference between a full sized bridgport and a mill/drill. What changed your mind?


Daniel

Nope, I tried to finagle free shipping but they wouldn't go for it.

The main reason I decided on this one was in all honesty price. I just don't have $4000 for a full size machine. Nor do I want to spend $2000 on a worn out pile of steaming dog doo used machine. And since this should handle what I ask of it I saw no reason to wait any longer to get one. There's been way too many times I needed a mill and didn't have one. Now I do .

 

[gadget_lover]

Re: Just ordered a Mill

Once you get used to one it's frustrating when it's not available.

I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with it.

Daniel

 

[wquiles]

Re: Just ordered a Mill

Congrats Brian !!!



Will

 

[precisionworks]

Re: Just ordered a Mill

quite a difference between a full sized bridgeport and a mill/drill

Yes, and no.

I've made piles of chips with both machines, and they are similar in many ways:

Both use the "universal" R-8 shank, so there's an unlimited supply of both new & used tooling.

Both have about the same motor hp & motor torque, so either machine will remove material at the same rate.

The Bpt head will nod & tilt, which comes in handy a few times each year. The knee will lower almost to the floor, so more daylight is available under the tool. There's more mass, which means less vibration in the cut. With that in mind, why do so many people have a large M/D in their shop?

They don't cost a fortune. Mine was near new, 2 axis Acu-Rite, power table, cabinet stand, $1600 delivered to my shop. Yes, you can find any number of worn out Bpts for the same price, but they are rarely decent until the price goes north of $4k.

They do 95% of the work that can be done on a Bpt. I recently hogged out the intake & exhaust ports of a big block racing motor:

The head was raised almost to max height, and the job was done with a 1" solid carbide end mill, held in a Bison ER-40 collet. About an hour to do both heads, including the time it took to figure out how to set it up. That job wouldn't have run any faster or any better on a Bpt.

The M/D gives up very little to a knee mill, and keeps a bunch of money in the bank. Which is good -- you'll need it all for tooling

 

[DaFABRICATA]

Re: Just ordered a Mill

Once you get used to one it's frustrating when it's not available.

I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with it.

Daniel

You couldn't be more right!

The transformer on my mill blew up last year.
I really need to stop buying lights and get a new one.

Mine is nothing special, but I got a good deal on it and it does (did):mecry:what I need it to.



precisionworks.....those pics remind me of the good 'ol days when my
dad still had his race shop.....I was too young to use all the cool
machines but I used to love to watch the chips fly!

I hand ported the heads for my old car by hand:green:...To hog out the
majority of the material on a mill would have saved me DAYS!!
Good Times!:wave:

 

[SafetyBob]

Re: Just ordered a Mill

Precision, you hit the nail on the head. I have a wonderful 1200 pounds of worn out metal in my garage (BP series 1). You are so right on the pricing too. 4 years ago when I was looking I found a tool makers personal mill that only he used (and it looked like it too) but they wanted 5400 bucks. A new Birmingham was 3600 with a dro. So my hunk of junk for 1000 didn't look to bad, I knew what I had.

I imagine Brian had to cough up another couple of hundred for shipping which fortunately was traded off for the 10% off....so I guess around 1600 to 1700 to his door to. That's not bad for something that works correctly.

I am sure you spent a few hours ensuring everything was setup correctly, but new is new and nobody gives away slightly new machines.....at least they don't to me!!

And another reason you don't need a Bridgeport.....if you head doesn't tilt, I believe they make really nice vices and tables that do. We won't talk about how long it takes to tram the head after you do tilt the head either...especially if you don't do it every day.

Bob E.

 

[precisionworks]

Re: Just ordered a Mill

We won't talk about how long it takes to tram the head after you do tilt the head either

Or after crashing a face mill ... I crashed the company's face mill quite a bit at first, and every crash knocked the head way out of true. Got pretty fast at tramming the head

One thing that Brian will want to check is the squareness of the spindle to the table. Some M/D spindles are in perfect tram from the factory, but mine was out a few thousandths in X & Y. By loosening the large bolts that hold the base of the column to the base of the mill, shims can be inserted to correct an out of square condition. If the spindle is not square to the table, end mills & face mills will always have a leading edge or a trailing edge, which isn't how they're designed to cut.

 

[Mirage_Man]

Re: Just ordered a Mill

Just got off the phone with the trucking company. The mill is being delivered this afternoon to my work. As with my lathe I'm having it delivered there due to the availability of a fork lift. I will figure out some way to get it home this weekend.

 

[wquiles]

Re: Just ordered a Mill

Cool. Please post TONS of pictures

Will

 

[precisionworks]

Re: Just ordered a Mill

My mill was delivered already assembled on the cabinet stand ... which presented a problem. The cabinet is none too sturdy, and positions the mill too low for me, so a forklift was used to lift the mill off the stand. A 2x2 angle frame was cut & welded on both the top of the stand and the bottom, then a 2x2 square tube riser was welded on top of the frame ... will try to post photos later if you're interested. Lifted the mill back onto the stand and bolted it in place, then moved it into position in the shop.

Still too low

Framed out a base, fabbed four huge feet out of 6" diameter pipe resting on mine belting, and convinced two of my best (as in strongest) friends to help lift everything up onto the feet. The point being, try to determine the height you want the mill table to be - don't forget to add for the vise, and for a swivel base if you plan to use one. Do all the add ons before setting the machine in place, as it is one heavy piece.

A crane of some type is helpful.

 

[cmacclel]

Re: Just ordered a Mill

My mill was delivered already assembled on the cabinet stand ... which presented a problem. The cabinet is none too sturdy, and positions the mill too low for me, so a forklift was used to lift the mill off the stand. A 2x2 angle frame was cut & welded on both the top of the stand and the bottom, then a 2x2 square tube riser was welded on top of the frame ... will try to post photos later if you're interested. Lifted the mill back onto the stand and bolted it in place, then moved it into position in the shop.

Still too low

Framed out a base, fabbed four huge feet out of 6" diameter pipe resting on mine belting, and convinced two of my best (as in strongest) friends to help lift everything up onto the feet. The point being, try to determine the height you want the mill table to be - don't forget to add for the vise, and for a swivel base if you plan to use one. Do all the add ons before setting the machine in place, as it is one heavy piece.

A crane of some type is helpful.

I moved mine around with an Engine hoist. It's not as problem to lift the mill an base as one unit.

Mac

 

[wquiles]

Re: Just ordered a Mill

... will try to post photos later if you're interested.

Well, you know me, a thread is not worth reading if there are no photos in it :devil:

Will

 

[StrikerDown]

Re: Just ordered a Mill

Well, you know me, a thread is not worth reading if there are no photos in it :devil:

Will

But Will, I thought you only read machine porn for the articles! :naughty: