Ordered a new lathe and Mill

[gt40]

Just ordered an HF "8x12" aka 8x14 lathe and the HF X2 mill. I had a 20% off coupon and they gave me the discount on both and $450 for a lathe + $390 for the mill seemed too good to pass up. I have always wanted a lathe for years and making my first modded sst90 mag heatsink made me appreciate the benefits of having a mill too. I am new to machining but have forged knives for many years and built furniture as a hobby before these crazy flashlights.

I was going to get a c4 but damn that's a lot of money so I went with the lathe and mill combo and hope I made the right choice.

 

[saltytri]

Congratulations!! You can make a lot of flashlight parts with those machines. Now you get to start spending money on tooling.

 

[gadget_lover]

You poor Fool! You are now doomed like the rest of us! hahhaahhahahhahha

Oh? Did I say that out loud?

Seriously, congrats. That should be a nice starting point. Many fine lights have been created / modded on similar hardware.

Daniel

 

[precisionworks]

Now you get to start spending money on tooling.

Figure about 10X what was spent on the machine :twothumbs

 

[saltytri]

Figure about 10X what was spent on the machine :twothumbs

But it's just about the most fun you can have spending money. Rule of thumb: buy whatever Barry recommends.

 

[StrikerDown]

Congratulations Let the fun begin!

Seems like there is no end to the tooling requirements! Especially for the mill! Spent another $300+ and the new X axis power feed arrived today!

 

[gt40]

I imagine the first things I will be doing with the lathe will be boring and threading. Anyone have any suggestions for a good/cost effective boring setup and tool for threading?

 

[gadget_lover]

The boring setup depends on what will be bored. The recent thread on "Ebay Boring bar - Good deal or waste of money?" http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=227558 has a lot of good info.

The deeper you bore, the better the bar has to be. An 8x12 lathe will only be able to hold about a 6 inch light and still have room for a boring bar, so take that into account. A typical steel boring bar will work best if the length that sticks out (overhang) is just a few times the diameter. A carbide boring bar will give real good surface finish (and accurate) even at 8 times the diameter.

Daniel

 

[gt40]

Update: I have got the mill running and made a 24" extension for my camera for holding it off the side of my tripod for macro work. The thing is how do you limit all the "shards" that seem to be covering me, my cloths, my garage and are working their way into my house?

I have the machine in the garage and shopvac nearby but damn I am making a lot of chips, shards(what the wifey is calling them). Cutting aluminum on the 24" band saw throws almost as much as the mill. I haven't done a lot with aluminum and milling etc and these things seem to get everywhere. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated and help keep the wife sane...

 

[darkzero]

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated and help keep the wife sane...

Lock the garage & make sure she doesn't get a key!

But seriously, adding the back splash guard to my HF 8x14 helped a lot in this area. Perhaps make some splash guards in areas you don't want chips to fly? Chips are going to fly & make a mess, especially on the mill, can't do anything about that. I often take the time during a project to stop & clean up when it starts gets messy rather than clean up at the end. Try turning some brass & see what kind of mess you get or even worse cast iron.

 

[gadget_lover]

A good strong vacuum placed near the cutter where the chips exit will catch a lot of it.

A clear plastic card can keep the chips off you. People often use magnetic mounts to hold a lexan sheet between the cutter and the person. Easy to make using a $2 piece of plastic and some cheap magnets.

Soft rubber mats on the floor will allow the chips to get snagged in the rubber and keep them from traveling as much.

I use a roll up window shade behind my lathe to keep swarf from going into the stuff on the shelves behind the machine.

When cutting steel I wear a shop apron. That keeps the steel chips from flying into shirt pockets where it rusts beautifully and leaves big orange stains.

A mat from the pet store (designed to keep kitty litter from being tracked by the cat) is next to the garage door. That catches little pieces that end up in the soles of my tennis shoes.

Swarf is a fact of life when machining. The aluminum ones are not too bad. Steel shavings can be razor sharp and stiff. Watch out for the long curly strings, as they are basically a coiled knife edge.

Daniel

 

[GMLRS]

Dont forget your shoes, the chips stick to the bottom and come off every where else you go. I use zippered boots and leave em at the work area.

Properly set shields are the most helpful. Properly set speeds and feeds make a big difference, they will ideally be short and shaped like a 6 (number six).

Large portable shields are great also. they set on the ground fold up and are about 5 feet tall 2-3 feet per fold and 4 folding parts. A must when you are working next to another machine.

 

[gt40]

Dont forget your shoes, the chips stick to the bottom and come off every where else you go. I use zippered boots and leave em at the work area.

Properly set shields are the most helpful. Properly set speeds and feeds make a big difference, they will ideally be short and shaped like a 6 (number six).

Large portable shields are great also. they set on the ground fold up and are about 5 feet tall 2-3 feet per fold and 4 folding parts. A must when you are working next to another machine.

Thanks for that tip. I have a dedicated hooded jacket and shoes I am using.

Just got in some new ball screws for the mill. Going to add DRO and eventually CNC to it. All in all, pretty happy so far and I made a dovetail arca style camera bar to hold my camera off the side of my tripod 18" with the mill. Those bars cost 360 bucks but I just machined it out of a 20" x 1.5" x 1/2 aluminum I had in the garage. Cost was a dovetail cutter and the scrap so the mill has paid for itself already

Lathe should be here next week so I can start on some flashlight stuff soon.

 

[GMLRS]

Long sleeves are considered a big safety violation. If it gets caught on something and you try to pull away you will end up pulling yourself into the machine. Machined surfaces can be rough, gloves and sleeves can easily catch, and pull you into the machine. Just had to tell you about your hoodie.
The most important thing about machinery is knowing, and following safety procedures. New familiarity is the most dangerous time.


Wipe chips off machine after use, especially the ways, even stainless steel will rust if you leave rusting steel on it.


Have fun, take your time.