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What parts would I need to use my mill as a small lathe?

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Men Ifr	19/12/2016 11:26:50
119 forum posts 10 photos	If I wanted to machine parts say 1" length by 1" width. Can I get a 3jaw Chuck and attach to the milling head? For small parts I could hold the tool in my vice or can you get specific tool posts for this that are not too expensive? What would be an idea of cost?
Martin Connelly	19/12/2016 12:08:06
2549 forum posts 235 photos	A better chucking solution would be an ER collet chuck, Less mass spinning on a machine not designed for it. ER32 will do for smaller sizes up to Ø20mm (I have seen 21mm and 7/8" advertised as well) and ER40 will hold diameters up to Ø26mm. Some people will say they are not good for holding short lengths but if you are not putting too much load on them they will be fine. You can hold a lathe tool in a vice and that is all that is required apart from getting your head around which way to move things to achieve what you want. The biggest problem is you can't have a centre to support the part and the relatively low travel of the mill spindle compared to a lathe's carriage movement. I have done some turning on the mill when I could not use my lathe but like milling on the lathe turning on the mill is possible but is never going to be as easy as using the tool designed for the process. Martin
Men Ifr	19/12/2016 12:37:19
119 forum posts 10 photos	Martin - that's a very good suggestion thanks - I already have an ER32 and should get me going so I will just need to buy a suitably small collet for the 1st job that is probably using 3 or 4mm bar. Oh and a cutting tool - again they are very cheap.
Ian S C	20/12/2016 11:47:25
7468 forum posts 230 photos	I turned a new pin for the back gear of my lathe in my vertical mill, Held the bit of silver steel in the Jacobs Chuck, and the tool in the vice. Ian S C

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