Drill for Milling

I have had the minilathe up and running for two weeks and I am really delighted with it. However, even in such a short time I realise that it needs a partner.....a mill. Problem is I dont have the budget for one at the moment which brings me to my question.

I have a bench drill, only one of the common budget ones but it works well and I am lucky in that it has a good quill with next to nothing in the way of play or run out and its chuck is decent. I have seen on Ebay 2 axis tables and wondered if using one of these with the drill would give something in the way of a basic lightweight mill.

I appreciate that it would be limited and it wouldnt cope with heavy or complex jobs and the accuracy wouldnt be there. For simple jobs though I wonder if it would cope, for instance this week I had a alu block that needed reducing by 10 thou and a round bar that required a flat machining.

I imagine that small cuts would be the order of the day but I would be fine with that. The tables I,ve seen so far are either just the 2 axis table or ones with a built in vice, if I did get one the built in vice type looks favourable, well to me at least.

I would appreciate your thoughts on if it would be worth giving it a go or leave it well alone.

Regards

Ron

Edited By Ron Laden on 30/06/2018 15:07:33

I've been in the same place Ron!

I spent more hours than I care to think about getting the 2 axis table smooth and solid enough. In the end I could take (very!) light cuts on ally.

Have you considered a "mill slide" **LINK**

I ended up getting a "proper" mill, but with hindsight, I had less to spend, having wasted time and money on the 2 axis thing....

Good luck

Jim

It might be alright if you use it gently but the Walker Turner I have has been used as a mill in the past and its definitely worse off for the experience. If you don't mind that it might not enjoy the experience it might be ok as long as you don't take major cuts, but they are just not used to side loads.

I would be inclined to leave well enough alone,you might be happy with it,but your drill might not You might end up with a bunged up drill. Drilling machines are not really made for milling,it,s too easy to damage the spindle,and then they,re not much use for anything.Better to hold fire until you can afford a mill,then you,ll still have a good drill.

Just my thoughts,for what they,re worth.

Remember,small mills are not all that expensive these days and they can cope with quite a range of work.

You would be better off with a milling slide for the lathe and cutter in the spindle for milling instead of trying to use a drill for milling. I have an M Type Drummond lathe and started milling on it and got reasonable results.

David

Ron

There are many potential problems with using a drilling machine for milling. To list just a few, t bearings are not designed to take side thrust, the set up is not very rigid, there is no fine feed and probably no quill lock, there is no means of tramming, and a drill chuck will not hold milling cutters securely. Since you have a lathe, I would use that for the sort of jobs you mention. Get a vertical slide and a fly cutter to increase capability further, and save up for a mill.

Hi Ron,

Using an ordinary bench drill for milling is possible, but you run the risk that the chuck holding your milling cutter comes loose and ruins your work and possibly more. Bench drill bearings are usually not very suited for the radials loads that you get when milling.
I have used a 2-axis table and a bench drill equipped with a MT 2 socket for light milling operations, I ended up buying a Mini-Mill, a vast improvement on the bench drill. I was able to cut a thread on the outside of the drill spindle on my bench drill so I could securely clamp a small end-mill holder in the MT socket, this worked but only for very light cuts using small diameter end-mills.

I would agree with Jimmy, get a vertical slide and do your light milling in the lathe.

Thor

Ron,

You will find that a drill press will not hold a milling cutter reliably unless it has a facility for using a drawbar for securing the Morse taper in the quill when doing anything other than very light cuts indeed.

The action of a milling cutter tends to waggle and will easily make the Morse taper "let go".

If you intend doing any half serious milling get yourself a proper milling machine.

Eric

Just don't do it! A waste of time and effort for the above reasons. Save your cash for a proper mill!

Andrew.

What David George says - mill on the lathe and find success instead of frustration.

Neil

HI looking for a small mill , any sugestions on a good budget make THanks

Thanks guys for all the advice, I will leave the bench drill well alone, its only a cheapie but I am lucky in that its a good one, seems stupid to wreck it.

The mill slides on the link by Jimmy look interesting, especially the one which has a video link it looks quite versatile with the double swivel.

Thanks again guys, much appreciated

Regards

Ron

The temptation to use a drill for milling must date back to Noah and the answer is don't! Pretty much all newcomers ask. Although drills look promising they are truly hopeless at milling. (Give it a try!)

My experience of light milling on a mini-lathe was disappointing too. Although it works there are many, many constraints, In my case the milling attachment wasn't worth the money because a mini-lathe is too small even for my modest requirements. Milling on a lathe is cramped by lack of space while saddles, bearings & chucks aren't good at handling milling stresses and tend to vibrate. Compared with a mill, milling on a lathe is hard work. I'm afraid the limitations of a small mini-lathe only made me want a proper mill all the more.

Start saving, it's a wonderful hobby!

Dave

Thanks Dave,

Since I have had a couple of hours to think about it the mill slide I was looking at is about 25% the cost of a mini mill so thinking it probably best to save for a mill.

Ron

Hi Everyone,

All this talk about the many uses of the drilling machine reminds me of something I did years ago,long before I had a lathe,never mind a milling machine.

At the time,I needed a number of simple drill bushes in order to make a drilling jig for my woodworking. They were just simple pieces of 12mm rod drilled 5mm total length,nothing fancy. Places I approached,either could not be bothered or asked for mad money,so I put on the thinking cap.

The way I did it was this : First I cut off pieces of silver steel to the required length [hacksaw ] ,then I set up a machine vise on my drilling machine table with a 5mm drill clamped upright in it,and lined it up with the chuck.

I then mounted the blanks in the drill chuck,replaced the 5mm bit with a center drill and centerdrilled each piece, then fitted the 5mm drill and simply drilled right through,as on a lathe,with the work revolving,not the drill.

The result was even better than I expected,so much so that with a few spares,I tried drilling out to 8mm,then to 10mm,just to see how accurate it was. To my surprise there was little or no difference in the wall thickness that I could see.. The finished bushes were hardened by heating and cooling in oil and are still in use today.

Now that I have a lathe,such work is much easier,but it just goes what you can do if you have to.

I know this has nothing to do with milling on a drill,but just as an aside,it,s interesting,is it not?

Excuse me,I forgot to say that the total length of the pieces was 25mm !!

A slip of the finger !