Keith from The Wirral

Hi everyone my main interest is making model steam engines (just starting) my wife has just bought me a small lathe so at the moment my workshop is just the lathe and bench drill. I'm think of purchasing the Vevor milling attachment to utilise the bench drill. My back ground has been in large machine shops so these dainty machines will take some getting used to. Are there any members using the Vevor milling table and do you recommend them.

Any info will be gratefully received

No Vevor but welcome to the forum

H

Welcome, Keith, you will be amongst a huge number of steam experts. As for Vevor, you should put the name in the search box and read all the comments before committing yourself. I have just bought a Vevor 160mm lathe chuck for a very low price on ebay and initial examination suggests it is excellent value for money. You could start a thread asking advice on milling attachments for your model lathe, that will get the answers you want. If you have the room and funds, a mill would be a much better way to go.

Welcome to the party Keith. there will be many who can help you on here. Good Luck. Noel.

The bench drill is likely to have a lot of rattle in the quill unless an old British made one in good condition and the table perhaps a bit flimsy unless you are only working on say up to gauge 3.

Hi, I'm not sure of the make of bench drill but it is substantial and i've checked the quill for side movement with a dti and seems perfect

I was thinking of mounting the milling base directly onto the drill base rather than onto the adjustable mid table. I think the only metal i will milling would be brass or aluminium with just light cuts

Unless you have a drawbar (unusual on a drilling machine) I think the chuck is likely to continually work loose if you try milling rather than coordinate driling

I must admit that is something I hadn't thought about, so thanks for that Duncan

Welcome!

Find a local model engineering society and join..

There you will, meet like minded folk who can help with face to face advice, and demonstrations,

Also, what you see will inspire you, but don't think that you should start building an A4 as a first job.

Read up in books on lathe operation. (Sparey, Bray, Bradley, Clark, Fenner, Wyatt have all written books that will help. (Setting up, tool grinding etc You'll need a bench grinder if you have not already got one.)

Learn by making simple accessories, ( Centre Height Gauge, Tap wrench, Die Holder(s ) . Even better if you make Sliding Die and Tap holders, may save you some grief later on ).

A Mandrel Handle can also be a help for cutting a thread up to a shoulder. 

Currently, I am helping a newbie with his first lathe, to make accessories. He is gaining experience, and confidence, which he will put to use when he feels able to take on more complicated projects.

DON'T use a drilling machine for milling, even with a cross table. By all means use it to drill holes to co ordinates, but not for milling...

The drill chuck and the spindle are meant for axial loads, not the intermittent lateral loads imposed by milling.

In any case a drilling spindle is unlikely ,to be as accurately located as ma milling spindle.

If possible, only use a lathe to mill, for light work.Maybe I was heavy handed, but a Rodney milling attachment shook my Myford ML7. So I bought a Mill!

Milling, unlike turning, is an interrupted cut so involves a lot of impacts, and hobby machine are not heavily built like industrial ones. And as you know, industry uses heavily built Mills for such work.

HTH

Howard

Hi Keith welcome to the forum. I am a retired toolmaker and having got a lathe tried milling on the lathe and found it very restrictive and so bought a small mill from Chester and wouldn't go back. If you have the room that is the way to go. Just look carefuly at the mill you buy as the one I bought has a Z axis handwheel at the back of the column and I did a mod to fit a bevel gear to make it more accessible.

David

Hi Keith, your name sounds familiar??....I used to live on the Wirral and was a member of the WRCFS (model flying club) for a number of years. We have since moved to Tarporley. Being self employed, 2 children and a house move has taken its toll on the model flying but my model engineering still lives on as its easier to escape to the bottom of the garden than the flying field!

My father is a member of the Wirral Model Engineering Society if you need any contacts then please let me know but they have a good website and Facebook page and active most weekends on the ground level track.

Mike

Hi Mike, yes I remember you from WRCFS, I've moved to a more sedate and relaxing pastime now. I hadn't realised there was a model engineering society on the Wirral so I'm definately going to get in touch with them so thanks for the info

Keith

Thanks for all the info Howard

Yes you have convinced me to save up for a mill but don't tell my wife

So Keith doesn't have to solve a mystery, Vevor is a big box shifter, which can be good or bad:

• Good: the larger box shifters have lots of purchasing muscle resulting in low prices. If an item bought from a UK supplier is found to be faulty by the customer, the problem is fixed by return or refund.
• Bad: box shifters aren't tool specialists! The trade-name refers to the company, not the products, which be anything between wonderful and too cheap. How good the tool is depends on the box shifter's purchasing department, and they are unlikely to be tool experts. Milling tables are generic items made by several makers in China, India and elsewhere. If it's a dud, don't expect any technical support! Unsatisfactory items are replaced or refunded, which may not be easy or cheap to arrange. If bought locally, local consumer protection applies and a successful box shifter will probably try protect to protect their reputation. This may not apply if a fly by night box shifter is based abroad.

So bit of a gamble, much riskier if the box shifter is based abroad, but lots of people do OK buying from them.

For ordinary purposes, I prefer to buy mid-range items of this type from UK specialist hobby suppliers. It's worked out OK for me. They put more-or-less effort into avoiding the worst, and - more important - will talk to the customer, hopefully without too much hassle. I think buying from reputable suppliers is safer than relying on trade-names, but there's always a risk. For what it's worth I prefer ArcEuro, Warco, and TracyTools, but I've bought from other UK vendors without major problems.

If the tool is important, I look to the industrial suppliers. Rarely necessary because I'm a light hobbyist. New industrial gear is likely to be eye-watering expensive, and Model Engineers rarely like spending money!

Second-hand industrial tooling is often good, but beware! Second-hand tooling has history. It can be worn out or need spare parts made of Unaffordium and Unobtainium.

In short, I don't know of a general source of cheap tooling made to a tight specification. Good news, I haven't come unstuck buying mid-range yet. It helps that I don't expect Far Eastern hobby equipment to be just as good as western industrial gear costing 6 to 20 times as much. If a tool does what I need of it, it's "good enough". If it isn't "good enough", I go up market.

My view of tools is entirely pragmatic; they're made to be used, not admired! But this is a hobby, and it's perfectly respectable to enjoy a workshop full of the best possible tools, if that's what you want.

Dave

Hi Keith.

I agree on joining ME society. There's a lot on benefits that comes with it and the most important is the chance to meet people that share a same interests and are happy to share their knowledge.

If you wish to contact WMES, club doesn't have a website anymore but some info and contact details can be found on Facebook page Wmes facebook.

You're welcome to come round to a meeting at WI hall in Thornton Hough, these are on the first and third Thursdays of each month at 7.30pm.

Tom

Thanks Tom, I will definitely come along to those meetings and its just up the road for me. I'm looking forward to meeting people with the same interests. My problem at the moment is I don't have a milling machine until I save up for one, possibly another member might just do a bit of milling for me.

Keith

Dave, thanks for your posting and yes your right Vevor are big box shifters / importers from China. My small lathe is one of these chinese imports and of course it doesn't compare to a Myford and you get what you pay for. Saying that I have been pleasantly suprised so far

I have come from a machine shop background where time was money, I would be on a Mitchell lathe taking 1/4 inch cuts with blue swarf flying everwhere and now with the tranquility of retirement I can be quite happy taking 10 thou' cuts on my chinese lathe to pass the time of day. I just need to find a scrap metal merchant that has big pieces of brass for sale

Keith

Keith have a look at M machine metals http://www.m-machine-metals.co.uk/ for metal suplies.

David

Nice one David, that metal supply is just what I need and good value too.

Thanks again David