Mortiser milling machine.

DaveinDublin

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Good evening all. Having more ambition than money I am planning to build a homemade milling machine using a Vevor milling table and mounting it on a Sedgwick 571 mortiser. The motor is 380v 750w unit which I’m planning to run on single phase via a vfd and drive a r8 spindle. Has anyone else attempted something similar?IMG_1686.jpegIMG_1687.jpegIMG_1688.jpeg
 
To clarify, the mortiser has an R8 spindle? Also the VFD wont give you low end torque.
 
sorry, but I don't see this working that well. A mortiser has no ability to take a side load. And you have more travel in X than you do in y, in Y that casting may do a better job, but it won't in X. I would not consider it, as you are fighting with a casting that is not supportive.
you will spend a bit of money that won't do what you want.
 
Yes, I have tried making a milling machine with one of these bases.

It will convince you to save up the money for an actual mill.

You can see my DIY mill journey here.



This is what I ended up with after buying a RF-30 clone.


I paid $1600 for the Samson, RF-30 clones can often be bought for half that. Mini mills used for even less. I probably have close to $2k into my mill/drill project. Granted it’s CNC, but from my experience (also tried with a drill press) you’ll be dollars ahead just saving up for a mill.

Also, do you have a lathe yet? You can do a lot of milling type of operations on a lathe. If you have specific projects that need the mill then go for that first. But, if you’re just wanting to get started in hobby machining a lathe is a better place to start IMHO.

Good luck with whatever you choose.

John
 
There's quite a number of home-made mills and lathes on the internet. My YouTube algorithm shows them. They are all a lot of work and usually there's not a lot of video showing parts being made. Although the basic parts are relatively simple, building and aligning everything is not easy. They are often simple machine, with none of the frills that machinists need to be productive. When I watch the build videos, it sometimes looks like a carpenter or mason has decided to branch out into a new field without knowing how things are done and with no "feel". In other words, building machines badly can be a way to subtly avoid becoming a machinist. I went through such a phase (mostly on paper) so I can't case the first stone but I certainly wouldn't advise such an extreme bootstrap strategy.

If you want to learn how to build machine tools, maybe this is the perfect opportunity. It won't be easy or inexpensive. The cheapest way to get a working mill is to buy an import and use it to improve itself. This is already quite a lot of work and you'll learn a lot.

If you just want to make parts, you might find that picking up extra shifts or getting a seasonal job will be more efficient. I think it would take a mechanical non-machinist 8 x 40-hour weeks to draw and build a 3-axis mill. If you worked that many hours at even 10 $/hr, you could buy an RF-30 and some tooling.

When I think back on the hours I spent thinking about machining and watching videos, it was such a waste of time. I should have told the wife that I wanted to buy a mill next year and it will cost 4,000 (a little extra for tooling and inevitable shortfall. Might have had to eat in on Fridays or find a side hustle but I could have been machining 10 years earlier if I had focused on buying a mill off the shelf.

In any case, good luck.
 
Lots of good advice! I've gone down the "I can make that" hole before. As everyone advices, not worth it! Get a side job if you need to buy a used mill. The mill/drills are cheap, capable and can do real work.
 
Don't do it. Guaranteed to be disappointing, and a grand waste of time and money.
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I learned quite a bit from my project, and not all if it was to not attempt something like it again.

If anyone would like to skip the intermediate steps mine is available.


John
 
My belief about the mortising machine (reflected in the comments already above) is that while it's probably more rigid than a drill press, it's still not anywhere suitable for use as a milling machine. That's speculation on my part, based on having limited use of that type of machine, in a range wood from very, very soft wood to very, very hard wood. Never tried to make a mill out of one, but my gut says it doesn't have what it takes.

That Vevor Milling Table..... Garbage. It's not going to do what you want. They're pretty great for spotting holes on a drill press, visually, with punch marks and all, but they're not tight, not accurate, the leadscrews are inconsistent enough to make the dials useless.... They're pricepoint junk. A casting kit for you to finish yourself at best, but in practice there's not a lot of room to work with there. I'd give you mine, but it broke, on the drill press, when an inch and a quarter, maybe inch and a half? (32? 38?mm hole saw started chattering making a hole in a piece of quarter inch flat bar (6.some mm). A huge chunk of "way" broke right out. They're NOT milling machine material.

I've done things in my life just to see if I could, knowing full well that there was no possible way it was going to work. Just for the satisfaction of having tried. Just for the sport of chasing that one project in dozens that works out, against the advice of others who already knew what I didn't. If you do this anyhow, I'll follow along, offer any advice I can, and hope for the best possible outcome. I do believe however, that you're going to be money, time, and results ahead by holding out for the real thing. Real milling machines get a LOT cheaper if they are a project, and would, I believe, in my opinion, be a lot better investment of time, effort, and resourcefulness.
 
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