Noob Milling Machine Help

boostin53

boostin53

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Hey guys, I have a few questions so please bare with me. I have never ran a milling machine and don't know half of what should be purchased to get a start in milling. I'm looking at buying a Grizzly G0762 in a few months along with some starter tooling.

What are some things I should buy first besides the mill? Things I have in mind are a rotary table, vise, clamping kit, various end mill bits, and 1-2-3 blocks. What else should a beginner purchase to effectively get a good start at milling?

I don't really have any specific parts I'm going to be making. I do however want to make some dress up parts for my car and possibly some performance parts. Things suck as brackets, mounts and things of that nature. The mill will be used for other things that see fit as time goes buy. So what does the hive say? What all should I look at buying for all around milling? My budget is $5-6k. So some things may have to be purchased at a later date.
 
Hi Boostin53,
in addition to the items you listed above, you may wish to get:
machinerys handbook
fly cutters
collets to hold tooling
milling vise
dial indicator(s)
calipers/micrometer
 
Boring head
Variety of end mills
Full set of collets
Some more end mills
Edge finder
DRO
A few more backup end mills
Slitting saws
Modest surface plate
Height gauge

At least that's what I would be looking at, in addition to your list and Mike's, if I had money and room for a mill. :)
 
I already have a few dial indicators and a last word. Along with digital and mechanical caipers and micrometers. Along with other tools used with my lathe. Didnt even think about collets or a surface plate, boring head, fly cutter or dlitting saw.
 
I am very good at coming up with lists of tools I want. Actually purchasing them, and then making what I want to with those tools are other matters entirely.
 
You will want some type of super spacer or rotary table, indexing is a must have, you can flute handles or knobs this way. A straight shank drill chuck, shorty shank 3/4 diameter, also collet chucks are nice to have. Machinist level is also good to have, depth mic, pin gages, v blocks, tilt table, a nice set of spiral flute taps, YG makes good ones, screw machine drills, coax indicator is nice to have. Spotting drills, center drills, the list is never ending....
 
In addition to the good suggestions already made, I would suggest you consider what you need to do basic operations and buy accordingly.

  • Setting up - you have to tram the mill so you need a way to hold your indicator - Indicol or some equivalent holder for an accurate dial test indicator. Some kind of accurate square to indicate the head in Z - cylinder, machinist square, etc.
  • Milling vise - most things will be held with a vise so get a good one sized for your mill. Capacity is not as important as accuracy here; Kurt is very good, others vary. Sure, clamping to the table and using 1-2-3 blocks is necessary at times but 90% of the time you will use the vise so get one that fits your needs.
  • End mill holders - you can use a basic R8 collet set and do fine but a very good option is an ER collet chuck. It will hold drills, end mills, fly cutters and so on with very good accuracy. You might consider the Tormach tool holding system; they sell an ER-32 chuck for under $40.00.
  • Squaring - just about all projects begins with squaring the work. You need a good vise, an edge finder and some way to cut flat, accurate surfaces. I use a fly cutter for this, although end mills or face mills will work fine.
  • Drilling - You can hold drills in a collet but I would suggest you buy a good drill chuck. I prefer Albrecht chucks myself but Rohm is a good option for keyless chucks. A Jacobs super chuck (the older US-made models only) is a very good keyed option. Be sure to mount the chuck on a quality arbor - Albrecht, Jacobs, Rohm, ETM. Buy good drills and if possible, buy screw machine drills; their shorter length will come in handy when space in Z is tight. Also buy some spotting drills if you don't already have some.
  • Parallels - you will need a standard set; 1/8" thick import sets work fine for most things. You will need to drill close to an edge on occasion and a thin parallel set will come in very handy for this; they go up in height by 1/16" increments and this can be very useful so buy a set at some point. You might also consider an angle block set; they are a cheap way to make an angled cut with reasonable accuracy.
  • End mills - there are many good brands: Niagra, Melin, OSG, Brubaker and so on. If you plan to cut aluminum buy some two flute high helix end mills. For most steels, 3 or 4 flute HSS center-cutting end mills will work. Also buy some roughing end mills to rough out the work and finish with your regular end mills. Special end mills like corner rounding, ball end, etc. can be bought as you find the need.
  • Safety items - glasses, good lighting, fan to blow the smoke from coolants away from you, etc.
This is a short list and there are many, many other things you will buy later - boring head, rotary table, angle or sine tables, indexing stuff and so on. However, the above will get you cutting. As you learn to use the mill and your projects dictate the need for other tools you can focus your spending on things that fill that need. Over time, you will build a collection of tools that will enable you to do almost anything a hobby guy is likely to see. Take your time and do your homework. Remember that ebay is your friend!

Try to buy good tools and buy them once, and this especially applies to your measuring tools. You will find many opinions on this, from "only buy the best" to "China is good enough". Your budget will dictate which camp you end up in.

I'm sure I missed some things but someone will be along shortly to correct that. Good luck!
 
When I was starting up my hobby shop I did a lot of 'shopping.' I found I could buy multiple end mills cheaper than singles. (Don't buy graduated sets, you'll only use a few of them. Check out this
http://www.ebay.com/itm/5-PCS-5-16-...836949?hash=item1c35de2bd5:g:iRwAAOSwjVVViZ80
you get ten ends for $4.20 ea. With TiN coating you can cut mild steel at 250 surface feet, as opposed to 90 for HSS. Check out tiny (1.5mm) solid carbide in sets of ten, etc.
 
I don't have a mill yet, as I mentioned, but I have already picked up a number of end mills on eBay that were manufacturing rejects. Specifically the final ground diameter was not within tolerance of the specified diameter. They're still perfectly good quality, you just have to be aware of that discrepancy. This seems to be more common with unusual profiles, like one that has two diameters with a chamfer between them. I think I paid $1 for that one. I can't think of the name offhand right now, but it was a manufacturer I had heard of, USA made.

Anyway, for hobby use those kinds of manufacturing defects can be a great shortcut, because we can often either correct or compensate for the defect. Not practical for commercial purchasing, but for us it's an option to stretch the budget.
 
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