Full disclosure: I've only operated a milling machine for one project in my life.
I recently purchased a tabletop mill and virtually everything I needed to get started including a toolbox on which to mount the mill. In fact, I even had a project ready - machine an adapter to adapt a flat mounting bracket to an 8" soft water mineral tank (think round cross-section). The plan was to mill a recess in the flat side of the adapter (for a large band clamp) which also bolted to the mounting bracket and bore-out the other side of the adapter to fit the curvature of the 8" mineral tank.
I mounted some Nylatron GS nylon into the vise and milled a perfect rectangle, flipped it and milled the slot, then drilled and tapped for the mounting hole. I mounted the boring bar into the quill and began taking .015" at 1,500 RPM. I immediately recognized the position in which I had put myself: a 4" cutter head spinning ~1,500 feet/minute at belly-button height. So, I did what any safety conscious man would do: grabbed a couch cushion and propped it up in a partially open drawer against my belly.
Now, feeling fully safe I went about my business of removing this incredibly hard nylon - thunk, thunk, thunk... Just before I had reached the sagitta, The Wife walks in and demand to know what I thought I was doing. "Making an adapter, Hun...", I innocently replied.
In my blunder, I learned two things:
1) The wife does not give a hoot what I am making - only that her couch cushion is free of any debris.
3) I really don't know if the couch cushion would have helped.
Fun times!
John
I recently purchased a tabletop mill and virtually everything I needed to get started including a toolbox on which to mount the mill. In fact, I even had a project ready - machine an adapter to adapt a flat mounting bracket to an 8" soft water mineral tank (think round cross-section). The plan was to mill a recess in the flat side of the adapter (for a large band clamp) which also bolted to the mounting bracket and bore-out the other side of the adapter to fit the curvature of the 8" mineral tank.
I mounted some Nylatron GS nylon into the vise and milled a perfect rectangle, flipped it and milled the slot, then drilled and tapped for the mounting hole. I mounted the boring bar into the quill and began taking .015" at 1,500 RPM. I immediately recognized the position in which I had put myself: a 4" cutter head spinning ~1,500 feet/minute at belly-button height. So, I did what any safety conscious man would do: grabbed a couch cushion and propped it up in a partially open drawer against my belly.
Now, feeling fully safe I went about my business of removing this incredibly hard nylon - thunk, thunk, thunk... Just before I had reached the sagitta, The Wife walks in and demand to know what I thought I was doing. "Making an adapter, Hun...", I innocently replied.
In my blunder, I learned two things:
1) The wife does not give a hoot what I am making - only that her couch cushion is free of any debris.
3) I really don't know if the couch cushion would have helped.
Fun times!
John
