Homemade vertical mill drill

It's not super powerful but the speed should be great for small bits and I already had a spare VFD.

I'm even looking at building up a mold form for both a base and a head. Of course I don't have the means to cast it in iron or anything else but the thinking is there.

Here's my first test making epoxygranite with some West System and blasting material from Tractor Supply. It's surprisingly heavy and tough.

firsttest.jpeg
 

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I'm not sure what the black diamond media is chemically but it only weighs 92 pounds per cubic foot. Iron is about 5 times as heavy. I wonder what sort of metal powders you could get ahold of to use as the aggregate in that to make it heavier? I know magnetite and hematite are about 250# per cubic foot but not sure where you could buy it in useful quantities.
 
I'm not sure what the black diamond media is chemically but it only weighs 92 pounds per cubic foot. Iron is about 5 times as heavy. I wonder what sort of metal powders you could get ahold of to use as the aggregate in that to make it heavier? I know magnetite and hematite are about 250# per cubic foot but not sure where you could buy it in useful quantities.

I really wasn't planning on using just that for a mix, it's just what I had on hand. I'm pretty sure what I have is coal slag, they also have iron silicate, garnet, glass and aluminum oxide. Most people use decomposed granite, sand, and several other items to make a mix where most of the voids are filled with stone rather than epoxy. A solid chunk of rock and plastic is probably going to be heavier than a cast iron shell regardless.

I'm getting to the point now where I really need milling capability to move ahead so I'm thinking to get one of those cheap XY tables as an interim step. I've done lots of long-term projects and have learned that sometimes you need to make compromises that can be fixed at a later stage in order to keep moving ahead. If I can get to the point where I'm making chips with just the steel frame I can start to figure out what I'll really need to do to improve tolerances. And, I'll need to buy some better measuring tools as well

Cheers,

John
 
those XY tables do work - I used one on my drill press as a "mill" for a couple of years - but they can be pretty frustrating. As long as you can take light cuts and lock everything down that you can, it'll work. One big improvement is to add thrust bearings to the handles, reduces the cranking effort considerably.
 
those XY tables do work - I used one on my drill press as a "mill" for a couple of years - but they can be pretty frustrating. As long as you can take light cuts and lock everything down that you can, it'll work. One big improvement is to add thrust bearings to the handles, reduces the cranking effort considerably.

I've been working on a modern design with ballscrews and linear slides that would be suitable for CNC. One of the challenges I have is I live a long way from anywhere, when I get back to San Jose, (where I'm from) I know of at least three surplus places that should have all the stuff I need for a good price. In the mean time I want to get something manual that I can do a few parts on (don't need to be super accurate).

I'll take the table apart and make improvements before I mount it to try and minimize frustration. If you know what you're getting into it's easier to adjust your expectations. I'll still be under $400 which I feel is a reasonable price for a tool like the one I'm building. If something comes along that's better I can re-purpose this one as a tool grinder or something else.

Cheers,

John
 
I've been intimidated by CAD software since the 1980's when AutoDesk was across the street from the A/V company I worked for. Mostly the programs had too steep a learning curve and cost too much.

Well, I downloaded FreeCad to my Ubuntu workstation and started trying to figure it out since it will be good to have some drawings of what I'm trying to accomplish. In less than an hour I had a basic design of my machine base, I know it won't impress any seasoned CAD operators but I'm pretty happy with just being able to do it.

Here's the steel frame.
base_frame1.png

And here it is with the cast stone slab.
base-1.png

So now I can at least explain with pictures what I'm trying to do.

Cheers,

John
 
Well, here is the xy table. Just like I expected....

table 0.jpeg

And torn down....

table1.jpeg

I'm definitely ordering some new lead screws from McMaster Carr.

Cheers,

John
 
I hope it works for what you want. I do have a suggestion before you replace the lead screw. For that Burke table I am working on I ordered a new nut from McMaster Carr and it fit the old screw nice and tight. So maybe try a new nut first.
 
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