What Mill Accessories to Start With?

Gene, I have a bunch of tooling for sale (mostly endmills and drills, but other stuff too) that could help you get started. Send me a PM and I can send you my cell no. for some pics. Eg. I have a nice starter bag of HSS endmills for $40. I think there are 35-40 in there from small (1/8?) to 1/2" or so. Plenty of spares for your first oopsies :)
 
Regarding being limited to those inner diameters corresponding to which drills you own, there is also the matter of intermediate values.

For example, you may find yourself making a hole for a press (or slip) fit, the inner diameter for which no drill exists, be it numbered, lettered, or any fractionalized metric or imperial.
 
@Aukai - Thanks. I read about fly cutters last night. That may make sense for me.

@erikmannie - Thanks. I hadn't though about being limited to my drill bit sizes which currently only go up to 1/2" for steel.

@Aaron_W, @davidpbest, @Jim F - Thanks. So the weight hanging off the front of the bed causes torque. Does that just result in wear, or also inaccuracy? I had no idea there were standards for the vices. (Don't most people with a lot of vices have no standards? ;) ) I do see a few used Kurt 4" vices on Craigslist. They look a bit rough. I assume they can get worn out and damaged, and buying used would be a gamble? Dang, why are my lottery tickets always worthless.

The major issue you will encounter with a larger vise, is even on the furthest out set of T slots it will hang over the inside of the table reducing your Y travel. A 6" Kurt DX6 vise is 16" long, and the location of the hold down bolts to the front end is 6". It is also 7.4" wide.

Your T slots are probably located about 1-1/4" in from the edge so even using the outermost T slot that vise will extend at least 1" off the inside edge of the table limiting your ability to work in close to the column. Since the vise is also wider than your table you will be unable to mount it sideways (lengthwise with the table). Older Kurt vises and other brands may have the mounting point even further back making the inside overhang even more of an issue.

A 4" Kurt DX4 vise is 12-1/2" long and has its mounting point 4.4" from the front end, so mounted in the middle slot it will have the same, or possibly less overhang off the inside and mounted in the furthest slot there will be no overhang so you can work with the table right up against the column using the full range of the mills Y travel. The DX4 is only 4.9" wide so you can also secure it sideways if you need to. The DX4 can still hold a part 6-1/2" long using the jaws on the inside position and up to 12.4" in the outside position, so it is not a tiny vise.


There is also a height factor, the 6" vise is a bit over 4-1/4" tall, the 4" vise a bit under 3-3/8", the 728 has 16" of vertical travel, so not a huge issue on that mill, but if you need 3/4" more room under the spindle to fit your work piece and associated tooling it can make a difference.

I'm using the Kurt DX series because there is good dimensional data for it online.


On the Kurt DX4 I'll also note that it can hold a much larger part than most of the cheaper 4" vises. The Kurt DX4 opens up to 6-1/2" vs only 4-4-1/2" on most cheaper vises so you are getting more than just higher quality manufacturing for Kurt's prices.

A 5" vise may be a practical option for you, but I'd want good dimensional data for the exact vise before I bought it, just to make sure it will fit comfortably. Kurt does not currently offer 5" vises, but there are some quality 5" vises out there.
 
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Ordered the PM-728VT and some accessories today. It will take me a while to set it up and convert to CNC. I'll hope for a Kurt or Glacern sale between now and then.
 
Ordered the PM-728VT and some accessories today. It will take me a while to set it up and convert to CNC. I'll hope for a Kurt or Glacern sale between now and then.

Kurt has a Scratch & Dent section on their website:


I saved mad money by buying a scratch & dent.
 
Kurt has a Scratch & Dent section on their website:


I saved mad money by buying a scratch & dent.
I was a non-believer and refused to spend the $$ on a Kurt vise…. Reason I have three of the cheap vises…. I pulled the trigger on one of those scratch & dent Kurt vises… I would have never understood the difference until I had one…

A good vise is so critical, imho, in a mill… now I get it…
 
Welcome to the forum, looks like you have plenty of advice already so all I can say is get yourself a decent lathe sooner rather than later.

Former Triumph Herald and TR4 owner here.

Cheers,

John
 
My previous 9 x 32 mill had a 6", and a 4" vise, this is for your visual..
That 6" vice looks like a lot of pry on that mill! You can make a smaller vice hold larger parts by either flipping over the jaws or making some & moving them to the outside. My used mill came with a cheap vice that suffered from the jaws tilting and the work coming loose. Splurged and bought a Kurt. Others may be as good and cheaper. Just clamping work directly to the table works when needed.

Decent measuring tools and a note book. I've never used end mill holders. I have both keyed and keyless chucks. You can't power tap with a keyless chuck! A set of quality stub drill bits and a 115 pc. set of good drill bits. Don't buy the cheap Chinese sets! Maybe a few left hand carbide drills so you can get the broken taps out after trying to power tap, until you learn about cheap taps. I use a boring head quite often. Mine has a threaded shank so I can't turn it left handed. The cheap boring tools are worth their price but after you learn to use the boring head buy some better ones.

Professional tools and equipment are nice and necessary if you are making your living with them. But given the # of tools needed to get a starter set, you can live with the less than ideal ones to get started. A lathe is part of that starter set!
 
@erikmannie thanks for the scratch and dent heads up. I'll keep an eye on that page.

@Larry$ your note makes me think of a drill set my well intention-ed late father-in-law bought me years ago. Made from the finest quality chinanamium, they stay sharp for ~30 seconds in steel. Used on wood only now after a trip to the drill doctor.

Sounds like I'm going to have to look into how to set up a go-fund-me site for a lathe. ;)
 
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a go-fund-me site for a lathe. ;)
As has been said many time on this site, It's a deep rabbit hole!
I got a 9x49 Jet mill as part of a buyout of a wood products factory closing. An OK machine. I thought I could make things with it. Soon found that was very limiting. Decided to buy a lathe. Spent a lot of time researching, looking at used. Decided on new mainly due to may lack of ability to determine the condition of used iron. Then the question was how big? Depends on what you are going to do, which I had no clue. After a year of procrastination I opt for a1440 from PM. It is from China and there are tell tale signs of it. BUT it works and the minor quality issues I've taken care of. PM was good to deal with. Prices have gone up a lot since 2016! I've made tiny & large parts, repairs of other equipment and the like on it. The limiting factor has been my learning.

I've got 3 phase and even if I didn't, I'd get a RPC or VFDs so my equipment could be. After getting a minimal starter set of tooling, just buy as needed. There are often workarounds to not having the best toys. Better to have a few good than a drawer full of not so.
 
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