turning in the milling machine?

As we all know, it's possible to do small milling jobs in a lathe with the use of a vertical slide.... but how about turning in a milling machine? By putting the tool in some sort of holder above the table the Z-axis would give you the equivalent of the saddle (or topslide) and either the X or the Y axis (depending on which way the tool is pointing) would give you the equivalent of the cross slide. Anyone done this? :idea:

This site comes to mind:)

Yeah thats one site but there are two videos on youtube that show a Tormach and a Taig where the work piece is chucked in the mill's spindle. On the table they have the tool bits in jigs. Pretty neat if you can find them!!

Aah here,s one..
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbfXXeiSHsw"]YouTube - Taig mill turning bushings[/ame]

Thanks hoss2006 - I find your web pages and the projects a great inspiration. Mind blowingly amazing to see what you have achieved, to be truthful! :)

I was more thinking about a simplier setup where the mill chuck acts as the lathe chuck, so it holds the work piece and there aren't any complicated looking bits of lathe spindle assemblies and control panels added on! ;)

Zipsnipe - that's what I'm talking about!

Very clever use of multiple tools on the table - good for a small production run perhaps! :)

Another one that I liked:




[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0d2AcT_rJig&eurl"]YouTube - Taig Mill Turning with lathe conversion[/ame]


Dave

ah, this is tormach version of the same principle.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uy8zQ-h4F8I"]Tormach PCNC 1100 Vertical Lathe[/ame]

Cool - thanks for that one, Dave.

Btw - the coolant looks like very clear, just like water - was expecting it to be white.

This has been discussed before, here are links:

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=52028

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=485

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=51075

Thanks hoss2006. :)

Looks like one limitation with turning in the milling machine is the lack of support via a tailstock or steady but otherwise it's nothing too difficult -everyone and their dog seems to have tried it and put the video on youtube. :)

Thanks for the links Geof - it's all good research material but what on earth are booboo plugs? :confused:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Numb Nut

Thanks for the links Geof - it's all good research material but what on earth are booboo plugs? :confused:

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I think those are the plugs you thread up to screw into holes that are in the wrong place. Of course I never need them; just like the guy in the Gilbert & Sullivan song.

Hey Hoss your last post showing that Tormach machine was cool and theres actually another one when it ends in the list that was quite interesting.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HO2rmNkZ4M4"]YouTube - Duality Lathe[/ame]

Doesn't that lathe look familiar? LOL