Originally Posted by
roninB4
-Glad to hear you aren't offended, a machine shop is not for the faint of heart. My suggestion for a learning resource would be Machinery's Handbook. I had NO background in the trades when I started, nobody in my family did either. I learned from grumpy old men and reading the handbook on my off hours. You may not understand everything you're reading but as long as it plants the seed of thought it will blossom. EVERYTHING you'll need to know is contained in that one book. The indexable insert cutters are ok, they're better suited for ferrous materials and a more rigid machine IMO as carbide is inferior to HSS in a smaller mill. If you're cutting aluminum or plastic it's hard to beat a square tool blank held in a fly cutter. For one thing, you can sharpen it yourself if the finish isn't quite right. It will also give you an insight into how cutting tools work when you change the geometry and/or the material you're cutting. You'll need to be careful of the depth of cut and your feed if you have one of the Chi-Wan mills as they often have plastic gears that drive the spindle. The impact of using a fly cutter can cause the plastic gear to explode and then you're dead in the water. Better to convert the mill to a pulley drive for 100$ (they're readily available on the internet). Run the mill with the locks partially engaged to minimize the shock and it will produce a better looking finish. Rough off the majority of the material with an end mill, use the fly cutter for the last .007 and you can produce a good looking surface finish. An end mill produces a more accurate surface but you asked for surface finish.
Like I wrote earlier, if you apply yourself to learning like most of us Olde Pharts did it will be more gratifying for the veterans to help a newbie like yourself. Just like we were newbies the grumpy old men helped out. That's the circular nature of passing the torch.......
Good luck and stop in often.:cheers:
Thanks for the info Ronin.. :cheers:
My Mill is the SX2 version of the Sieg X2, this comes with the 500watt brushless motor and it has the belt conversion... before I bought it I was aware of the X2 with the cheap plastic gears, which also comes with a 350 watt motor with brushes.
For the extra £60 its a no brainer to get the SX2.
I'll try and find the Machinery Handbook a bit cheaper than £83
[ame=http://www.amazon.co.uk/Machinerys-Handbook-28th-Erik-Oberg/dp/0831128011/ref=pd_sim_b_3]Machinery's Handbook 28th Edition: Larger-Print Edition: Amazon.co.uk: Erik Oberg, Franklin Jones, Henry Ryffel, Christopher McCauley, Ricardo Heald: Books[/ame]
Sieg SX2, 500 watt brushless motor, Belt Driven. 3 MT