[fixridermtl]

Hi guys! This forum is full of cool builds. I love seeing what all you guys make and it's time for me to give something back. I've been working on a mini mill for a while. It's going to feature servos on the XYZ, a vector driven spindle, 8 tool toolchanger, full enclosure, coolant tank... Essentially, it will have all the features of a vmc but in a slightly smaller package with 400*250*250mm travels and a bt30 spindle.
The grey iron that will form the table has just been squared up and the corners have been chamfered. You can see the blank that will form the saddle in the background. I should upload a video of the machining process on youtube soon.


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[nateman_doo]

Id love to see your ATC. I debate on making my own vs buying one all the time.

[wizard]

Hi guys! This forum is full of cool builds. I love seeing what all you guys make and it's time for me to give something back. I've been working on a mini mill for a while. It's going to feature servos on the XYZ, a vector driven spindle, 8 tool toolchanger, full enclosure, coolant tank... Essentially, it will have all the features of a vmc but in a slightly smaller package with 400*250*250mm travels and a bt30 spindle.

That is a big project.

The grey iron that will form the table has just been squared up and the corners have been chamfered. You can see the blank that will form the saddle in the background. I should upload a video of the machining process on youtube soon.

Actually I'd rather see a sketch of where you are going with this. By table do you mean the bed of the mill or the actual milling table? It seems to me that if you are starting with the table you have a very top down approach here.

[fixridermtl]

Actually I'd rather see a sketch of where you are going with this. By table do you mean the bed of the mill or the actual milling table? It seems to me that if you are starting with the table you have a very top down approach here.

This is the milling table. I'll have pix of the rest of the frame elements soon.

[fixridermtl]

more table progress

[Fenza CNC]

Can't wait to see how this goes, looks very impressive im really interested in this build so please load as many photos as possible is this your first build?

[fixridermtl]

t slots are done

[nateman_doo]

Sexy table!!

UPDATES?!

[TiagoSantos]

Looks like you've got access to a couple of nice toys! The table is looking great! Any updates on the rest of the machine?

[victorofga]

i like that mill.. i worked on similar sized machines before 93.. they are just awsome.. power and glory :-)
lathe also looking beautiful.. real machinist dream both machine..

[fixridermtl]

The table has been surface ground and I made and finished the saddle too.

[FranklinEng]

Hi, looks good. Nice work chamfering the T-slots. What made you choose the grey cast iron for the table? For material stabilty i'm guessing? I'm starting a similar build myself using servo's off a Cincinatti mill we're scrapping. Will the cast iron not be too soft and dent from swarf under vices etc?


Cheers.

[nateman_doo]

That saddle looks HEAVVVYYY!!! great pics so far. now get back to work... we need more updates

[fixridermtl]

Hi, looks good. Nice work chamfering the T-slots. What made you choose the grey cast iron for the table? For material stabilty i'm guessing? I'm starting a similar build myself using servo's off a Cincinatti mill we're scrapping. Will the cast iron not be too soft and dent from swarf under vices etc?

Grey cast iron is a great material for building these kind of machine parts mainly for its superior vibration dampening compared to steel. It is plenty durable and has been a choice for machine tool tables for a long time. Of course they end up seeing wear and dropping tools and parts etc. will bang up a table pretty easily but it does not really impact the functionality too much.