[CNCfun&games]

Will build a Fixture Mill from my original design, fabricated from
gray iron castings. Will document the patternmaking for those
who may be interested in the process. Will machine the castings,
and assemble the machine, and then convert it to 3 axis CNC.
Will post lot's of pictures for those who are new to this addictive
hobby.

[CNCfun&games]

Enclosed is a drawing of the first three cast parts.
The design incorporates 30 degree angles on the sides because they are
easy to make on a table saw & I liked the appearance!
The next part described will be the Machine baseplate which incorporates
a coolant groove & lots of room for a 6' X 19" table/cross slide.

I will submit my patternmaking guide for reference as soon as I can
reduce the file size.

W. Smith

[bryanrabb]

round column is not the best for CNC.

[CNCfun&games]

Brian,
Thanks for your input!
The mill is only 168# but it's a sturdy little sucker!!
I'm eager to install some 280 oz/in stepper's and give it a try.

W. Smith

[CNCfun&games]

The Baseplate shown was cast from a “Loose Piece Pattern”.
(see my patternmaking Guide for an explanation)
The price at 33# wasn't much more than the parts cast from
“Match Plate Patterns”, but that was because there were no cores involved.
The Baseplate picture shows the progression from raw casting, to blanchard
ground & painted, to machining mounting holes for the Column Support.

An “old timer” at the foundry suggested I paint the castings immediately,
because gray iron is messy to handle & also to machine. You can see the
results of not taking his advice, in some of the pictures. I am now relegated
to bead blasting the remaining raw castings.

I've included the picture of the spindle head casting because it was pictured
in the earlier post.

Next I'll start machining some of the castings.........

[CNCfun&games]

Enclosed are the additional drawings to complete the Spindle & Head Assy.
My Glass Bead blaster required a complete pneumatic overhaul before I
could begin the rust removal task on the remaining castings. I got carried
away with the pattern making and completed work on a vise, a rotary table
& some knee mill parts before loosing interest. I have drawings on the Cross Slide but will not post them unless there is some interest. Enco sells a FINISHED 6" x18" Slide for less than than I can buy the raw material.(see "5 Bears' commentS on the subject).

Next time I'll include photos of the Knee Version of this Mill, which I'm also starting to assemble.

[Rodm1954]

Hi,
I think you are getting a lot of interest but not many posts because your work is a step above most on this forum. I am fascinated by your work so please keep the posts coming.
Thanks for sharing.

[CNCfun&games]

Rod, Your post was very encouraging......Thanks!!

I received the ENCO Cross slide today...it is made in Taiwan & the quality
is very good.(particularly for $121 + S&H)
It is positioned on the Baseplate to show the scale.I will now tear it down
and rework it with linear rails, ball screws & motor mounts for the Steppers.

The spindle was roughed out & machined for the #2 Morse taper, then sent to the local Spline & Gear house along with the mating step pulley.The last spindle I made incorporated Timken Tapered Roller Bearings. I can't machine the Quill until I research the bearings needed
for higher speed. I'm also modifying a Sherline spindle to add a tool changer to the design. More on that & the Knee mill iteration next time...

[CNCfun&games]

Because I have previously posted all the Detail Drawings of the Fixture Mill, I am going to
take some liberties with the existing design in order to simplify the conversion to CNC.

After receiving the Enco Cross Slide, I completely disassembled it to find out why the "Y"
axis nut had fractured in shipment. The unit was nested in a thick foam structure which
looked "bullet proof". The foam was penetrated about 1/2" in front of the "Y" axis handle
but no significant damage was noted. I only intend to use the table and the 5/8-10 lead screws in the new configuration, but thought the base & the "Y"nut could be adapted to
make a nice machine vise.
The table & acme screws are of excellent quality and I will buy some anti backlash nuts
from Kerk or SDP/SI to try them out.
I'm using THK linear rails on the "X" & "Y" axis. The trucks will be mounted on a Gray
iron saddle I designed & the "Y" rails will be mounted directly on th Base plate, since
it is already blanchard ground.
One configuration for the "Z" axis has been prototyped & shows some promise but it
is a complete departure from the original Fixture Mill Drawings. It would allow the use of a Cartridge Spindle or a Grinder motor which I have successfully used on other projects.
The 4" Travel on the "Z" axis envelope could be raised & lowered by adjusting the column.

Enclosed are some pictures of the Knee mill castings. I may use some of these castings
on the new CNC mill if it will improve the design & ease of fabrication.

[Oldmanandhistoy]

Hi,

Nice job so far . I’m watching this thread btw.

John

[cncuser1]

I'm alsso watching, and tryiing hard to keep up

I'm also modifying a Sherline spindle to add a tool changer to the design. More on that & the Knee mill iteration next time...

I'd love to know what you had in mind. I've toyed with the idea too.

[CNCfun&games]

John, Thanks for watching....hope it's informative.

cncuser1: There are a lot of the "Smart Guy's' working on Tool Changers & Spindle Retrofit's. I bought Joe Vicars plan Set to get up to speed. He modifies A Sherline
Spindle. I bought a couple and they are a quality product!! I modified his design to
add a few enhancements which I will describe in coming posts.

The acme leadscrew idea was discarded when I priced the plastic nuts @ $35. ea.

I'll just use the rolled Ball Screws/ Nuts I have on hand.

I've decided to bring the Knee Mill along concurrently with the Fixture Mill so........
enclosed are the first two drawings to show some of the detail parts.
Also are a couple of photo's of the 2 side by side.

I haven't accomplished as much as I'd like since the last post, but was able to finish
a mounting bracket for the knee mill. Too much time planning and not enough "in the cut".

[ZipSnipe]

CNCFun&games
You have just set the bar to max. Excellent work, I,m so impressed that you are casting your parts in iron. Beautiful work and your making a knee mill too. Please keep us posted!!

[dang]

CNCFun&Games,

This is a very interesting project, and it's coming along just fine. My big question for you is if you are melting the iron yourself, and if so how?

Great Work!

[defarijf]

More power to you for melting cast iron. Great job so far

[CNCfun&games]

ZIPSNIPE: thanks....your feedback is important to me!

dang & defarijf : A Clarification... I make my own patterns & take them to
Covert Iron Works, Huntington Park, CA where they work their magic!!

I've been using their services for 25 years & they do excellent work.
I always order a minimum of 5 parts.

I like using Gray Iron parts...but I hate machining the stuff.
It takes a lot of time to clean my shop after machining it.
Black dust everywhere.

My Bridgeport Boss retrofit is being setup for coolant just to solve
that problem.

[cncuser1]

Why did you opt for a knee(bridgeport) configuration rather than a bed style(Tormach)?

[kuhncw]

Nice work. The knee mill looks like a little brother to my Rockwell vertical mill.

Regards,

Chuck

[CNCfun&games]

Cncuser1

I decided to construct the Knee Mill along with the Fixture Mill
because I had already prepared the plans, made the patterns and had the
castings on hand. I suppose I could reverse the column, and mount the head
in place of the knee and have a bed mill configuration.

I have already built a mill configuration which I consider the optimal design
for a Benchtop mill. The Bridge mill has a large working envelope, is extremely
sturdy, uprights are 9.5” x 20.” x .75” Blanchard Ground steel plates. The bridge
is rectangular steel tubing 6.” x 3.” x .375” wall. x 24” lg. It was my first CNC
design & it’s been running for over 7 years trouble free.

The best design for a Bridge mill I’ve seen was just released by Mori Seiki.
I’ve contemplated building a simplified benchtop version of their Duro Mill because it contains all the design features I consider important. Think I could do it with 4 or 5 castings……..WELL, enough dreaming…..back to work on the Fixture & Knee Mills.

kuhncw,

The Rockwell is a very nice mill… big enough to do some serious work.

[mxtras]

Your castings look to be of very, very good quality. I am impressed! They look smoother than most commercial castings.

I am watching also...

Scott