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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2023
    Posts
    5

    Home made milling machine

    Hi,

    I'm new to milling but I want to play with this for fun. I bought an Vevor X-Y table and a vise and a Bosch column drilling machine. Normally this Bosch model has a small play but there is a video on YouTube how to fix it. After I replaced a bearing the play is completely gone.
    I have a 6mm carbide mill and the first thing I tried was to make two parallel sides to a large nut and to a bolt. I was moving the table very slow and the cutting depth was less than 1mm but sometimes there are strong vibrations. I set the speed to 1500RPM. Also the green case of the drill is vibrating sometimes. The milled surfaced is very smooth and I'm very pleased with the results. But is my improvised milling machine any good or it will destroy the bearings if I'm using it longer? Or the mill can break?

    Thanks
    Andrei
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails MyMill.jpg   Mill1.jpg   Mill2.jpg  

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Posts
    2143

    Re: Home made milling machine

    Milling steel takes a very stout machine. I doubt a drill press spindle had any design features to support side loading. If your plan is to machine more steel, you need a better machine. You will likely be fine milling wood, and maybe aluminum.
    CAD, CAM, Scanning, Modelling, Machining and more. http://www.mcpii.com/3dservices.html

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2023
    Posts
    5

    Re: Home made milling machine

    I plan to make steel parts in the future and now I'm thinking that maybe I was wrong with my plan. Since the cross table is fine I'm wondering how difficult can it be to make my own frame to support a spindle. I'm quite good at welding. I saw that there are available motors with collet holder. But most of them are water cooled or if air cooled then they have a minimum speed limit for cooling purposes.
    So far my best idea is to buy a 15-20cm long collet holder like in the picture bellow. And to add some solid bearing housing and drive everything with a belt. But I don't know much about bearings. I suppose that radial bearing play is the main selecting criteria. So I have to use a roller bearing? What can be a suitable part?
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails collet.jpg  

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Posts
    5728

    Re: Home made milling machine

    Before doing any milling with the drill press, you should install a drawbar to keep the chuck from falling out. I don't know about the Bosch specifically, but in general, drill press chucks are held in place by a Morse taper that defies gravity, but can't withstand sideways forces. So that chuck is likely to be flung in your face. A tool held in a Jacobs chuck will have a huge amount of runout, which will tend to break any endmill that's used in it, especially the smaller ones. So no, it's not any good, and is dangerous. Replacing the head of the drill press with a different sort of spindle would help; installing a R-8 or ER collet holding system would make it more like a real mill.
    Andrew Werby
    Website

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2023
    Posts
    5

    Re: Home made milling machine

    Thank you for the comments. The chuck has a screw so it can't fall. But I just saw a video with the inside of a Jacobs chuck and indeed is not a good idea to use them for milling. I have a picture of the inside of the drill press where more details are visible. To the right is connected the chuck and to the left there was a roller bearing that was the source of the play. I replace it with two ball bearings (MR128 ZZ FBJ).
    But now I just realized a bigger problem. The original roller bearing was hold inside a blind hole. I spent an hour to remove it. But the new ball bearings are a fraction of a mm smaller in diameter and they slide on that shaft freely. So they can fall outside of the blind hole. And it is so difficult to open it again ...
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails mill3.jpg  

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Posts
    4282

    Re: Home made milling machine

    Hi,
    I've made my own milling machine and am very happy with it. The cost was high, very high. From a straight out cost perspective I would have been better off buying a second hand machine
    and converting to CNC.

    May I suggest that you look really closely at various drill-mills like a RongFu45. They are rigid enough (just) to do steel if you use care. That should give you an idea of what is required, you'll want something
    at least as rigid or even more so. Even if buying, either new or second hand, and converting one of these machines does not appeal at least it gives you an idea.

    https://rongfu.com/mill-drill-machin...-machine-rf45/

    Craig

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jan 2023
    Posts
    5

    Re: Home made milling machine

    Last days I spent a lot of time searching for various possibilities to build DIY milling machine. Indeed it seems that one that can cut steel without too much trouble is not cheap. However it sounds like a fun project. But I'll keep it for later. Until then I can use my machine to cut plastic and soft metals.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Posts
    4282

    Re: Home made milling machine

    Hi,
    Indeed it seems that one that can cut steel without too much trouble is not cheap. However it sounds like a fun project.
    Yes, that is very much my experience, but I persevered and have a useful machine, and learnt a lot doing so. Was it worth the money??.....to me yes, but not to anyone
    else I'll be bound.

    Craig

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