[Joezx10r]

If I wanted to make a combo mill lathe outta what I already have (54 inch lathe bed and 30 inch lathe bed) or make a column for the mill head how could they be attached to make it sturdy enough for light milling?Kinda like the grizzly combo.

[SCzEngrgGroup]

I wouldn't. I have a Grizzly G0516 mill/lathe, and the very first thing I did was separate the mill from the lathe. The combo was *very* "flexy", and had very limited travel. Also, changeover from mill to lathe and back was a real PITA. You're MUCH better off buying a decent X/Y table, and mounting the mill column to that.

Regards,
Ray L.

[Farasien]

Actually, it is possible to do what you are talking about, but the Joezx10 was right, imo... It will be a little flexible if you just drill a hole and bolt it directly to the bed.

However....

If you were to make a very sturdy bracing system and bolt the column+ bracing assembly to a baseplate- the same one you bolt your lathe bed to, it could work. My x2 mill has a REALLY heavy brace on the column (I was paranoid about flex movement when cutting- I'll post pics eventually) that is heavy enough that I can literally detach it from the base itself. If you did something like that and had everything lined up straight and square, I don;t see why it wouldn't work.

-F