Tooling for New Mill Owner
Every now and again, a newcomer wants to know what basic tooling they should acquire. The trouble is, as a newcomer, you're not in a good position to judge (been there, done that). So I thought it would be helpful to create a thread where experienced machinists talk about what the MINIMUM set of tooling to get started with a mill might be. By MINIMUM, we're trying to help folks out who are on a budget, but not go crazy with it. Let's also have a NICE TO HAVE category of the first things you'd buy after you get past MINIMUM. And, let's assume they own no tooling whatsoever, not even a calipers. My list is below. What's your list?
MINIMUM
Workholding:
- Kurt-style vise (or a grinder vise if the mill is really small)
- Parallels
- T-Slot Clamping Kit
Tool Holders
- R8 End Mill Holders
- R8 Keyless Chuck
Note: Some prefer R8 collets, and they're definitely cheaper. I've always used the solid holders and like them a lot better!
Measurement & Layout
- Digital Calipers
- Counterpunch
- Sharpies (Buy a box, they're cheap and hugely handy!)
- Calculator (Online like G-Wizard or handheld)
- Dial test indicator. Don't get a tenths indicator to start, though you could consider 0.0005" indicators.
- Some way to attach the DTI to your mill spindle for tramming. An Indicol or clone (available cheap!) would work great.
Cutters
- Spot drills / Center drills
- Twist drills (I prefer screw machine length as they're more rigid. I almost never use the jobbers, and most peeps will already have some of those anyway)
- Endmills: 1/8, 1/4, 1/2 in 2 flute and 4 flute. At least 2 of each size.
Other
- We haven't talked about how you will cut stock to size. Hopefully you have a bandsaw or chopsaw. Failing that, get a hacksaw.
- WD-40 to use as coolant. If you can, buy a spray bottle and the gallon can of it rather than the aerosol. It's cheaper in the long run.
- Cheap chip brushes
- A decent file
NICE TO HAVE (What to buy after you have a little time with the MINIMUM)
- Make or buy some softjaws for your Kurt vise.
- 1-2-3 blocks, and eventually 2-4-6 blocks
- Edgefinder: I like the electronic kind, which can be converted to probes in Mach3 if you go CNC.
- Small Kant-Twist clamps: Tons of uses beyond clamping. They make great vise stops, for example.
- Deburring cutters. I like the zero flute style.
- Scraper-style deburring tool
- A flycutter or a face mill
- Surface plate and height gage: This one is borderline NICE TO HAVE. But I sure do use mine a lot, especially for layout when manual milling.
Who else has a list for MINIMUM/NICE TO HAVE? Give your complete list rather than just modifying or adding. What's the MINIMUM tooling to start being productive with a new mill?
Cheers,
BW
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