Testing the Cheapest Mini Lathe Milling Attachment on Amazon
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 14 เม.ย. 2023
- Hey folks! I've wanted the ability to do basic milling in the workshop for awhile now, so I thought it would be interesting to pick up one of those super cheap compound angle milling attachments you see around. I figured you all may find it interesting too and so here is a video going over getting this thing attached and working!
I have no affiliation with the company outside of buying the milling attachment from them (and so can't make any guarantees about what you're going to get), but this is the link to where I bought it: www.amazon.ca/Factory-Vertica...
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It's very smart to make prototypes. I was an engineering manager for a lot of years and one of my slogans was, "Prototype EARLY and OFTEN." Another close cousin was "One test is worth a thousand opinions." Many engineers do a lot of living in their head, which is fine, because that's where the ideas come from. But it helps to get tangible quickly. It is also the best way to show a design to somebody else for comment.
That’s some solid advice! Fully agree with you there!
If you only do ideas in your head you’re an academic. If you test them on the bench, you’re an engineer. Very different types of people.
@@pentachronic And if you are a GOOD engineer, you know that prototypes can quickly reveal oversights AND make it easier for other people, perhaps less technical people, to grasp the idea in ways impossible by looking at drawings or even 3-D renderings.
Finally, someone posts a video on this sort of accessory. I have been looking at these for a while now, but have delayed getting one because of the uncertainties regarding actually making it work. Nice job!
Thank you! Yeah it’s a remarkably capable setup once everything gets tightened down. Just need to be patient with it and go slow and you can get some really good results!
Also if you do decide to go with collets don't buy Morse taper collets they are relatively expensive, hard to find and limited in their capacity. I would get an ER collet chuck. They allow for the work to pass through the spindle and their clamping force is much higher.
I bought a lathe made in a Soviet factory that came with Morse 2 collets as an addition to decent self-centering three jaw chuck. The collets are unusable. I am not sure whether it is because of it is inferior construction, or because they were made in Russia (or a combination of both ;-) )
Many moons ago when I was a poor student I built such a vertical slide for my 6" Atlas lathe. It worked very well and eventually used it to mill the flutes in the coupling rods of the steam locomotive I was building.
This device must be used carefully because it imposes a lifting load on the cross slide left hand dove tail, for which this dove tail is not meant to be used. Light cuts is the guiding principle here.
A key issue with any type of milling attachment such as this is that there’s a lot of overhang to the left of the cross slide, and it puts an undo load on the gib. You gotta figure out a way to brace the load as it hangs out during machining, especially milling. What I did with mine, which is on a jet lathe is I built it as far back as I could so that the main load is actually over the cross slide. I also built in some extra strong locks for the cross slide gib, whenever I’m not moving that axis, which I call the X axis.
I fully expected the mill slide to cant back away from the endmill. I do milling on my lathe and this is always an issue due to any movement in the cross slide dovetails. You handled it as well as can be expected. One trick you can do when drilling into work is to use the tailstock as a centre line brace for the mill slide. It will stop any canting. Overall the little millslides work quite well considering their short comings and limited x/y range. Enjoy. Cheers Rob
That's a great trick! Thank you for sharing!
@@Someone_Should_Make_That I forgot to mention that you use the tailstock quill to push the carriage and work into the drill bit.
Another thing that will give a better finish with less chatter is to "ramp cut" when milling. Feed the job into the cutter (away from the operator) front to back and this will cause the mill bit to push down on the job with it's cutting action. If you go back to front (towards operator) it will try to lift the table/job and cause chatter.
I hope this helps.
Cheers Rob
Jb weld😮 "and never bring it up again!" Haha😅 you do what you got to do. Well done bro.
3 yard line. 3 seconds on the clock. For the WIN!!
It's too big for the box of shame 😂
Been thinking about this , made prototype, found the forces are opposite to a mill. The forces are not handled well by the crosslide, wheras the spindle takes all forces unmoved. Going to get a small mill, knowing problems arise there too. There are lots of info about them.
Neat - I bought what looks like the same slide. Your design pretty much mirrors mine - I was going to suggest rotating the screws that pick up on the top slide mounts to a slight angle so that they cleared the base of the vertical slide, and in the next minute you'd done it (as you know, it means that the adaptor plate can be taken off without having to unbolt the vertical slide first). I put a dowel into the cross slide where you tapped a hole, and I tapped holes either side of it (where the bolts can go into the thickest part of the cross slide. The combination of dowel and the 'nub' where the top slide mounts means that the slideway can be removed and replaced with out needing to indicate it in to parallel.
I did manage to knock the dowels out of the base of mine, making it easier to mount - I've had to make a few more tapped holes for different mounting options to suit specific jobs (such as having the slide parallel to the bed so that long things can be held sideways in the vice - my first project was also some clamps to hold a vice to the slide.
A graduated collar for the leadscrew is handy for dialling in cuts, and as others have said, it's handy to be able to use the tailstock to support the slide. I use morse taper MT3 'finger' collets directly in the spindle taper to hold milling cutters - they're cheap, and you only need a few sizes to suit the mill shanks. (You need to make a draw-bar, but that's just a long bolt and a collar.)
I ultimately ended up ditching the supplied mounting bracket and modifying the slideway so that it bolts onto a small, cast iron, right angle bracket bolted to the adaptor plate - I never used the rotation features (there's not enough slideway travel) and this makes for a more compact setup with less overhang.
For those people talking about flycutters - the X slide travel is extremely limited - you would want to clear the work at each end of the travel, so the size of workpiece you can flycut is tiny - something like a 10mm / 3/8" dia end mill is just as quick.
Good luck!
Here's a photo of my current arrangement: misterg.org.uk/2021/wp-content/uploads/IMG_2307-600x450.jpg
You should make the mounting plate or The 3D printed version file. I'm new to this and want something that's just plug and play. Considering the same lathe as you. Nice video!
Nice project. I have a similar rotational issue to solve for my cheap import milling attachment. I'll be using some of your ideas to get to the solution that I need. One of the less-important details that I noticed is that we both made the same fan cover for the control board of our respective printers :)
What this tells me is that:
If you want a lathe that can double up as a horizontal mill, buy a lathe with a bulky cross slide
Also you want a cross slide that has T-slots
You don't really need a collet chuck. Although they are extremely useful. You could use a Morse taper 3(I'm guessing that is what the lathe uses) endmill holder. But with those you would have to get endmills that have Weldon flats on them. Also not sure if you can get one that is metric. The one I have is SAE and takes 3/8" shank mills.
Of course there are metric weldon holder, they are more common than bald eagle per school shooting ones, because almost the entire world uses metric tools.
And you can just grind a flat on a endmill.
I wouldnt use weldon on such a small lathe, because of the runout error of the weldon.
A lot of people are commenting about getting some collets but I feel the scope of this project is to get the most for the least the same way a giant shop with unlimited resources often do. Running an endmill in a conventional chuck works but you'll have to compensate a lot due to the end mill runout. The closer the chuck jaws are parallel to one another is a key point, if not you'll get a not so flat and square part. There are plenty of videos on grinding 3 jaws chuck to run true, a cheap dremel grinder could be adapted.
I'd say enjoy what you have to work with but save up some money for a real machine, like a Bridgeport and a complimentary quality lathe.
Hey, great video and review!
honestly, it looks like a decent cheap milling table, just some rigidity and tolerance slop easy-ish fix. Something of note: Does your drill press have the pulley speed change? if it does, using that will help a lot with metal. Also, grab a cheap bench grinder and sharpen your own drills. Just learn on the burnt out ones 😮. My opinion on chucks is to get a four jaw chuck. It will open the way for larger work holding and off center boring ... incase of a repair, so to speak. Again, this is a great video, and I hope you're enjoying the hobby.
Good job !!!
Steve Jordan has several videos on milling on a mini lathe and a mayford lathe that are very good. I have made several of his set ups to mill on the lathe that have worked very good for me.
Thanks for the video. I will have to look into getting one of these.
If you continue to just use this with vices and such, the dip in the top (Z axis) face that you showed should not be a problem. But still I do agree with Sean Signer, lap that surface with the glass and sandpaper method.
I assume that you are aware of Quinn's Blondihacks channel. The reason that I mention her is that in looking at your carriage lock, it could use a handle of it's own, even more so when it is hard to get to such as when you have the milling attachment on the carriage. She had one for a time on her lathe that was ugly, but worked.
Hey. Very nice and interesting to do the same. Some question.. what's your lathe Swing distance is it a 7x14.. if so. Do you have experience a need for more length yet ..? I gonna buy one but maybe bot bigger if i could. Thanks man.
Hey! Glad you enjoyed the video! My lathe is a 7x12 and I have not run into the need for additional length yet. My main deciding factor when I was buying mine boiled down to the fact the 7x12 was much cheaper than the 7x14 so I went with it, and I have no regrets with that decision at all. Your mileage may vary depending on the kind of parts you make of course, the best advice I can give is get the biggest one that makes sense for your budget and space available (keeping in mind that $200 dollars in savings on the lathe can let you pick up a set of cutters and some tooling if you're stretching the workshop budget like me!). Hope this helps and good luck with your projects!
This was cool to see! I'd been wondering about the value proposition of some of these milling attachments.
That play in the cross-slide looks really frustrating! Had you already noticed it before this project or nah?
Glad you enjoyed! I haven't found the cross slide play to be an issue when operating the lathe normally. The large distance between the dovetail and the actual cutting location exaggerates the effects quite significantly (it's a very slight movement, if the oil wasn't being pushed out slightly I wouldn't be able to see it). I could probably reduce it by fine tuning the gibs screws, but locking and unlocking that axis for each vertical slide cut isn't too bad of a trade off.
Great video. About to do the same on my old 1940's Drummond round bed lathe and a Myford attachment, Hope this will mean i don't have to buy a pillar drill and cross slide to make a crude milling machine. Thanks from a chilly England.
Make a fly cutter, it will make surface finishing look pro.
Old 1/4 drill bits with a carbide tooth from an old quality wood dropsaw blade braised on is my standard bit for fly cutting and gear making
Would you be able to share that Amazon Canada link? I'm interested in picking one up as well 😮
You could make an attachment for the tail stock that attaches to the top of your milling attachment. It may make it more rigid when everything is locked down.
That would cause more problems than it solves
Good Job.... 301 subscribers.... and 10K views.... Not to bad. I predict more of both, dont get discouraged, Keep up the good work, "and they will come"
If you find your JB weld fix ever pulling out or having issues, consider using a helicoil to fix it. A helicoil takes a too big hole, and adds some smaller threads to it.
This cheap milling attachment may be just the ticket for not buying another machine to put in my small garage 😅. Thanks for the video. Still happy with it after a year?
Good tip! Yes it handled everything I threw at it quite well. If your lathe has a larger cross slide it will likely perform even better.
Steve Jordan is a wealth of knowledge.
what is the link for that milling attachment ? I want one , I have an idea ...
Hi Shawn, I have no affiliation with the company outside of buying the milling attachment from them (and so can't make any guarantees about what you're going to get), but this is the link to where I bought it: www.amazon.ca/Factory-Vertical-Milling-Attachment-Suitable/dp/B07LGWYTTW
Hope it helps, good luck with your project!
Like it! 👍 look into 2 flute and single flute EM for soft metals.
in BC Canada here could only find this for way over $300 where did you get yours a link would be handy
Hi! I have no affiliation with the company outside of buying the milling attachment from them (and so can't make any guarantees about what you're going to get), but this is the link to where I bought it: www.amazon.ca/Factory-Vertical-Milling-Attachment-Suitable/dp/B07LGWYTTW
Hope it helps, and happy making!
@@Someone_Should_Make_That cheers went on a spend so ali express , amazon ,and busy bee done well, out of me today....lol
Like your channel. How do you like the Vevor lathe?
Glad to hear it! It's been really good. It is a great addition to the workshop, plus it has been great to learn a bit more about machining in the process of using it to make parts.
at 10:37 an adjustable vice like device simply appears on the milling attachment with no explanation where it came from and due to me being new to hobby machining and not knowing all the nomenclature necessary to do a search i cant find anything like it online. i'm tryin to make a setup primarily for turning and slotting small shafts but don't have room for both my mini lath and a mill.
Hi, that vice is just one I had lying around that I used with my 3018. It’s not very good I wouldn’t recommend it. The better vice I used later in the video you can find on Amazon by searching “accusize 2 in vice”. I’m not affiliated with the company but I’ve had good luck with everything I’ve bought from them so far. As for general search terms you’re looking for a “milling vice”. Good luck with your projects!
Hello, just a general comment, do you not use any coolant or lubrication?
Hey! I don’t use any coolant but I do use cutting fluid. I just tend not to show it on camera as isn’t not very interesting to watch / it can make the shot look grimy. All of these videos tend to be a balancing act between actually making the stuff, and keeping things interesting for you folks!
That design of vertical slide is a copy of the Myford one. In some ways the Myford one is not as good, others it was better. I think the original one is less beefy, but it looks like the original has better quality screws than the copy. I don't think those quality differences will affect the quality of the output that much. My main observation is that the Myford version was designed specifically for use with a Myford 7 lathe. I think your mini lathe is a bit smaller. It has smaller gibs. That will make a difference to the quality of the work you can produce on the vertical slide. If you could get a slightly bigger lathe it would help improve the output quality of the vertical slide by quite a lot. I have a milling machine now but I used a vertical slide for years on my Myford. Actually I still use the vertical slide instead of the mill from time to time. The one advantage that the vertical slide has over a small vertical milling machine is the long effective z travel (the length of the bed). When you want to mill features into the end of something quite long the vertical slide pays dividends.
You can make a milling machine with two XY tables some square steel tubing and the lathe's headstock as the milling spindle.
Hello, thanks for the video. Would it be possible to give your 3D model for the base plate? Thanks in advance.
I used to use my vertical CNC milling machine as a lathe when I didn't have a dedicated machine for turning by my side. But the major problem with such shortcuts is that our life should be way longer than it can be in order to afford that kind of approach. But if choosing between either having a manual lathe with a vertical attachment or having a vertical manual mill I'd go with lathe + attachment for sure because a lathe is more versatile machine than a mill.
Completely agree with that! I'll definitely upgrade some day, dreaming of the full garage workshop setup
Think of how you could use the tailstock to stiffen up any movement.
Make a fly cutter for it!
Very cool. I noticed you didn't check the milling attachment for perpendicularity to the spindle. you could put a dial indicator in a collet in the spindle, with it offset maybe an inch, and rotate the spindle and measure that way.
I absolutely should have. I can’t believe I didn’t think to do that given how often I check the stock I’m turning! Definitely something to add to the checklist. Funny how these things slip your mind when you’re in the moment
10:00 Get yourself a cheap helicoil set. Just owning will makes so you will never drill wrong again for tapping, as its mere presence in the shop will scare away the evil spirits. Of course, you will be (very occasionally) able to use it to fix threads messed up by others.
its a straight copy from myford lathes :p
I think I would be tempted to put a DRO on the vertical axis of the milling attachment, maybe just one of those digital-caliper-cut-up things, although a long-travel dial gauge might be fine..
Oh that sounds awesome! On it.
I know a guy who drilled a hole 1/1000th too big, when he ran the tap through the hole, we heard a cracking noise...letz just say, flight operations on board that particular Her majesty's vessel we ceased for the remainder of the voyage and the young seamen officer was never allowed use a drill and received lengthy education and training on the importance of listening to senior sailors, metal fatigue and the properties of cast iron abd proper use of drills, taps and dies. I learnt a valuable lesson from simply being on the same ship. That was the importance of accuracy and tolerances. It was a very valuable lesson and the mistake made was in recutting a thread that didn't need recutting and the entire problem of a tiny drip would have been easily solved with the proper use of thread tape and or some adhesive that was fuel safe. Instead the officer chose to redrill the hole and tap a new thread. It cracked the cast iron drain assembly on the number 1 aviation fuel tank. This meant the ship could not refuel helicopters whilst underway. Refit...sorry fleet our vessel isnt sea worthy...not a phone call I would wanna make aye .
BS. Engineers build in a safety factor for this very reason. And usually that safety factor is way more than it needs to be.
You wouldn't drill to that tight of a tolerance nor would it cause any sort of a failure either way.
.25mm or .010".. maybe.. but even then, the thread nor tap is extremely unlikely to fail, especially not in a way that is going to send a ship back to the yard.
@@KingZeusCLE ok mate you know everything, but pretty sure you weren't there dude..
@@KingZeusCLE and engineers don't know everything despite what they think..you assumed that you did...but you forgot some critical information.. something to do with ambient temperature and allowances for changes in it and pressure. All tapping guides assume normal temperature ranges...what's normal temperature? Because here in Australia normal could be 38 degrees Celsius or minus 25. Depending exactly on where you are in the world. Drills have +/- tolerances at normal temperature and so do taps. In extreme cold, where we were at the time. Officer followed the "chart" for drilling and tapping...crack..why? Because the one tiny detail in the fine print. The valve block was on outside of ship in the current normal temperature of minus 20 degrees...so what happened to the built in tolerance the engineers calculated generating the tables? They use an ambient normal temperature of 26+- degrees Celsius. The block was the water drain on the tank..it broke. Because when investigation was completed they found temperature effects drilling and tapping sizes and given the material is what caused the fracture. The tap was oversize by just 1/1000th. The drill under 1/1000th. Expansion and contraction of materials.
No, this is TOTAL BS.
+\- .001 is NOT going to cause a tap to break.
Drills do not make a hole anywhere near that accurate neither would expansion/contraction make a difference since common practice is to only tap 75% thread depth.
I you can probably go that much larger without issue.
The comment was made by a pathological liar.
You will find a lot of them in the youtube comment section.
Cheers
That's cool milling! Wondering if any cnc prototype may help for any upcoming content? If so, would love to support and get involved! (PCBWay zoey)
My recommendation is to hold the milling cutter is a square ER collet block, held in the 4 jaws chuck. Why, because these are items that you will want and use all
the time. If one really want an ER collet chuck then make sure that you get the biggest that is available for your lathe, because you may need to hold work of some size in it, not just cutters.
I own the same lathe. The spindle has MT3 so a collet chuck with a taper would be just the ticket.
the best use for these is line boring... much easier to hold work, especially if youre lathe is like mine... no slots on the cross slide. hate having to drill holes but ive had to throw a few in. and shimming sux, much easier to twiddle a wheel for centre height.
Put a sheet of 2000 grit sandpaper on a piece of glass and using a figure 8 pattern polish t-slot fixture plate to improve its accuracy.
Which mini lathe do you have and was it worth the money you paid for it
I have the 7x12! To me it was worth it, I’ve had a lot of fun learning to make parts with it, and compared to other options it’s a pretty low barrier to entry. Obviously it has some limitations compared to a full size machine, but I personally don’t feel the need for anything more
Where is the link to the product you are reviewing?
Hey! I didn't want to post it because I have no affiliation with the company outside of buying the milling attachment from them (and so can't make any guarantees about what you're going to get), but this is the link to where I bought it: www.amazon.ca/Factory-Vertical-Milling-Attachment-Suitable/dp/B07LGWYTTW
I added it to the description now, enough people seem to be interested and I'll just leave the disclaimer: YMMV. Happy milling!
I was surprised how chunky that gib in the vertical axis dovetail was. Plus, it looks like brass. For 140CAD I would have expected flimsier construction.
Perhaps you could also buy a version without the compound angle feature, just to make it more rigid in the vast majority of scenarios where you only need to mill right angles.
Look at the prices of collet chucks, they are not that expensive. Plus, they can be used for lathe work as well.
Buy some boelube. Your drill bits will love you
Hey...you should have used a collet chuck. 🤭
Are you a machinist ??
Use some coolant on that drill press!
THe direction you mill makes a difference . .which you found out :)
It's a Myford copy!!!
Good afternoon. You can make a drawing of the plate. Please...
Just to be a bit pedantic, at about 3:35 when he says, "...and I can't feel any weird play or warping in the ways." The term is "dovetails", not "ways" which is something else.
Find a local enthusiast to face that vertical on a proper mill to make the unit perfect
One of the bad areas on quality is the reading scale. Instead of stamping, a strip with scale is in place. It looks cheap product.
Now it's $229 USD.
Darn, it seems people caught on to it being a good deal. Might be worth checking out some of the other options out there, maybe there’s another one of equally good value!