Hi Wink, my name is Em.I am a retired vet. I am a heavy equipment/auto technician by trade. The company that I worked for had a machine shop and I found myself in the machine shop a lot, working with the machinist on projects that had to do with the heavy equipment I worked on, which I became very interested in the machining of parts. When I was retired I found that I need to find something else that I had an interest in so I bought a lathe. I'm still trying to learn more about the lathe machine and what I can do with this lathe machine. It is not an industrial machine. So I stumbled across one of your videos and I was amazed with your video, and I have to say I learned a lot from your video. Thank you
Glad to hear! Many small lathes are not extremely solid. In some respects they actually require more skill to operate. Once you master a small lathe running any industrial lathe is a piece of cake. Take cutoff for instance, you can mount a blade on a Monarch lathe and just start cutting stock. On most smaller lathes you have to be much more concerned about tool sickout, gib adjustments, tool post position, RPM, feed speeds etc. One misstep and game over... the blade breaks. In other words, the need for best practices on a small lathe is very important.
Yeah Mr. Pete is certainly a good one! A couple months ago I went to the Florida Flywheeler antique engine event and met Mr. Pete in person. As expected he was a lot of fun to talk to. What a great guy!
I'm a construction guy new to machining. When I saw you attach the saw blade to the end of your spindle bore, I thought " what's he going cut up with that thing? He's crazy! I better keep watching to see how this will play out." Well I learned something new. Thank you for sharing this video!
Great project. $144 is pretty cheap for nice castings and to be honest few of us are very happy with the quality of modern items. You made an ok quality tool a very good one.
Looks nice. Here is a hint on your punches. As noted, you have a right side/bottom side on them. Paint one of the sides on them. Example white. When you stamp, keep the white color side up or down. Or, paint the top side one color, the bottom a different color. The 6/9 is the only problem. You can use two colors of a fine point paint marker and write 6 on one side. 9 on the other.
I got my set and using an angle grinder with a cutoff disk, put a nick in the butt end (the end that you hit with the hammer) of each one on the downward side of the letter or number.
Loved it (both videos) and, yes, I’ve been there, making and marking resettable dials for my Peatol (Taig) lathe. I have a permanently fixed indexing dial on my pulley, with 50, 60 and 72 holes. Yup, upside down numbers, bounced number punch (double imprint), numbers not quite square or not in line with the dial-line... done it all. But when they come out right they really look “the business”, as yours do. I’ve found all your videos on the ‘dial topic’ to be really helpful. Thanks for letting me see in your work shop! Les in UK
I made similar dials for my Atlas lathe using similar methods. I cut the markings at .020 to leave some room for sanding and paint. Rust-oleum appliance epoxy black works great for darkening the markings and numbers and has held up really well.
Good job Wink. I usually would keep my marking depth to a number that's easy for remembering like .0100 plus it's better once the dials begin to get wear in them. For polishing aluminum use a polishing grease bar. The 1st bar or small grease stick will be Rouge for cutting lightly and remove any cutter lines but go light enough or else you can wipe out your dial lines. Follow up with step 2 using Green to polish and if you want real perty, then the 3rd step is Black for a mirror shine. If you don't want to go through the process you can always us SP500 or such that's sold in a aluminum squeeze tube. It almost feels like a pasty sandpaper. I usually use that for a quick taking off oxidation on Aluminum and or polished steel or chrome. One note on the sand paper is use Aluminum Oxide cutting paper but as for your for safety, please take off the remaining hanging strings from any sand paper you "Rip Off" the sheet or it may just grab a finger while in the lathe and take a finger with it...Take care Winky...Ricko
I bought some aluminum polish. It does okay. I usually buff brass, I'm not sure I want to get the other compound on the wheel but thanks for the info. I agree .010" is about the right depth.
@@WinkysWorkshop No problem Winky...I have a few buffing stations but when I only had one, I would change out wheels or just dress the wheel and use the Rouge and go straight to Green after dressing the pad. It doesn't hurt anything...After buffing a few thousand parts you get a real feel for what works and what doesn't...Take care buddy...Ricko
@@ricko5123 I'm sure you figure out what works when you do it enough. I don't do much buffing and the dial look plenty good. I may try something to darken the numbers, shoe polish as worked well in the past.
The dials look terrific. Well done. A local turning club member made some aluminium finials and use Mother's Mag and Aluminum polish. He got the aluminium to really shine. Should be available at local auto parts stores. Nice project. Dave.
I actually bought some... it helps but I need to polish more with 3000 grit first. However, they look good the way they are so I may never get around to do it. Thanks
I have been thinking of making my own mill. That table looks like a good start. I have a milling attachment from a Atlas lathe for my Z-axis. Your show is just what I was looking for.
The saw blade trick is very effective, from the looks of it - dials came out nice! I like your process of making them up, very straightforward. You mentioned DRO advantages too, but even with a DRO having a dial is a very handy sanity checking device, lol!
I am very impressed with your ability and craftsmanship,persision, calm and clear execution and instructions. Class act. A++. I enjoy your 2 videos on upgrading your new mill table. I will be subscribing to your channel because I think that you are a very skillful person and I could learn a thing or two from you. Thanks
Ho 78 anni, nella vita ho eseguito tanto lavori di meccanica, falegnameria, elettricità, idraulica, disegnatore, geometra ecc. ho anche io un laboratorio dove passo molto tempo divertendomiti ma ti dico che non si finisce mai di imparare ogni giorno esiste qualcosa di interessante da apprendere de è bello cosi!!😊👍👋
Gday Winky, the dials turned out perfect, you are right about the dro but I think what you did here with the lead screws has made it a much better unit, certainly worth it in my opinion, excellent job mate, Cheers
Excellent content and attention to detail Winky. I just purchased one of these before finding your video. Yes, mine is a piece of crap too, with all of the defects in workmanship that you have addressed. Unfortunately, I do not have the equipment (lathe) and tooling required to rebuild the unit correctly. Thanks for the time you took to go through everything. It amazes me that the castings can be so good, yet the ancillary components are so, so poorly made. Kind of a waste of what was originally a good effort. I guess I am stuck with another doorstop... Cheers from Florida!
Next week I will have a video installing a 3/8"-16 threaded rod for the lead screws. If you are using it on a drill press this might be the answer for you. Do you have a welder? I will use a lathe in the video but you could do without. Some 1-1/4" x 1/4 flat stock a welder, 3/8" rod and some thrust bearings. If you work in 1/16" its perfect although adding a DRO would make things easier. McMaster Carr also sells 3/8x10 acme threaded rod but the nuts (or tap) are high... but at least its in 10th
Especially like your number stamping jig. I've had mixed results number stamping onto round surfaces, so something like your jig would probably improve consistency.
Thanks. Yes the jig works ell and it's easy to make. I've had some issue with steel dials. You have to hit the punch hard without hitting your fingers.
Hey Winky.. This was a great watch for me.. I love seeing people still able to make with their own hands. I would lover to own a lathe and in the future I'm hoping to buy me one of those small mini lathes for my workshop. I began using my garage, a one car garage which I have no car for so It';s great and I only got into woodworking after 50 years.. I love making things with my hands now. I love to build cabinets and table saw sleds. Getting those sleds at the correct 90 was an absolute nightmare at the start though.. LOL Ur videos are very informative and I'm enjoying them very much. VEVOR are a decent company to get tools from most of the time I hear so I might take a look at their range. I bought a bench drill press about 6 months ago and it's sat in the corner gathering dust from the shop atm. I need to use it more but I keep using the hand drills from experience. I use it when I have to drill with bigger bits but it's only a 13mm drill chuck. I have a question for u if u have the time?? Q. Could I fit a bigger chuck on this bench drill or is 13mm about the only size I can use with it?? I guess what I'm asking is if it is possible to change the smaller 13mm for a 20mm or bigger? I'm asking bcos u probably have experience with this sort of thing? I'm hoping so anyways my friend.. BTW I just found ur channel last night and sub'd and shared and liked and all that good stuff.. I think or I should say I believe we need far more people like ur good self getting huge views online nowadays bcos most young folks don't seem to want to get their hands dirty anymore. I hope u get my meaning. Hard work seems to get lost on them nowadays. Not all of them but most of them wouldn't go into a workshop. I brought some of my nieces and nephews in for a quick look at what I was building and all they did was look at the dust and stuff pulling faces. My shop gets messy when I'm building something but I'm just messy atm. I haven't found my routine bcos I'm not in there everyday as u might be used to with a 9-5 job. In my day job I'm weirdly suffering from OCD mate..LMAO. Anyways apologies for the long winded comment WInky. I get carried away on these videos and start talking about my wee shop. Love the content Winky my man. Keep up the great work. Salute to u sir from IRELAND!
I have a 5/8" chuck I use on my lathe occasionally. What you can put on your drill press depends on the mount. Some have a taper and some screw on. I think the work ethic of younger people is related to cell phones and computers. It provides quick gratification. Thanks for the compliments and subscribing.
@@WinkysWorkshop it wasn’t meant as a joke. I don’t think you realize the impact your videos have on those of us who are new to this whole “home shop” machining field. You are GREATLY appreciated
@@priority2 I didn't think you were joking although perhaps over rating me. I've actually only been machining about 8 years. I was a pressman on a web printing press (magazine) you years but the last 15 years before I retired I was in a job trouble shooting and training. After 4 or 5 years I learned some cad and started modifying the presses (mostly the stacking machines) to make them work better. So I guess you might say that was training for my home shop adventure. This conversation triggered a funny memory. When I bought my first lathe (a Logan 200) it was in pieces and very rough looking. I drove up with the lathe in the back of my truck and my wife was looking down from the deck at the lathe. She said, "how much did you pay for that?" I said, "$500 bucks" and she said, "You paid somebody $500 to take their garbage? One week later it was all painted and working perfectly and she said, "I'll have to admit, I never thought your lathe would look like this".
I have seen those Vevor tables for sale from various vendors, even Amazon and wondered what they were like. I don't need one because I use my mill for drilling but it's nice to know what their stuff is like. I consider that at their price point I am buying a "kit" 😁. Nicely done Winkey. 👍
Thanks for the trimmer string nylon tip. I need to make some nylon inserts for my mill dials. Great idea. I’ll be making oversized dials for my Atlas lathe, too. Great video. If you would like zero backlash on those leadscrews, add a check nut, a Bellevue spring and a dowel pin to each axis. The dowel pin is an anti-rotation device for the check nut. You may need to weld a tab to the check nut to provide room for a guide slot for the pin. A spring pin will work, too. Thanks, John
Thanks John. The dials are fairly easy to make and satisfying to use. My mill is made with the dowel pins although no spring washers. The dial hubs with two set screws serve the same purpose. I have some Belleville washers (spring washers) but it seems to work fine without them. I have .006 backlash and I doubt more than .0005 is from the thrust bearings. Zero would be nice but .006 is easy to deal with.
Impressive, I may order one, I made the mistake of ordering a cheap aluminum one, it has so much slop that calling it backlash would be kind. As for your drill table clearance, you could make a block 1 inch or thicker plate to go between the cast iron plate and the lead screw holder plate before you made your new lead screws. Adding that to the length would bring the handle off the table even more. Lee
The leadscrew on this table was usable out of the box but usable. The dials and the 4mm pitch on the screw were not. If you can live with the backlash in the screw you might consider a cheap DRO over installing a new leadscrew and dials. The outcome on my table was great but it was a lot more work than I anticipated.
Just an idea about your concern with chips getting into the casting, could you mount a strip of leather, or perhaps a bit of cut up inner tube as a cover for that?
dang! That's a good idea! Maybe even a flip down adjustable stop (set screw) so there is no visual error. Plus adjustable is good if the vise gets moved (although I never take mine off).
Thank you so much for your video I was wondering weather or not to get that very same unit and your vid showed me exactly what I could expect with it. And any negatives asside I was going to get it but I learned how it's not bigenugh for my needs so I have decided to make my own to give me the size and travel I want. I intend to video the full build from the radial arm mill with a X Y Z table and have a Z axis a+b the a axis will be the knee witch the table will be on and the b.will indicate the quill with a much greater precise indication on it. Rite now I am just putting together every thing I will need to do this and I'm getting pumped to get started .
Very cool. BTW, look at the first few minutes of this video and you will see the anti-backlash nut I installed. The acme thread alone had about .008 backlash. I would suggest ball screws if you are concerned with backlash but if you try to make an adjustment cut the nut most the way through and add a fine thread set screw that spreads one edge.
Here’s an idea that should work for very precise table movements. Position a dial indicator to contact either axis of the table and take your readings from the indicator instead of the dial.
Enjoyable set of videos Mark, you pack alot of information into your video's. On polishing metals I have had good luck with the old standbys. Companies like Formax or Dico. This is from the Dico Co. They say use Tripoli (brown) cut compound for aluminum, brass, copper and plastic. Use White Rouge (white) shine compound for aluminum, brass, copper and precious metals. These products are inexpensive and last forever. I have had better results with motors turning 1725 instead of 3450. Using smaller diameter wheels can help also. I write the compound name on the buffing wheels so I don't end up with a mixture of compounds on a wheel. If you don't have a buffing rake to clean the wheels I would buy one. Talk with you later Andy
@@WinkysWorkshop I have had better luck with slower speeds when polishing something that is in good condition or is anodised. Back when I was riding bicycles I would wash aluminum parts with a good dish soap and then polish with mag wheel polish. Faster speeds have been useful when polishing steel or iron that has some staining or is slightly Rusty. Of course this is just what has worked for me. I have just been trying to figure things out, I am definitely not a expert.
@@WinkysWorkshop Me either, I have learned a little from my mistakes. About twenty five years ago I ruined the finish on a expensive road bike part by using the wrong compound. After that I cut some info from the Dico Company out of a catalog and ordered four or five small compound bars. I still keep that piece of paper with general shop information, I was just copying that today. Your X -- Y table sure is sorted out after all the work that you did on it. I don't know how they can sell it for the price that they do.
If you wish to eliminate the backlash in those feed screws you can install a 'jam nuts' on the screws and tighten it until the backlash disappears you then just have to stake that jam nut in place. as things wear-in or wear-out, you can adjust that jam nut to compensate.
A little backlash is not a problem. Also, alignment of the lead screw becomes incredibly sensitive when you approach zero backlash. It can be done but its hard to achieve.
Seen a lot of Pete’s videos but I don’t remember seeing this one by using that Hundred tooth saw blade I really like the dials you made enjoyable to see how you made them
@@WinkysWorkshop The first time I saw that saw blade indexing trick, was in a very early eighties HSM issue. In addition to your set up, it had a weighted rope wound on the chuck, so it (finger) had constant positive engagement in the saw gullet......no back tracking needed. Good one! I always enjoy your work. I keep various sandpaper grits glued to paint stirer sticks for small jobs like that.
Genuinely enjoyed both of your videos. The idea of using a circular saw blade to obtain the pitch for the dials was sheer genius. You are a proper engineer. I’m looking at buying the table to fit on a manual overhead router. I wonder if you would be kind enough to let me know the width and length of the four mounting slots as I will need to drill and tap my machine table. I have the two pitches from the manufacturer of 140 on X and 160 on Y. Please confirm. Really grateful for any info. Once again, loved your videos.
I tried to measure but I'd have to take the table apart to get a good measurement. I recommend waiting until you get the table. You might want to move it round to get maximum use from the travel on the table.
well what can i say... you have just given me the result to a problem i have had i have bought an old milling machine"built in 1942" the same year as my birth..the make is centec. a very much sought after machine by all and sundry...but how do you renavate a mill with out the use of a mill? your video has just sorted that problem out for me ! i also have a vevor table just the same as yours so now i can get on with giving my mill the kiss of life ! regards laurence
A friend just gave me one of these tables... new in the box. It was too big for his drill press. Knowing that I have a couple of larger drill press he just gave it to me for free. This was yesterday so I need to take it out and go over it. Doubt I will do as much work as you did for yours.
If you want a simpler solution, I just made up some graduated dial scales using a free CAD program and printed them 1:1 on paper, then wrap and tape the paper sleeves around the OEM handwheel dials. I make them snug enough so they don't move, but loose enough to turn them to zero when needed. This only took minutes to make, works perfectly fine, and I can live with it until I get a DRO option working.
that is a interesting way for making dials, why didn't you spray paint the dial black and then sand back thru the grits till say 3000 grit. that way you would have a good contrast so easier to see. over all very well done . liked it allot that you didn't cut out the mistakes. exelent job
I have tried painting in the past and never had any luck. Aluminum is the worst but even steel the paint does not want to stick to. I thick the scribed surface is very slick. I did make some steel dials a while back and had a local machine shop send them out with a batch of black oxide coating they were having done. Those does knocked your eyes out.... fantastic. Shoe polish seems to do the best actually... aside from the black oxide.
Actually with the DRO the clunky low quality lead screws and brackets it would have worked fine. However, it feels a lot more quality now and probably has a bit less backlash.
Be careful of backlash when using the edgefinder. You found the jaw edge in one direction and moved the table in the other direction to find the center of the plate. You will be out by the backlash in the example.
@@machinists-shortcuts It would have been good to put in the video. Little tricks like that are important. I usually find the edge then turn the handwheel the opposite direction (removing the backlash) and then set the dial to zero.
Thank you for the content, I learned a lot by watching it. One question though, wouldn't it be cheaper and easier to use by just keeping it original and slapping a DRO on it? The DRO does not care about backlash, play, slop, or anything else as long as you have a reliable way of locking the set up down once you have it where you want it. I would obviously like a set up without all that in the first place, but even the best, most expensive systems still have to deal with it to varying degrees at one point or another. Just seems like a lot of time and effort when the DRO would put you on the mark regardless of play, slop, units of measurement, and so forth. An X-Y DRO for a small table like that is under $100 sometimes these days. Guess I missed the part when you talked about advantages of a DRO. Guess you answered it already. 🙂 Loved the saw blade divider, had never seen that one before. Cool trick.
@@WinkysWorkshop I don’t think I could live with the extremely sloppy fits of all those moving parts. I’d have to firm it up just as you did and then install a DRO. You’d then have the best imported mill- drill table that money and sweat can buy. Second thought, why not go ahead and install a DRO in another video?
As usual, a very well done video! I can see that this would be a useful addition to a drill press; also see that it doesn't make a drill press into a mill. With a DRO it would allow repetitive bolt patterns including circular patterns. Not sure I would do this when a mill is already available. I would rather spend the money on an import DRO that can calculate patterns for the mill or mill/drill.
For me having the mill table on the drill press is a huge plus but I agree, the cheap DRO is a very good option. Easier than dials and new lead screws.
Oh, you can use black print set ink to give your marks more contrast. Wipe on with Q tip, wipe off with paper then use lighter fluid to clean up places you don’t want ink. Then bake at 200 or 250 degrees for an hour. Engravers use this trick all the time. P.
I've never had much luck with aluminum. Shoe polish seems to work the best for me. Steel works well with paint. The best dials I ever made I had them Black Oxide coated and polished the dials in the lathe. They looked fantastic.
You need to make a tool holder that holds your number punches so it can mount on you quick change tool post. You would leave the dial on the fixture until AFTER the numbers were punched. Your saw blade indexer would make number alignment dead on. No need fiddling with your wood block setup and the errors that creates. *** I need to make some dials for an XY table and I'll be doing it more or less like you do except with my spindle mounted rotary table. I'll have to make a tool holder for my letter/number punch set. No way am I fiddling around with a wood block guide like you did!
Hello Im considering buying one of these cross slide tables. How is it working out ? And i unfortunately dont have the means to made dials but it obviously needs dials. Thanks
Charles, the table is totally usable out of the box but it was a big job to put imperial screws and dials on it. I suggest you buy some cheap DROs. It's a little more money but much easier and ultimately better than dials.
Mark I have been wanting to do this ever since I saw Mr Pete use the saw blade. How many total teeth does the blade have on it? I would like to find one with 100 teeth and one with a total number divisible by 360.
Hey you is fine.... or Winky or Mark :o) Number punches? I have a set that is total junk so I bought new ones. They are much better. This is what I bought: amzn.to/3GbSTAj
Great outcome Winky. Question please. Did you consider buying Ball leadscrews ? they have ZERO backlash and are quite cheap these days. Would have needed to make a different mounting block for the ball nut to fit into, but I feel sure with your talents it would have ben no problem. Regards from Australia.
Thanks Dave. The ball screws would be nice. Alignment might have been a bit more critical I think and fitting a nut to the upper table might have required milling the table. I don't mind the backlash. Right now its only about .006" but I'm sure it will get worse as things break in.
@@WinkysWorkshop You could fit some backlash eliminators to each nut. A thin threaded plate that is pushed APART with a strong-ish coil spring. If you make the plate with a flat bottom it will not rotate. An old trick we would do with worn lathe leadscrew nuts is to do a saw cut half way through a couple of threads from the end. If sufficient room tap a hole for a grub screw to force the sawn bit apart or make a small wedge, after getting the backlash out, a dob of soft solder to hold it in place. The Bridgeport Mill table leadscrew nuts have an adjustment device that pushes 2 plates apart with a screw to remove backlash. Great outcome though so far. Regards from Australia.
@@daveticehurst4191 I made something like this on the table I removed. For some reason I whenever I got close to eliminating backlash the threads bound up. If the backlash gets a lot worse I may try something like this again. I'd have do some math but I'd say .006" backlash is a clearance of .0002". Very small! Slight variations in the thread or a slight warp in the screw would cause it to bind.
@@AmateurRedneckWorkshop After I installed the dials I looked on Amazon and found some for about that price. They work well, I have the same on my mill.
Awesome video Winky! I have wanted and considered buying one of those milling tables. But after seeing what you went through, I may change my mind. Although the DRO option sounds like it may be feasible...
I was wondering if you could tell me the centre spacing of the mounting holes? I see in your video that they seem to be slightly elongated. I would like to buy one but not sure of the capability of the drill presses table I have. The maximum width of the mounting slots I have is 155mm. They are in an X pattern.
Sorry for the slow reply. Every time I went to the shop I forgot to check. The 155mm is perfect but the holes seem to be about the same from front to back. In other words they are in a square about that far apart.
@Winky's Workshop Wow, that's great. Yes, my table has an X patern of slots that max out to 155mm square. So I will get that compound mill table. I intended to do some drilling on an irregular shaped aluminium piece that needs to be clamped by T slot clamps and then some small amount of milling. Thank you for the reply.
@@WinkysWorkshop Thanks Wink, that is not a bad price for what I can do with it, but first I must check a see if I already have a 100 tooth blade, I check earlier for 360 teeth, I have a ton of blades from my dad's stuff he left me.
I've never had great short term memory. Now that eye sight is going dials scare me like copperheads, and rattle snakes. Can't tell you how many times I've had to grab a set of calipers to find out where I'm at in the table , because of short term memory, while counting turns milling out a pocket or drilling holes.
Yeah... I do okay on my drill press but can't imagine giving up my DROs on my mill. Ultimately the DROs are the logical fix for this mill table as well. Mush easier too.
Way back in the day , we Usta use Moore jig bore machines to lay out die shoes. Then bolt up all your punches and die sections. You had to go in one direction, so the runout would be in that one direction. Can't tell you how many times, that cold sweat 💦 has ran down my back when I realized I I went the wrong way and reamed a dowl hole!!😵💫!!! Time to plug , weld , and file / stone flat.
@@coburnlowman Those Jig Bore machines were made well. I can not imagine why somebody does not make a lighter weight version to be sold as a drill press. A round column on a drill press is not ideal.
So considerin g the many hors and parts what is that worth in buyong a better unit? We do not have you shop equipment buy want the end result/equivilent... what is that??
In my opinion, this mill table is usable out of the box aside from the lack of good dials and weird thread pitch. A really good table with good dials costs 4 to 5 times what this mill table costs. I would recommend this table and installing cheap DROs. They are much easier and cheaper than what I did and actually better. I have not looked in a while but the DROs are probably less than $100.
I admire your natural ability for creative solutions to problems in the shop. I'm in the process of making your "Guided tap wrench" from your August 21, 2020 video, been needing one of these for a while. I have a non-technical question for you about that vid; what is the name of that instrumental song playing at the end?
On the dials upside down numbers, couldn’t you just turn the numbered portion down on the lathe and renumber them in the correct orientation? At least that’s what I’d do to salvage it. Keep up the good work.
With your new nuts, I think I would have done them differently. You had enough material to use a slitting saw and cut a section that's about 1/8" thick and then use that to adjust out back lash with a couple of set screws to flex the thin section of threads to create tension against the lead screw threads. I see you commented on back lash in your description, but then didn't do anything to eliminate it. I guess thats video 3!
I'm not a big fan of controlling backlash like that. I've tied it before and it doesn't work very well. Standard and acme thread need a little clearance of they will bind. .005" backlash equates to about .0003 at the thread. Yes it works but all the alignment has to be dead on and without any thread variations or warps. Both lead screw have .006 at the moment and I'm totally okay with this. If I want near zero I'll get ball screws. Also, the screws I bought are good but not precision.
@@de-bodgery Backlash will always be an issue unless you have ball screws. It would be nice to have zero but honestly a little is easy to deal with. You just make sure all your moves are going in the same direction. .006 to .010 is not bad at all.
What I learned from another TH-cam of great fame to highlight you markes is take a Sharpe a press firmly into each of your scribes and to clean up do not use anything other than just a clean pice of papper and wipe the excess leaving the recessed marks any thing other than the papper you end up washing out the marks.
I need to try that although I think I did already. Shoe polish works fairly well. I made some steel dials one time and had them black oxide coated. That worked great!
I love your indexer! Try to salvage a plastic gear from a broken printer or appliance instead of using the dangerous saw blade. Some of them come in sets with different ratios and have keyed or polygonal holes so if you want to change the pitch, you can switch between gears and keep your current position. For the punch, mark the side of the punch so next time you can easily tell the correct orientation. If you want to make the engravings even more legible, brush some enamel paint over it, let it get slightly tacky to the touch and the wipe it off with a acetone. You can also blue the engravings and then polish off the excess on a lathe.
Yeah, originally one leadscrew was LH. so that the table always moved toward you when turned clockwise. Maybe a little better but not a huge problem. I may put an arrow that indicates movement toward handle. Maybe I should have made one LH. One thing for sure, if I did this again I would use my lathe to cut the threads and not a tap. Although it's harder to get a perfect fit on the threads.
Hi Wink, my name is Em.I am a retired vet. I am a heavy equipment/auto technician by trade. The company that I worked for had a machine shop and I found myself in the machine shop a lot, working with the machinist on projects that had to do with the heavy equipment I worked on, which I became very interested in the machining of parts. When I was retired I found that I need to find something else that I had an interest in so I
bought a lathe. I'm still trying to learn more about the lathe machine and what I can do with this lathe machine. It is not an industrial machine. So I stumbled across one of your videos and I was amazed with your video, and I have to say I learned a lot from your video. Thank you
Glad to hear! Many small lathes are not extremely solid. In some respects they actually require more skill to operate. Once you master a small lathe running any industrial lathe is a piece of cake. Take cutoff for instance, you can mount a blade on a Monarch lathe and just start cutting stock. On most smaller lathes you have to be much more concerned about tool sickout, gib adjustments, tool post position, RPM, feed speeds etc. One misstep and game over... the blade breaks. In other words, the need for best practices on a small lathe is very important.
If Mr. Pete suggests it, I can say that it will work brilliantly. He is the Granddad of home workshop practices.
Yeah Mr. Pete is certainly a good one! A couple months ago I went to the Florida Flywheeler antique engine event and met Mr. Pete in person. As expected he was a lot of fun to talk to. What a great guy!
“Does this look dangerous?” 😱 Yep. Glad you unplugged the lathe. 👏👏 Thank you for an interesting and enjoyable episode. The dials came out great. 👍😀
Haha... yep, it looked dangerous. Thanks for watching.
Nope, he didn't say here hold my beer, so it's fine... ;)
@@trollforge Haha... I'll have to throw that in there on a future video.
I'm a construction guy new to machining. When I saw you attach the saw blade to the end of your spindle bore, I thought " what's he going cut up with that thing? He's crazy! I better keep watching to see how this will play out." Well I learned something new.
Thank you for sharing this video!
Great index plate, if not a little dicey. I love the ingenuity of folks on TH-cam
Great project. $144 is pretty cheap for nice castings and to be honest few of us are very happy with the quality of modern items. You made an ok quality tool a very good one.
Thanks, yeah, thats a good way to look at it.
Looks nice. Here is a hint on your punches. As noted, you have a right side/bottom side on them. Paint one of the sides on them. Example white. When you stamp, keep the white color side up or down. Or, paint the top side one color, the bottom a different color. The 6/9 is the only problem. You can use two colors of a fine point paint marker and write 6 on one side. 9 on the other.
That us a good idea but they are marked already... i just got confused.
I got my set and using an angle grinder with a cutoff disk, put a nick in the butt end (the end that you hit with the hammer) of each one on the downward side of the letter or number.
Loved it (both videos) and, yes, I’ve been there, making and marking resettable dials for my Peatol (Taig) lathe. I have a permanently fixed indexing dial on my pulley, with 50, 60 and 72 holes. Yup, upside down numbers, bounced number punch (double imprint), numbers not quite square or not in line with the dial-line... done it all. But when they come out right they really look “the business”, as yours do. I’ve found all your videos on the ‘dial topic’ to be really helpful. Thanks for letting me see in your work shop! Les in UK
You're welcome and thanks for the great comment!
I made similar dials for my Atlas lathe using similar methods. I cut the markings at .020 to leave some room for sanding and paint. Rust-oleum appliance epoxy black works great for darkening the markings and numbers and has held up really well.
I'll have to try that paint. I made some steel dials a while back and had then black oxide coated. Then I wet sanded them and they looked amazing.
Good job Wink. I usually would keep my marking depth to a number that's easy for remembering like .0100 plus it's better once the dials begin to get wear in them. For polishing aluminum use a polishing grease bar. The 1st bar or small grease stick will be Rouge for cutting lightly and remove any cutter lines but go light enough or else you can wipe out your dial lines. Follow up with step 2 using Green to polish and if you want real perty, then the 3rd step is Black for a mirror shine. If you don't want to go through the process you can always us SP500 or such that's sold in a aluminum squeeze tube. It almost feels like a pasty sandpaper. I usually use that for a quick taking off oxidation on Aluminum and or polished steel or chrome.
One note on the sand paper is use Aluminum Oxide cutting paper but as for your for safety, please take off the remaining hanging strings from any sand paper you "Rip Off" the sheet or it may just grab a finger while in the lathe and take a finger with it...Take care Winky...Ricko
I bought some aluminum polish. It does okay. I usually buff brass, I'm not sure I want to get the other compound on the wheel but thanks for the info. I agree .010" is about the right depth.
@@WinkysWorkshop No problem Winky...I have a few buffing stations but when I only had one, I would change out wheels or just dress the wheel and use the Rouge and go straight to Green after dressing the pad. It doesn't hurt anything...After buffing a few thousand parts you get a real feel for what works and what doesn't...Take care buddy...Ricko
@@ricko5123 I'm sure you figure out what works when you do it enough. I don't do much buffing and the dial look plenty good. I may try something to darken the numbers, shoe polish as worked well in the past.
The dials look terrific. Well done.
A local turning club member made some aluminium finials and use Mother's Mag and Aluminum polish. He got the aluminium to really shine. Should be available at local auto parts stores.
Nice project.
Dave.
I actually bought some... it helps but I need to polish more with 3000 grit first. However, they look good the way they are so I may never get around to do it. Thanks
Popular Mechanics alread put this tric more than once between 1940 and 1970, They named it something like "divider device" or something this way
Cool, I got the dial idea from Mr. Pete.
Mark, you ended up with a fine working XY table in the end. I'll bet that project kept you out of trouble for a bit ;)
Yeah... it took a few days but it was fun. Its a good working table now
Yeah - -very nice addition to that drill press. Liked how simply you were able to scribe those marks.
That was a Mr. Pete original but thanks!
I have been thinking of making my own mill. That table looks like a good start. I have a milling attachment from a Atlas lathe for my Z-axis.
Your show is just what I was looking for.
Thats great.
The saw blade trick is very effective, from the looks of it - dials came out nice! I like your process of making them up, very straightforward. You mentioned DRO advantages too, but even with a DRO having a dial is a very handy sanity checking device, lol!
Thanks Everett. Most often I don't mind using dials. On a mill not so much.. Big moves.
I am very impressed with your ability and craftsmanship,persision, calm and clear execution and instructions. Class act. A++. I enjoy your 2 videos on upgrading your new mill table. I will be subscribing to your channel because I think that you are a very skillful person and I could learn a thing or two from you. Thanks
Wow, thank you!
Ho 78 anni, nella vita ho eseguito tanto lavori di meccanica, falegnameria, elettricità, idraulica, disegnatore, geometra ecc. ho anche io un laboratorio dove passo molto tempo divertendomiti ma ti dico che non si finisce mai di imparare ogni giorno esiste qualcosa di interessante da apprendere de è bello cosi!!😊👍👋
I totally agree, thanks! @@robertocentonze9653
Nice job! You can use WD40 instead of oil to sand/cut/machine aluminium. It's the best household-cuttingfluid for aluminium.
I agree... I need to get some. Thanks!
Gday Winky, the dials turned out perfect, you are right about the dro but I think what you did here with the lead screws has made it a much better unit, certainly worth it in my opinion, excellent job mate, Cheers
Thanks Matty, Yes it works great now.
Excellent content and attention to detail Winky. I just purchased one of these before finding your video. Yes, mine is a piece of crap too, with all of the defects in workmanship that you have addressed. Unfortunately, I do not have the equipment (lathe) and tooling required to rebuild the unit correctly. Thanks for the time you took to go through everything. It amazes me that the castings can be so good, yet the ancillary components are so, so poorly made. Kind of a waste of what was originally a good effort. I guess I am stuck with another doorstop... Cheers from Florida!
Next week I will have a video installing a 3/8"-16 threaded rod for the lead screws. If you are using it on a drill press this might be the answer for you. Do you have a welder? I will use a lathe in the video but you could do without. Some 1-1/4" x 1/4 flat stock a welder, 3/8" rod and some thrust bearings. If you work in 1/16" its perfect although adding a DRO would make things easier. McMaster Carr also sells 3/8x10 acme threaded rod but the nuts (or tap) are high... but at least its in 10th
I love how you made that dial! Pretty smart !
Thank you! They came out nice.
Especially like your number stamping jig. I've had mixed results number stamping onto round surfaces, so something like your jig would probably improve consistency.
Thanks. Yes the jig works ell and it's easy to make. I've had some issue with steel dials. You have to hit the punch hard without hitting your fingers.
Hey Winky.. This was a great watch for me.. I love seeing people still able to make with their own hands. I would lover to own a lathe and in the future I'm hoping to buy me one of those small mini lathes for my workshop. I began using my garage, a one car garage which I have no car for so It';s great and I only got into woodworking after 50 years.. I love making things with my hands now. I love to build cabinets and table saw sleds. Getting those sleds at the correct 90 was an absolute nightmare at the start though.. LOL
Ur videos are very informative and I'm enjoying them very much. VEVOR are a decent company to get tools from most of the time I hear so I might take a look at their range. I bought a bench drill press about 6 months ago and it's sat in the corner gathering dust from the shop atm. I need to use it more but I keep using the hand drills from experience. I use it when I have to drill with bigger bits but it's only a 13mm drill chuck.
I have a question for u if u have the time??
Q. Could I fit a bigger chuck on this bench drill or is 13mm about the only size I can use with it?? I guess what I'm asking is if it is possible to change the smaller 13mm for a 20mm or bigger? I'm asking bcos u probably have experience with this sort of thing? I'm hoping so anyways my friend..
BTW I just found ur channel last night and sub'd and shared and liked and all that good stuff..
I think or I should say I believe we need far more people like ur good self getting huge views online nowadays bcos most young folks don't seem to want to get their hands dirty anymore. I hope u get my meaning. Hard work seems to get lost on them nowadays. Not all of them but most of them wouldn't go into a workshop. I brought some of my nieces and nephews in for a quick look at what I was building and all they did was look at the dust and stuff pulling faces. My shop gets messy when I'm building something but I'm just messy atm. I haven't found my routine bcos I'm not in there everyday as u might be used to with a 9-5 job. In my day job I'm weirdly suffering from OCD mate..LMAO.
Anyways apologies for the long winded comment WInky. I get carried away on these videos and start talking about my wee shop. Love the content Winky my man. Keep up the great work. Salute to u sir from IRELAND!
I have a 5/8" chuck I use on my lathe occasionally. What you can put on your drill press depends on the mount. Some have a taper and some screw on. I think the work ethic of younger people is related to cell phones and computers. It provides quick gratification. Thanks for the compliments and subscribing.
Further proof that you are, without debate, a genius 👍
Funny... but thanks a bunch!
@@WinkysWorkshop it wasn’t meant as a joke. I don’t think you realize the impact your videos have on those of us who are new to this whole “home shop” machining field. You are GREATLY appreciated
@@priority2 I didn't think you were joking although perhaps over rating me. I've actually only been machining about 8 years. I was a pressman on a web printing press (magazine) you years but the last 15 years before I retired I was in a job trouble shooting and training. After 4 or 5 years I learned some cad and started modifying the presses (mostly the stacking machines) to make them work better. So I guess you might say that was training for my home shop adventure. This conversation triggered a funny memory. When I bought my first lathe (a Logan 200) it was in pieces and very rough looking. I drove up with the lathe in the back of my truck and my wife was looking down from the deck at the lathe. She said, "how much did you pay for that?" I said, "$500 bucks" and she said, "You paid somebody $500 to take their garbage? One week later it was all painted and working perfectly and she said, "I'll have to admit, I never thought your lathe would look like this".
Excellent review winky, great video, keep'um coming.
Thanks!
I have seen those Vevor tables for sale from various vendors, even Amazon and wondered what they were like. I don't need one because I use my mill for drilling but it's nice to know what their stuff is like. I consider that at their price point I am buying a "kit" 😁.
Nicely done Winkey. 👍
Thanks... Yeah that a good way to look at it, a kit
Thanks for the trimmer string nylon tip. I need to make some nylon inserts for my mill dials. Great idea. I’ll be making oversized dials for my Atlas lathe, too. Great video.
If you would like zero backlash on those leadscrews, add a check nut, a Bellevue spring and a dowel pin to each axis. The dowel pin is an anti-rotation device for the check nut. You may need to weld a tab to the check nut to provide room for a guide slot for the pin. A spring pin will work, too.
Thanks,
John
Thanks John. The dials are fairly easy to make and satisfying to use. My mill is made with the dowel pins although no spring washers. The dial hubs with two set screws serve the same purpose. I have some Belleville washers (spring washers) but it seems to work fine without them. I have .006 backlash and I doubt more than .0005 is from the thrust bearings. Zero would be nice but .006 is easy to deal with.
@@WinkysWorkshop Cool!
Thanks for another great video and the various methods you demonstrated today.
My pleasure!
Impressive, I may order one, I made the mistake of ordering a cheap aluminum one, it has so much slop that calling it backlash would be kind. As for your drill table clearance, you could make a block 1 inch or thicker plate to go between the cast iron plate and the lead screw holder plate before you made your new lead screws. Adding that to the length would bring the handle off the table even more.
Lee
The leadscrew on this table was usable out of the box but usable. The dials and the 4mm pitch on the screw were not. If you can live with the backlash in the screw you might consider a cheap DRO over installing a new leadscrew and dials. The outcome on my table was great but it was a lot more work than I anticipated.
Just an idea about your concern with chips getting into the casting, could you mount a strip of leather, or perhaps a bit of cut up inner tube as a cover for that?
On the back I'll screw a piece of sheet metal to the back but on the front leather might work well. Of maybe some kind of pleated plastic.
Great upgrade build, suggestion…after using the edge finder mark the casings in X/Y to quickly reference 0|0
dang! That's a good idea! Maybe even a flip down adjustable stop (set screw) so there is no visual error. Plus adjustable is good if the vise gets moved (although I never take mine off).
@@WinkysWorkshop I like the flip down stop....great idea...no simple/smart
@@outsidescrewball Video is made! Thanks... posting friday.
What a neat, well executed plan..... well done.
Thanks you sir
You can rivet a 6"/12" rule to the casting as a positional reference.
Great idea. Come to think of it, you could attach one of those cheap digital DROs.
Yes a cheap DRO is the easiest and best option. It cost a bit more but not a lot more.
Thank!
Awesome! Thanks so much for such a clear presentation. Will definit look into a DRO. Much Thanks…
A bit of a challenge to install but you are left with a very usefull tool!
Thank you so much for your video I was wondering weather or not to get that very same unit and your vid showed me exactly what I could expect with it. And any negatives asside I was going to get it but I learned how it's not bigenugh for my needs so I have decided to make my own to give me the size and travel I want. I intend to video the full build from the radial arm mill with a X Y Z table and have a Z axis a+b the a axis will be the knee witch the table will be on and the b.will indicate the quill with a much greater precise indication on it. Rite now I am just putting together every thing I will need to do this and I'm getting pumped to get started .
Very cool. BTW, look at the first few minutes of this video and you will see the anti-backlash nut I installed. The acme thread alone had about .008 backlash. I would suggest ball screws if you are concerned with backlash but if you try to make an adjustment cut the nut most the way through and add a fine thread set screw that spreads one edge.
That is so slick, what a neat trick.
Thanks Frank!
Here’s an idea that should work for very precise table movements. Position a dial indicator to contact either axis of the table and take your readings from the indicator instead of the dial.
I agree a DRO is more logical... although the dials work well.
Great series. This is the same method I use for making dials. Guess I didn't actually invent this method after all. Take care.
Cool... I got the idea from Mr. Pete
Perfectly safe... How about putting some die on and a final sand to make the markings stand out.
Good idea, I need to try that!
Many interesting ideas,Mark.Thank you.
Glad you like them! Thanks
Enjoyable set of videos Mark, you pack alot of information into your video's. On polishing metals I have had good luck with the old standbys. Companies like Formax or Dico. This is from the Dico Co. They say use Tripoli (brown) cut compound for aluminum, brass, copper and plastic. Use White Rouge (white) shine compound for aluminum, brass, copper and precious metals. These products are inexpensive and last forever. I have had better results with motors turning 1725 instead of 3450. Using smaller diameter wheels can help also. I write the compound name on the buffing wheels so I don't end up with a mixture of compounds on a wheel. If you don't have a buffing rake to clean the wheels I would buy one. Talk with you later Andy
Thanks Andy, I think I have some brown compound. I need to try it. Interesting on the speed... slower is better?
@@WinkysWorkshop I have had better luck with slower speeds when polishing something that is in good condition or is anodised. Back when I was riding bicycles I would wash aluminum parts with a good dish soap and then polish with mag wheel polish. Faster speeds have been useful when polishing steel or iron that has some staining or is slightly Rusty. Of course this is just what has worked for me. I have just been trying to figure things out, I am definitely not a expert.
@@andyZ3500s Yeah... I don't know much about polishing but slower seems like it might be better.
@@WinkysWorkshop Me either, I have learned a little from my mistakes. About twenty five years ago I ruined the finish on a expensive road bike part by using the wrong compound. After that I cut some info from the Dico Company out of a catalog and ordered four or five small compound bars. I still keep that piece of paper with general shop information, I was just copying that today. Your X -- Y table sure is sorted out after all the work that you did on it. I don't know how they can sell it for the price that they do.
If you wish to eliminate the backlash in those feed screws you can install a 'jam nuts' on the screws and tighten it until the backlash disappears you then just have to stake that jam nut in place. as things wear-in or wear-out, you can adjust that jam nut to compensate.
A little backlash is not a problem. Also, alignment of the lead screw becomes incredibly sensitive when you approach zero backlash. It can be done but its hard to achieve.
Seen a lot of Pete’s videos but I don’t remember seeing this one by using that Hundred tooth saw blade I really like the dials you made enjoyable to see how you made them
Yeah its an older video. The dials are fairly easy to make really. Even in steel.
@@WinkysWorkshop The first time I saw that saw blade indexing trick, was in a very early eighties HSM issue. In addition to your set up, it had a weighted rope wound on the chuck, so it (finger) had constant positive engagement in the saw gullet......no back tracking needed. Good one! I always enjoy your work.
I keep various sandpaper grits glued to paint stirer sticks for small jobs like that.
@@geobrown9413 Interesting... the weight is a cool idea.
I just gotta get me one of those 100 tooth blades. Time to find a used one. That project turned out great Mark. Gilles
I've had mine for about 5 years but I got in on Amazon for $8 bucks. I just looked again... its $21 now.
@@WinkysWorkshop Look around in junk shops, I found a smaller rusty one for $1 at a Habitat For Humanity store. (Port Huron, MI)
@@geobrown9413 Wow... thats fantastic!
@@WinkysWorkshop Haven't been there in a few years 'cause of border retstrictions, but lots of stuff there, even big slabs of hardwood,etc.
Genuinely enjoyed both of your videos. The idea of using a circular saw blade to obtain the pitch for the dials was sheer genius. You are a proper engineer.
I’m looking at buying the table to fit on a manual overhead router.
I wonder if you would be kind enough to let me know the width and length of the four mounting slots as I will need to drill and tap my machine table.
I have the two pitches from the manufacturer of 140 on X and 160 on Y. Please confirm.
Really grateful for any info.
Once again, loved your videos.
I tried to measure but I'd have to take the table apart to get a good measurement. I recommend waiting until you get the table. You might want to move it round to get maximum use from the travel on the table.
well what can i say... you have just given me the result to a problem i have had i have bought an old milling machine"built in 1942" the same year as my birth..the make is centec. a very much sought after machine by all and sundry...but how do you renavate a mill with out the use of a mill? your video has just sorted that problem out for me ! i also have a vevor table just the same as yours so now i can get on with giving my mill the kiss of life ! regards laurence
Great, good luck with your adventure.
Thanks for the vevor link, looks interesting. Nice mods on the table.
No problem 👍
A friend just gave me one of these tables... new in the box. It was too big for his drill press. Knowing that I have a couple of larger drill press he just gave it to me for free. This was yesterday so I need to take it out and go over it. Doubt I will do as much work as you did for yours.
I'll be doing another video in about 2 or 3 weeks on this mill table. I'll be adding DROs.
Nice quick upgrade.
Thanks
If you want a simpler solution, I just made up some graduated dial scales using a free CAD program and printed them 1:1 on paper, then wrap and tape the paper sleeves around the OEM handwheel dials. I make them snug enough so they don't move, but loose enough to turn them to zero when needed. This only took minutes to make, works perfectly fine, and I can live with it until I get a DRO option working.
That would work!
that is a interesting way for making dials, why didn't you spray paint the dial black and then sand back thru the grits till say 3000 grit. that way you would have a good contrast so easier to see. over all very well done . liked it allot that you didn't cut out the mistakes. exelent job
I have tried painting in the past and never had any luck. Aluminum is the worst but even steel the paint does not want to stick to. I thick the scribed surface is very slick. I did make some steel dials a while back and had a local machine shop send them out with a batch of black oxide coating they were having done. Those does knocked your eyes out.... fantastic. Shoe polish seems to do the best actually... aside from the black oxide.
I like it! As you said you could have put a DRO on there but you still would have needed to rework those hand wheels and supports. Thanks Winky!
Actually with the DRO the clunky low quality lead screws and brackets it would have worked fine. However, it feels a lot more quality now and probably has a bit less backlash.
Be careful of backlash when using the edgefinder. You found the jaw edge in one direction and moved the table in the other direction to find the center of the plate. You will be out by the backlash in the example.
Yeah... I'm well aware of that but maybe I should have included this in my video. Thanks for reminding me.
@@WinkysWorkshop No problem, I didn't want anyone scrapping their parts by copying you. How can you prevent that from happening.
@@machinists-shortcuts It would have been good to put in the video. Little tricks like that are important. I usually find the edge then turn the handwheel the opposite direction (removing the backlash) and then set the dial to zero.
@@WinkysWorkshop Pop a piece in the vice and find the back edge, this will keep the backlash in the same direction.
@@machinists-shortcuts - Agree... that's the best approach.
Worked out well, i think it's worth the money.
For sure it is worthwhile although I suspect a DRO would work just as well and its a lot easier.
Thank you for the content, I learned a lot by watching it.
One question though, wouldn't it be cheaper and easier to use by just keeping it original and slapping a DRO on it? The DRO does not care about backlash, play, slop, or anything else as long as you have a reliable way of locking the set up down once you have it where you want it. I would obviously like a set up without all that in the first place, but even the best, most expensive systems still have to deal with it to varying degrees at one point or another. Just seems like a lot of time and effort when the DRO would put you on the mark regardless of play, slop, units of measurement, and so forth. An X-Y DRO for a small table like that is under $100 sometimes these days.
Guess I missed the part when you talked about advantages of a DRO. Guess you answered it already. 🙂
Loved the saw blade divider, had never seen that one before. Cool trick.
I like the dials but you are absolutely correct. DROs are easier and better.
Thanks for watching!
another good one, till next time thanks mark!
Thanks again!
Great video's Mark some nice upgrades there I my self have been think of getting a mill table for my drill press. And a great review. Thank you.
Thanks. This is a good option but if I had it to do over I'd get DROs
@@WinkysWorkshop I don’t think I could live with the extremely sloppy fits of all those moving parts. I’d have to firm it up just as you did and then install a DRO. You’d then have the best imported mill- drill table that money and sweat can buy. Second thought, why not go ahead and install a DRO in another video?
@@ellieprice363 To a point I could live with the slop if I had a DRO but I understand what you are saying. It's nice to have quality to work with.
As usual, a very well done video! I can see that this would be a useful addition to a drill press; also see that it doesn't make a drill press into a mill. With a DRO it would allow repetitive bolt patterns including circular patterns. Not sure I would do this when a mill is already available. I would rather spend the money on an import DRO that can calculate patterns for the mill or mill/drill.
For me having the mill table on the drill press is a huge plus but I agree, the cheap DRO is a very good option. Easier than dials and new lead screws.
You could cut the inside of your dial hub for an o-ring to add friction to the hub. That's how I made my dials on my old Taiwanese lathe.
That might work well.
Very nice! Every time I use stamps I fear the errors, for good reason!
Thanks... and yeah, it's easy to mess up.
Oh, you can use black print set ink to give your marks more contrast. Wipe on with Q tip, wipe off with paper then use lighter fluid to clean up places you don’t want ink. Then bake at 200 or 250 degrees for an hour. Engravers use this trick all the time.
P.
I've never had much luck with aluminum. Shoe polish seems to work the best for me. Steel works well with paint. The best dials I ever made I had them Black Oxide coated and polished the dials in the lathe. They looked fantastic.
You need to make a tool holder that holds your number punches so it can mount on you quick change tool post. You would leave the dial on the fixture until AFTER the numbers were punched. Your saw blade indexer would make number alignment dead on. No need fiddling with your wood block setup and the errors that creates.
***
I need to make some dials for an XY table and I'll be doing it more or less like you do except with my spindle mounted rotary table. I'll have to make a tool holder for my letter/number punch set. No way am I fiddling around with a wood block guide like you did!
> You need to make a tool holder that holds your number punches so it can mount on you quick change tool post. - Thats a great idea!
Nice dial project. Thanks
You're welcome
Really enjoyed the video series, thank you!
Thanks
Hello
Im considering buying one of these cross slide tables. How is it working out ?
And i unfortunately dont have the means to made dials but it obviously needs dials.
Thanks
Charles, the table is totally usable out of the box but it was a big job to put imperial screws and dials on it. I suggest you buy some cheap DROs. It's a little more money but much easier and ultimately better than dials.
@@WinkysWorkshop im ignorant of what DRO'S are .
Thanks
@@charlesc.plumley9755 Here's a cheap 6 inch. It will display inch or mm. amzn.to/3DVnr6e
@@charlesc.plumley9755 They are actually about as cheap as changing the lead screws!
Thanks, very interesting.
A followup will come with some scraping of the ways? 😉
Ha... I doubt that. That's something I've never done
Toothpaste is pretty good for a buffing compound 👍
Yeah... on the lathe with a rag this might have worked very well.
@@WinkysWorkshop that's what I was thinking, I've seen it done on restoration videos with with motorcycle casings.
Mark I have been wanting to do this ever since I saw Mr Pete use the saw blade. How many total teeth does the blade have on it? I would like to find one with 100 teeth and one with a total number divisible by 360.
The blade has to have 100 for dials to work right but the 360 blade might be good for other indexing. Search for DEWALT DW3324
As always a great video Winky love it!
Thank you so much!
I'm new to your channel. Very cool project, nicely planned out, well executed!!
Cool, thanks!
Agreed. The problem solving skills alone are sufficient reason to watch the channel.
Another great video. I’m not sure what to call you. I hesitate calling you Winky 😬
What number punch set do you recommend?
Thanks,
Paul
Hey you is fine.... or Winky or Mark :o) Number punches? I have a set that is total junk so I bought new ones. They are much better. This is what I bought: amzn.to/3GbSTAj
Do you have a vid on upgrading your drill press to square tubing?
Yes I do. th-cam.com/video/i4_FtMMMfDw/w-d-xo.html
I’ve used black nail polish in the groves. You wait till the polish on the dial
I've tried several types of paint and they don't stick. Shoe polish works best for me but I have not tried the nail polish.
Great outcome Winky. Question please. Did you consider buying Ball leadscrews ? they have ZERO backlash and are quite cheap these days. Would have needed to make a different mounting block for the ball nut to fit into, but I feel sure with your talents it would have ben no problem. Regards from Australia.
Thanks Dave. The ball screws would be nice. Alignment might have been a bit more critical I think and fitting a nut to the upper table might have required milling the table. I don't mind the backlash. Right now its only about .006" but I'm sure it will get worse as things break in.
@@WinkysWorkshop You could fit some backlash eliminators to each nut. A thin threaded plate that is pushed APART with a strong-ish coil spring. If you make the plate with a flat bottom it will not rotate. An old trick we would do with worn lathe leadscrew nuts is to do a saw cut half way through a couple of threads from the end. If sufficient room tap a hole for a grub screw to force the sawn bit apart or make a small wedge, after getting the backlash out, a dob of soft solder to hold it in place. The Bridgeport Mill table leadscrew nuts have an adjustment device that pushes 2 plates apart with a screw to remove backlash. Great outcome though so far. Regards from Australia.
@@daveticehurst4191 I made something like this on the table I removed. For some reason I whenever I got close to eliminating backlash the threads bound up. If the backlash gets a lot worse I may try something like this again. I'd have do some math but I'd say .006" backlash is a clearance of .0002". Very small! Slight variations in the thread or a slight warp in the screw would cause it to bind.
Very nice looking dials. Like you I think the DRO would be cheaper and easier.
I'm guessing about the same price. I had $50 bucks into the project.
@@WinkysWorkshop well that kills cheaper. Still more convenient though.
@@AmateurRedneckWorkshop After I installed the dials I looked on Amazon and found some for about that price. They work well, I have the same on my mill.
Awesome video Winky! I have wanted and considered buying one of those milling tables. But after seeing what you went through, I may change my mind. Although the DRO option sounds like it may be feasible...
Glad it was helpful!
I was wondering if you could tell me the centre spacing of the mounting holes? I see in your video that they seem to be slightly elongated. I would like to buy one but not sure of the capability of the drill presses table I have. The maximum width of the mounting slots I have is 155mm. They are in an X pattern.
Sorry for the slow reply. Every time I went to the shop I forgot to check. The 155mm is perfect but the holes seem to be about the same from front to back. In other words they are in a square about that far apart.
@Winky's Workshop Wow, that's great. Yes, my table has an X patern of slots that max out to 155mm square. So I will get that compound mill table. I intended to do some drilling on an irregular shaped aluminium piece that needs to be clamped by T slot clamps and then some small amount of milling. Thank you for the reply.
@@Phelec59 My table is the same. You're welcome
Nice, I like it as it is easy to find a saw blade with 360 teeth, or did you make it?
It needs to be 100 tooth. I got it on Amazon. I think I paid $8 bucks for it 8 or 10 years ago. I looked again and it's $21 now but still not too bad.
@@WinkysWorkshop Thanks Wink, that is not a bad price for what I can do with it, but first I must check a see if I already have a 100 tooth blade, I check earlier for 360 teeth, I have a ton of blades from my dad's stuff he left me.
@@davidschwartz5127 Thats great
I've never had great short term memory. Now that eye sight is going dials scare me like copperheads, and rattle snakes. Can't tell you how many times I've had to grab a set of calipers to find out where I'm at in the table , because of short term memory, while counting turns milling out a pocket or drilling holes.
Yeah... I do okay on my drill press but can't imagine giving up my DROs on my mill. Ultimately the DROs are the logical fix for this mill table as well. Mush easier too.
Way back in the day , we Usta use Moore jig bore machines to lay out die shoes. Then bolt up all your punches and die sections. You had to go in one direction, so the runout would be in that one direction. Can't tell you how many times, that cold sweat 💦 has ran down my back when I realized I I went the wrong way and reamed a dowl hole!!😵💫!!! Time to plug , weld , and file / stone flat.
@@coburnlowman Those Jig Bore machines were made well. I can not imagine why somebody does not make a lighter weight version to be sold as a drill press. A round column on a drill press is not ideal.
So considerin g the many hors and parts what is that worth in buyong a better unit? We do not have you shop equipment buy want the end result/equivilent... what is that??
In my opinion, this mill table is usable out of the box aside from the lack of good dials and weird thread pitch. A really good table with good dials costs 4 to 5 times what this mill table costs. I would recommend this table and installing cheap DROs. They are much easier and cheaper than what I did and actually better. I have not looked in a while but the DROs are probably less than $100.
I admire your natural ability for creative solutions to problems in the shop. I'm in the process of making your "Guided tap wrench" from your August 21, 2020 video, been needing one of these for a while. I have a non-technical question for you about that vid; what is the name of that instrumental song playing at the end?
I thought I answered this... but maybe not. Its TH-cam free music. I have no idea what its called.
Lot of good ideas, thank you.
Thanks!
Awesome. Very nice dials
Thanks James
Thanks for sharing this great videos! 😊
Thanks for watching!
Nice job on the video and table!
Thanks!
Very educational. Thank you!
Very welcome!
On the dials upside down numbers, couldn’t you just turn the numbered portion down on the lathe and renumber them in the correct orientation? At least that’s what I’d do to salvage it. Keep up the good work.
That's an excellent idea! Standing in front of the drill press makes it read right side up however... so not too bad.
With your new nuts, I think I would have done them differently. You had enough material to use a slitting saw and cut a section that's about 1/8" thick and then use that to adjust out back lash with a couple of set screws to flex the thin section of threads to create tension against the lead screw threads. I see you commented on back lash in your description, but then didn't do anything to eliminate it. I guess thats video 3!
I'm not a big fan of controlling backlash like that. I've tied it before and it doesn't work very well. Standard and acme thread need a little clearance of they will bind. .005" backlash equates to about .0003 at the thread. Yes it works but all the alignment has to be dead on and without any thread variations or warps. Both lead screw have .006 at the moment and I'm totally okay with this. If I want near zero I'll get ball screws. Also, the screws I bought are good but not precision.
@@WinkysWorkshop How would you control back lash on existing lead screws? Your new nut helped, but it didn't take care of all the back lash.
@@de-bodgery Backlash will always be an issue unless you have ball screws. It would be nice to have zero but honestly a little is easy to deal with. You just make sure all your moves are going in the same direction. .006 to .010 is not bad at all.
They were beautiful dials. I'd have blacked them (says me at 20 mins in... You may yet do it)
They are fairly easy to see. I've had a hard time getting numbers to hold black on aluminum.
Nice job
Thanks!
Nice job!!!
Thanks! It was a bigger job that I thought it would be but it's a nice mill table now.
What I learned from another TH-cam of great fame to highlight you markes is take a Sharpe a press firmly into each of your scribes and to clean up do not use anything other than just a clean pice of papper and wipe the excess leaving the recessed marks any thing other than the papper you end up washing out the marks.
I need to try that although I think I did already. Shoe polish works fairly well. I made some steel dials one time and had them black oxide coated. That worked great!
Is that a chinezeum vice
Made in India. It is a very good 5-inch vice. I bought it 6 years ago for about $65 bucks but it's no longer available.
@@WinkysWorkshop thank you keep up the good work,leaning a lot!
I love your indexer! Try to salvage a plastic gear from a broken printer or appliance instead of using the dangerous saw blade. Some of them come in sets with different ratios and have keyed or polygonal holes so if you want to change the pitch, you can switch between gears and keep your current position. For the punch, mark the side of the punch so next time you can easily tell the correct orientation. If you want to make the engravings even more legible, brush some enamel paint over it, let it get slightly tacky to the touch and the wipe it off with a acetone. You can also blue the engravings and then polish off the excess on a lathe.
I've not has good luck with paint sticking to aluminum but never tried the bluing. I'll try it
It looks like it steal works hard !
Haha... yeah
GREAT JOB
This thing needed a good overhaul but the casting is great. I use the heck out of this table and love it
Great vids! (pt. 1&2)
Glad you like them! Thanks
Look great 👍
Thank you! Cheers!
good video
Thanks
I enjoyed watching but unfortunately I'm not rich to buy that setup.😥
Thanks for watching... maybe things will get better.
Why don't they make them with left hand thread ?
It catches me out every time.
It made you think twice when you demonstrated it.
Yeah, originally one leadscrew was LH. so that the table always moved toward you when turned clockwise. Maybe a little better but not a huge problem. I may put an arrow that indicates movement toward handle. Maybe I should have made one LH. One thing for sure, if I did this again I would use my lathe to cut the threads and not a tap. Although it's harder to get a perfect fit on the threads.
Thanks for that.
Thanks You for watching!