My new Grizzly mini mill

[krv3000]

hi a nice bit of kit

[d65]

I have bought some endmiLls from little machine shop and eBay. Clamping set. Inalready had a couple of drill press vises etc. I have completed one project. It was an 80% lower receiver for an AR rifle.

Regards

[TomG]

Sounds like you are well on your way. How about some pics of the lower?

Tom

[wrustle]

(11-07-2013, 10:16 PM)d65 Wrote: Not sure how to post pics Mill is installed and leveled. What do I need to buy next. I am a complete newbie to milling. All info appreciated.

Regards

Some really good lighting!!


Ok, seriously now...............

How fast is your spindle? How many hp is the motor?

Those two things alone will be the main determining factor in not only what tools you should buy, but also what type of work you can do on it.

We all have to start somewhere. Looks like you are on your way now.

Welcome to the club!

Best Regards,
Russ

[Rifleman01]

First of all you want to keep your costs down so what I would suggest is you get a Stirling Steel conversion kit. This does away with the plastic gears which are very prone to breaking and being a belt drive gives you a variable speed control. Check the Little Machine Shop for the current price of the conversion kit.

Next I'd suggest you seriously think about changing the X and Y axis lead screws. The backlash of the factory items on my mini mill was in excess of 30 thousandths of an inch. I obtained precision machined parts from 'Fignoggle' in the USA, these come with nylon adjustable nuts and the backlash is now less than 0.0005". Google the name you'll find him.

Get a really good machinists vice mine has 4" jaws and a swivel base. If your going to do gun work a smaller vice is no good at all.

Try and locate evening classes where you can get tuition using a mill. You learn more from an experienced machinist than all the books ever written on the subject.

DRO's on all three axe's are very nice to have but require care in fitting and they aren't cheap. Leave until later on.

Tooling, you cannot have enough, recon on spending two or three times the cost of your mill just getting a descent amount of tools. I've picked up a lot of good tooling off EBay in the U/K, much of it new and unused for far less than buying it from a tool specialist. There is a lot of 3MT tools around

That should get you started, don't try to run before you can walk though, learning to use a mill is not difficult. Safety is paramount, even this little mill can cause very serious injuries.

Harry

[TomG]

Good suggestions Harry and thanks for passing them on to others. That's what these sites are all about.

By the way, welcome aboard. Be sure to stop by the introduction page and tell us all about yourself. Be prepare to provide pictures as well because I'm sure you'll be asked. (of your machines, not yourself )

Tom

[Rifleman01]

(12-14-2013, 02:48 PM)TomG Wrote: Good suggestions Harry and thanks for passing them on to others. That's what these sites are all about.

By the way, welcome aboard. Be sure to stop by the introduction page and tell us all about yourself. Be prepare to provide pictures as well because I'm sure you'll be asked. (of your machines, not yourself )

Tom

TomG we have met before on this website, way back on 23/7/12 in the Gunsmithing section when I showed some pictures of the Borchardt I was building. I mentioned then it was a race between me and the Grim Reaper as to who won and he is out in the lead, I've just come out of hospital after major surgery for Cancer. Sadly they didn't get it all, so I have, to go for Chemotherapy in early January. I'll be glowing green in the dark.

I'm not up to machining at the moment but I am half way restoring an
English made small bench hand operated shaping machine called The Adept, a lovely little thing ideal for making gun sights and small parts. The exercise is supposed to keep me fit.

Harry

[7mag]

Any more info on the set up of this little mill? I'm thinking of buying one and would like to know how precise is the down feed.
I have a larger Harbor Freight mill and the down feed is difficult to get a prescribed depth.

[Rifleman01]

Hello 7mag,
Sadly the vertical down feed is not terribly good on mini mills, it has a rack and pinion feed and there is slop or play in both directions. This can be lessened by putting shims under the rack which does help to remove some of the play. None of these small mills like plunge milling, they're not really built for such work and tend to vibrate in a frightening manner, and in doing so break your tools, that's expensive. If you have to plunge down with an end cutting mill, pre drill a hole a few thousandth of an inch small in dia., and then plunge down with the end mill. It's awkward but on all machines if any size there are snags or faults that you have to overcome. That's life, sorry.

Harry